What’s your (true) occupation?

I once knew a man who became depressed after retiring.

I knew another who launched a business the moment he retired. He could not imagine not working.

And I knew a third who worked until his final breath, because the thought of stopping terrified him.

What did they all have in common? Their work was not just something they did. It was who they were. So the idea of not working felt like a loss of identity.

Can you relate?

I am not here to give a lecture on why work should not define you. (Maybe next time, LOL!) The truth is, most of us do connect deeply with our occupation. We often spend years advancing our careers and are very proud of our achievements. We should take pride in that. Earning a living and supporting our families is a mitzvah.

But here is the thing: Our occupation — and our self-definition — should not end with our job. It should also include something deeper: our purpose, our soul work.

This past week, we celebrated Lag Ba’Omer. On that day, we marked Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s yahrzeit. The Talmud describes Rashbi, as he is known, as someone whose Torah was his occupation. Torah was not his hobby or side project; it was his life’s center.

The Talmud tells us that while he was hiding from the Romans, a miraculous carob tree sustained Rashbi for 13 years. Whether or not he held a paying job before or after, Torah was his focus and aspiration.

Can you imagine if we started viewing ourselves through our spiritual pursuits instead of seeing ourselves as what we do to earn a living? Maybe, just like Rashbi, we can also say, “Torah is our occupation!”

Following Rashbi’s example might be a wise investment, particularly in our times. With the proliferation of AI, we can never know how long our jobs will be needed. So we could double down on something eternal: the Torah. It will never be outdated.

Since we will keep our daytime jobs (for now!), devoting our entire day to Torah learning might not be practical. Still, we can incorporate Rashbi’s approach in our daily lives.

The rebbe once offered practical advice on this. First, we should set fixed times for Torah learning. Even if we learn for only 10 or 15 minutes a day, the time we spend learning Torah can shape our day and give deeper meaning to everything else we do. Second, we should treat that fixed time as sacred.

The rebbe gave an example:

“Imagine if the phone rings on Shabbat. It doesn’t matter who calls, we are not allowed to pick it up on Shabbat, so that we won’t answer the phone. When the phone rings and we are in the middle of learning, we should treat this phone call as if it’s Shabbat. Don’t pick up the phone and continue with your learning.”

May we be inspired by Rashbi’s example to focus on our true career: bringing G-dliness to our lives and the entire world.

Mendy Kaminker is the rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He welcomes your comments at rabbi@ChabadHackensack.com