Labor Day: What Kind of Work Are We Doing on Ourselves?

Labor Day: What Kind of Work Are We Doing on Ourselves?

The purpose of Labor Day is “to honor and celebrate the social and economic achievements of American workers.” That got me thinking about the word labor itself. Labor means work.

In Judaism, we have a fascinating relationship with work. On Shabbos Kodesh, we refrain from melachah—creative, productive work. We stop and recognize that HaShem runs the world, not us. But during the week, there is plenty of work to do. Of course, there is the work we do to earn a living and support our families. But there is another kind of work that deserves just as much attention: the work we do on ourselves.

As we approach Labor Day, I want to focus on two areas of that work. The first is what we call cheshbon hanefesh—taking an accounting of where we are holding. Think about what happens at work. Once or twice a year, a manager may sit down with an employee and review how things are going. Are you meeting your goals? Where have you improved? Where are you falling short? What should you be working on next? We need to do the same thing in our personal and spiritual lives. What are my goals? Am I actually moving toward them? How is my relationship with HaShem? How am I treating my family and the people around me? Where have I grown, and where do I still need to put in more work? Real personal growth takes labor.

The second area is the work of the body. Exercise is work. Sometimes it's hard work. Sometimes it's fun. Often it's both. But just as most of us understand that we need to work during the week to support ourselves, I believe we also need to put some work into maintaining the bodies HaShem gave us. I'm not talking about trying to win a bodybuilding competition. I'm talking about having energy and endurance, being able to lift, push and pull, being able to walk, bend and climb stairs, and keeping our muscles, bones, heart and lungs functioning as well as possible as we get older.

Think about your car. You fill it with gas. You change the oil. You get it inspected. You replace the tires. If something isn't working properly, you take care of it. Why? Because you understand that if you want your car to keep running, you need to maintain it. Our bodies are infinitely more complex than our cars—and infinitely more important. If your car stops working, you can get another car. You only get one body, and that body is on loan from HaShem.

So this Labor Day, perhaps we should each ask ourselves: Am I doing the necessary labor to take care of myself? Not because I need to look like a fitness model or run a marathon, but because I want the strength and energy to serve HaShem, help my family, learn Torah, work, give to others, and hopefully remain active and independent for many years to come.

This Labor Day, let's celebrate the work we do. But let's also remember that some of the most important work we'll ever do doesn't happen at our jobs. It's the work we do on our nefesh and on our guf. Both require effort. Both require consistency. And both are worth the labor.