Time Off: How Jews & Designers Retire

Rabbi Maury Grebenau

Stefan Sagmeister
1
, a designer of everything from buildings to furniture to CD covers,
closes his New York City studio every 7 years for a full year to experiment and think with his
entire staff. He says that frequently the ideas he comes up with in that year off sustain him for the
next 7 years. His idea came from the thought of splitting up retirement and repurposing it. He
took five of the fifteen years of retirement and spread them throughout his working career. His
idea is considered very novel to many, but it is of course an echo of shmitah which appears in
this weeks parsha. But it isnt just the 7 years cycle or the year off which Stefan picked up on.
The core question is, how do we understand the purpose of time off? Stefans usage
stands in contrast to the normal idea of retirement and really the idea of leisure in general. People
look at retirement as an end in and of itself, the goal is to not work. For Stefan, the goal of his
time off is to recharge himself to be able to be more effective in his life. This message is very
Jewish and can also be seen within the laws of Shmitah (the sabbatical year) in our Parsha.
We are told that it is forbidden to harvest the produce which grows in the field (sefichin
see Vayikra 25:11) during the Shmitha year. Shmitah seems to be the archetype of time off when
the farmer is commanded not to work his field for an entire year where the land as well gets a
rest. Not working the field fits into this idea well, but why cant we harvest what grows by itself?
Rav Yeshayah Horrowitz (Shlah parshas Behar) explains that this detail is rooted in a very
deep message about leisure contained in Shmitah, which Stefan seems to have intuited.
Olam HaBah, the next world, is the part of creation designed for enjoyment. We will be
done with our work and will be there to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Similarly, in Gan Eden
before Adam and Chava sinned, there was no need to work the land for the trees and plants to
produce. However, in this world, we do need to work. When it comes to the next world then we
have an end in and of itself; we are meant to enjoy being close to Hashem. However, in this
world the time we have off of work each Shmitah is not the same type of break at all. We do
need to have time off to recharge our batteries but this time off must not be confused with Olam
HaBah. Shmitah represents a time off of this world, it is a respite designed to give farmers and
workers a year off to spend time working on more spiritual pursuits. It is not an end in and of
itself, but rather a time to prepare ourselves to utilize the next number of years in a way which
brings us closer to Hashem and further toward our spiritual goals. This is the idea behind not
eating that which grows by itself during the Shmitah year. We are not to treat the Shmitah year
like we are in Gan Eden and eat of the fruits which grow themselves. We need to be reminded
that this break is not an end in and of itself the way we will experience Olam HaBah.

1
Hear his Ted Talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_the_power_of_time_off#
He is also spoken about in Drive by Daniel Pink pg. 156
There is a puzzling Gemara which seems to extend this dichotomy to the Jewish view of
happiness in general. The Gemara speaks of two apostates who are arguing over which of them
are superior, they both have names which mean a certain type of happiness in Hebrew (Sason &
Smcha) and the Rabbi answers that Sason will be used as a utensil to draw water and Simcha will
be used as a coat to go out in, basing each on clever word play in a pasuk. The explanation that
was given was that these apostates represented an incorrect worldview that happiness is an end in
and of itself, thus an argument about exactly which type of happiness is the ultimate goal. The
Torah view is that happiness is a means to an end similar to a utensil which helps us to draw
things out or a coat which allows us to move about in the outside world. Similarly, happiness
allows us to accomplish important things but is not a goal to be sought.
This message is even more critical today when we are in an era where it is not just
physical labor which distracts us from our spiritual goals but our attention is pulled in so many
directions. Dr. David Pelcovitz often quotes the Rabbeinu Bachaya who warned about pizur
haNefesh (the scattering of the soul) which is an apt description for our hectic lives. We must
give ourselves the gift of Shmitah. We must turn our attention towards our family and towards
our spiritual goals. There is a need to take time off but we must remember that the goal is not the
vacation or the relaxation. Leisure and happiness are chased but never really materialize. Time
off is a means to recharge and prepare ourselves. May we all have the ability and wisdom to use
our time off in the Shmitah spirit!