Wealth and Property

Part I. Using Wealth

A Nation Becomes Wealthy

Everyone remembers that the Bnei Yisroel were loaded down with tremendous wealth when they left Mitzrayim. בָהָז י≈ל¿כּו ף∆ס∆כ י≈ל¿ּכ םƒיַר¿ˆƒּמּוֲ‡¿ׁ ̆ƒּיַו ֹ̇לָמ¿ׂ ּ̆ו – And they took from the Mitzrim gold and silver and clothing (Shemos 12:35). Everybody became wealthy then; םƒיַר¿ˆƒמ ̇∆‡ּלו¿ּˆַנ¿יַו – they took so much that it was as if they emptied out Mitzrayim (ibid., 36).

What was the purpose of all this wealth? Now, I imagine that the Bnei Yisroel thought they’d be bringing it with them into Eretz Canaan. That was the original plan after all, to go straight into the land that was promised to them. And they’d have to build up the land; they’d have to build homes and villages and cities. They’d have to seed fields and plant orchards.

You know, it takes a lot of wealth to build a country. Even if you’re not going to be like the silly pseudo-liberals who pour millions of dollars into the never-ending trash bin of welfare, it still requires big money to move an entire nation into a country. And so it would be of great help to go into Eretz Canaan with a lot of money.

Change of Plans

But what happened? In this week’s sedrah we see that the first thing they did with their recently acquired wealth was not using it for their own purposes, for their own homes; it was to build a Mishkan for Hashem.

A command was given: םָכֹו ̇¿ּב יƒּ ̇¿נַכָׁ ̆¿ו ׁ ָּ̆„¿ ̃ƒמ יƒלּוׂ ָ̆ﬠ¿ו – You should make for Me a Mikdash and I will dwell there among you (Shemos 25:8). And immediately the Bnei Yisroel responded to the call and they began to bring their wealth to build a Mishkan for Hashem. ̇∆ל≈כ¿ ּ̇ו ̇∆ׁ ֹ̆ח¿נּו ף∆ס∆כָו בָהָז יםƒּזƒע¿ו ׁ ̆≈ׁ ̆¿ו יƒנָׁ ̆ ַ̇ﬠַלֹו ̇¿ו ןָמָּ‚¿רַ‡¿ו– Gold and silver and copper, wool dyed of various colors, and goats’ hair (ibid. 4-5). They brought expensive wood and oils and spices. Gems too; beautiful, expensive stones (ibid. 6-7). And it was ׁ ̆יƒ‡ לָּכ ̇≈‡≈מ, from everyone. The entire nation took part in using their wealth for building the Mishkan.

Now it could be that forty years later some of that wealth was brought into Eretz Canaan too; I imagine they used it for building homes or for other purposes in Eretz Canaan. But in this week’s sedrah we see that our forefathers understood what wealth is actually intended for, what its purpose really is.

It’s Not Personal

The entire nation, „ָח∆‡ ב≈ל¿ּב „ָח∆‡ ׁ ̆יƒ‡¿ּכ, rose to the occasion and emptied out their tents. The nation brought to Moshe Rabbeinu their terumah, their donations, for the Mishkan because that generation, the Dor Deiah, understood – more than any other generation – that the purpose of wealth, of property, of anything acquired in this world is for avodas Hashem.

Not like people think, that its primary purpose is for our own enjoyment, our fun, only that we’re willing also to make a donation to the cause of avodas Hashem; we’ll share it with Him. No, that’s entirely an upside down way of looking at it. By means of emptying out their tents and bringing their newly acquired wealth for the Mishkan they put into practice this ideal that the primary purpose, the only purpose, of the gifts that Hashem gives you in this world is the service of Hashem.

Reviewing the Lesson

And it’s such an important lesson that they studied it for forty years. The Mishkan, after all, was in the middle of the camp where they could all see it always and so they were constantly reminded of that teaching. And parents would tell their children, “You see the House of Hashem over there, the place where we serve Hashem? That’s where all the wealth that we took out of Mitzrayim went.

