When someone criticizes you, does it irk you? Do you automatically accept the rebuke? A lot depends on how we view the person offering the criticism. No statesman would mind being criticized by George Washington. Most scientists would welcome criticism from Isaac Newton. I was always taught to value feedback from students.
So, I eagerly analyzed some recently received criticism, hoping to gain insight.
Dear Rabbi Lapin,
Your Thought Tools are interesting. I take issue, though, with the plug at the end of each issue. I understand you need to make money and want to sell your products.
However, it really bothers me that you end a spiritual, Biblical discussion with a very materialistic thought.
… each time I read another Thought Tool I hope it will end well and it doesn’t. There is always a message to buy something. It just isn’t right.
I always appreciate hearing from Thought Tool readers and proceeded to examine the charge. You see, I was brought up in the British tradition where any talk of money was seen as distasteful. But is that a Godly view? While writing my book,
Thou Shall Prosper, I researched what the Torah says about money. I became much more comfortable with the marketplace.
God created us humans with three chief appetites: food, sex, and money. Ancient Jewish wisdom distinguishes between these three appetites in this way:
The less food you’ve been eating, the more you want it. The more you’ve had the less you want it.
The less sex you’ve been experiencing, the less you want it. The more you’ve been enjoying, the more you want it.
The less money you’ve got, the more you want. The more you’ve got, the more you want.
In other words, our desire for money is extraordinarily powerful and relentless. This is why the Five Books of Moses contain nearly ten times more commandments about money than about food.
Yet, these appetites for food, sex, and money are necessary for society to endure.
Most people who reject food become emaciated while those who eat gluttonously usually become obese, ugly and unhealthy.
Most people who reject sex become ascetic while those who wallow in drooling concupiscence usually become depraved, ugly, and unhealthy.
Most people who reject money become detached from reality, while those who pursue it to the exclusion of all else usually become venal, ugly, and unhealthy.
Animals require no restraints upon their appetites for food and sex since nature exerts control. You seldom spot obese camels or kangaroos and for animals, sex is mostly seasonal. Money is utterly meaningless to animals.
At the other extreme, angels have no appetites for food, money, or sex. They neither indulge nor feel any urge.
God challenges us to live in exquisite tension, balanced between the opposing pull of the animals and the angels. Unlike animals, we have souls. Unlike angels, we have bodies.
The Torah constantly corrects our common mistake of separating the spiritual and material into incompatible opposites. Eating food while thanking God for the gastronomic pleasure, enjoying sex within the bonds of God’s holy covenant of marriage, and making money in an honest and ethical way, transforms these actions into spiritual endeavors as much as they are material.
In my experience, most people fail to reach their economic potential for one main reason. Deep down they believe, as does my correspondent, that while necessary, money is inherently materialistic, lacking all spiritual virtue.
My tradition teaches me that offering my wares for sale does not contradict being spiritual. When someone purchases a book or audio CD of mine, we both benefit. I get to feed my family by offering something that contributes to people’s lives. The customer chooses to acquire deeper insight than I am able to offer in a short weekly email.
While I embrace Thought Tool readers whether or not they make a purchase, I highlight a product so that people will know how to further explore a specific topic and to give them the opportunity to take advantage of special pricing. And yes, to understand more about the spiritual view of money, you might want to listen to Boost Your Income: Three Spiritual Steps to Success.
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