White Ibises : What Do You Do?

These are White Ibises. They were far away, flying high and fast. The photo doesn’t provide the usual level of detail and clarity that I typically seek to offer. It’s a purposeful choice with these beauties. Even way off in the distance, these birds are unmistakable. The white bodies with black “hands.” The wading-bird shape elongated for flight. And that bill! It’s so prominent and distinctive that distance hardly matters in identifying this bird. These elements taken together, fitted into a pattern, all join to confirm these birds’ identity. These were “lifers” for me, the first I’d seen; but it was clear immediately what they were, and I marveled watching them with a deeper sense of recognition, a sense of understanding.

It is fascinating to think about the professions of the Talmudic Sages. Some of them were what we might think of today as “Jewish professionals.” They led scholarly academies and made careers out of their teaching. Others were full-time students. These men came from wealthy families, or had wives who supported them, or simply lived in material poverty. But other Sages - no less learned or eminent - held a wide variety of day-jobs. They were merchants and traders, political leaders and community dignitaries. Famously, Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest of the Greats, worked as a shepherd and a woodchopper. Wisdom, scholarship, and piety are revealed as integral characteristics of a person rather than merely prerequisites for a job.

“What do you do?” How often have we asked this question? The question is a euphemism for “How do you earn your living?” And the implicit - real - question is, “What is your identity?” Imagine the cocktail party if we instead answered literally: “I use my time as a parent and a partner. I serve my community. I’m fascinated by and study x, and y, and z. And I cherish my relationship with God which I honor with my time, talent, and treasure. That’s what I do.” Might this be a bit of a stunner? Sure. But how would you feel if you chatted with Akiva, and what you took away was learning… he’s a woodchopper. Identity - true identity - can be obvious like an Ibis or subtle like a Sage. Our job is to discern the difference.