WHY DO PEOPLE WORK?

In Torah 29 of "Likutei Moharan" Rabbeinu says that the complete rectification of all one's business dealings is "to keep in mind that the sole purpose of every step he takes and every word he speaks while earning a living is to be able to give charity from his earnings".

This was something I could never understand. Isn't the most basic reason why people work is to be able to provide for themselves and their families so that they themselves shouldn't be in need of charity? After all, as Rabbi Akiva says in the Talmud,"chayecha kodmin" - "a person's own life comes first".

Today, while listening to R' Nasan Maimon's class on Torah 18, I unexpectedly got an answer to this question. In that Torah, Rabbeinu develops the concept that everything a person does has a tachlis (a purpose or goal). Most often, this tachlis has another tachlis: a person does A to achieve B, which would enable them to get to C.

R' Nasan gave the following example of such a "chain"^ a person goes to work to earn money; they earn money in order to give maaser; they give maaser to bring pleasure to Hashem by fulfilling His Will. Giving nachas ruach to Hashem is the greatest tachlis a person can achieve in this world.

From this we can learn that the rectification of one's work comes through making the tachlis (connecting to Hashem) primary and everything else secondary. I work so that I can give charity, which will bring nachas ruach to Hashem; this is the most important thing.. Of course, I also work to provide for myself and my family, but it is not the main reason.

Of course, this is a very high level/Yet now that we know it exists, we can aspire for it, which would already be a step in the right direction. And "where there is a will, there is a way".

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