Spirituality should come before skills

For the past few months, I’ve been trying to help a young man find a job.

This man is very talented and holds a double master’s degree from a respected university, but he hasn’t been able to find a job. So I reached out to a few people I knew and made introductions, hoping it could help him land a good job.

Suddenly, the line went dead, and I didn’t hear back from him.

Then, today, after a few weeks, I got this message: “Rabbi, thank you for everything you did. I found a job! I am working at my father-in-law’s furniture company. By the way, do you need dining room chairs? We have some great ones to sell.”

I didn’t need the dining room chairs, but I needed to know how common it is for someone who spent years in college to end up in a job that doesn’t require a college education.

I always suspected that the numbers were high.

So I did some research, and I was right! According to a February 2024 report from the Burning Glass Institute, “52 percent of graduates are underemployed a year after graduation. Even a decade after graduation, 45 percent of graduates are underemployed.”

Nearly half of graduates are still underemployed a decade later! Think about that: the years of study and the mountains of debt may not even relate to how they earn their living.

I wouldn’t have written about this story if not for the fact that it’s directly related to a topic in our Parsha, which the Rebbe was very passionate about.

The Rebbe assumed leadership of Chabad in the 1950s, and at the time, college was becoming more popular.

For many Jewish immigrants, it was the golden ticket out of poverty: their child could become a doctor, a lawyer, or an accountant, and be someone they could be proud of.

Obviously, this concept is still popular today; I am sure you have heard the joke: “David and Marcie Goldberg are proud to announce the birth of their child, Dr. Michael Goldberg.”

In response, the Rebbe had a clear message: don’t have the children worry about earning a living so young. Focus on giving them a Jewish education; have them immerse themselves in Torah and Mitzvot; and, when the time comes, help them find a way to earn a decent living.

As the sages tell us, when Yaakov was about to immigrate to Egypt with his children, he sent his son Yehuda first to prepare. Not by learning Egyptian, not by looking around for the best jobs, but to establish a Yeshiva, a spiritual environment that will connect them with G-d and help them in whatever comes next.

We are almost in 2026, and the Rebbe’s message seems even more relevant than before.

I wish more young Jewish men and women would spend more time in Yeshiva and less in college. In our society as a whole, it’s time to reexamine the place (and price!) of higher education.

Hopefully, more kids can prioritize strengthening their spiritual journeys.

So yes, let them become doctors or lawyers if they so choose, and hopefully everyone can find a well-paying job, but let’s not forget about the most important part: a strong spiritual foundation.