Parshas Devarim 5782: Hidden Wealth and Fair Fighting
Parshas Devarim
Torah Psych101 5782-Hidden Wealth
Dr. Jonathan M. Lasson
I have been commenting more and more about how people in our shtetl that we call Baltimore seem to be getting wealthier by the year. Just look at housing as an example. When we moved to Baltimore some 22 years ago, a house going for 250,000 dollars was considered a home for a wealthy Jew. Nowadays, you would be lucky to find a two-bedroom home for less than 400,000 dollars. Not only that, but people are knocking down these 400,000 dollar homes in order to build million-dollar homes---with a pool. People are spending more and more on vacations, cars, you name it. We have fundraisers where the goal of a million dollars is considered pittance for a relatively small institution.
We can say, Baruch Hashem! We are living in prosperous times. People are Baruch Hashem, doing much better than ever. It seems that even with a pandemic, a recession and inflated gas and food prices, many people are doing quite well.
During the times of the Kli Yakar, the Jews were also prosperous. The Kli Yakar, the author of the noted commentary on the Torah, lived in central Poland in the late 1500’s. He served as the Rav of Lvov for about 25 years. In 1601, he became very sick and he vowed that if he would live, he would publish a Sefer with his commentary on the Torah. Sure enough, he survived and his Torah was disseminated amongst the Jews in that area and then throughout the world. He went on become the Chief Rabbi of Prague. He passed away in 1619. He was known by the name of Rav Shlomo Ephraim (Luntshitz), with Shlomo being the name he added while he was sick.
As he was writing his works and studying under the great Rav Shlomo Luria, he would often point out the failings of the wealthy and those who would parade their ostentatious lifestyles.
The Kli Yakar brings a Passuk from our Parsha that drives home the point of keeping a more modest lifestyle. The Passuk says…
רב לכם סב את ההר הזה, פנו לכם צפנה
“Enough of your circling this mountain; turn yourselves northward.” (1)
It seems like we have heard these words many times spoken by Moshe Rabbeinu. The words of רב לכם. It’s too much for you!
Moshe Rabbeinu, according to the Kli Yakar is essentially telling B’nei Yisroel, “You have enough! Turn northward.” The word for northward is צפונה which homiletically can also mean צפןן, which is the Hebrew word for hidden. What Moshe is telling the people is,” Don’t show off how rich you are. Hide it (צפון) because it will eventually catch up to you.”
The Kli Yakar brings down the episode of Yaakov and Eisav where Eisav was flaunting his wealth while others were starving. Yaakov was also wealthy, yet he told his children to go out and buy food from Egypt even though he had plenty of food in his stockpile. He ordered his children to do this because he feared that future generations would show off their wealth. So he sends them to Mitzrayim with the words למה תתראו-Why would you flaunt your wealth? (2)
This is a lesson for all time. We just had a week where the largest Mega Millions jackpot was won by someone in Illinois. Over a billion dollars. The research on lottery winners does not point to positive outcomes for those who came to sudden wealth.
We need to take the lesson to our times of prosperity and continue to work hard for our money and not lay back and hope the government or other sources will supply us with our needs. But more importantly, we can never show off what we have because it can be lost in a second.
Perhaps by saying “go northward,” Moshe was extolling Bnei Yisroel that when you have lots of money, you should never forget where it came from. Look above or northward, and realize that it could only have come from Hashem.
Psychologically, children with wealthy parents tend to be more anxious, depressed and are more prone to eating disorders, cheating and stealing than lower-income children. It has also been found that wealth suppresses empathy. A fascinating study demonstrated that drivers in expensive cars were less likely to stop for people using pedestrian crossings that people driving cheaper cars. Another study found that wealthy people were less able to feel compassion towards children with cancer than people of more modest means. (3)
Sometimes it is best that we hide our wealth or at least---Don’t Show Off!!!
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(1) Devarim 2:3
(2) Bereishis 42:1
(3) As cited in the Scientific American, April 10, 2012
Parshas Devarim
Torah Psych101 5782-Fair fighting!
Dr. Jonathan M. Lasson
Reb Yonason Eibshitz was known for his breadth of knowledge in all areas of Halacha. During his era there were major controversies surrounding the Shabtai Tzvi in the early 1700’s and the debacle that ensued following Shabtai Tzvi’s departure from Judaism and his subsequent conversion to Islam. Rav Eibshitz who was very vocal enlisted the support of Gedolim such as the Noda B’Yhudah and the Vilna Gaon to help support his position. Reb Yonason was no stranger to controversy. In particular, there was a time that women were dying during childbirth for some reason and Reb Yonason wrote amulets that the women would wear and protect them from harm. This caused some to question Reb Yonason’s intentions. This led to many of the famous Eibshitz-Embden arguments as Reb Yaakov Embden became his chief adversary. He therefore enlisted the support of other Torah giants, once again. And although much was made about the Machlokes that he had throughout his life with Reb Yaakov Embden, they were buried feet apart from one another to signify that the might have argued but it was for the sake of heaven and they had reconciled.
In our Parsha, we are told about how to have a fair fight. A fair fight when it comes to Torah and Halacha is when both parties are fighting L’Shem Shomayim---for the sake of heaven. The Torah shares the importance of being fair when judging people and essentially says that you cannot be fair if you do not hear both sides of an argument. The Passuk reads…
שמע בין אחיכם ושפטתם צדק
Listen among your brothers and you will judge fairly (1)
Basically--- Don’t listen to just one litigant. This is what the Gemara teaches judges before they have the right to judge others. (2)
Back to Reb Yonason Eibshitz. It is said over that someone once remarked about his ability as a young boy to hold back his yetzer hara. Young Reb Yonason responded that it was pretty logical and therefore easy for him. The Torah says you should not listen to one litigant until hearing the other side. Reb Yonason knew that he did not have the internal litigant of the Yetzer Tov until his Bar Mitzvah so he told his yetzer hara that he would have to hold off until he was 13 so he could ‘hear’ the other side. It was quite remarkable how at this young age, Reb Yonason was able to employ such logic. This is how he embodied his life. He would argue based on logic but it was all L’Shem Shomayim as we find from his debates with Reb Yaakov Embden.
As we have mentioned in recent Divrei Torah, we should learn to listen better to the other side and not fall prey to the psychological phenomenon of the confirmation bias---only listening to things that confirm what we are already passionate about. They might have a point that is punctuated with passion. Someone who does not want to listen to the other side especially when it is punctuated with passion is not someone worthy of debating.
As we approach the somber day of Tisha B’Av and remember debates that were not for the sake of heaven, we must reinvigorate ourselves to strengthening our resolve to listen to the other side before formulating a decision. When there is no internal divisiveness, the Jewish people are positioned well to receive the Moshiach Tzidkeinu B’Mheira B’Yomeinu.
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(1) Devarim 1:16
(2) Sanhedrin 7b