אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם
An LA shiur on money that you can actually enjoy: Niddah 70b, business with emunah, tefillah for mercy, and why wealth without beracha is a dime a dozen.
Rosh Hashanah season or not, everyone still goes back to work. Everyone still deals with the world of money. So they asked if we could talk about how to make millions of dollars with beracha.
Money
Before becoming a Rav, Rav Reuven chlita made a few million dollars.
On Wall Street we did almost a billion dollars of business in our career. Clients who were billionaires, millionaires, all types. Some of what follows comes from experience. The foundation, though, has to come from a place with no bias and no exceptions. It has to come from the Torah. How to make millions with beracha. Why with beracha? Because I am sure every one of you knows at least one guy who makes millions. I am not sure you know anybody who makes millions with beracha.
Money without beracha
A person who makes millions today is a dime a dozen. Beracha means you are able to enjoy the money. Beracha means you are not spending those millions on lawyers, doctors, and problems.
People look up to celebrities and billionaires. What they do not realize, until somebody writes a book after they die, is that their life was terrible. Kids who barely knew them. Wives: a few of them, because they could not manage one. If you are not divorced at least three times today, you cannot be a celebrity. Read about Steve Jobs. Read about Warren Buffett as an investor, then look at the personal life. Zero normal relationship with family.
Maybe they get on TV. Maybe they buy toys, Ferraris, boats, buildings. They put their name everywhere. Fame and fortune. Life itself is terrible. And still everyone thinks: if I had his money, I would do it different. I would give this, build that, and for sure I would have beracha.
The truth is there is not a person out there without some level of ta'avah for money. You need money to live. The question Chazal asked, and answered, is how you deal with business ideas and a running business and still want beracha with it.
Plenty of ways to make money
Some of you will ask for practical ideas. You can make money in a lot of things.
- If you have expertise, start a consulting service. Often you make more consulting than doing the job itself. With AI you can consult on automations and make business people's lives easier. Not as easy as it sounds, but people are charging an arm and a leg.
- Import and export is easier than ever. In the old days you traveled countries looking for vendors. Today you go to Alibaba.com or MeetChina.com. There are companies that sell chairs for $1,500, $2,000, $3,000. Same chair on Alibaba: $250. They white-label it, put their name on it, and you think they made it.
Enormous strategies. But Chazal did not just give strategies. They gave a way.
Niddah 70b: how does a person become wealthy?
In Niddah 70b, the people of Alexandria came to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya and asked twelve questions. One of them: what can a person do to become wealthy?
From here we see what the Mishnah said: delve into it. Everything is in the Torah, including how to become wealthy. And when a Tanna speaks from nearly two thousand years ago, that is different. This is like we got it from Mount Sinai.
He said: first, do much business. Go to work. Sounds simple. And do it all with emunah.
The Alexandrians came back: Rabbi, many did what you said and they did not become successful. They worked hard, went on ships, boats, trains. At the end of the day they got themselves a bag of chips. Maybe they sold a lot of goods, but the profit was almost nothing. Or the guy works morning to night and can barely pay his bills.
So he said: then he should pray and plead for mercy with the One who is the owner of all of it. As it says:
"Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold, says Hashem, Master of Legions." (Chagai 2:8)
Rule number one: do not turn money into an idol
Before we unpack what he is saying, know what the Baal Shem Tov said on Tehillim. The simple reading is: save me from my blood being spilled by my enemies. The Baal Shem Tov read it: save me, Hashem, from turning dam, money (damim), into Elohim. Save me from turning money into my new idol.
As much as we all want millions and billions, remember rule number one: do not turn it into your god.
People say everything has a price. One of the first questions a person has to ask: how much is your price?
Yesterday I asked people who keep Shabbat. Somebody gives you $10,000, do you violate Shabbat? Of course not. $100,000? Drive on Shabbat? No, Rabbi. A million dollars cash in a suitcase like the movies? No. A billion dollars, Elon Musk wires it ahead of time? Do not answer. Why? The truth is everything has a price when you do not know the value.
A person who wants some things to remain priceless needs real emunah. It gets to a point where you realize everything is from Hashem, whether the offer is ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, or a billion: the Satan sending someone to buy your soul. It is not a test anymore. You know who runs the world. Until we get to that 100%, the Satan keeps testing us to break the rules.
