The "Bottom Line" - Business vs. Torah

When one makes  a siyum, it is customary to recite the "hadran". One of the themes that runs through the hadran is the contrast between those who put their efforts into learning and those who invest all their time and energy into other, trivial things.

In the middle of the text we recite:
"We [those who learn Torah] work hard and they [those who spend their time on trivial things] work hard. We work hard and receive a reward for our efforts while they work hard and do not receive any reward..."

The Chofetz Chaim is reported to have explained this comparison as follows - in the physical world it's all about results. If you work and work but don't produce - you don't get paid. When it comes to learning however, it is specifically the effort and the investment of self that generates the reward - regardless of the bottom line of actual progress and accomplishment. If someone barely knows how to read Hebrew but he struggles to get through a few pesukim with Rashi, he will be rewarded like a more advanced student who pushes himself to finish a long masechta.

But that seemingly leaves us with a question - why would we emphasize this point specifically at a siyum which in and of itself is a celebration of objective accomplishment? Why do we announce that the Torah doesn't consider the juice-to-squeeze ratio at the very moment when we're enjoying this milestone that has been reached?

The passuk in Shemot (18:20 to be exact) refers to the Torah as a "Derech" - a "Path":

 וְהִזְהַרְתָּה אֶתְהֶם אֶת-הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת-הַתּוֹרֹת וְהוֹדַעְתָּ לָהֶם אֶת-הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵלְכוּ בָהּ וְאֶת-הַמַּעֲשֶׂה אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשׂוּן.

The very nature of a "path" is that it is a place where people move and progress. Stopping for a break on the side of the path is totally within reason, but this does not fulfill the ultimate purpose of the path which is to facilitate constant movement of its travelers. 


Perhaps at a siyum we stress that while we are taking a quick break on the side of the proverbial road to celebrate the completion of this leg of the journey, we must remember that this is not the final stop and our objective must be to continue as far as we can go. 


This is the difference between "us" and "them" as we say in the "Hadran". In the material world it is often all about meeting a deadline and completing a specific project or task. Meet the objective satisfactorily and you will be rewarded. Miss it and you will have to deal with the consequences. Often there is no "A for effort".

Torah however, is meant to be a "Derech" - an ongoing path for improvement and progress. You didn't daven so well this morning? Don't worry - you'll do better at Mincha. Didn't understand the answer of Tosafos? You'll give it another shot next time you review this perek. Do the best you possibly can and if you stumble don't stop to feel sorry for yourself because going forward you'll do even more and even better. One who lives with this outlook is truly worthy of his reward in the eyes of the Torah.

I pride myself on being a "balabus" who strives for effort and excellence at work, at home, in Shul and int he Beit Midrash. I don't see working and learning as "two worlds" that run in parallel but rather different aspects of a complete Avodat Hashem. Sometimes however, the "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" attitude in the business world causes to me take a step back and try to keep things in some sort of perspective...

Perhaps this is all obvious to whoever takes the time to read it, but even the most obvious things are worth repeating once in a while