“It took a lot of our treasures to build that Home for Hashem, the place of His service. And inside are beautiful expensive keilim made of gold and copper and silver; and bigdei kehuna, expensive garments. That’s where our money went,” they said, “to the place dedicated to the service of Hashem. Children, remember that! Whatever you have in this world, is for a purpose, for serving Hashem.”

Reward or Not?

That’s an important principle that the Rambam teaches us in his Hilchos Teshuvah. The Rambam there asks a big kashe. We know from the Gemara that ‡ָּיכ≈ל ‡ָמ¿לַﬠ י‡ַה¿ּב הָו¿ˆƒמ רַכ¿ׂ ̆ – there’s no reward for a mitzvah in this world.

And yet, says the Rambam, it’s remarkable that wherever you look in the Torah it's telling you about reward in this world. And a lot of it! You say it every day: יַ ֹ̇ו¿ˆƒמ ל∆‡ּעו¿מ¿ׁ ̆ƒּ ̇ ַﬠֹמָׁ ̆ םƒ‡ הָיָה¿ו – if you will listen carefully to my mitzvos, then I’m going to give you good things in this world. רַט¿מ יƒּ ַ̇ ָ̇נ¿וׁ ֹ̆ו ̃¿לַמּו ה∆רֹיו ֹוּ ̇ƒע¿ּב ם∆כ¿ˆ¿רַ‡ – I will give you the rains at the best times for the fields and orchards; the early rains and the late rains (Devarim 11:13-14).

And Hashem tells you there concrete things. ך∆נָ‚¿„ ָּ ̇¿פַסָ‡¿ו – And you’ll gather your grain. Grain means your wheat and your barely and your oats and your spelt and your rye. ך¿ׁ ֹ̆ירƒ ̇¿ו – and your wine, ך∆רָה¿ˆƒי¿ו – and your oil (ibid.). It means if you do My mitzvos you’re going to enjoy Olam Hazeh.

It doesn’t say you’re going to get Olam Haba, some next-worldly reward. It doesn’t even say that you’ll have bigger yeshivas, bigger gedolei hador, tzaddikim to guide you. It tells you you’re going to have wealth; plain and simple – wealth, money, greenbacks. That’s what it says openly. And it’s the same thing wherever you’ll look in the Torah; everywhere you’ll find that such rewards are promised.

So isn’t that an open contradiction to the statement in the Gemara that ‡ָּיכ≈ל ‡ָמ¿לַﬠ י‡ַה¿ּב הָו¿ˆƒמ רַכ¿ׂ ̆ – there’s no reward in this world for a mitzvah? That’s the question the Rambam asks in Hilchos Teshuva.

A Different Type of Reward

And he answers as follows: It’s not a reward, he says. Reward is a different story. ֹ̇ו¿ˆƒמ ל∆ׁ ̆ ןָרָכ¿ׂ ̆ ןַּ ַ̇מ ַﬠ≈„ֹיו הָּ ַ̇‡ ין≈‡ – As long as we’re in this world we’ll never know the reward of mitzvos (Pirkei Avos 2:1). We can’t have any idea what it’s going to look like because the payment for a mitzvah is so big that there’s no space to fit it into this world. That’s a rule. י‡ַה¿ּב הָו¿ˆƒמ רַכ¿ׂ ̆ ‡ָּיכ≈ל ‡ָמ¿לַﬠ – You can’t be paid in this world! (Kiddushin 39b). A mitzvah is so big that this world is too small to pay for it.

And so what is all this Olam Hazehdige reward? The answer, the Rambam says, is that it’s a different type of reward; you’re being rewarded with the wherewithal, the ability to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu even more. ם∆כ¿ˆ¿רַ‡ רַט¿מ יƒּ ַ̇ ָ̇נ¿ו is talking only about one thing and that’s the opportunity to do more in the service of Hashem.

It means that the dagan and tirosh and yitzhar and whatever other parnassah you get in this world, whatever you have in your bank account or under your mattress, has nothing to do with payment for your mitzvos. It’s intended to facilitate your avodas Hashem; to enable you to continue what you’re doing and even to do it more, to accomplish more and better. That’s the purpose of all the rewards in the Torah, the Rambam says.

