By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
Money shmoney. Who cares about money. Conventional wisdom would suggest that holy people should stay far away from it. It only causes trouble.
That’s actually what the Jewish people suggested before they left Egypt.
Someone came by the Rebbe (click here to see the video) and asked, it says in the Torah that the Jews didn’t listen to Moshe’s announcement when he told them that great news that they were going out of Egypt. They were apathetic to it. This person asked the Rebbe, why didn’t Moshe try to entice the Jewish People to listen to his good news about redemption by telling them about the great wealth that would accompany the Exodus. Surely if he would have told them that they would get money, they would have listened with more eagerness.
The Rebbe explained. The Midrash tells us that when Moshe told the Jewish People that they would be going out, but not just yet. They would need to wait a bit till the ‘wealth’ component that had been promised to them would be set up. Upon hearing about the reason for delaying the departure from Egypt to wait for money, the Jews said to Moshe,
WE DON’T WANT THE MONEY. JUST GET US OUT OF HERE ASAP.
In other words, the challenge was to get out of their slavery mindset and dare to dream about redemption. For that change of mindset, money played no role. It was meaningless to them as an objective during their oppressed state of being.
The moment that they understood what Moshe was saying, that they are being promised a bright future, they embraced freedom, but rejected the importance of wealth.
All they wanted was freedom. Money was the last thing on their mind.
When a person is going through excruciating suffering, the only thing on their mind is their life and their health and their freedom. Money pales away.
I have heard people who are in the throes of deep suffering with health issues, express themselves, that they wish that their troubles would be ‘merely about money’.
(Now I know, many people for whom money struggles are hugely challenging, and I truly pray and hope that Hashem free all of us from any struggles that overwhelm us. But I think you know what I mean regarding the difference between life and death, health and sickness issues vs financial struggles).
So why didn’t they leave Egypt a bit earlier without the wealth as they had wanted.
Because HASHEM insisted that they needed to come out with wealth.
From the very beginning, when Hashem had told Avraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land, and they would go out with a great wealth.
Fascinating.
The Jewish people were pleading to just leave. Without money.
Hashem insisted they need to leave with money.
It gets even more interesting.
The Jews were leaving. They asked the Egyptians for items and money as Moshe had instructed them in the name of Hashem. The wealth was given voluntarily by the Egyptians.
Not just did they hand over what was asked for them. The Torah says that the Egyptians forced more items upon them than they had asked for.
The Israelite asked for one item, the Egyptians said, ‘take two of the item’ but just get out of here already. They were fed up. After ten plagues they just wanted the Jews out. They couldn’t care less about money during that panic.
‘Take more money than you asked’ for they said. But just exit our country.
Indeed, the Jews emerged from Egypt with great wealth.
From these details, you see clearly who was behind this amassing of Jewish wealth.
Not as our detractors would make it sound, that it stemmed from greed.
Not at all.
It was Hashems intention that the Jews walk out of Egypt with money and valuables.
Hashem rejected the plea of the Jewish people to forego the money as long as they get an earlier exit.
Even once the Jews did adjust their vision and follow orders to ask the Egyptians for money upon exiting, Hashem orchestrated that they would get more than they asked for. Even though the Jews were modest in their financial requests from the Egyptians before leaving, the Egyptians came and plied them with much more wealth than they asked for.
No question here.
As the Jewish people emerged from slavery to become an independent nation, they were instructed and empowered to be wealthy. G-d literally deposited wealth on their laps.
Hashem wanted the Jewish people to be wealthy.
Why?
Let’s understand what wealth is.
Abundant livestock. Precious metals. Fine fabrics. Quality wood. Precious stones.
All of these things, (the rarer they are the more valuable they are), can be used for multiple purposes.
Precious stones for example. They can be used to stud the uniform of a despotic barbaric ruler. Or they can be used to adorn the vestments of the Kohen Gadol in G-d’s Temple.
Wealth can be used greedily.
Riches can be used altruistically and philanthropically.
Tzedakah giving to those who need help. Food. Clothing. Shelter. Paying for the education of those who can’t afford to school their children. Providing heat in the winter. Taking care of the elderly who can no longer take care of themselves.
Obviously Hashem wants us to use our wealth to further His objectives.
The Jewish people are called the ‘chosen people’, as they are the nation who is entrusted with implementing G-d’s plan here on earth. And sharing G-ds’ mission for humanity with all of the inhabitants of the earth.