Tefillah for mercy, not a shopping list
When he said do business with emunah, of course he included tefillah. The Alexandrians did not understand that tefillah comes with emunah. You cannot have emunah if you do not have prayer to Hashem. So he explained further: it is not just doing business, not just emunah, also praying, and praying for mercy.
Why mercy? Because most people, when they pray, ask Hashem for stuff. Hashem, make sure the contract gets signed. Hashem, this deal has to go through. Hashem, I need a new car. Everybody has a list. That is not praying with mercy. That is demands. That is treating Hashem like he works for you. He does not work for you. He did not fill out an application. He is not interested in a job. He does not need your money either.
Some people say: I deserve it. I gave tzedakah. I kept Shabbat. Get that out of your mind. When you pray, pray for mercy. Plead. Please, I have nowhere else to go. No one can give me parnassah other than You. To my boss? He is not in charge of the money. To the customer? He is not in charge. To the accountant? He is going to tell me I owe money. Elon Musk? I send him messages all the time. He is not answering.
Nowhere else to go. How am I going to eat? How am I going to feed my kids? I do not deserve anything. Everything I did, I was obligated to do. I kept Shabbat because I am obligated. I put on tefillin because I am obligated. You are the Boss. You make the rules. You owe me nothing.
Once a person starts thinking about prayer that way, the prayer is completely different.
Rebbe Nachman says there is no heart more complete than a broken heart. Why? Because you come to Hashem without the list: I did this, I did that, I am a tzaddik, I give this, I give that. No. I did nothing. It is all free gifts. You do not owe me anything. Even if I learned Torah from morning to night, it is for me. I cannot give You anything.
I am obligated, and I am benefiting anyway. So I cannot come with complaints. Anything You give me is a free gift. Please, can You help me?
That is a broken heart. And there is no heart more complete than that.
If a person comes complaining: Hashem, why did You let this guy steal from me? How come I lost $100,000 on this deal? I worked so hard on the contract. I was such a good pitch. Why did the other guy get it? You are yelling at Him in your heart. He hears it. We come with complaints like He works for us.
If you are going to pray already, pray for mercy. Anything you are asking for is above and beyond what we deserve.
Mr. Jones does not own your money
Once you understand you are praying to Hashem, and He is the only place you can get anything, then what the prophet said in Hashem's name starts to mean something: Mine is the silver, Mine is the gold.
Picture it. A prospective client, a billionaire, wants to talk to you. Mr. Jones. Come to his office at 2:00. What does the guy do? Runs home, takes a shower, gets a haircut, wears his best suit. Hopefully the bar mitzvah suit still fits. Shines his shoes. Co-workers cannot recognize him. Every day he comes in flip-flops. Today: three-piece suit. Only three-piece because he forgot where the fourth piece is. Prepared with his lips puckered to kiss up.
Why? Because he thinks Mr. Jones has the money. Forbes 500. Built the buildings. Mistake. The moment you start kissing up to anyone other than Hashem, the moment you think anyone else controls the money that is supposed to go into your bank account, you have already forgotten who is Master of the world.
The moment we start being scared of a client, of a government, of anything, that means there is a lacking in our emunah that He runs the world.
Same mashal, different ending. Secretary says meet Mr. Jones in the restaurant. Three-piece suit, shiny shoes, Prada belt tag sticking out. You order ahead so it looks good. You researched his favorite food. Instead of the Forbes cover, in walks a farmer: farmer hat, shorts, half a t-shirt. Hi, I am Mr. Jones. Wait. You own the 18 buildings? No. I have a farm three hours from here. I figured I am coming to town, I wanted lunch. We just have the same name. That is usually how I get lunch.
Reality hits. Neither Mr. Jones was in control of your parnassah. The moment you thought otherwise, you already made a mistake.
Gratitude starts between you and Hashem
First we need a good relationship with Hashem. Then we know how to treat each other as people. Rule number one of all relationships is to be grateful. If you do not know how to say thank you, you cannot be a good friend, son, parent, teacher, anything. Ungrateful people: nobody wants to deal with them.
How can you show gratitude to people if you forgot about the One who gave you air in your lungs every second you are alive? It starts with bein adam laMakom. Then bein adam lechavero.
The rich man, the tzaddik, and the open safe
There was a certain rich man. When ordinary rabbis came collecting, he would give them some kavod and a respectable check. When a certain tzaddik came, he opened the safe: take whatever you want.
One rabbi got upset. Why do I get a small check, and when he comes you open the safe? Did he learn more than me? Is he a bigger tzaddik?
