7 Commodities Worth Investing In {Living Lchaim}

if you wake up in the morning and you're sane you have people in the house with you you have a family you're not a millionaire you're a lot more than that right how many millions would people pay to be alive to be healthy to have family to have friends all of these things you know each one of the billion things that have to go right for brother not to be in pain you would pay a million dollars for each of them you could make a list of at least a million things that you would pay a million dollars to fix with the person's body and you have all of them hi guys Ellie Langer here with the kosher money podcast if you don't know what the kosher money podcast is it's a show about money the things they don't teach you in school from a Jewish perspective sometimes our episodes are about investing or managing your finances but today's conversation is different it's the view from a rabbis lens on seven Commodities more valuable than the thing everybody is seemingly chasing money enjoy the episode being a Jew awesome managing personal finances not so awesome welcome to kosher money R gladstein so good to have you let's get right into it the world revolves around money there's no denying that everyone needs money to live the question is are there actually things more valuable than money yeah right like how could that be how could anything be more valuable than money you know money makes the world tick but this is one of my favorite questions because when I was thinking about this I had I don't know to me at least it was a revelation because you could look at it the exact opposite way is anything more value than money you know it hit me is there anything not more valuable than money is there anything in this world less valuable than money because think about it we take money and we exchange it for a myriad of possible things we exchange it for milk bread bananas cars clothing houses tuition that means whatever we're exchanging for money we are deeming is more important than money so there's almost nothing in this world less important than money actually the question is not what is more important than money but we need to measure up all the various Myriad things in this world what is more important than the other so that we will use money to buy that instead of other things so it was a a reality shifting question for me what is uh more valuable that money now when you ask a rabbi what's more valuable that money you know the audience is thinking you know you know we know what's coming you know he's going to say all the spiritual Pursuits and all of the values of family life so I want to carefully introduce this subject with an important message I think and that is Judaism values money greatly money is extremely important there's a documented story about one of the greatest R this's is a little trivia question the rim from the era of the middle eval era who was the greatest of all the rim the risham was the era of Jewish history say from about the year 900 to 1500 approximately and if you ask most Yesa students you know who is the greatest of all the rim they would probably say Thea myones actually that is the opinion of theard but ashkenazim Jews of ashkenazic descent from Germany from Germany and later Poland um and other countries our tradition is that Rabin the grand son of Rashi was the greatest of all the in wisdom and in the number of students he had he was extremely sharp one of the greatest analytical Minds in the last thousand years and Rabin was extremely wealthy he had many house attendants and Rabin Tam before he would begin to study a Torah portion he would actually take out his money MH he would count it mhm it would put him in a happy mood and then he would begin to learn so let's think about it at first it sounds like uh a story we want to cover over right but the Mahar Mahar was one of the earliest of the say of the after 1500 he records this as a legitimate tradition that we have about rabo so what we see from the story is that money is valuable but it's a tool if you have it it gives you a certain peace of mind so now you could use that content to be able to study T and come close to hasem and be involved in spiritual Pursuits so on the one hand it shows the value of money but it also shows that money is a tool to help you get to another place in fact if I could add you know in in Psalms uh King David says I'll say in Hebrew I'll translate it's you know there a lot of songs with that uh with that verse literally means God your teaching is better for me than thousands of dollars of silver and gold but says there's another interpretation so about 200 years ago he says you know when the Torah is sweet to me if I have money and I could appreciate it and I could have peace of mind then the tah is even sweeter than than that and I could appreciate the T from the contentment I have from the money so it's not that we're undermining or devaluating money it's it's are things more valuable it's interesting because when we think of money we think of it as a physical item right that there's nothing spiritual it can't lead to any growth in spirituality but you're saying that that's not the correct way to look at money it's not the correct it's a tool money is a tool a tool could be dangerous and a tool could be extremely powerful and it all depends how you use it so Rabin by the way throughout his discussions in the his comments to sh to the you find consistently the value he places on business and how it's considered a mitzvah for example just you know short example the is you're not allowed to take a business trip and set sale uh Less Than 3 days before because you might not make it in time or the the jarring nature of travel might disturb your peace of mind on chabas however for a mitzvah for for a fulfillment of a commandment of Hashem you're allow to set sail within three days of shabas RA says going to do business