And that’s what our forefathers were thinking as they brought their gold and silver and everything else to Moshe Rabbeinu; that when you receive any type of wealth, you’re expected to know what it’s for. If you’ll do more mitzvos as a result, if you’ll serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu better as a result, very good. Anything else means you misunderstand what it’s for.

Watercooler Conversation

It’s like when you’re employed in an office or a factory and your boss is pleased with your performance; he sees that you’re doing good work and turning out products. So he installs a cooler in the office that gives cold water to drink; you shouldn’t have to go out around the hall to look for it.

Then when he sees that you’re using the water for good things – whenever you get tired you re-invigorate yourself with a cold drink and you get back to work – so he installs a machine that dispenses coffee too. It’ll give more boost to your work, the extra caffeine. Another machine he puts in that gives you other things to eat so you shouldn’t have to spend any time out of the office. He puts in air-conditioning and machines to clean the air and so you work at top performance; everything to facilitate the employee’s performance.

The Reward of Opportunities

Hakadosh Baruch Hu is our Boss. And when He sees you’re a good employee, that you know how to produce, He says, “I’m looking for a man like that,” and He’ll give you a push to help you along, to facilitate and increase your productivity. And that's what it means הָו¿ˆƒמ הָו¿ˆƒמ רַכ¿ׂ ̆ – the payment for a mitzvah is the opportunity to do more mitzvos (Pirkei Avos 4:2).

The possuk says „∆סָחָו הָ ָ̃„¿ˆ ף≈„ֹר – if a man pursues charity and kindliness to other people, „ֹבוָכ¿ו הָ ָ̃„¿ˆ יםƒּיַח ‡ָˆ¿מƒי – he’s going to find life and charity and honor (Mishlei 21:21). What does that mean? A man who likes to give money for good Torah causes, he likes to support yeshivos, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to encourage him. First of all, He'll give him life. Instead of seventy years of giving charity, He'll give him eighty years and ninety years. It means opportunities! Like a worker who works overtime for his boss. He produces more.

And tzedakah; he’ll get more and more opportunities. Hakadosh Baruch Hu sends him more money and more opportunities and he'll give more and more.

And kavod! He'll get more honor too. Because he’s a charitable man, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives him a certain influence; he goes around asking people to donate and everybody respects him and they give.

Reward, Yes; Payment, No

So this man, he went out of his way to give tzedakah and all of a sudden the yeshiva calls him up to be involved in their dinner. He’ll get some honor there. And he’ll make some more money too – he’ll find out that his stocks are worth more. And life! He’ll be healthier; he’ll live longer too.

But is this a payment? No. It's encouragement. That’s the purpose of everything Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives you. The purpose of grains and wine and oil and the apartment you live in and the paycheck you bring home from your work – the purpose of all the things you take from this world – is the service of Hashem and kavod Shomayim.

And when it’s used for what Hakadosh Baruch Hu intended, then it’s not a reward. It doesn’t come off your Olam Haba. It’s like the worker in the office who’s drinking cold water from the fountain his boss gave him and he’s thinking, “Maybe this will come off my check at the end of the week when I go home.”

No Deductions Allowed

He doesn't realize that the boss is doing these things so that he shouldn't have to stop work. If he wants a drink, right here is the drink. And when it's comfortable, you can produce more. Even a bathroom is installed in the same room so he shouldn't waste a minute. And at the end of the week, when he leaves the factory on Friday afternoon, he gets his full check; nothing is deducted. It's certainly not less than anyone else, and that’s in addition to the conveniences he enjoyed all week long. Probably he’ll get a bonus too for everything he accomplished for his boss.

That is what we are learning here; that as much as possible whatever you have in this world is intended to help you prepare for the Next World. It’s for building up yourself – you’re a mishkan too – by means of avodas Hashem, and that’s all. And the more you use what He gave you for its purpose, the more you’re fulfilling that ideal that our nation learned when they used their wealth to build the Mishkan in the wilderness.