The rich man explained. When you come, you prepare. Best suit. Ask your wife if the tie matches. Hello sir, how are you sir, do I need to get you anything sir. I know the only reason is because I have a lot of money. If I did not, you would not do all that. So I want to keep the money. I like the respect. I give you a little. Support what you are doing. But I am not giving you all of it, because next time I want you to keep saying sir.
When the tzaddik comes, he starts yelling at me: why are you spending all your time chasing money? Look how much you have and you are not even giving enough tzedakah. He takes off boots soaking wet from the snow, squeezes the socks in front of me: these drops of water will be like diamonds for you if you die the way you are. By the time he finishes, I cannot stand the fact that I have this money. I open the safe: Rabbi, just take it. And he says: you want me to take this garbage? He spits on the money. This is the reason people forget about Hashem. Who wants such garbage? And I am begging him to take it.
They made a rule in the yeshiva: someone always has to come along with that tzaddik to collect. Why? He gets so into how much trouble people have chasing money that he really does not want it. Somebody has to close their ears, not listen to the rabbi, and at least take what the guy is willing to give.
You come and give me respect because I have money, so I want to keep it. He comes because he wants to save my neshamah, so I want to keep my neshamah. That is the difference.
Five steps to acquire wealth
What Chazal were telling us: five steps necessary to acquire wealth.
- Do some type of business. You have to do something. If you are at the level of certain tzaddikim who can sit and learn from morning till night and parnassah comes to them, fine. If you are realistic and you are not, you have to do business.
- Do business with emunah.
- Plead.
- Plead for mercy.
- Know that Hashem is the Master of all the money.
Miss one step and the formula does not work. This was not a strategy just to get a paycheck. Work at the local deli, you get paid. Work at an accounting office, they give you a salary. He was telling us how to become rich with beracha. Five steps. Miss one, you ruin it.
Business with emunah
The Gemara in Shabbat: when a person finishes this world, the first question in judgment is not how much Torah you learned. Surprise. Not which shul you belong to. Not what car you drive. Not your bank account. Did you conduct your business with emunah?
What does that mean? Every time you do business, whether buying candy from the deli or a multi-million dollar deal: did you realize that HaKadosh Baruch Hu was watching?
If He is watching, cheating is not an option. Lying to convince someone to buy something that is not good for him: not an option. It is like saying to your wife: what do you think of my girlfriend? Not going to work. Lying to customers, government, partner, bank: no longer an option.
Yeah, but Rabbi, everybody else lies. Okay. There is a special place for those people too. You want to join them? Gehinnom, they say, keeps getting bigger because more people sin than go into Gan Eden.
Many businesses can be done in a kosher way, and people choose not to. Some businesses, like the one I have been speaking against for seven years, merchant cash advance: there is no possible way to do that business in a kosher way. Inherently evil. Predatory lending. You turn your customers into prey.
Just today an accountant who worked in that business messaged me after watching a podcast interview. Rabbi, everything you say is not only true, it is much worse. You say they charge 50% every three months. In reality the average is 20 to 40% per month. Over a 92% bankruptcy rate. People crying on speakerphone. He left. Young kid out of college. Regular accounting: maybe enough to eat bread. MCA accounting: double, triple, quadruple the salary. Money running on the blood of other people.
Other businesses: you can sell electronics brand new like a Best Buy, or sell refurbished and tell people they are brand new. One guy is honest. The other is a liar.
When every transaction has Hashem in it, before you sign any deal, before any presentation, you realize He is watching every word. That changes the business.
Competition is for atheists
What about the fact that your competition is lying? Are they in charge of the money, or is Hashem?
Yeah, but everybody is lying. How am I going to compete without lying? You are forgetting. There is no competition. It is not who is the better marketer, therefore he wins. That is only for atheists. Atheists believe marketing makes the salesman. Atheists believe good speaking skills made them rich.
People who believe there is nothing else but Hashem: whether I speak like the best speaker in the world or I have a speech impediment like Moshe Rabbeinu, the worst speaker in history, when he taught us Torah everything was perfect. Nobody misunderstood. He had a stutter and a stammer, two defects. When he tried to talk to his wife, she heard the same thing seventeen times before he finished the sentence. That was his test. When he taught Torah, there was no speaker on earth better. As if Hashem was speaking to them. Because he knew there is nothing else but Hashem.
