A number of years ago I heard Rabbi Mordechai Becher speak. He was explaining that while we know the reasons for some of the commandments, the reasons themselves should not be the motivation for fulfilling the mitzvah.
"We aren't supposed to eat the gid ha'nasheh, right?" he said. "Why? Because Yaakov Avinu wrestled with the malach and his sciatic nerve was damaged. But that is not the reason why I don't the gid ha'nasheh. I don't eat the gid ha'nasheh because Hashem said not to eat the gid ha'nasheh."
I thought of this shiur when I read the article "The Secret to Effective Motivation" by Amy Wrzesniewski and Barry Schwartz. Sticking with something and seeing it through is based on two types of motivations, internal and instrumental.
Internal is when the act itself directly leads to the desired result; instrumental means that through the act, a desired result can come into being. I can no longer stand living in a pigsty so I clean my room: internal motivation. If I clean my room then my parents will let me shop again: instrumental motivation.
Apparently, according to the data, those who were internally motivated were more successful in West Point, whereas those instrumentally motivated flunked out. And, if they were powered by both internal and instrumental motives, they also failed.
Interesting, huh?
The implications of this finding are significant. Whenever a person
performs a task well, there are typically both internal and instrumental
consequences. A conscientious student learns (internal) and gets good
grades (instrumental). A skilled doctor cures patients (internal) and
makes a good living (instrumental). But just because activities can have
both internal and instrumental consequences does not mean that the people who thrive in these activities have both internal and instrumental motives.
Our study suggests that efforts should be made to structure activities
so that instrumental consequences do not become motives. Helping people
focus on the meaning and impact of their work, rather than on, say, the
financial returns it will bring, may be the best way to improve not only
the quality of their work but also — counterintuitive though it may
seem — their financial success.
While our actions can have internal and instrumental results, what leads to success is focus on the former, not the latter.
It made me also think of the ending statement of Koheles: "The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole man."
Do the mitzvos because you are supposed to do the mitzvos. Not because one day, hopefully in the distant future, you will stand on the day of judgement. But simply because they are supposed to be done.
4 comments:
It's nice to see someone else who focuses on the deed not the reward. Sometimes online Orthodox discussion makes me worry too many people are focused on what G-d can do for them and not what they can do for G-d. All these stories of "I did mitzvah X and suddenly I got married/got a new job/had a baby/etc." I can see why the kiruv organisations in particular take this approach, but I don't like it.
It troubles me because there is this assumption that Hashem needs us to do mitzvos. Hashem doesn't need us to do anything. Additionally, it's not a quid pro quo relationship we have with the Supreme Being, that we do something and He HAS to give us something in return.
It's the basic conundrum: Why do bad things happen to good people? Because being good is not about getting good. It's about doing what has to be done.
I just read three different posts from you I enjoyed each one, all for different reasons. That should tell you, there has to be talent present.
This one particularly struck a chord, not about "reward" as a positive but about the times, we get a bracha, we do not want and may not call a bracha. .....when we are challenged beyond the strength we believe we have. We don't say, why is HaShem punishing us....at least, we shouldn't be saying that.
I know what I say, "Everything G-d gives us, we can handle," and I keep saying this to get through it, how ever long this takes.
I wanted to say I love your recipes! I was frantic to find a good cabbage kugel recipe yesterday, and your post came up. Then I spent the rest of my day scrolling through all the deliciousness!
I'm a grandchild of survivors, and I am amazed how many times I have to remind myself of that same thing. My grandparents, who did everything right, what was the Holocaust about for them? And then me, with my first-world problems, remember how they viewed their relationship with Hashem, and just kept on going, not seeing it as punishment, but that it was for a reasons, albeit unknown.
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