Office Space
In every office, there is a code of conduct demanding that you act with greater decorum than you would in the comfort of your own home.
I loved that office.
Smack in the middle of a major investment bank, I felt like I was on top of the world.
Then he lowered the boom, “As you know we passed the market peak a few months ago and business is getting tight. We have to start cutting staff and your department is not as competitive as the others. Here is your severance, good luck and good bye.”
That was it. I bid farewell to my office, never to occupy one for another 17 years.
My new office was a little different. It was at an Israeli hi-tech start-up based in Hadera. The company started small, then bought a few floors of a new building to be ready 2 years later. In the meantime, they rented out a floor of what used to be a health clinic. The supply closets were so big they could transform one into an office. So back I went to my own special space.
One night I decided to pray the evening prayers in my private digs. Just then, the CEO walks in. A little surprised to see me doing something not common to his office, he stops me. “Dave, I’m going home. Please remember to lock up before you leave.” The joys of living in a Jewish State.
Our Office Space
A comedian once remarked, “If Jews are supposed to be so great at real estate, why did they choose a place full of enemies and empty of oil?”
He doesn’t realize that we didn’t choose the Land of Israel; God Himself chose it for us. He gave the choicest part of His earth to His chosen nation.
That implies that the Land of Israel as a gift from G-d. It is. A single day engrossed in her supernal beauty is enough to be forever grateful. A gift is something we receive with no effort on our part.
The Land of Israel is as much an office Hashem gives us to perform our work as it is a cherished and eternal gift to the Jewish People.
Ground Rules
The Land of Israel, just like any office, has rules that govern it:
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You have to maintain a level of conduct while you are in your office.
How many of us put on our pajamas, break out a huge bag of chips, put a beer on the desk, and turn on the computer to the local football game with our feet on the table making catcalls at the screen with the senior vice president right next door?
In every office, there is a code of conduct demanding that you act with greater decorum than you would in the comfort of your own home.
The Land of Israel is a huge office. Hashem has His eyes on the Land from the first day of the year to the last. We must always be on our best behavior.
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You have to always produce to earn the right to hold your place.
There is a Divine Purpose to the Jews living in Israel. As long as we fulfill that purpose, through observance of the mitzvot, Hashem promises to keep us in the Land securely and in prosperity. Once we “under-perform” by abandoning the commandments, He can remove us from our Land.
At any moment, a too complacent employee can enter his office to see that it has been split up to accommodate two people. The “favored” one might get control over the good chair and the big desk. A boss can send someone in to check on you every two hours to make sure you are still working.
The Torah chronicles every time we left Hashem and He sent an enemy to control us in our own backyard. He put us into a position where we were awoken to repent, and He sent us a savior to return us to freedom in our Land.
If someone continues to under-perform, they could lose their job and their office. Twice in our history, we lost our office. We lost our home. The Gemara opens up by saying it was all our fault. We didn’t do what Hashem commands.
We lost our office by not respecting it with a proper standard of conduct.
The more you do, the better the office. There are also promotions.
You can get an office with a secretary right next to it. You can get a new office, bigger and in the corner of the building where you have two views of the skyline, or the sea. You can get a performance review so nice that the next day you come in for coffee and to your surprise, the latest computer with all the new cool toys is sitting on your desk, already installed.
The Land of Israel blossoms for her children.
In the Shema, Hashem promises to bless our grain and our cattle, to bring rains in their proper time. The Land produces massive abundance when we do our job right and Hashem decrees we merit more.
The more we guard the brit by governing how we use our bodies in relation to the opposite sex, the more we can perceive the Land of Israel. The Land of Israel may not change suddenly, but you will. Your ability to see our homeland in all her beauty is revealed and every moment your eyes are open will feel like standing in the Garden of Eden.
Hashem also promises us, in the portion of Ki Tavo, that if we serve Him through His Torah, He will make us the greatest nation on earth. We will “make it to the top” with the grandest place on earth.
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