The golden rule is that there is no such thing as extra. It doesn’t work to say, “I grabbed extra for myself....” A person is provided with his needs. Anything above that has a very specific cheshbon, as we have discussed.
Sometimes, a person already has enough parnassah for his needs, but he nevertheless takes another job. He says that he needs it to marry off his children. Sometimes people will say that they need it for the children, but it’s really because of the timeless rule of מאתיים רוצה מנה לו יש, one who has one hundred wants two hundred. Whose money do you want to take? The Ribbono shel Olam has provided you with your needs! Anything above that won’t be yours anyway!
Surely a person must engage in earning a livelihood along normal and accepted lines. But hoarding wealth, accumulating money, is wrong—for this is what the Ohr HaChaim has revealed to us: It is impossible for shefa to come to the world more than what is needed for the inhabitants of the world!