Yes, market. Yes, practice your skill. That is your hishtadlut. Never think for a moment that is the reason it worked. It worked because Hashem said: he deserves $1,000 today. Check. He deserves $10,000. You know what, I like this kid. Let me send him $100,000. He does not even expect it.
Plead, and stop blaming the market
Third step: plead. We have to remember Hashem does not work for us. He does not owe us anything. We do not believe the client is in charge of our finances. We do not believe the market is in charge.
A lot of times people blame the market or the economy for their mistakes. From experience: the market does not matter. The economy does not matter. There is always somebody making money and somebody losing money. The difference is who Hashem decided will succeed. I remember becoming an independent broker at the worst possible time: September 11th, a few weeks after I started. Everyone thought the world was ending. Market dropping for years. People scared to invest, scared to call clients, scared to answer the phone. I was scared of going homeless. I needed to eat.
Bus at 5:30 in the morning. Office by 7. Calling from 8 until around midnight to catch the last bus to Staten Island. Home at 1:30 or 2:00. Sleep a couple hours. Start over. 2001, everyone losing their mind. 2002 worse: market dropped 26%. Everyone thought it was going to zero. We invested as much as we could. Hashem decided to make those investments work. Clients made a few hundred percent during a market dropping 26%. By the beginning of 2003 I became the number three top producing broker in the country.
Market against us. Economy against us. Industry against itself. Who runs the world? It was not because I was such a skilled investor. Back then I barely knew anything. Who decided to make it work?
Whether the market goes up or down, Hashem can still make you successful. Whether the economy goes up or to zero. When a person does business with emunah and pleads for mercy, he has to complete the final step: knowing He is in control of the money.
How do you know you really believe it?
We can say all day that Hashem runs the world. How do you know that is what you believe inside?
Chazal say a person never becomes poor as a result of giving tzedakah. Hashem is not going to punish someone giving to publicize His Name, to publicize Torah, to help His children. If you are giving to the family zoo because you want your name next to the elephant, that is not tzedakah. That is buying a plaque. Beautiful zoo in Jerusalem. Fascinating part: every cage had a huge plaque. Such and such ben such and such. Cage for the elephant, the monkeys, the bird with one wing. Fundraising to save the dolphin that got depressed. Four, five, six hundred thousand a cage. That type of "tzedakah" is not tzedakah.
A person who distributes and ends up collecting more: that is someone who believes HaKadosh Baruch Hu is in charge. He wants Hashem as his partner. He takes money out every time he gets money. Publicize Hashem. Help people eat. Free books, free lectures, help the poor in your community for the holidays. Not a one-time aliyah purchase. Hashem, You gave me 100%. I am going to take at least 10% and invest it to publicize Your Name.
Logically, if you are an accountant, it does not work. He gave me $100,000. I take 10%. Left with $90,000. How do I get more? Exactly the point.
On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem decides how much money everyone is going to make. Plumber, lawyer, hedge fund manager, dog walker: does not matter. If He wants the dog walker to become a millionaire this year, he will. If He wants the hedge fund manager with $10 billion under management to lose everything, that is what happens.
Beautiful part: the money He decides you will make does not include the money you use to publicize His Name and give tzedakah. You made $400,000. You gave 10%, $40,000. Accountant says you have $360,000 left. Hashem decided you make $400,000. He sends you the other $40,000 back. How? That is His business.
Whatever you spend on real tzedakah, He gives back. Who says it has to be logical?
Do not limit Hashem
Small example from a couple of days ago. We are opening a place in Florida for the holidays. No time to get a house. Rented online. Paid. Ten minutes later the owner: sorry, not available anymore. Am I getting my money back? No answer. Next day I message the company. They say: find something else, we will pay for it, including the difference. I had found another place about $900 more. Okay. Guess what? I just got $900 for no reason. Hashem decided to send me $900.
If you are looking for Hashem to give you only in a normal way, you are limiting Hashem.
There is a story of a guy in shul crying next to the Aron. A rav asks why. I want to marry this girl and she does not want me. The rav says: do not tell Hashem who to give you. Pray for Hashem to give you a woman to marry. A year later the rav comes back. Same guy crying. Still over that girl? No. I am crying because Hashem answered my prayer and He gave me her.
Do not give Hashem conditions on how to give you anything. Pray: Hashem, I do not even know what I need. You do. You know I need to eat. You gave me kids, a house, responsibilities. I do not have anywhere else to go.
When Hashem sees a person likes mitzvot and uses money not only for the car and tuition but to publicize HaKadosh Baruch Hu's Name, He says: this is a good partner. Maybe we should increase our partnership.
Wise-hearted people seize mitzvot
Chazal: a wise-hearted person will seize mitzvot. A foolish person's lips become weary. The wise constantly look for mitzvah opportunities. The foolish: did we not already pray enough last week? We have to pray this week too?
A person who loves money will never have enough money. Who is that said about? About Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe was very wealthy. Hashem gave him the remains of the luchot when they broke, priceless stones, keep them for yourself. How could that statement be about him?
Look what Moshe spent his time doing in the desert, after forty years, knowing he was not going into the land: figuring out which mountains on this side of the border would match as cities of refuge for someone who killed by mistake. Let them do it. You are not even going to be there. No. Just like someone who loves money will do anything for money, even when it does not make sense: he is already a billionaire, why still go to work? That is how Moshe was with mitzvot. A mitzvah opportunity came. Even if I will not enjoy it myself. Why would I let somebody else do it if I can do it first?
Most people do not really love money. They love the lust for money. Addicted to chasing it. That ta'avah, out of control, comes from tumah. It can override all other desires. Willing to die for it. Willing to break every rule. Willing to end a marriage, connection to parents, partnership with a best friend.
Chazal call such a person a mouse sitting on money. In the old treasure rooms full of gold: you would not worry the mouse will steal any of it. Even if he feels all the money is his, he cannot do anything with it. Just sitting on it. Addicted to the process. Impossible to share, because why give away what you are addicted to?
One way to evaluate where you stand with ta'avah for money: anytime somebody in need comes to you. Loan, tzedakah, any favor. Your response tells you. If instead of worrying about his pocket you start teaching him mussar when he needs money in his pocket, you do not have control of your ta'avah.
Rav Moshe Feinstein and Nissan
There was a boy named Nissan in Rav Moshe Feinstein's yeshiva. One day he stopped coming. Rav Moshe went room to room looking at the kids. He noticed Nissan was missing for days. He asked the teacher: did you call? No, he is not coming back. The principal decided he could no longer attend because his mother had not paid for a few months.
Rav Moshe: how can you send a Jewish boy home because of money? That day he went to Nissan's house. Biggest rabbi in the world at the door. Hi, Nissan. Do you want to learn Torah? Yeah, of course, Rabbi. But I cannot. My mommy does not have any money. Stop with that. Do you want to learn Torah? Yes. Tomorrow you come learn. I will speak to them.
Next day Nissan is back. Management still needs to get paid. Rav Moshe: I am going to pay his tuition every month.
Does Rav Moshe, who learned Torah morning to night his entire life, need another mitzvah? Need to take money out of his pocket for a kid he never met? Logically, no. A wise-hearted person: a mitzvah came my way. Hashem says it is for me to do. Do not be the person who says: great campaign, I will send it to all my friends. Good. What about you? Maybe you cannot give a thousand. Maybe five, ten, twenty. You could do something. That is why Hashem sent it to you.
He is sending partnership opportunities. Give him a ride to the airport. Twenty dollars to eat. Whatever I am sending him for you. Let us see if you want to be My partner.
If your answer is: I am fully invested, half a million in crypto, another building, once I sell then I will do a lot of things: that means you do not want to be His partner. If you really believe He decides whether the investment works, whether the client signs, whether you become top producer: you look for opportunities to show, I want You as my partner.
The reward for a mitzvah is another mitzvah
Why does giving make you rich? The reward for a mitzvah is another mitzvah. Take all the good anyone ever lived, from the beginning of the world until Mashiach. A trillionaire living a hundred years: more than a third sleeping or in the bathroom, most of the rest working. If 5% of his life is good, that is generous. Combine only the good of everyone who ever lived into one shot. Greatest high in the world. All that good is not even the equivalent of the reward for a single mitzvah. Any mitzvah. Even saying Amen: you are testifying that Hashem is reliable, you trust it, it is going to happen.
So if you take money and donate it to publicize Hashem, to real Torah: You did a mitzvah. What could I possibly pay you with? Another mitzvah. You liked being My partner. I will give you more money so you can deliver again. You spent the money. I send more so you can do the mitzvah again. You do it every month, every quarter: you are a reliable partner. I am going to invest more in you.
