“And it was from the time that [Potiphar] appointed [Joseph] over his house and all that he owned, that God blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph.”
The three major arenas of interaction that characterize the corporate environment are:
- Interaction between the company and its employees.
- Interaction between the company and its markets.
- Interaction between the company and its investors.
Any broad strategy for corporate success needs to address the dynamic governing each of these spheres.
The fundamental strategy that we wish to put forth is founded upon the three principles of Involvement (תּבוָרּעוְמ), Quality (תּיכוֵא), and Flow (הָימִרְז). It will become clear from the following discussion how each of these principles can serve to guide a corporation in negotiating its diverse interactions and together help maximize profitability and success.
The three dimensions of corporate activity identified above center around personnel (employees), product (markets), and capital (investors). Thus, our formula can be easily summarized as consisting of personnel involvement, product quality, and capital flow. Before we proceed to elucidate each of these components in light of Chasidic thought, let us consider two places in the Torah where the significance of these three principles is hinted at.
The first is a phrase that appears in the book of Proverbs, where the Torah refers to itself in the following words: “God created me as the beginning of His way, the most primal of His works from the outset of time” (זָאֵיו מָלָעְפִם מֶדֶ קֹכּוְרַּית דִׁאשֵי רִנָנָהוי' ק).
The words kedem (םֶדֶק, “the most primal”) and mifal (לָעְפִמ, “work”) possess connotations which render them particularly relevant to a discussion of corporate enterprise. The word kedem, which literally means the “fore,” also denotes “progress” or “advance.” The word mifal implies any creative enterprise, and in modern Hebrew is used specifically to mean a manufacturing plant. Together, these two words evoke the following association from the above verse: “To advance an enterprise (םֵּדַקְללָעְפִמ), promote m e’a z (זָאֵמ)”—i.e., work on Involvement (תּבוָרּעוְמ), Quality (תּיכוֵא), and Flow (הָימִרְז), whose initials spell m e’a z (זָאֵמ).
The Three Appearances and the Composition of the Word Me’az
The word me’az appears only three times in the Pentateuch, suggesting a correspondence between those appearances and the individual principles of Involvement, Quality and Flow.
The first two principles can be said to correspond to the two appearances of m e’a z in the Book of Exodus. Its first appearance is in context of Moses’ hesitation to accept the responsibility of redeeming Israel from Egypt: “I am not a man of words, neither was I yesterday or the day before, or for as long as You have been speaking with Your servant...”
Moses’ attempt to defer responsibility, which certainly did not stem from indifference to his fellow Jews’ plight, can be seen as reflective of his wish not to actively interfere in a Divine enterprise. His overt concern was that involving himself in the process of redemption might encourage an element of self-interest—a concern which God rejected.
The second appearance of the word m e’a z relates to the seventh plague visited upon the Egyptians, that of hail: “The hail was very heavy—fire flashing in the midst of the hail—such as had not fallen on the land of Egypt since it had become a nation.” It is quite obvious that the word m e’a z is here used in order to establish the unique quality of that particular occurrence in nature.
The final principle associated with m e’a z—that of Flow—can be tied to the first appearance of the word m e’a z in the Torah, “And it was from the time that [Potiphar] appointed [Joseph] over his house and all that he owned, that God blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph.”
This verse underscores Joseph’s providential rise to success through the skill he demonstrated in managing the financial affairs of his Egyptian master. In accordance with his ability to inspire confidence and trust, Joseph became the quintessential model of the successful man (ַיחִלְצַ מׁישִא) who goes from “strength to strength.” In his story we find an explicit correlation between economic achievement and the word m e’a z.
Me’az and the 3 Principles
The three letters that comprise the word me’az (זָאֵמ) can themselves be seen as symbolic of our three principles:
- Mem (םמ), corresponding to Involvement (תּבוָרּעוְמ), is symbolic of “water” (םִיַמ), that medium which possesses the ability to mix or blend with other essences without altering their fundamental identity (and which corresponds to the Divine attribute of loving-kindness.
- Alef (אלף), corresponding to Quality (תּיכוֵא), is the supreme letter of the alef-beit (and the initial letter of “truth” [תֶמֱא] whose three letters represent the beginning, middle, and end of the entire alef-beit) and is explicitly used as a symbol of quality in the Mishnah, for example in the word “alpha” (אָפְלַא), indicating “top-grade.”
- Zayin (זין), corresponding to Flow (הָימִרְז), also suggests the idea of “livelihood” (as in the word for “sustenance” [ןֹזוְמ]), symbolic of the sustained flow of blessing from above that is achieved through man’s efforts below.
In the book of Psalms, the expression “from harvest to harvest” (ןַל זֶן אַּזִמ), whose initials spell m e’a z (זָאֵמ), evokes the image of flowing prosperity, while at the same time eliciting an association with the phrase “from strength to strength” (לִיַחֵמלִיַל חֶא), expressive of the spiraling flow of success.
Involvement“...for as long as You have been speaking with Your servant.”memQuality“...for as long as it had been a nation.”alefFlow“...from the time that [Potiphar] appointed [Joseph] over his house...”zayin(from The Dynamic Corporation)
