All You Need to Do is Plow

The title of the post is drawn from my father’s humorous interpretation of the pasuk in Beshalach, ה' יִלָּחֵם לָכֶם וְאַתֶּם תַּחֲרִישׁוּן — Hashem will provide you with bread. All you have to do is plow.

This post itself was sparked by the following post on Rationalist Judaism:

How to Make Money

Rabbi Yehoshua (ben Chananya) was a Tanna who knew what it was like to work hard for his parnassa. In Berachot 28a, after Rabban Gamliel had insulted him and was compelled to seek his apology, we see that he was a blacksmith, and had a difficult time of it:

אָמַר רַבָּן גַּמְלִיאֵל: הוֹאִיל וְהָכִי הֲוָה, אֵיזִיל וַאֲפַיְּיסֵיהּ לְרַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. כִּי מְטָא לְבֵיתֵיהּ, חֲזִינְהוּ לְאַשְׁיָתָא דְבֵיתֵיהּ דְּמַשְׁחֲרָן. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִכּוֹתְלֵי בֵיתְךָ אַתָּה נִיכָּר שֶׁפֶּחָמִי אַתָּה. אָמַר לוֹ: אוֹי לוֹ לַדּוֹר שֶׁאַתָּה פַּרְנָסוֹ, שֶׁאִי אַתָּה יוֹדֵעַ בְּצַעֲרָן שֶׁל תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים, בַּמֶּה הֵם מִתְפַּרְנְסִים וּבַמֶּה הֵם נִזּוֹנִים.

Rabban Gamliel said to himself: Since this is the situation, that the people are following Rabbi Yehoshua, apparently he was right. Therefore, it would be appropriate for me to go and appease Rabbi Yehoshua. When he reached Rabbi Yehoshua’s house, he saw that the walls of his house were black. Rabban Gamliel said to Rabbi Yehoshua in wonderment: From the walls of your house it is apparent that you are a blacksmith, as until then he had no idea that Rabbi Yehoshua was forced to engage in that arduous trade in order to make a living. Rabbi Yehoshua said to him: Woe unto a generation that you are its leader as you are unaware of the difficulties of Torah scholars, how they make a living and how they feed themselves.

He describes tzaar in Torah scholars making a living. So what would happen if we would ask him for advice for succeeding in business? Would he assume that everything comes naturally, with minimal effort (hishtadlus) followed by prayer, or would he say that it takes increased human effort?

In Niddah 70b, the sages of Alexandria posed questions to Rabbi Yehoshua.

שלשה דברי דרך ארץ מה יעשה אדם ויחכם אמר להן ירבה בישיבה וימעט בסחורה אמרו הרבה עשו כן ולא הועיל להם אלא יבקשו רחמים ממי שהחכמה שלו שנאמר (משלי ב, ו) כי ה' יתן חכמה מפיו דעת ותבונה

1. The sages of Alexandria also asked Rabbi Yehoshua three matters of behavior: What should a person do to become wise? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: He should increase his time spent sitting in the study house and minimize his dealings in merchandise. The sages of Alexandria said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Many people have done so, and it did not help them to acquire wisdom. Rabbi Yehoshua responded: Rather, they should pray for mercy to receive wisdom from the One to Whom wisdom belongs, as it is stated: “For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and discernment” (Proverbs 2:6).

…

מה יעשה אדם ויתעשר אמר להן ירבה בסחורה וישא ויתן באמונה אמרו לו הרבה עשו כן ולא הועילו אלא יבקש רחמים ממי שהעושר שלו שנאמר (חגי ב, ח) לי הכסף ולי הזהב

2. The sages of Alexandria asked: What should a person do to become wealthy? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: He should increase his time involved in merchandise and conduct his business faithfully. The sages of Alexandria said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Many people have done so, and it did not help them become rich. Rabbi Yehoshua replied: Rather, they should pray for mercy to receive wisdom from the One to Whom wealth belongs, as it is stated: “Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold, says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:8).

…

מה יעשה אדם ויהיו לו בנים זכרים אמר להם ישא אשה ההוגנת לו ויקדש עצמו בשעת תשמיש

3. The sages of Alexandria further asked: What should a person do to have male children? Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: He should marry a woman who is fit for him and sanctify himself by acting modestly at the time of sexual intercourse.

אמרו הרבה עשו כן ולא הועילו אלא יבקש רחמים ממי שהבנים שלו שנאמר (תהלים קכז, ג) הנה נחלת ה' בנים שכר פרי הבטן

The sages of Alexandria said to Rabbi Yehoshua: Many people have done so, and it did not help them. Rabbi Yehoshua said: Rather, they should pray to receive sons from the One to Whom sons belong, as it is stated: “Behold, children are a heritage of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalms 127:3).

The gemara interjects in each case, if he is going to conclude with prayer as a means of achieving it, then why give his first shlugged-up response? To teach that both are necessary. מאי קא משמע לן דהא בלא הא לא סגי. In other words, each one alone is insufficient.

Note that we see this objection elsewhere, הרבה עשו כן ולא הועילו, in terms of Kimchis covering her hair and meriting many sons who were talmidei chachamim.

