Daily Chidush: How Much Money Do You Have?

0:15Why does Hashem tell us that everything is His? Don't we already know it? The reality is, when a person really delves into his own existence, he realizes how much of an insignificant human being he is. Now, Hashem doesn't want a person to get into a depression, but rather to understand where the source of everything that he has is. And that's why it's a mitzvah that we have, that at the end of our prayer, it's a minhag also, to at the end of our prayer... The reality is when a person really delves into his own existence, he realizes how much of an insignificant human being he is. Now, Hashem doesn't want a person to fall into depression, but rather to understand where the source of everything that he has lies. And that's why it's a mitzvah that we have, and a minhag, to at the end of our prayer...

1:36In Shacharit, we have ten remembrances, ten things that we must remember every day, and one of them is that Hashem is the One that provides all sustenance, everything. Why does Hashem tell us that He owns everything, and why does Hashem tell us that we have to remind ourselves that everything comes from Him? Because as long as we think that something is ours, that a certain amount of money was supposed to come to us, that a certain amount of good was supposed to come to us, that a certain shidduch was supposed to happen, a certain prize was supposed to be ours, we are essentially living a two-faced life. We are, in essence, living a two-faced life. On one hand, we say we believe in God. On the other hand, we're essentially going against God. Why? Because we think that it's my hand, my strong hand, that made this happen. that made this happen, that I made this money, and it's wrong. It's very, very wrong. So wrong that it could be considered at least the avak of kefirah, the dust of kefirah, if not 100% kefirah, heresy. Why? Because a person needs to understand that God owns everything, everything, and everything that we have, He owns that too. He's giving it to us, in essence, on a loan.

2:56It's not really our possession. How do we know it's not really our possession? When we leave this world, we can't take any of it with us. If Hashem decides to take it away, He can take it away. Now, the problem is that so long as we connect our happiness to our material possessions, we slowly but surely get further and further away from Hashem, to the extent where we could literally ruin our lives and make it impossible for ourselves to connect to Hashem and to connect to the Emet, no matter what He does. Now, I've told many people in shiurim the story of what happened to a cousin of mine. A few years ago, a cousin of mine, whom I didn't know personally, but he was a young man, around 23 or 26 years old, fell off a scooter on the second day of Rosh Hashanah in front of his house and hit his head. He was taken to the hospital, where they checked him. They knew he came from a very wealthy family; his father had a substantial fortune, possibly $100 million or more.

4:02And... they said, "No, we checked you. Best treatment possible, best insurance possible, best medical care, everything is good. Go home." So, the young guy that had his future ahead of him, who was taught to believe that everything he does is in his hands... Everything that he does is in his hand. You know, it's not God. It's not anybody else. If you work hard, you'll succeed, even though there are plenty of people who work much harder and don't succeed. Still, the rational-minded. Heretical mindsets of today suggest that if you work hard, you'll succeed, and if you do certain things, you are entitled to a reward for it. Unfortunately, this was the mindset the kid had, and Hashem obviously decided this is not the way to go. Even though he returned to a very, very expensive home and led a very, very affluent life, matters took a tragic turn. When he went home, he rested, went to sleep, and he died. He never woke up again. Now, if that wasn't bad enough for his father, who literally has more money than he could spend in several generations,

5:18Just about four months ago, this young man's brother, or this uncle's second son, died at, I believe, 48 years old, in his apartment. So he saw two of his children die in his own lifetime, which is considered one of the worst punishments a person can receive. With all of that happening, two kids dying in a couple of years, you would think that the person would stop being an atheist, would stop being a heretic against Hashem, would get the sign, would wake up, but no. Unfortunately, my uncle did not get the sign. He did not get the message. He continued going against Hashem. He continued doing whatever he felt like. He thought he was a good guy. He thought he was a good person. He thought that money could solve a lot of other issues and these things would go away. Well, apparently they didn't because this morning he got the news that he has throat cancer. And all the money in the world that he has and doesn't have is not going to be able to buy him an extra day in life. Unfortunately, my uncle did not get the sign. He did not get the message. He continued going against Hashem. He continued doing whatever he felt like. He thought he was a good guy. He thought he was a good person. He thought that money could solve a lot of other issues and that these things would go away. Well, apparently, they didn't because this morning he got the news that he has throat cancer. And all the money in the world that he has and doesn't have is not going to be able to buy him an extra day in life.

