What Do You Do?

By RABBI DAVID ROSENN

Parashat Vayigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27)

Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household..."Now it will be, when Pharaoh has you called and says, 'What is it that you do?' you shall answer: 'Your servants have been breeders of livestock from the start until now, both we and our fathers...'"

(Genesis 46:33)

When Joseph has finally been reunited with his family in Egypt, he prepares them for their first encounter with Pharaoh by telling them what sort of questions to expect. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, a 19th-century German Jewish commentator remarks on the nature of the interview:

In such a land as Egypt, where a person is judged only on the basis of his labor, where a person is born not as a person but as an artisan, a farmer, a soldier, etc., the question regarding occupation would naturally be the first question.

(Commentary on the Pentateuch)

Rabbi Hirsch critiques Egyptian society for defining people on the basis of their work—and implicitly, our own society; the very first question asked when meeting someone for the first time is usually "What do you do?", not "Who are you?" or "What do you care most about?" He rejects the reduction of people to their occupational roles. The rabbis of the Talmud made a similar point about self-description in the following midrash:

At the Time of Judgment in the future world, everyone will be asked, "What did you do?"

If the person answers, "I used to feed the hungry," they will say to that person, "This is God's gate; you, who fed the hungry may enter."...

If the person answers, "I used to give water to those who were thirsty," they will say to that person, "This is God's gate; you, who gave water to those who were thirsty may enter."...

If the person answers, "I used to clothe the naked," they will say to that person, "This is God's gate; you, clothed the naked may enter."...

Similarly with those who raised orphans, and who performed the mitzvah of tzedakah, and who performed acts of compassion and kindness.

How is what we do professionally related to who we are as people? For people without jobs, or with limited employment options, how might that relationship be different?

© AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps