In our times, mischaracterizations and misrepresentations are so prevalent— “because it’s only a little bit fudging the truth.” This is a klipah that must be crushed. Yaakov Avinu had to bring forth twelve שבטי י-ה, but he could not do so until he had withstood this test! “Let Lavan the swindler do whatever he wants; I will remain the same Yaakov as before.” And as soon as he withstood this test, Esav lost control over him. A Yid who runs from dishonesty cannot be defeated. When a person runs away from the klipah and learns to be an honest person, HaKadosh Baruch Hu will protect him.
We must daven very much for this and toil for it mightily—and simultaneously remember the words of the aforementioned Ba’al HaTurim, who likens money to a ladder that is rooted in the ground but whose tip reaches to the Heavens; just as it can lower a person into the depths, money also has the ability to raise a person to great heights. This is what the Ba’al HaTurim is telling us—and we must take awe-inspiring chizuk from this. When we see to what depths people stoop for a couple of dollars, we can understand from this what heights we can attain when we approach money properly.
A person who succeeded in being honest should give a kiddush in shul that Shabbos! When asked about this, he will answer vaguely, “It’s for all the chessed that Hashem has done for me.” But his heart will throb with gratitude for his ability to withstand the nisayon. He could have taken unkosher money, but he overcame his yetzer hara and stayed away from it.
