Pirkei Avot 2:2

Pirkei Avot 2:2

"Rabban Gamliel the son of Rabbi Yehuda the Prince said, good is Torah study together with a worldly occupation, for the exertion in both makes one forget sin. All Torah study without work will result in waste and will cause sinfulness. Anyone who works for the community should work for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of their [the community members's] forefathers will help him, and their righteousness endures forever. And as for you, [says G-d], I will grant you much reward as if you accomplished it on your own."

This mishna contains a powerful insight about work in general and a more specific insight about work for the community in particular.  The first tells us that Torah study together with a worldly occupation is good because exertion in both makes us us forget sin.  Both are required, for exertion in a worldly occupation makes us tend to be materialistic and self centered, working only for money and what it can buy, and putting little value on the well being and dignity of others, whereas study of Torah teaches us that there are other, higher values than money and material things, and that the well being and dignity of others is an ultimate value in itself.  This insight is perhaps self-evident to a religious person.  However the converse is not so obvious, and seems not to be followed by religious persons who spend most or all of their working time learning Torah.  It is almost counterintuitive for a religious person, in light of the traditional value placed on Torah study.  One might wonder how Torah study could result in waste and cause sinfulness.  Torah study without work wastes our capacity to be productive and to create order and sustenance for others.  Torah study without work can cause sinfulness by causing us to be less ethical in our actions toward others by being less generous or even dishonest in our dealings with others in order to support ourselves and our families.

The more specific insight relates to people who work for the community.  I understand this to include Jewish fundraising and service and defense organizations and synagogues, and organizations that support the State of Israel, and the State of Israel itself.  The sentence "Anyone who works for the community should work for the sake of Heaven, for the merit of their forefathers will help them, and their righteousness endures forever" is ambiguous: it could mean that anyone who works for the community is working for the sake of Heaven, or that anyone who works for the community ought to work for the sake of Heaven.  Having spent much time working in community organizations, I subscribe to the latter interpretation.  I have seen many people in community organizations that focus on the advancement of the organization to the detriment of the community as a whole or worse, on their own honor, and others who work for the organization, but keep the interests of the community as a whole at the forefront.  The merit of our forefathers will help those who pur the interests of the community at forefront, but not those who are focused on preserving the organization's turf or on their own honor.  The final sentence, that G-d will grant them much reward, as if they accomplished it on their own, is a beautiful thought that gives a sense of enhanced holiness to the work we do for the community, if it is done in the right spirit.