It is usually easy to give with the small numbers. Harder when the numbers get bigger. We helped someone. Guidance. Maybe $100,000. In less than a year it turned into almost $950,000. Before, they were giving a couple hundred a month. After $100,000 became $950,000, they stopped. Everyone says: Rabbi, if I win the lotto, I am giving. Yeah. Because your yetzer is a little baby right now. When the money gets bigger, usually the yetzer grows with it.
What ruins the whole formula
Even if a person tries to fulfill the five steps, there are acts that can ruin all of it.
Shabbat. A Jew who does not keep Shabbat: no beracha in the world is going to help you. You could have all the segulot of the generation. Shabbat is the source of beracha. Believing Hashem created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. A Jew who drives on Shabbat, works on Shabbat: you can donate a billion dollars a day and still not have beracha. Not keeping Shabbat is like protesting in the middle of the street: I do not believe in God. How do His children "look like" Him? He rested on the seventh. They rest on the seventh.
Morality and kedushah. Wasting seed, anything immoral against the Torah: spiritual pipes full of blessing coming down. Every Amen, every berachah, every time you exist: good stuff coming. When a person wastes seed, the good that was supposed to come to them goes somewhere else. Double punishment: not only do you not get it, the guy down the street, the competition, becomes rich. Ramban and Rashi: there is no such thing as morality without kedushah. They are synonymous.
This goes for the ladies too. If you walk around with half your outfit left in the store, guys look, they make sins, they want to cheat on their wife. You are causing men to sin. You are responsible. The guy who drove the bank robbers to the bank goes to jail too. Yeah, but I only drove. You were partner in the crime. Modesty is the foundation. Without it there is no authentic connection to Hashem. Connection that brings beracha. Kids you will be proud of. Kids who call you Imma, not by your first name.
On our website there is a PDF, a guide to Tikun HaBrit. Download it. Learn it. Every picture links to a lecture or book. Study it every day, at least fifteen minutes. In the beginning maybe an hour. That is the cure that keeps you strong. This is the tikun of the generation.
Shalom bayit. If you and your wife are in a boxing match all the time, usually about money: she is spending too much, he is not giving enough, he is stingy, she is a spendaholic. If you want beracha to come to your house, find a way to have shalom. Local rabbi, lectures, guidance: without shalom bayit there is no beracha.
Honesty in business. Chazal say: guaranteed not only not to have beracha, but eventually to lose everything. You could make a million a month right now. At some point Hashem takes it all away. Just today: half a dozen or eight guys in the merchant cash advance business going to jail. Lending and ruining lives was not enough. They also wanted to steal. Ponzi scheme. Show is over.
Guaranteed, or your money back
Clear strategy. Five-step process. Guaranteed to work, or your money back. Not from your own rav. Blame me? This is from a Tanna kadosh. From Mount Sinai.
Do them: you become wealthy. Not just wealthy like Elon Musk. Wealthy meaning a lot of material and a lot of kedushah with it. Money you can do good things with. Money Hashem lets you enjoy. Not spent on hospital bills and legal bills. Having money is not enough. Having beracha is what we are really looking for.
Do all five, you win. Miss one, Chazal say it is not enough. Big reward. Specific process. And even when you do those five, do not forget Shabbat, morality, shalom bayit, honesty. The entire Torah stands on them. Foundations. No other way.
Questions from the room
How do you tell parents in LA you want yeshiva, not college?
Every normal parent wants their kids happy. A non-religious parent thinks the best thing is money, big house, nice car. That is what they know. To explain to a businessman father that you want to be a ben Torah: do not say you will be a big rabbi and sell 50 million books. Say: Aba, Ima, I love you. I know you love me. You want me to be happy, right? Let me learn Torah. That is what makes me happy. I want to be connected to Hashem. If I ever change my mind, I promise I am coming to you for guidance. But if this makes me happy, why should I do something else?
That is the easiest explanation in the world, because it is the truth they can understand. After they agree, do not get comfortable. Old friends will try to pull you back. Remind yourself: I love You, Hashem. Everything good only comes from You. Help me stay strong.
Where is the parnassah going to come from if I learn?
We just talked about it for an hour and a half. Real example: Wall Street, over a billion in business. One day in May 2006 I made $1.6 million in a day. Then Hashem decided to change everything. Took it all away. When I first started teaching I had no income. No idea how to pay for eating, rent, books. We started the organization in 2016. First year: about $50,000 back to Am Yisrael in books, CDs, helping poor people. Second year: about half a million. Third: close to a million. Last five years: average a little over $2 million a year in free books, CDs, food, money to poor people. I have yet to take a salary in twelve years. We have given back some $12 million. More in tzedakah over the last twelve years than when I was making millions on Wall Street. House no smaller than anyone else's. A car that drives itself. How does Hashem send it? That is His business.
Another real story, less than ten years ago. Newly married guy who wanted to learn Torah. Family gave him and his wife $100,000. Cannot buy a house in Israel with that. They rent. He tells the bank: put it in something conservative. Asks friends what is safe. Tells the banker a name. Call it "mops." Three months later the banker calls: you are the best investor I have ever met. Your account has $3.2 million. Friends who told him the name: they did not make that. The banker bought the wrong investment. Something with sports or horses. No one in their right mind would put all their money into it. It went from $100,000 to $3 million. If he went to work like a regular person, how long to make $3 million? Hashem wanted him to have it.
I am not saying this happens to every person. I am saying: whether you make money in business or you learn Torah, Hashem is not going to shortchange anyone. Learn some and work some: fine. Learning as vocation: fine. Businessman who learns a little every day: fine. Never think someone who chose a different profession will have less success. Same God. He feeds you through your business. He will feed him through his. I know a rav who has never worked a day in his life, does not sell books, does not get paid for shiurim, and has income over a million dollars a year.
How much hishtadlut vs emunah?
Based on how much emunah a person has. More emunah, less you need to grip. Scale of one to ten: if you are worried how you will pay the bills, you are not a ten. Chazal: a person who has food today and worries what he will eat tomorrow has little emunah. If Hashem gave you food today, why are you worried about tomorrow?
Want to take emunah to the gym? In the gym you tear the muscles to make them bigger. You make $1,000. Bills are $1,000. Net zero. You still give maaser. Math of the accountant does not work. Math of Hashem will. He sends money another way. Maybe not five seconds later. Maybe before. Maybe after. Unnatural ways.
Do not give every dollar and make yourself poor waiting for a treasure. Do not jump off the mountain and wait for Hashem to catch you. First day at the gym: do not bench 400 pounds. Pick up the five pounds. If $100 on $1,000 is too much, give $20. Still short mathematically. Start at your level. You push yourself. Hashem says: I will push Myself.
Jews from Russia who will not keep Shabbat?
Never give up. About three weeks ago, a contractor for our Florida place: Jewish, kippa. At 45 he woke up enough to take the Soviet out of him, the communism out of him. Did a second brit. Wife doing teshuvah. Kid doing teshuvah. If he has a Jewish neshamah, the spark is there. Waiting for the right switch. Sometimes you. Sometimes a shiur. A book. A USB. Sometimes you are not the vessel. Same message from somebody else works. Send them videos. We have a Russian channel. Spanish, French, Indonesian, Chinese, Arabic. Fifteen languages so far. Students on every continent except Antarctica. Iran, Japan, Nigeria. Our job: do as much as we can with whatever tools we have. Helping parents do teshuvah is almost impossible. They always see you as the baby whose diapers they changed. Try different tools. Never give up. They are your brothers. Hashem sent them to you.
Advice to rabbis about mixed weddings when the community pushes back?
I cannot give advice to rabbis openly. I am not in their shoes. What I can tell you: anyone with yirat Shamayim knows it does not matter what people want. It matters what HaKadosh Baruch Hu said. There is a saying that Judaism declared bankruptcy when synagogues got a board of directors: people who do not know Torah making rules for the Torah because they have a few dollars. The moment the rabbi became an employee who is not allowed to say something, he is limited. Tell people what they have to hear, not what they want to hear. They have called me fanatic, crazy, funny names for twelve years. Threatened me. After twelve years: $12 million to Am Yisrael, hundreds of thousands of followers across languages, hundreds of thousands of free quality books. Music to my ears. I know I am doing what Hashem wants. He runs the show. He is my Boss.
Is expensive the same as dishonest? Does half-honest money have beracha?
Being expensive is not a sin. Being dishonest is a sin. On Wall Street I was the most expensive broker on the street. Top fee. Never more than allowed. Never dishonest. Never lied. You want to do business with me on a million-dollar transaction, you pay $45,000. Brand-name shoes for $2,000 when Walmart has $20 shoes: if someone is willing to pay, no problem. Selling refurbished as new: that is dishonest. You know it. You do not need to be religious for common sense. The seven Noachide laws are common sense. Money that comes honest can have beracha. Money that comes dishonest ruins the beracha.
Stuck with money, giving less than I should, do not keep Shabbat.
