The Cost of Money

Torah Portion: Eikev

The Cost of Money

By

Rabbi Moshe Rothchild

Believe it or not in just about seven weeks Jews around the world will be gathering in synagogues to celebrate the awesome days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. On these days we will reflect upon and consider this past year on a personal and a communal level. The intensity and climax of the day is felt during the service when we recite the “Unetaneh Tokef” prayer in which we describe the power and nature of the day. In the midst of the prayer there is a line that reads “B’nafsho yavi lachmo-With his soul (life) he brings his bread..” What is the meaning behind this phrase?

Many people believe that they will find happiness when they achieve material success. When we are young we dream and imagine the day when the money will be pouring in-fancy cars, houses, world travel etc. We hope for a life without the limitations and constraints of financial struggle. Though we pay lip service to the expression “money doesn’t buy happiness” we live as if it does. We acknowledge that health is more important than money as well. Yet, we risk our health to make money and then we spend our money to restore our health. If we can be honest with ourselves for a moment I think we will conclude that the allure of money and what we are willing to do to get it and maintain it is far greater than we are willing to acknowledge. Often the price we pay for money is the surrendering of our souls.

For many, money plays a huge role in defining who they are. A simple litmus test is to ask yourself what you would be like if faced with, Gd forbid, sudden financial problems. What if you were forced to sell your home and move your family into a small two bedroom apartment? What if you had to sell your cars and survive using only public transportation and walking? What if you were forced to sell your most precious jewelry in order to put food on the table and pay the bills? What if you couldn’t afford a housekeeper, membership at the health club, summer camp for your kids, family vacations, nice clothing? Considering all of the above, would you be the same person you are right now? Be honest! Sadly, I think most people would not be the same. Much of our self worth and self esteem is tragically attached to our material success.

In the Torah reading this week it refers to the manna, (the miraculous food that Hashem provided daily for the Jewish people throughout their stay in the dessert) as a test. Why is this considered to be a test?

Perhaps the challenge is in the easy availability of the manna. Life was good-nobody had to struggle to earn a living and work hard to put food on the table. Our food was provided for by Gd and therein lies the test.

Today, we have experienced material success beyond the wildest imagination of previous generations of Jews. We have built beautiful homes filled with all kinds of possessions, we drive nice cars, own businesses, take luxurious vacations and spend copious amounts of money to ensure that our kids are always happy. But what price have we paid for that success? Do we feel that it is our hand that has brought that success? I don’t think I would have been able to say this 10 or 20 years ago, but today I do believe that money is an enormous challenge, one that has led more people away from Hashem than even tragedy. Perhaps it is not felt as sharply because it happens slowly and gradually but I firmly believe that the end result of the process has led to the staggering numbers of Jews opting out from Judaism in the United States. Material success has decimated American Jewry. We have lost all perspective.

What is the solution? Birkat Hamazon. Yes, you heard me correctly. Birkat Hamazon (Grace after Meals). THERE IS NO RELIGION IN THE WORLD THAT HAS A GRACE AFTER MEALS EXCEPT FOR JUDAISM. PERIOD. This unique mitzvah found in our Torah portion this week is not at all about thanking Gd for food. It is all about thanking Gd for material success! Eating and feeling satisfied from a good meal is simply a paradigm for financial and material success. It symbolizes our ability to turn to Gd when we are satisfied and not only when we feel that we are lacking. It is easy to ask Gd for help when we lack money or other things. The real challenge of success is to intensify our relationship with Gd and not to let it slip away with feelings of personal accomplishment that we believe is independent of Gd. Easier said than done but that is why it is called a challenge.

A number of years ago I used to give a weekly shiur (class) in business ethics to a group of businessmen during their lunch break. Most were business owners, some more and some less successful than the rest. In the course of one of our classes we were discussing the topic of challenges in this world and what we are meant to learn from those challenges. I told the group that in life we all face tests with various degrees of difficulties but no challenge is impossible to confront and to overcome no matter how difficult it may seem while you are in the heat of the moment.  I told the group that we may not realize it but wealth and success is also a challenge. One of the men sitting in the group with a big grin on his face blurted out loudly, “Bring it on!”

While of course his line got a great laugh, in reality it is no laughing matter. Wealth is a test and like all tests it is fraught with risk and with the possibility of failure. However, like all tests it also carries with it the potential for greatness. Birkat Hamazon is the antidote that allows us to see clearly and keep our material success in proper perspective.