"Moses sat to judge the people. They stood around Moses from morning to evening." (Exodus 18:13)
It would seem that Moses spent all his time judging the people. Yet, it was obvious to the Sages that this could not be the case.
The Talmud relates that Rabbi Hisda and Rabba spent the entire day in court, until they felt weak. It is unclear whether this was a physical weakness from overwork, or a psychological depression from time lost from Torah study. Rabbi Hiyya, seeing their exhaustion, advised the two judges to limit their working hours:
"The verse says that Moses judged the people from morning to evening. Yet, if that were true, how could he have achieved such an unsurpassed level of Torah learning? Rather, the Torah is telling us that one who judges correctly, even for just one hour, is like a partner with God in creating the world. The Torah describes creation with a similar phrase: 'It was evening and morning, one day.'" (Shabbat 10)
Rabbi Hiyya's statement requires clarification. If judging is such a wonderful occupation - one becomes a partner with God! - then why not adjudicate all day long? And what is the significance of the comparison to creation of the world?
The strongest desire of great individuals is to serve the community and help others to the best of their abilities. Rabbi Hisda and Rabba felt that they could best serve the community by bringing social justice and order through the judicial system. Therefore they invested all their time and energy into judging the people. For these judges, any other activity would be a lesser form of serving God. However, their concentration on public service was so intensive and all-encompassing that it came at the expense of their own personal physical and spiritual welfare.
Rabbi Hiyya explained to the scholars that while their public service was truly a wonderful thing, it is not necessary to neglect other aspects of life. If one only judges for one hour, and spends the rest of his time improving his physical and spiritual well-being so that he can better serve in his public position, in essence his entire life is directed towards his true goal. A sincere person understands that working towards personal perfection will enable him to better serve the community. Better an hour of productive activity in a fresh, relaxed state of mind and body, than many hours of constant toil in a tired and frenzied state.
What is the connection to the verse describing the first day of creation, "It was evening and morning, one day"? The day is one unit, made up of two parts - daytime and night. Morning and afternoon are meant for activity and fulfilling our goals. The night is the time for resting and renewal. Together, daytime and night form one unit, constituting a 'day'.
These two aspects - activity and renewal - also apply to the individual who works for the public good. The hours spent in physical and spiritual renewal serve to help him in his public role, and they become part of the higher goal of community service.
It would seem that Moses spent all his time judging the people. Yet, it was obvious to the Sages that this could not be the case.
The Talmud relates that Rabbi Hisda and Rabba spent the entire day in court, until they felt weak. It is unclear whether this was a physical weakness from overwork, or a psychological depression from time lost from Torah study. Rabbi Hiyya, seeing their exhaustion, advised the two judges to limit their working hours:
"The verse says that Moses judged the people from morning to evening. Yet, if that were true, how could he have achieved such an unsurpassed level of Torah learning? Rather, the Torah is telling us that one who judges correctly, even for just one hour, is like a partner with God in creating the world. The Torah describes creation with a similar phrase: 'It was evening and morning, one day.'" (Shabbat 10)
Rabbi Hiyya's statement requires clarification. If judging is such a wonderful occupation - one becomes a partner with God! - then why not adjudicate all day long? And what is the significance of the comparison to creation of the world?
The strongest desire of great individuals is to serve the community and help others to the best of their abilities. Rabbi Hisda and Rabba felt that they could best serve the community by bringing social justice and order through the judicial system. Therefore they invested all their time and energy into judging the people. For these judges, any other activity would be a lesser form of serving God. However, their concentration on public service was so intensive and all-encompassing that it came at the expense of their own personal physical and spiritual welfare.
Rabbi Hiyya explained to the scholars that while their public service was truly a wonderful thing, it is not necessary to neglect other aspects of life. If one only judges for one hour, and spends the rest of his time improving his physical and spiritual well-being so that he can better serve in his public position, in essence his entire life is directed towards his true goal. A sincere person understands that working towards personal perfection will enable him to better serve the community. Better an hour of productive activity in a fresh, relaxed state of mind and body, than many hours of constant toil in a tired and frenzied state.
What is the connection to the verse describing the first day of creation, "It was evening and morning, one day"? The day is one unit, made up of two parts - daytime and night. Morning and afternoon are meant for activity and fulfilling our goals. The night is the time for resting and renewal. Together, daytime and night form one unit, constituting a 'day'.
These two aspects - activity and renewal - also apply to the individual who works for the public good. The hours spent in physical and spiritual renewal serve to help him in his public role, and they become part of the higher goal of community service.