I once read about a certain Rebbe, into whom a man once came and said, "Rebbe, for years my brother sent me a check for $2,000, and I lived off it all month. But this month he stopped sending money. I called him and asked why he stopped the deposits, and he said, 'I retired – no more deposits!' The Rebbe asked him, "And you didn't ask him why?!"
"I asked him!"
"And what did he answer you?"
"He told me, 'My dear brother, I reached retirement age, and since my wife and I are staying at home, I decided to inquire about a nursing home in case we need it; the cost for a couple is 18,000 shekels – that's if we are independent. But in the case of needing care, the cost for each is 20,000 shekels; I took a calculator and started calculating how much it would cost us to pay until age 120 – I considered everything and decided I don't want to be left without money at age 98. But don't worry, I left you a significant portion in the will. But from now on, the tap is closed – I'm not taking risks."
The Rebbe told him, "Call your brother to me, I want to talk to him." Meanwhile, he calls his brother and tells him the Rebbe is asking for him. As he leaves the Rebbe, a lady enters and says, "Honored Rabbi, my husband is afraid every day that he will die – he is not willing to leave a single penny in the account – every month we have a surplus, he immediately calls the Kupat Ha’ir (charity) and transfers the money to them!"
The Rebbe said, "The world is interesting; one is afraid he might live until 120, and the other is afraid he might die tomorrow morning – call your husband to me!" Both couples enter together to the Rebbe; and the Rebbe says to them, "Stop being so afraid – Hakadosh Baruch Hu will save you from all your fears! You, don't be afraid to live long, and you, don't be afraid to shorten your days!"
If so, this world is a world of חוּלְדּ וֹת – hoarders; everyone hoards all day! In contrast, in the sea, the situation is a bit different; all the animals that are on land are in the sea, except for one animal – the חוּלְדָּ ה, the mole! And why isn't it there?! Very simple. Because there is no savings plan in the sea!
R’ Zalman Sorotzkin, in HaDeah v'Hadibur continues and says: But the creatures of the water, which were created as a reminder of the past Shemitah, when there was no food at all, and even in this Shemitah their food (land) is available to them at all times and everywhere – they do not have the trait of hoarding and leaving. There is no חוּלְדָּ ה trait in the sea, and consequently, there is no creature teaching this trait – the mole itself – and only land is the dwelling place for this creature.
If so, in the sea, they eat day by day! There is no catching a trout and hiding it under a rock! You catch it – you eat it! Rav Ganzfried in his Sefer Apiryon says: and would you think that the fish get what they want to eat?! Let's take an example of a big salmon; it spots a small sardine and starts swimming towards it to eat it – do you think it will succeed in catching it?! He says, it is known that the fish swallowing its friend swallows it from head down and from tail up, as we see when a fish is cut open and a swallowed fish is found inside, its head is towards the tail of the swallower and the tail of the swallowed is towards the head of the swallower. And we know from this that the fish swallowing its friend swallows it as it comes towards it and not as it flees from it, unlike other animals where the smaller one flees from the larger one, but the larger one chases it, catches it, and devours it.
This means, Rav Ganzfried tells us, Hakadosh Baruch Hu told Mr. Salmon, "You open your mouth and start swimming – when you open your mouth, there are fish swimming against traffic, and they will enter your mouth automatically!" Suddenly the salmon doesn't understand how it got full! And from what did it get full?! Not from chasing the trout, but from two and a half tons of sardines swimming in the opposite direction of traffic! It turns out, he is satisfied with food he did not plan to eat; he planned to eat trout for lunch, and in the end, he is satisfied with two and a half tons of sardines!
Therefore, it turns out that the fish is the opposite of the mole – it is the symbol of anti-savings plan – "What is there to save?! I just open my mouth and the whole school enters!" The question arises – why does a person steal? It is very simple. Because he wants to save – "Why should that guy over there save up?! I'll save for him!"
Shlomo HaMelech says: ֵא נַפְשׁ וֹ כִּי יִרְ עָב ַנָּב כִּי יִגְנוֹב לְמַל לֹא־יָבוּזוּ לַג
