Ari Goldwag - Behar - Sharing the Wealth

you're listening to the weekly paral podcast recorded with hashem's never-ending assistance in Israel 5776 2016 this week in you'll be reading par Bahar the Torah tells us in this week's para a number of times it speaks of a person who's become poor when your brother is going to become poor so the Torah instructs us what do we do in that situation how do we help out our brothers the people of Israel the Jewish people people who have become poor PK says it chapter 25 verse 25 it speaks about when your brother becomes poor speaks to such a person in chapter 25 verse 35 when your brother will become poor he'll stick out his hand toward you you to strengthen him verse also speaks about this person again using the same Lush in the same language in verse 39 as well I'd like to share with you a thought from the Mish which goes into explaining the concept behind Saka the concept behind charity but interestingly in speaking about it it doesn't first start start off with somebody who's poor because he has no money but actually speaks about somebody who's poor in a spiritual sense that he doesn't have Torah he doesn't have those spiritual teachings he hasn't developed himself spiritually he hasn't learned the Torah as much as he would like and nevertheless just like a poor person who doesn't have money will will come along to a rich person and say please share your wealth with me please help me out I can't do it myself so too you can have somebody who's a person who is spiritually poor he hasn't studied the Torah as much as he would like and he comes to someone else who indeed has studied the Torah and who does have those teachings who has learned those things and he says to him please will you share with me and the Mish tells us that there are two different people two different types of people who respond to the person who's poor both when it comes to Torah and when it comes to money and there are two different approaches two different responses and I'd like to read this to you inside the me tells us this is in 34 section number four that if someone is poor the measure says that we find a verse in Mish in Proverbs 29:3 and another verse in chap 22:2 that speaks about two different people Rush the first one is when you have a poor person who's who's meaning and explains who is this who is this person he's a person who's he's a middle type of person he's not wildly wealthy but he's not poor he's someone who works hard for a living he has what he needs a poor person meets him that's the first verse what does that interaction look like we're going to see soon the second verse that the quotes is you have a poor person who meets a rich person the rich person has a different way of approaching the poor person as per this medish we're speaking obviously about a certain type of rich person but this rich person when he meets the poor person a certain interaction occurs and the verse tells us that God has made all of them what does it mean we're going to see what it means that God has made all of them now the M continues and says that we have two different types of poor people like we said one is somebody who's poor monetarily and another is somebody who is poor when it comes to spiritual matters the first thing the says is that a poor person that we're speaking about here is someone who is lacking words of Torah he doesn't know as much Torah he doesn't have those spiritual teachings under his belt yet who's this person who's the B who's the middle type of person who isn't wildly wealthy but also isn't poor this is somebody who has learned one order TR of tractates one order of the M or two now when the poor person comes to this medium type person he says to him please teach me a chapter no he responds and he says I'll gladly teach you mayor the verse tells us that God lights up the eyes of them both that's the end of the verse in Proverbs and so he has acquired this world and the next World we spoke about in the other verse in Proverbs a rich person and a poor person who meet someone who is spiritually wealthy he's learned a lot of Torah he studied many spiritual teachings he have someone who's not as wealthy he's poor this person who's spiritually bed asks somebody who's spiritually wealthy he says and please teach me a chapter teach me give me some of your teachings he says no I'm I'm not going to teach you why should I sit and teach you whether it's at the end of sh at the end of the Mish at the end of the tractates the order of the tud OR at the beginning of the tud why do I need to teach it to you go with those who are like you I'm too advanced for you I'm I'm beyond you spiritually so you need to go and study with those who are on your level so the verse ends off and says God made them all what does that mean God made them all the one who made meaning God who made this person to be wise to be smart can easily take away his wisdom take away his knowledge and God who made this person not as spiritually Weare not as spiritually great not as wise God can easily make this person to be wise to be smart how easily the tables can be turned it's very interesting because we're going to say a similar thing a similar idea when it comes to wealth that it's easy for the tables to return it looks like this person is wealthy this person is poor he can easily lose his wealth and Hashem can easily make someone who's poor to be wealthy it's easy to see how the tables can turn when it comes to money it's very interesting that the measure says that the tables can all so easily turn when it comes to wisdom when it comes to knowledge when it comes to a person's IQ even another explanation we speak about a poor person we're speaking about someone who's literally poor he doesn't have that material wealth we have a person who's the middle of the road this is somebody who works for a living he covers his expenses he's not wildly