Work

In the Bible, work can be seen as part of the human experience from the outset of humanity: when God creates man, God puts man in the garden of Eden to "work it and preserve it." When Adam and Eve later sin by eating from the tree of knowledge, Adam is cursed with a future of arduous labor: "by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread". In describing the commandment of Shabbat, the Torah contrasts Shabbat with weekdays, which are described as days of work. Rabbinic and later texts delve into the question of whether work is intrinsically valuable, how to balance work and other values, and the proper ways to treat workers.