GEN408 Sweet is the sleep of the laboring man. Ecclesiastes 5:11 Retirees, the unemployed, and incapacitated individuals must sooner or later cope with the problem of idleness. Prior to the enactment of modern social legislation, the primary concern of people out of work was one of economics. Social security and pensions have removed the specter of starvation from homes where the head of the family is no longer in a position to earn a livelihood. The partial solution of the economic problems has accentuated the social problem of boredom, which is bred by idleness. Young children, idle all day, while away their time while playing or by acting out their fantasies in a world of make-believe. Even then, they frequently react to boredom by plaguing their mothers with the plaintive question: “What should I do now?” Idle adults ponder over the same question with greater frequency, and unfortunately, the outlets afforded in childhood disappear in later life.  The effects of boredom on adults could be very devastating. Psychologist have discovered that retired people, with no interest or diversions to occupy their minds, have a shorter life-span then what their physical condition has led them to expect. Young people, bored by idleness, not infrequently drift into antisocial and criminal adventures. The problem of idleness received little attention in the Scriptures. This omission is not due to a lack of interest in the problem. It rather reflects the fact that there was little idleness in the primitive agrarian society of the biblical era. The divine rebuke of Adam, ”Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shall thou eat of it, all the days of thy life” [this verse] was an accurate prognostication of the hard life of a farmer. The lot of ancient women was not much easier. The farmer’s workday extended from sunrise to sunset, with nighttime sleep providing the only break. The Psalmist meditated on the long and wearying hours of hard-working people and warned them that even their sleep is filled with anxiety, except for those who put their trust in God. “It is vain for you that you rise early and sit up late, you that you eat the bread of toil; so he [God] gives [rest] to his beloved in sleep.” Psalm 127:2. The institution of the Sabbath, a day of abstention from work, did not create a problem of boredom. The primary purpose of the Sabbath was to allow man and beast some needed physical rest.  A period of rest between stints of labor was never considered a waste of time. It is as essential to the regeneration of energy as the respite of refreshing sleep in the hours of the night. A tired person, relaxing after hard labor, is never troubled by the restlessness which results from idleness. It is possible that the psychological needs of man do not normally require a full day of rest. The rabbis therefore urge that part of the Sabbath day, after one has rested, be set aside for study and intellectual stimulation. Gittin 58b BLOCH 175-6