wealthy but he's taken care of he's taking care of himself now this poor person approaches this middle type person mitvah he says to him please give to me fulfill the Commandment of helping out those who are in need this middle of the road person indeed gives the poor person some some charity Mar God lights up the eyes of both of them this poor person now has the means to be able to take care of his livelihood his physical livelihood in this world and the the middleof the road person has now acquired for himself not only something in this world helping out someone else in need having the satisfaction perhaps of that but he's also acquired for himself a place in the world to come he's acquired for himself a spiritual a spiritual acquisition that stands for him for ever now we come to the other verse in Proverbs which speaks about the rich one and the poor one who is this rich person the verse speaks about it's someone who is Rich has tons and tons of material wealth the person who's poor that we're speaking about is someone who doesn't have so many so so much wealth now the poor person comes to the wealthy person he says then please give to me fulfill the Commandment of giving the rich person says I'm not going to give you I'm not going to give you what I have is mine what you have is yours it's your problem it's not my problem to take care of you God makes them allem who made this person poor can easily make him Rich andem God who made him Rich made him wealthy can easily take away his wealth cause him to be poor is very interesting the the language the the approach of this rich person what does he say to the poor person I can see you you look so poor right but I see that you're you're chewing you're swallowing you're eating and I see your legs are quite faton I see your stomach I see you're a real baser You've Got Some solid meat on you you're a strong guy why do I have to work for you work for yourself so not only does he not give sedu he doesn't give charity to the poor person he insults him he puts him down he puts him he thinks he's putting him in his place but he's not he's just putting him down God says to this rich person not only didn't you give anything of yours not even a drop what I have given him the things that he does have the the strength that he has the physical ability that he has you are looking at it in a negative light which literally means it's a verse in Ecclesiastes 5:13 in Calis it literally means that you'll have a son and there'll be nothing left but the that from all that he has what's going to be the result what's going to be the spiritual Legacy of this rich person all he will have is AUM we're dasing the word ma all you have left is nothing all you have left is m m means a blemish all that you have is this blemish of this negative way of speaking this negative approach to life finishes off therefore Moses gives an exhortation to the Jewish people to the people of Israel that they shouldn't behave in this way that a person when they see a poor person should help the person out they should give give the charity they shouldn't go with their natural way of being with their negative approach with their constricted thinking and their inability to share and give to others what they need rather they should go and they should share recognize that someone who has less it's no fault of his own per se it's something that we need to help him we need to lift him out we need to get him a job perhaps it's the highest form of s highest form of Charity but in any event we need to be positive we need to help people out we need to not look at things in a negative light and hoard the money only for ourselves now there are two points I want to bring out of this Mish and there's a third point which I'd like to bring out from a different medish another short piece a little bit later on in the medish the first two points I'd like to bring out are as follows number one that we see that when it comes to a person who's rich for some reason the the verse in Proverbs is using the rich person as the picture or as the dgma the example of somebody who who he has so much he's not willing to share not willing to give it to anybody who's less than them both when it comes to spiritual matters and when it comes to financial matters I see that I have so much I'm not you you deal with your own kind you worry about it yourself I'm not going to take care of you as opposed to the Boni the middle type of person the the middle of the road person who has he has something doesn't have a lot he's not like overly wealthy he has what he needs and he's willing to share that with someone who's not as spiritually wealthy who's not as financially wealthy what is the difference between these two people why is the B able to share so to speak as opposed to the Asher who's not able to share and I think that what the meish is teaching us here the idea that the meas is bringing across is that a person who's rich and in this context we're speaking about a certain type of rich person who doesn't have the ability to share why it's because for him everything came to him easily he has wealth he has money he has all his needs taken care of he sees someone else who's poor and he says why should I give up of my things this is mine why should I give it to you people of sedom of Sodom their attitude was that whatever we have is ours God gave it to me why should I give it to you if he wanted to give it to you he should have given it to you they don't see themselves the people of sedom don't see themselves and this rich person doesn't see himself as a is an agent he just sees himself as whatever I have is mine what's mine is mine what's yours is yours the Bon the middle type of person doesn't live in a world of constriction doesn't see that it's a contradiction he senses he realizes that what Hashem has given to him is meant to be shared not only that but as the verse tells us