6:20And that's why the Torah says in Parashat Va'etchanan, Hashem pays cash to His haters to their face in order to destroy them. Sometimes, Hashem gives a person many, many chances to do teshuva, presents them with different tests, and provides them with various circumstances. However, as long as the person thinks that their material success is going to bail them out of their troubles, whether it be health or otherwise, it's very hard for them to accept that rebuke from heaven, to accept that there's anything from heaven, no matter what happens, until it's too late. And that's why Hashem at some point decides that I'm going to pay this person cash to their face for whatever mitzvot and good that they did in this life. thinks that their material success is going to bail them out of their troubles, whether it be health or otherwise, it's very hard for them to accept that rebuke from Shamayim, to accept that there's anything from Shamayim, no matter what happens, until it's too late. And that's why Hashem at some point decides that He is going to pay this person in cash to their face for whatever mitzvot and good that they did in this life, in order to destroy them, meaning that once the person arrives in Shamayim, they have nothing but bad waiting for them. How long? Permanent. So, you see, it's not only a bad idea to connect our happiness to possessions; it's dangerous. It's dangerous to think that we own anything. It's dangerous to think that we possess anything.

7:36because the only thing that we could possess is things that we can take with us wherever we go. And that's why years ago, at the time of the Spanish Inquisition, the Abarbanel, who was one of the Jewish sages and also the treasurer of Spain, was questioned about his wealth. which was one of the Jewish sages, the Abarbanel, who was also the treasurer of Spain. He was a very intelligent and successful person. One day, someone suggested to the king, "Maybe the Abarbanel, your treasurer, is stealing from you." The king responded, "Let me investigate. I don't think he is. He's a good person," and so on. The accuser then said, "Well, just ask how much money he has. Let's see if he lies about that." So the king asked him, "How much money do you have?" And Balbanel said, "Let me think, let me think, let me think." Then he gave him an amount. The king was so upset by this amount because he knew that just Balbanel's house was worth more than that. Just his house was worth more than that. Immediately he said, "Throw him in jail. He's a liar. He's a thief. If he's lying to me, surely he's stealing from me." And he threw him in jail until he decided what to do with him. After a few days, the king just couldn't deal with it. He said, "Obviously, that Abarbanel is a very wise person. He knows that I know and I could find out how much money he has. Why would he lie to me when he's telling me such a low amount?" So he went to the prison cell and asked Abarbanel, "Why did you lie to me?"

8:58But then I told him, I didn't lie to you, Your Highness. I told you, you asked me, how much do I have? And I told you exactly what I have. He said, what are you talking about? Just your house is worth a million dollars. You told me you have much less than that. How could it be? He said, "No, Your Highness, you asked me what do I have. My house is not mine. The money in the bank is not mine. The money in the safe is not mine. How do I know? Look, just in a matter of a second when I gave you an answer, you didn't even want to investigate. You took all of my possessions, and everything became yours in a second. So does that mean it's mine? Obviously not." So the amount that I told you was the amount of money that I've spent on giving tzedakah, on actually investing in something that's going to be eternal. And that's mine. That you can't take away. The amount of money that I told you is the money that I invested in the Torah. And I invested it in sanctifying Hashem's name. That's money that you can never take away from me. And that's mine. When a person looks at his money that way, then he is wealthy regardless of what amount he has.

10:00then he is wealthy regardless of what amount he has. When a person thinks of money as if it's his possession, how it's his possession, then he's poor his whole life, and he's miserable his whole life, and he's full of anxiety for his whole life, because he always thinks that he needs, and he should have, and he could have more than what he has. So it's important to know that the sages taught us these things, not as recommendations, but as essential life lessons that, without them, you're simply not living life. You're just miserable. Why be miserable? Listen to the wise sages of Am Yisrael, because all they're doing is telling you what Hashem said, just in simple words. Kol tuv ve'hatzlacha rabah. This gives everyone that would listen to this a little bit of a wake-up call on how to look at any amount of money no differently than you look at a hammer.

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