With all due respect for the tzedakah you have given: I do not care about your money. I am going to give you an answer that helps you, not your bank account.
If you die tomorrow, you are not going to heaven even though you gave a lot of tzedakah. Hashem did not command you to give tzedakah over keeping the rest of His mitzvot. Fourth of the Ten Commandments: keep Shabbat. A Jew not keeping Shabbat is not in a good position. You can change that for free. Does not cost a penny. You are already a multi-millionaire. You do not need to work on Shabbat. The fact that four rabbis have not told you to keep Shabbat means they are not doing their job.
Before you think about giving another penny to anybody, start caring about your neshamah. Not your bank account. Not their bank account. Shabbat is your ticket more than all the tzedakah in the world.
Real story from a few years ago. Guy with around $100 million. Respected Judaism. Rabbis visited. He gave a hundred here, a thousand there. One day when I die I will give it all to you. They said give it now. He liked having the money. They did not really care if he kept Shabbat or kosher. Bank account was so big they called him sir. Three-piece suit. You are a tzaddik. Suddenly you are a tzaddik because of a big bank account. To be a tzaddik you have to keep Torah. Does not exist otherwise.
He dies. Lawyer calls the rabbi who was trustee. Four-piece suit this time. Thirty-year investment finally paying off. Shows up: pastor, priest, imam, Buddhist. The guy left the money for the benefit of "the Bible." According to the lawyers, you are the Torah. The priest and pastor are the Bible. Sign off: $100 million to the church.
Why did HaKadosh Baruch Hu give $100 million to the church instead of a Jewish organization? To give real tzedakah you need zechut. Hashem wants to give you that reward. You have to deserve it. You cannot give the kid who never did homework the top student award. You cannot show up once and say this big mitzvah will change the world if you only thought about Me once in your life. Instead of reward for $100 million in tzedakah, punishment for publicizing $100 million of idol worship.
My dear friend: forget about the money. Start keeping Shabbat. If there are financial troubles, you cannot afford a platta, I will buy it. Catering to your house if you want. That is your ticket to Gan Eden. Once you have the ticket, then think about the wonderful things you can do with the gifts Hashem gave you. Who says you have to die right now? Doctors do not run the world. Maybe another 500 years. Maybe one second. Either way, start today. Promise you are going to keep Shabbat: already considered as if you are keeping it, because you are planning it. Do not work. Do not drive. Do not watch television. Food on the platta. Very simple.
And the music on Friday and Saturday night? The yetzer convinces you that you are stuck. When I was in business I thought that was the way to make millions. HaKadosh Baruch Hu ended up making me work for free twenty hours a day. Over the last few years, more than $12 million in tzedakah without the same career. Do not give HaKadosh Baruch Hu conditions. If He wants you to entertain a million people, it does not need to be on Shabbat. Tuesday at 2:00. Monday at 12:30. Trust in Hashem. He runs the world.
Why did Hashem create the world if He needs nothing?
No benefit whatsoever to Him. Even if you fulfilled the entire Torah 24 hours a day without breathing: not even enough to pay Him back for a single breath. Somebody drowning: do they want more money? A brand new car? Nobody. They want another breath of air.
So why create it? HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the ultimate good. In order for good to express itself, it has to create good. You cannot say you are good if the only person you help is yourself. That is selfish. Selfless help without self-interest: that is good.
He wanted to give us good. Not because He benefits. Good creates good. Initially He wanted to give us just good, live in Gan Eden all the time. Chazal say the neshamot started suffering in Gan Eden. You are the ultimate good. We want to be like You. How can we be good if we cannot do anything for You? We do not deserve what we got. At least give us an opportunity to earn this. Hashem said: I will create a world. Each of you will overcome the test I give you. Then you will deserve the good, and no longer suffer from being a freeloader.
Hosted in someone's house a week: vacation. Three or four months: you want to take out the garbage. Help out. A normal person does not feel comfortable being served all the time. He wants to create good.
Hashem created it not for His benefit, but for ours. Pass the test by following His Torah: we get the reward and we feel happy we deserve it. Fail: we get the opposite. He only created you to give you good. If you go against the Torah, He cannot give you good. He made rules for Himself to make it truly good. If you give everyone millions, that does not make everybody rich. That is communism. Good creates good. Our goal: get ourselves to where we deserve that good.
Five steps. Foundations that protect them. Money is not the goal. Beracha is. Mine is the silver and Mine is the gold.
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