may God lights up the eyes of both of them when he shares it with the other person not only does he get what he has not does he understand the Torah that he's learned not only does he have the money that he's that he's earned it seems he's giving it away no it doesn't work that way in spiritual terms when I share with somebody else I get what I have even stronger meaning for certain we can see it when it comes to wisdom when it comes to understanding when it comes to spiritual Concepts if I'm going to share a spiritual concept with you I'm going to have a certain level of clarity because I have to explain it clearly so that you understand it so I get it not only do I have it I get it even stronger it's something that as the M says it stands for me both in this world and in the next world it's something that I have for all eternity because by giving it to you when I share something when I give it away that's how I'm able to keep it that's how it strengthens it in me but this brings us to the second point of the Maes which is that we see that it's speaking about spiritual matters it's speaking about Torah it's speaking about wisdom somebody sharing his wisdom with someone who's not as lucky as him not as wise as him as opposed to a person who's extremely wise and is not willing to share that wisdom go learn with your type he's constricted he's small even though he thinks that he's big he's small the magish places that right next to the concept of someone who's literally poor and someone who's literally rich and someone who's literally in the middle path when it comes to his parosa when it comes to his livelihood and what is the reason why it's placing these two things together they seem to one is a physical matter has to do with my my monetary status has to do with how much money I have one is a spiritual thing how much wisdom I have they don't seem to be connected and I think that the m is putting them together because the men is teaching us that they are connected there's no difference on at the core of it there's no difference between physical and spiritual there are just two manifestations of the same spiritual concept at the root and that spiritual concept is as we said when I have something it seems like if I if I'm going to share it with somebody else I lose it but just like it's very clear on in a spiritual sense when I share it I don't lose it it strengthens it for me the menish is teaching me that in the physical sense as well because the physical because the monitor the financial is really a manifestation of something spiritual when I give away my money when I share my money I'm not really giving it away it seems that way at first but the truth is that may just like when it comes to wisdom hasem gives an extra level of understanding because I'm sharing it with somebody else when it comes to money as well to the financial matters when I share when I give it away when I give charity when I share with others the money that I have so there is something that just like it strengthens in me when I share an idea it strengthens in me something when it comes to my money and the idea is that money itself is an expression of the fact that Hashem is giving me my needs that's what money represents it's just an a representation money just represents that I have done something for someone else that has value they've given me that money to represent that now I can take that money and express to someone else that they are giving me something that has value when I can share that with somebody else it shows that I'm not constricted in my thinking that you know it's easy to believe it's easy to think that when I give this money away I lose the money when I when I share this money with somebody else I give it to someone who's poor come on man get a job why don't you have a job look you're an able-bodied person why don't you work for yourself right so but that's constricted thinking that approach that that way of thinking is not useful it doesn't help him and it doesn't help me but when I'm open when I have an expansive Consciousness when my approach to life is here what I Hashem sometimes gives me something for somebody else when I'm willing to share it with somebody else it brings more to me it makes me more open to receive when I'm willing to share with others so it's a spiritual principle that's at play here as well that when I share my wealth it brings more to me just like when I share my wisdom it brings more to me and this brings me to my final point which I'd like to share with you from another Mish but before I do I just want to share a quick story that happened to me just yesterday right now I'm making a Mitzvah my son my oldest son is 13 years old he's just turned 13 the shabas he's reading from the Torah and on Sunday we're having a beautiful party Miss hem with God's help yesterday we were at the cotel we at the Western Wall and my son got his first Aliyah the first time that he was called up to the Torah as a bar mitzvah boy and he read from the Torah and he led the prayers he led the daving after that we went to the back of the cotel area there's a section for families that you could sit and you know you can eat some food and then we had brought food brought bagels with us and was a whole you know my family has come my wife's family has come and a person who was not connected to us all of a sudden came over he was eating from our food he didn't ask just came over and I guess this is what he does this is how he gets his food anyway so in my approach to my feeling toward it I felt very upset about it I felt like hey who's this guy why is he joining in my this is a family affair this is not something that you know he didn't even ask I mean maybe if he asked you know share with him he didn't even ask that's my feeling about it and then looking at it and looking at the thinking and the feeling the automatic the go-to that I went to in this