I think the cited portion is all part of the original source, and אמרו (and especially אמרו לו) is not the Talmudic Narrator interjecting, and אלא (or in manuscripts אל with an apostrophe, possibly indicating amar lahem) is not the Talmudic Narrator providing his alternative. Rather, as part of Rabbi Yehoshua’s response, the point in each case is perhaps not just the specific rational human effort and righteous effort, so as to make oneself worthy, but also prayer.

In the case of the quote from Chaggai, we’ve seen this verse cited by Rabbi Meir in Kiddushin 82a. He takes is slightly differently:

רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר לְעוֹלָם יְלַמֵּד אָדָם לִבְנוֹ אוּמָּנוּת נְקִיָּה וְקַלָּה וִיבַקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים לְמִי שֶׁהָעוֹשֶׁר וְהַנְּכָסִים שֶׁלּוֹ שֶׁאֵין עֲנִיּוּת מִן הָאוּמָּנוּת וְאֵין עֲשִׁירוּת מִן הָאוּמָּנוּת אֶלָּא לְמִי שֶׁהָעוֹשֶׁר שֶׁלּוֹ שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר לִי הַכֶּסֶף וְלִי הַזָּהָב נְאֻם ה' צְבָאוֹת

Rabbi Meir says: A person should always teach his son a clean and easy trade, and he should request compassion from the One to Whom wealth and property belong, as poverty does not come from a trade, nor does wealth come from a trade; rather, they come from the One to Whom wealth belongs, as it is stated: “Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold, says the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 2:8).

Rabbi Meir might advise against being a blacksmith. Though he still advises some degree of effort.

Rabbi Yehoshua response for increasing wisdom was to adjust the ratios of study and work. Thus ירבה בישיבה וימעט בסחורה. For increasing money, perhaps some element of reversal. He doesn’t say minimize yeshiva and increase business. But he does say increase business: ירבה בסחורה וישא ויתן באמונה. Alongside this, he suggests what is either a religious or a practical advice, to deal honestly in business. This might be counterintuitive, since cheating in business might cause you to prosper in any one deal. But the point is already implicitly that all comes from Hashem, even before Rabbi Yehoshua’s follow-up, so He will make honest businessmen prosper. Or, rationally speaking, by legitimately establishing a reputation as an honest broker, more people will be willing to deal with you. Similarly for his other answers.

As Rabbi Natan Slifkin mentioned in his post, the Vilna Gaon removes the ירבה בסחורה portion and just leaves ישא ויתן באמונה. Thus, if we look at the Vilna Shas, we have:

But a footnote [א] refers us to the Gra’s emendation

that the words ירבה בסחורה should be erased. Rabbi Slifkin says he asked someone to check earlier manuscripts, and none were found with these words missing.

Venice printing has this:

Soncino printing has this:

Munich 95 has the words included as well:

Munich 95 manuscript, Niddah 70b

Vatican 110-111 has likewise:

As do the two fragments.

Our texts of Yalkut Shimoni and Tanna debei Eliyahu Zuta also have the full quote.

Now, we occasionally see variant texts from the way Rishonim cite the Talmudic text, either in a local dibbur hamatchil or in a foreign sugya citing it in its entirety. Rashbam on Bava Batra does say:

אבל אבן שלמה - ואם בביתך אבן שלמה וצדק יהיה לך ממון כדאמרינן בעלמא (נדה דף ע:) מה יעשה אדם ויתעשר ישא ויתן באמונה:

We also see Ran on Avodah Zara citing it as such:

וכדאמרינן בעלמא (נדה דף ט.) מה יעשה אדם ויתעשר ישא ויתן באמונה

though the shorter quote might be because that is the only part relevant for the discussion in the foreign sugya.

Later, we see the Netziv (Haamak Sheila on She’ilton of Rav Achai Gaon), Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, and Melechet Shlomo on Avodah Zara cite this possibly dowdified version of the text. (The term means “the omission of a word or a phrase in order to reframe a quote and alter its meaning,” drawing from New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd.)

Meanwhile, I don’t think the Vilna Gaon emends based on manuscript evidence. Rather, he operates based on his encyclopedic knowledge of Torah and his developed intuition. So what could motivate him to omit these words?

Maybe he knows the way Ran and Rashbam quote it. Maybe he has a specific idea of how the sugya should be. For instance, the earlier recommendation was to decrease business activity, prioritizing study, so a recommendation for the reverse would be jarring. (One could respond that the conflict, selecting different strategies depending on one’s desired outcome, is the point.) Perhaps he would say that if the point was a reversal, then it should be fully reversed, to reduce yeshiva and increase business. The dealing honestly seems tangential. And once these are separate points, then just the dealing honestly stands on its own. Perhaps the Gra has a general assumption about the conclusion of Chazal about hishtadlus, and believes this sugya should accord.

At the end of the day, I think the full text, including ירבה בסחורה is quite plausible and supported. And while Chazal are not monolithic, and might take opposing approaches. Rabbi Shimon and Rabbi Yishmael in Berachot 35b, Rabbi Meir and (slightly different) Rabbi Yehoshua as mentioned here. And Rabbi Yehoshua could well believe that increased effort to make an honest living is part of an overall strategy.