RABBI NACHMAN'S ADVICE: MONEY AND LIVELIHOOD

1) Worthless pursuits and malicious gossip can only lead to poverty in the end. Pride also causes poverty. The remedy is to give charity, which brings blessing and prosperity (4:8).

2) Immorality can deprive a person of his livelihood (7:5).

3) Intense prayer makes one worthy of one's livelihood (9:2).

4) The less careful a person is about upholding his moral standards, the more unpleasantness and hardship he will experience in his efforts to earn a living (11:4).

5) In order to draw God's providence upon ourselves completely, it is necessary to break the desire for wealth. The way to do this is by giving charity. When a person gives money to charity, it cools his urge to acquire. He will conduct his business affairs truthfully and honestly, he will be satisfied with his portion in life, and he will have pleasure and contentment from what God has blessed him with. Because he is not desperate to get rich, he is free of the constant struggle to make extra profit. The burden of this struggle is the fulfillment of the curse: "by the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread" (Genesis 3:19). Giving charity frees a person from this. It is accounted to him as if he had made an offering of incense before God (13:1).

6) The desire for wealth is literally a form of idol-worship. So long as it continues to exist, the world is under the shadow of God's anger. But the more completely it is uprooted, the more God's anger is lifted and the world radiates with the blessing of His love. The messianic spirit begins to spread; understanding springs forth, and it is as if the Holy Temple had been rebuilt. New horizons of Torah are revealed, the Torah that is destined to be revealed in time to come (Ibid. 2-5).

7) The more a person craves for money, the more turbulent and confused his mind becomes. Eventually he turns into a fool (Ibid.).