Adapted from the teachings of Rav Avigdor Miller z"l
A young man burst into the offices of Holtzbacher Enterprises. “Hello,” he said to the receptionist. “My name is Aharon Horowitz. I need to meet with Mr. Holtzbacher right away.”
The receptionist looked down at a sheet of paper on his desk. “Hmm,” he said, tapping his fingers on his desk. “I don’t see you on his schedule. Are you sure your appointment is for today?”
“Oh I don’t have an appointment,” said Aharon. “I just need to see him right away - it’s very important!”
Just then a door opened and Anshel Holtzbacher stepped out of his office. “Mr. Holtzbacher!” Aharon exclaimed. “Please give me just five minutes of your time!”
“This is Aharon Horowitz,” the receptionist said. “He says he has something very important to discuss with you.”
Anshel Holtzbacher looked at Aharon and then at his watch, and then back at Aharon. “Alright, come into my office. But just five minutes.”
Aharon followed Anshel into his large, ornate office. “Okay, Aharon,” Anshel said. “What did you want to discuss?”
“I have an amazing business opportunity for you,” Aharon said quickly, opening up his boxes and pulling out a small object. “Look at this pyramid - isn’t it beautiful?”
“Uh - it’s very nice,” Anshel said. “But what’s your idea?”
“We’re going to sell them!” Aharon said, full of excitement, as he began to unpack his boxes, placing pyramids of various sizes on Anshel’s desk.
“I’m not sure I’m understanding,” Anshel said.
“It’s simple,” Aharon said. “Everyone loves pyramids, right?”
Anshel frowned, as Aharon continued.
“So my new business is going to be called Pyramid of Pyramids. And the way it works is people pay me $100 to sign up and they receive a free pyramid. Then, if they get other people to sign up, those people pay $100 and each get a pyramid. For each sign-up that a person brings in, he gets $10. If he signs up ten people, he gets an even bigger pyramid. If he signs up a hundred people, he gets this large pyramid, and if he signs up a thousand people, he gets a giant pyramid like this one over here - isn’t it gorgeous? And this way, everyone who joins gets free beautiful pyramids and they all make a lot of money - we won’t have any more poor people, because everyone will be rich!”
“Ummm... I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Anshel said.
“Of course it is!” Aharon said, pacing the room rapidly. “I took all of the money from my chasunah presents and invested it in these prototype pyramids. All I need is a five million dollar investment from you so I can make enough pyramids for everyone, and you’ll get a 25% share in the company, and I’ll be able to learn in kollel for the rest of my life! What could possibly go wrong?”
“Aharon, please have a seat,” Anshel said.
Aharon stopped pacing and sat down.
“Listen,” said Anshel. “What you’re describing is a ‘pyramid scheme’, and it’s illegal.”
“Why is it illegal to sell pyramids?” asked Aharon.
“It has nothing to do with pyramids. But this idea of getting people to give you money to sign up and then have them sign up more people and make money from them instead of from selling products is known as a ‘pyramid scheme’. It’s against the law.”
“I didn’t mean to break the law,” Aharon said, suddenly nervous.
“Well, you didn’t yet, boruch Hashem,” said Anshel. “But I want to bring up something else. In this week’s Parsha, Yaakov Avinu gives his sons brachos. But it starts off with him telling Reuven off for rushing into something without thinking it through. How do we understand that? He was giving brachos, not klalos. So why did he curse Reuven’s middah of being too hasty?”
Aharon looked at the floor. “I think I see where this is going,” he mumbled.
“Aharon,” said Anshel. “You seem like a very bright young man. But I want you to think about what just happened. You rushed into an idea without thinking it through, and spent all of your savings in the process. Don’t you think it would have made sense to speak to me or someone else about it first?”
“Yes,” said Aharon, still looking at the floor.
“Listen,” Anshel said. “I happen to know an art dealer who would be very happy to buy these pyramids off of you so you can get your money back. But I want you to promise me to be more careful in the future and not rush into things without giving them proper thought and consideration.”
Aharon’s face lit up. “Really? Thank you so much! And thank you so much for teaching me a valuable lesson!”
Have A Wonderful Shabbos!
Takeaway:
Rushing into things is not a good middah.
A yid should always think things through in a calm manner.
Let’s Review:
- Why was the pyramid scheme so important to Aharon Horowitz?
- What did Anshel teach him based on our parshah?
