Why Should I Serve G-d Around the Clock? | Women's Pinchas Class 5786

Main Ideas

The class opens with memorial dedications honoring several people and their contributions to Jewish education, family, and community life.

Rabbi YY Jacobson then asks: What single verse best expresses the essence of Judaism? The question is not meant to diminish other commandments; it asks which idea most fully captures the tradition’s foundation.

The class recounts a debate among Jewish sages:

• “Love your fellow as yourself” expresses the moral obligation to treat others with care and dignity.
• “This is the book of Adam’s generations…” points to the sacred worth of every person, created in the image of God.
• Other verses are proposed as especially inclusive.
• The final verse highlighted in the class describes the daily offerings: one lamb in the morning and another in the evening.

At first, choosing a verse about a regular sacrifice may seem less profound than choosing one about love, human dignity, or faith in one God. The class’s central teaching is that the daily offering represents constant, steady service of God—a commitment that continues through ordinary life, not only during inspiring or dramatic moments.

Drawing on the Maharal, Rabbi Jacobson explains that Judaism’s power lies not only in its ideas, but also in the repeated practices that embody them. Daily rituals help make spiritual commitment part of a person’s habits, choices, and relationships.

What “Serving God Around the Clock” Means

The class distinguishes spiritual commitment from oppressive slavery. Devotion to God is not presented as surrendering one’s individuality to a tyrant. Rather, it is understood as living in connection with the source of life.

Rabbi Jacobson uses several analogies:

• A plug and electricity: A plug connected to a power source is not diminished by the connection; it receives the energy that lets it function.
• A leaf and a tree: A leaf is alive and able to flourish because it remains connected to the tree.
• The brain and the body: The body’s parts are not enemies of the brain; their coordination allows the whole person to live.

These images challenge the idea that independence means being entirely self-sufficient. The class presents human beings as distinct, creative expressions of a larger divine reality. Connection to God is portrayed as a source of vitality, not a denial of personal identity.

A Practical Lesson for Daily Life

Spiritual insight can arise in classes, seminars, or moments of inspiration, but those experiences may fade when people return to everyday routines. The daily morning-and-evening pattern offers a way to bring deeper values into ordinary moments.

Repeatedly returning to a spiritual commitment can gradually shape habits and responses—a process the speaker connects to the brain’s capacity to change through repetition.

The morning and evening offerings also symbolize service through changing conditions:

• In moments of clarity, a person may feel focused and connected.
• In moments of confusion, fear, anxiety, or emotional difficulty, that feeling may be harder to access.
• The commitment is not limited to clear or uplifting moments; it can also be renewed in the “evening,” when life feels uncertain.

The class interprets the offering symbolically as presenting one’s instincts and emotional reactions to God. Rather than reacting automatically—with anger, shame, avoidance, or defensiveness—a person can pause and choose a response aligned with truth, courage, compassion, and love.

The takeaway is that steady, small acts of commitment can shape a person more deeply than occasional intense experiences. Serving God “around the clock” means striving to keep that connection present in every part of life, including its routine and difficult moments.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Rabbi YY Jacobson — the class’s main speaker.
• Audience members — briefly offer suggestions in response to the opening question.
• Jewish textual and rabbinic sources: the Torah, Midrash, Talmud, Rashi, Hillel’s teaching about treating others, and the sages featured in the class’s debate, including Rabbi Akiva, Ben Azzai, and the figures associated in the subtitles with proposals about a more inclusive verse and the daily offering.
• The Maharal of Prague — cited for his interpretation of the daily offering as an expression of continuous service.
• Rabbi Jonathan Sacks — cited for an article discussing the Midrash and daily routines.
• Beethoven and Immanuel Kant — used as examples of disciplined daily practices.
• Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration, and Get to Work — cited in connection with creative people’s routines.