An example of one who was overwhelmed by his desire for wealth was Ephron the Hittite. He was the one who had sold the cave of Machpelah to Avraham our Patriarch to be the burial location for Sarah, his wife. After Avraham had asked him the purchase price of the Machpelah, Ephron responded, ‘My lord, heed me! Land worth four hundred shekels; between me and you what is it?’ (Although he was asking Avraham for an enormous sum, he attempted to make it seem insignificant between the two of them.)
When Avraham began to weigh out the silver before him, Ephron saw the enormous pile of wealth before him, he became overwhelmed and he expressed himself immediately, ‘Only the best of graves shall you have!’ G’d said, ‘Because you were so taken by the enormous amount of silver, I swear by your life that in the end you will have deficiency.’ What was the deficiency? Reb Yehudah bar Levy Bar Shalom said that until Ephron had taken the silver from Avraham, his name is written in the Torah it was in its full form (spelling- including the letter ‘vav’). However, after he had taken the payment that Avraham had given, his name is written in a deficient form, with the letter ‘vav’ deleted.”
Rabbeinu Bachya explains in his commentary that the name Ephron in its deficient form (with the ‘vav’ deleted) has the same numerical value as “Aayin raah (evil eye).” Although Ephron had the opportunity to facilitate the purchase of a tzaddik, which would have given him a share in eternity, because of his overwhelming greed for wealth he forfeited his portion in the ultimate recording of eternity, which is the Torah itself. His name is thus recorded in a diminished form.
The Midrash in the Portion of VaYeishev states, “When one performs a mitzvah one should do it with a joyous heart. Had Reuven known that the Torah would attest to the fact to his true intent in placing his brother Yosef in the pit was so that he should ultimately return to rescue him, Reuven would have carried Yosef on his shoulder and taken him to his father Yaakov. If Aaron would have known that the Torah would have recorded how he came out to greet his brother Moshe in the desert with a joyous heart, he would have gone out to greet him with musical accompaniment. Had Boaz known his roasting of the kernels for Ruth would be recorded, he would have brought her fattened cows. In the past if one performed a mitzvah with a joyous heart it was recorded by the prophets. However, today that there are no prophets, who records these deeds for posterity? It is Eliyahu and Moshiach who record it and G’d signs upon it....” When one performs a mitzvah with joy, his action become part of eternity.”
