Getting Out of Debt

Q: How does one cope with the stress of having debts?

A: Number one is that you must have a job. It’s very important to learn a parnassah. There are so many ways to make a living. America is a land of opportunity. You’ll only have a problem if you think you’re a choshuveh person and that it’s beneath your dignity to work. You want to act like a talmid chacham and live on charity and live in debt? Then you should know, Hashem is not satisfied with you. Yafeh talmud Torah im derech eretz — Together with learning, you have to work and make a living, shegi’as shneihem mashkachas avon — because exerting yourself in both will keep you far away from sin (Avos 2:2). If you work, you’ll pay off your debts. But if you don’t work, your debts will increase and multiply.

It’s a very important principle in life not to live a life of idleness. So you’ll tell me, “I’m going to learn all day long and have bitachon.” That’s not bitachon. It’s just wildness. It’s just yielding to the yetzer hara.

It’s so important for people to learn a parnassah. Now, you might say, “That’s a contradiction to our function in life. We should sit and learn all day long, all our lives.” No! It says, “Harbeh asu k’Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai v’lo alsah b’yadam — Many people didn’t succeed in following the path of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai,” dedicating their lives completely to limud haTorah at the expense of a parnassah (Berachos 35b). It’s not for most people. It’s for a mi’ut, a small minority. The majority of people cannot do that. Therefore, people must be honest with themselves and go out and make a living.

However, the best way to deal with debt is by not getting into debt in the first place.