The Vital Caveat

Now, we have to clarify an important point here, a caveat. You know what a caveat is? It means a qualification, an exception. Because suppose those workers in that office see that the boss put in so many good things and so they say like this: “The boss doesn’t mind if we drink cold water or hot coffee all day. He wants us to eat sandwiches from the machine. We can sit back, put our feet up on the desks and eat and eat.”

They’ll even add on to what he does. He’s giving them a water cooler in the office so they pitch in and they buy an inflatable pool, they fill with water from the water cooler and they go swimming in the office. They put on bathing suits and they spend time bathing. And they bring in, let’s say, a library of books to read, a whole locker of magazines.

The Boss Means Business

So the boss comes in one day and he sees his employees eating sandwiches and reading magazines with their feet up on the desks. “What’s this?” he says.

“You’re a good boss,” they say. “You’re giving us such good times!”

“Oh no!” Hashem says, “I’m not doing it for that. You’re taking the things that I’m giving you to facilitate your avodas Hashem and you’re misusing it; you’re making it into a reward for itself. Yes, I want you to have רָה¿ˆƒי¿ו ׁ ֹ̆ירוƒּ ̇ ןָ‚ָּ„ – grains and wine and oil and all good things. Butּרו¿מָּׁ ̆ƒה ם∆כָל – be on guard, ם∆כ¿בַב¿ל ה∆ּ ̇¿פƒי ן∆ּפ – your heart shouldn’t become silly because of the good things I’m giving you.

It’s only for production! But once you’re going to use these things as an end in itself, then ם∆כָּב 'ה ףַ‡ הָרָח¿ו – I won’t be happy with that at all (Devarim 11:16-17)

And so, if you get a paycheck and you’re using it for avodas Hashem, very good. If you have money in the bank and you’re using it to build a Mishkan in your home, excellent! Maybe you’re helping others build their own Mishkan. Very good! That’s called production! Why should the Boss deduct anything from your paycheck in the Next World?

A Home For Torah

If you fill your home with seforim, many seforim, big seforim, that’s also good. It means that you’re using your house for avodas Hashem. It’s a good idea by the way. A Shas is the most beautiful ornament for the Jewish home. If your money is used to buy a beautifully bound Shas, printed on nice, strong paper, and it sits proudly on your shelves, excellent! When visitors come in, you show it off to them, and when they say, “What are these big volumes?” you can tell them that the Shas is the pride and joy of your home. Like in the Mishkan, the Torah, the luchos, was in the center, in the Holy of Holies, in my house the Shas is what’s most important.

I was once in a man’s house, and he took me into a special room where he had his coin collection. He was showing me his African coins and his Chinese coins and I was thinking, “Is that the way to use a room in a house that Hashem gives you?”

The Talmud Bavli, now that’s a collection. It’s the masterpiece of our nation. Isn’t it beautiful? Even if you don’t read it, it’s a masterpiece, a showpiece for your visitors. Take out the volumes and show them, “Look at this. And look at this one. Isn’t it beautiful?!”

A Home For Avodah

And if you use it, even better. If you make your home a place of learning Torah, that’s a home that won’t be deducted from your reward in the Next World. It’s a gift from Hashem that you’re using for its intended purpose, for avodas Hashem.

If you’re raising good frum children in that home, that’s a home that won’t be deducted from your reward. You have a big table in your dining room? Make sure you make brachos on that table. Learn Torah on that table. Write tzedakah checks on that table. And the bigger the table, the bigger the checks have to be. Absolutely.

I know a woman in Boro Park who has ten extra beds, mattresses, in her house. It’s not a big house, but they have extra beds for people who need it, for people to come in and sleep. Any wayfarer who knocks on the door at night and says, “I have no place to sleep,” they don’t ask any questions. “Come in. We have a place here to sleep.”

And there are children all over the place. She has her own little children all over the place. That’s a picture of a person using the wealth of this world to produce, to accomplish.

