Blog Post

03
Aug

Money

Money

 

If I was rich girl (na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na nah)

See, I’d have all the money in the world, if I was a wealthy girl

-Gwen Stefani

 

This week’s Torah portion focuses on the effects of being prosperous and the ensuing challenge of balancing our material desires on the one hand and spirituality on the other. Moshe reminds the Jewish people that all their needs were met when they traveled the desert in the past 40 years. They didn’t have to worry about food or clothing and it was quite the pure and spiritual existence. The Torah then describes their soon-to-be new environment – the land of Israel – painting it in very lush terms. It is a good land with streams, mountains and valleys. We even hear of the types of foods that will be found there – wheat, barley, grapes, dates, figs and the new superfood, pomegranates! 

 

Along with this imminent prosperity comes a warning that the Israelites should not get too full of themselves and conclude that “my strength and vigor has got me all this power and wealth!” and end up forgetting where it really came from. This warning is a very appropriate and timeless one for too often we see the ill effects that wealth has on the ego. Successful people often deem their achievements to be based solely on their wisdom or intelligence when their fate could have just as easily gone the other way.

 

People often dream of being wealthy. They fantasize about winning the lottery and how it will bring them happiness and joy. Yet study after study shows that many of those winners have had their lives spin out of control and end up becoming worse. They no longer know whom to trust or who their real friends are. Often we hear of how they quickly fritter away their winnings and find themselves back where they were before their windfall. 

 

The main error people make when dreaming of becoming mega-wealthy is that they think they will still have the same mindset as when they were making their regular middle-class salary. And this is simply not the case.

 

Once your net worth is so many millions more than before, you look at life and opportunities very differently. Your trip to the mall becomes a completely different experience. Whereas you used to stroll past Koosh Jewelers, glance and admire the collection of watches, rings and the like and then keep on walking, now, as a newly minted millionaire, you actually stop in and consider which of those articles to purchase. And once you indeed buy that gorgeous watch or ring, you go back again to buy something else as you soon grow tired of what you have which is now so yesterday.

 

The same is true as you visit the Jaguar or Tesla showroom after discarding your Hyundai but then conclude that you need to step it up yet another notch and perhaps get yourself a Bentley or Aston Martin. Many areas of life that were once off-limits suddenly become available and open for exploration such as political influence, homes in other countries, private jets, boats, etc. The list is endless. As one attains each new plateau of riches, the next one opens up – and on and on, and on it goes.

 

The rabbis in the Talmud had an acute understanding of this phenomenon and, as they often do, were able to sum it up in a very succinct fashion. “He who has one hundred wants two hundred, and he who has two hundred wants four hundred, and he who has four hundred …” you get the point. They appreciated that once one attains one level of material success, it does not end there but continues on in an endless chase for more. 

 

So what is the antidote to this mindset that afflicts all of us and not just the super rich? Yes all of us for let’s face it, our lifestyles today is like the super rich of 100 years ago. The answer is found in one verse from this week’s Torah portion. To ensure that one does not get lost in this endless game of material pursuit, the Torah reminds us that “Not by bread alone does man live, but rather by all that comes from the mouth of God does man live.”

 

This teaches us the balancing act between our never-ending want for more versus our spiritual needs. We are told that material needs – manifested by its most basic component, bread – will never suffice. By it alone we cannot ever expect to find satisfaction or ultimate happiness. Only when your stuff, your “bread” is combined with the spiritual – with that which “comes from God’s mouth” – then and only then can one truly have a fulfilling life.

 

If, while filling our belly, we also fill our soul with holy activities: with good deeds, with wisdom, with bettering the world, with growing as a person, with helping our fellow man – then we get a truer perspective of the good things in life and realize that, while they may provide some fun and excitement, they don’t fill my inner being. My sense of calm, meaning, spirituality and knowing that I am a Godly being created in His image only comes from those higher pursuits above and beyond my material ones.

 

So while Judaism is all for enjoying God’s world and His endless bounty, it needs to be enjoyed alongside a regular diet of spiritual as well, lest the physical desires become an endless, bottomless, all consuming pit that can only destroy since it has no boundaries or limits.

 

“Not by bread alone does man live, but rather by all that comes from the mouth of God does man live.” Tempering our good fortune with a constant dose of meaning and Godliness gives us the proper balance that allows us to enjoy His world properly. If we don’t inject spirituality into our lives, then the material world will end up consuming us instead of us consuming it. 

 

All the riches baby, won’t mean anything

All the riches baby, don’t bring what your love can bring

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