Let’s fast forward to our contemporary lives.
We all know that money is a big trial. It is a big temptation. Too often we see that wealth corrupts. People do immoral things to follow after the all-mighty dollar. Not just immoral things. People even do stupid things. Dangerous things. Things that cause them shame and deep regret. So many of our contemporary news headlines are about people who succumbed to the glitter of money and did corruptive and shameful things.
Just because it is so often abused, does not mean that it is inherently negative.
The story of Exodus opens our eyes to the true, healthy and uplifting perspective about money.
And we are all wealthy in some way.
Even if you don’t look at yourself as wealthy, consider that if you have indoor plumbing, you are wealthier than the richest magnate of two centuries ago. If you have air conditioning you have more luxury than the kings of yore. Thank G-d most of those reading this article subsist on more than dry bread and water (if you are reading this and need help for food, contact me please). I think you get what I mean.
In our generally wealthy generation, it would behoove us to get our minds wrapped around what the purpose of wealth is.
It is not bad.
It is good.
But it must be used for the right reasons.
G-d wants us to be filled with blessings. Health, long life, wealth and all the other good things of life.
And G-d wants us to work on using it for creating a dwelling place for the Almighty in this lower world.
Click here for a deeper look at this.
Wealth becomes a distraction when it becomes the REASON for living.
Just like food, or any other physical pursuit.
Do you live to eat? Or eat to live.
Living to eat can lead to very unhealthy eating behaviors.
Eating to live, would mean that you make your choices based on nutritional value, sugar and fat content etc.
Do you live to earn money? Or do you earn money to live.
If you live to earn money, you may find yourself doing something that is detrimental to your life in order to make money.
Whereas if you make money to live, it would be foolish to endanger your life in order to make that money.
What message are you giving to those around you about the main agenda of your life.
In what direction are you steering your children and students?
Do you educate your kids only to be able to ‘make a living’ and provide themselves with a comfortable material life?
Or is it more important to you, to educate your kids about the meaning and purpose of life?
I met a depressed soul who had money, had hobbies, but didn’t have a ‘career’. In his words ‘I am in my fifties and don’t even have a career yet’.
When I asked him ‘why do you need a career’ he was shocked. After all everyone knows you need a career. I persisted and explained. A career is needed to have money to live. You already have money that you inherited. Enough to live for the rest of your life. Careers are important to give you a sense of meaning and purpose. Your hobby, taking care of needy creatures, is filling you with a sense of purpose and meaning as you yourself have told me.
As we analyzed this together he came to the conclusion that the lack of career that he was talking about was just because of the ‘peer pressure’ of having a career. When he meets people and they ask ‘what do you do’, he feels bereft. As he doesn’t have a career.
This is how confusing our contemporary lives can be.
Once you understand that life is about creating a space for G-d here on earth, you understand that all the resources of life, wisdom, health, children and yes even money, are instruments and vehicles to promoting G-d’s agenda in the world.
Peace. Kindness. Goodness. All with the selfless spirit of dedication to others, just as G-d expects of us.
Love your fellow as yourself. This is the main point of the Torah.
May you be blessed with and abundance and healthy wealth.
To my friend in his fifties without a career? Embrace your mission. Keep on volunteering at places that need your help. But don’t feel like a loser. Recognize that you are a WINNER.
Hashem has given you the ultimate blessing. You have your physical needs met.
Time to EXODUS from the pervading culture that teaches us to value ourselves based on our ‘jobs’ and ‘careers’.
Recognize that you are a child of G-d. YOU have the mission to do what only YOU can do, to make your surroundings into a Garden of G-d.
A word of advice. Don’t chase wealth. Making ‘channels’ to allow for wealth or facilitate blessing, is ok. But keep your values and morals and inner compass pointing straight to G-d and His Torah and Mitzvahs.
Its quite simple. If you are not destined to get the wealth that you are chasing, you can huff and puff till you are red in the face, it will remain elusive.
Conversely, if G-d so desires, then you don’t have to ‘run’ or exert. The ‘Egyptian’ whom you thought was your ‘captor’ will come and ‘push’ wealth on to you.
When that happens, embrace the blessing with thankfulness to the Almighty and do the right thing. It will be good for you, for others, and you will thus create a dwelling place for G-d here on earth.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor