PARSHA - Ki Seitzei - Pay Laborers

This week's Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, contains the commandment to pay a hired laborer on the same day that he has done his work. We, the Jewish people, are considered the "hired laborers" of G-d. Our "task" is to observe the Torah and its mitzvot (commandments), and our "payment" is the reward G-d grants us for having obeyed His will.

G-d Himself performs the same mitzvot He commands us to observe. If we are forbidden to delay payment to our employees then G-d too is required to "pay" every Jew immediately upon the performance of a mitzva. Yet the Torah states, that we will receive our reward when Moshiach comes. Is this not then a contradiction?

This physical world was created solely because "G-d desired a dwelling place down below." Precisely here, in a coarse material world that obscures the holiness within, G-d wants His Presence to be revealed.

And so our Divinely-appointed job; the task of transforming the world into a suitable dwelling place for G-d is a collective one. The Jewish people has undertaken the collective charge of preparing the world for Moshiach, an undertaking that is not the responsibility of one individual, but is the duty of all Jews, spanning the generations since the beginning of time. Every mitzva that a Jew performs refines his body and purifies the world at large, gradually infusing the material world with G-dliness. Over the thousands of years of the world's existence this holiness has accumulated, readying the world for its ultimate perfection - the revelation of Moshiach and the Messianic Era.

The full reward for our efforts will be granted only when the job is completed and Moshiach is revealed, speedily in our day.

In addition to the main reward that G-d will give us when Moshiach comes, He rewards us now as well, providing us with our sustenance, so that we may be able to complete our task of transforming this world into a Divine abode.