circumstance in this situation you know I see that there's a constriction in that there's a feeling know wow I'm really outlaying a tremendous amount of money on a bar mitzvah there's so many expenses involved it's like a mini wedding and so the feeling that I have is like wow I I don't have it how can I how can I give to him that's a natural feeling that's an automatic feeling and the question is how indeed does a person deal with that how do I be openhearted how do I be like the how do I be like that person who's the middle of the road person who recognizes that what I have is from Hashem that I can be expansive I don't have to believe that if I give to him I'm not going to have anything for myself and in fact in the end there were plenty of bagels left even though he took a bunch for himself there were plenty of bagels after the whole thing is finished I have a bag upstairs full of bagels but that's not how I felt in the moment so what is the approach how does a person deal with this it's natural to feel that way how do I move from the isher that person who looks like he's rich but really he's constricted into a person who's who's the middle of the road person who has that balance so I'd like to share with you a small piece in the medish which is the third point which is the idea which is an approach to work on this idea amazing thing rer says he says that even the simple words of the people of the land of Israel that itself is is a teaching that itself is a t how is this so if you go to Israel says and you hear how the Beggars speak the poor people speak this is what they say Z they say come they don't just say I need money they say come and get a merit through me if you give Saka say the poor people of Israel you will get a Merit through me you'll become great through me says that the language of the people of Israel the poor people of Israel slightly different not zah and the word means look at me see with some intuitive Thoughts with some with some divine inspiration look what I was and look what I am now and the explains that the PO poor person is saying look at me once I was rich now I'm poor realize that money you know life and money is a gogg it's a turning wheel sometimes a person is up sometimes a person is down look at me don't make the mistakes that I made if you're rich share that wealth so that you don't end up poor like me that's how this the B the poor people of Israel speak I was thinking what is this me trying to teach me what is the concept here where's the depth of what it's saying and what can I take with me from this and it hit me that in thinking about my story and my attitude and my feelings and also I I I had seen this medish before that whole story happened you know I prepare I look around at the par I'm preparing for this par podcast I saw this this magish already so what was Hashem trying to tell me what is the magish trying to tell me I think that the idea is that yes a person has natural feelings and has the automatic responses but Hashem also reminds a person sends him messages so that he should remember hey that's how you think naturally but this is the way we can be greater this is the way I can be higher hasem sends those messages specifically it's speaking about the the way that people speak in the land of Israel and we know that Isel the land of Israel is much higher in a certain sense in a spiritual sense than all the other lands and that means as the Torah tells us it's the it's the land that hm is always looking at there's more there's more of these messages that hem is sending when you come to Israel you hear the messages more so it could be that the m is telling us that when you come to Israel and even you listen to the language of the people the poor people they Hashem is speaking through them they are messengers of Hashem as well and they say come remember what it's all about get a merit through me become great through me look intuitively at me notice what has happened how did I get to where I am so that you don't end up where I am but this is really Hashem speaking through the poor person and this Mish thisor this idea for me is talking to me and saying remember what is the ideal remember to be great to be large to not think that I don't have enough Hashem gives me enough hasem gives me my needs hem gives me it helps me to be able to to do everything that I need and that's the is that's the B person the middleof the road person that type of person the verse tells us that may that God lights up the eyes of the person who's the messenger of the poor person and Hashem also lights up the eyes of the person who's the middle of the road person who's able to share and recognize that what he has that everything that he has that hard-earned money is not just for him it's also for others and when there's a constricted Consciousness when a person thinks that there's not enough he ends up with nothing but when there's an expansive Consciousness when a person recognizes that everything is from hasem and it's meant to be shared that person ends up with a greater spiritual inheritance with a greater spiritual awareness both when it comes to Torah and when it comes to his financial life to his financial ability Hashem should bless me and hasem should bless you that we should be able to recognize this idea look out for the messengers that are all around us no matter where we are in the world yes we might hear them more in Israel but they're there no matter where we are should help us to hear those messages hasem should help us remind our elves and others of what the spiritual messages are how we can be greater financially spiritually how our wealth can increase we can walk along this middle of the road thank you so much for listening have a wonderful shabas this podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you for more podcasts like this please visit www.wag.com or search on iTunes Ari goldwag