CHASSIDIC PEARLS ON PARSHA BY RABBI LAZER BRODY PARSHAS KI TAVO

The simple interpretation of the above passage is that one is truly blessed when he receives his livelihood for an entire year by way of minimal effort in the field. Contrastingly, Adam was cursed after he sinned and ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Hashem told him (Breshit 4:17-19), "Cursed is the soil because of you; through suffering you shall eat of it all the days of your life … thorns and thistles it shall sprout … by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread!" Since the Torah calls severe toil a curse, then we can certainly conclude that the opposite - "eating our bread" through minimal effort - is the Torah's blessing. Rebbe Nachman of Breslev teaches that we are all capable of attaining the blessing of an ample livelihood without breaking our backs from sunup until sundown. On the contrary, Rebbe Nachman suggests that we heed the Torah's advice and spend minimal time and effort trying to make money. At this point, most people raise a skeptic brow and argue, "If I don't put in a solid day's work, my family will starve! Even at ten hours a day, I'm not making enough to make ends meet!" Such a reaction is the perpetuation of the curse, "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat…"