The Never Ending Paycheck

But if you’re like the employees who make a pool from the water cooler and you use this-world things for olam hazeh, so you’re upending the principle of ‡ָּיכ≈ל ‡ָמ¿לַﬠ י‡ַה¿ּב הָו¿ˆƒמ רַכ¿ׂ ̆. You turned it upside down and chalilah you’re eating your reward in this world.

Because right side up is that there is no such thing as paying for a good deed in this world. That’s the truth – it should be impossible to cash in your check in this world because the payment for a mitzvah is a check with zeros in a long line from now until infinity. Suppose you had a check, a check that lasted from here – a long check, a long thin piece of paper from here down to Philadelphia. And there was a one followed by zero and zero and zero, and the zeros go all the way down to Philadelphia.

But that's not enough because it's finite. The payment for a mitzvah means that the zeros go from here into outer space and if you took a rocket ship and you sped at the speed of light, you would travel for a million years and that check would still be curling out into space. That's a little picture of what it means to do a mitzvah, one mitzvah.

Even the Banks...

You can’t cash such a check in this world. You’re going to try the little banks here in New York City? All the banks together don’t have enough money in the vaults. So you’ll have to go to the Bank of England. Maybe there. So they empty out the place from the top to the bottom, still it’s not enough. Only some of the zeros can be canceled, the last few ones. All the other zeros remain. Even Fort Knox cannot buy out such a check. The check you get for a mitzvah can’t be cashed in this world.

That’s right side up. But if a man sets his mind on collecting payment for his mitzvah in this world, he might get it. If he decides that by hook or by crook he wants it that way then we oblige him. And if that’s how it is, chas veshalom, that's the biggest misfortune that can happen to him.

It's like the man who cashes in a big check for a little smoke. I told you this mashal recently. A man had a big check and he was passing through a little town and he wanted to smoke. He had no cigarettes. So he came into this one little store in the town and they said, “Mister, I’m sorry but we can't cash that check. We don’t have that much change to give you. We’re only a little store. We have one pack of cigarettes left and we don’t have that type of money here to give you change.”

But he’s dying for a smoke, he’s addicted, so he says, “Take the check anyhow and give me a pack of cigarettes.” And so he left the check with, let's say, three zeros on it for a pack of cigarettes. He cashes in the thousand-dollar check for a two-dollar pack of cigarettes.

Everybody will say it's a pity. Such a fool! Why didn’t you just wait?! Restrain your appetite! You'll smoke a day later.

The Worry of Luxuries

But that fool is us. That’s the man who wants to cash in his Olam Habo check in this world. He wants his house because it’s an Olam Hazehdigeh house. His car and his chandelier and his bank account are all Olam Hazedigeh things. He’s enjoying it to no end but he’s making the biggest error that anyone can ever make because he’s eating up his reward in this world.

We have to be very worried about that. Unless a person is living according to this principle that what he has in this world is for avodas Hashem, he has to be choshesh that maybe he’s eating up his reward in this world with all of his Olam Hazehdigeh luxuries.

Just Say No

And therefore I will tell you my private opinion – I don’t say you have to agree with me, but I don’t have to agree with you either – I say that anything that you could do without, it’s a mitzvah to accustom yourself to not have it. It’s a mitzvah to train yourself to do without all the excessive things. Traveling, and restaurants, and cars, and telephones, magazines and newspapers, and beautiful homes, chandeliers and carpets, dining room tables and couches, and all types of foods. If you don’t need it, then make do without it.

Your children too should be raised that way. Today, I see that people are feeding children all kinds of ideas, all kinds of wrong ideas. No, I disapprove of that. I don’t think that children should become accustomed to unnecessary and superfluous things. Don’t get them accustomed to luxuries, to going places that cost money. A child should be taught how to live a frugal life and to desire only what is necessary.

Here’s a very frum family. I love that family; I admire them very much. They have a girl about seventeen years old and she made a visit to Eretz Yisroel. A seventeen year old girl should spend so much money on a trip to Eretz Yisroel?! Traveling is very expensive! It’s a luxury! Think of all the