deal is considered a Mitzvah is considered a religious activity because it's a way to support your family so Rabin valued money but he used it as a way to advance his uh Torah learning so whatever we're going to say today is not coming from a place of not appreciating money but just the opposite Judaism values money as a tool to bring us to bigger and better and we spent so much of our time at work which it it kind of flips the script right when you leave synagogue in the morning and then you come to work you feel like you're doing the mundane you're doing physicality and then you know in the evening when we go to learn or pray then we return to God then we return to spirituality but you're saying it's one fluid motion throughout the day absolutely we've once discussed in the past that you know in the month of el we blow the Shar when not before we pray not before we learn right before we work because our focus is okay we want to make sure that our work is done with the proper spiritual frame of mind that's mha Feinstein writes this in his respons Ra was on leading authorities of the last uh generation and I also want to just um correct and misnomer that people have they think okay there's a secular world and then there's a religious world and the religious world is the world of the supernatural the mysticism we're above and beyond reason I'm not coming from that Vantage Point here I want to share with you a teaching of actually we have the privilege tonight today to get together on the yard side on the day of the passing of the 24th day of el taught he says you know in the world people think that religion demands that we be from from religious uh saintly no in Judaism the objective is not to be from saintly the objective is to be smart so whatever we say today I'm not here to tell you Superstition or mysticism it's a matter of making smart decisions so with that introduction you know you uh rais a very challenging question what in this world is more valuable than money what could it possibly be right we spend 8 to 10 of our waking hours the other eight were sleeping and then we have six left over all in the pursuit of this green bill or whatever country you're in and then we take it we put it in our pocket and we feel good right like is that it is that the Pinnacle of this world attaining that taking a green rectangle right and putting it in your pocket right and let nobody touch it so you know there's a ceremony in Judaism if someone has a firstborn son so technically it's owned by you know the clergy by the cohain by the the priest even today we have many kohanim you go to they get the they get called up to the Torah first and we do a procedure called pen right we we redeem our firstborn where the Torah teaches technically speaking your firstborn kid is owned by the clergy but obviously there's a way to have him released have their claim on him released so the procedure goes you know you invite all your friends it's like another Brisa celebration you invite all your friends and you have the priest sitting up there and you know we want to make sure this priest has the purest lineage he could trace back to Aron hen the first high priest and we give him five silver coins the total value is I don't know 100 bucks or something like that and we give him the coins and he poses an amazing question he says and now we're going to learn Aramaic because our very sophisticated audience they need to know English they need to know Hebrew and we're going to do a little Aramaic we we'll we'll translate we'll give captions okay good he says pal what do you want more what would you like more your firstborn kin or the five silver coin okay so just imagine you know you have a kid you give theen the five the five bucks the five silver coins and he asks you you sure you want to give me the money and take your kid what do you really want your kid or the money and obviously the father I don't think in history any father ever said hm you know come to think of it I'd rather have the money for sure not by the first kid maybe by the third kid already the father's thinking I'm not sure any and the father says I want I want my kid so here's the money I'm going to take my kid so it's it's like a rhetorical question what would you like more well mean what would you like more your kid or the money so Ruderman who is the rashash the the leader of the Yeshiva Nar Baltimore he would say that this is not an isolated question this is a question that reverberates into every decision we make in our entire life we always have to ask ourselves what do we want more do we want the money or is there maybe an more important value that we should be pursuing whenever we make a decision in life we have to ask ourselves you know when we go on vacation we have to ask what do we want more do we want this vacation or maybe there's a value that we need to be looking into that's more important than this vacation or whenever we spend money on something or whenever we decide on any activity we partake in we have to ask ourselves what do we really want more in life so there was a a rabbi in New Jersey a lot of rabbis in New Jersey yeah he was counseling a couple a high-powered uh couple and this couple uh would work every night till 9:00 p.m. 10 p.m. 10:30 p.m. and the kids would be waiting at the window you know noses pressed up against the glass waiting for Daddy and Mommy to come home and you know the half asleep and the father and mother would come in half asleep and the kids you know were half asleep and the father and mother would take the kids up to sleep and the rabbi so why why you doing this why are you working so much and the parents said what do you mean we want to give the kids a good life we want to give the kids food clothing good vacations good college education good future just not just our kids our grand we want to give our kids everything everything but parents the parents wanted to give the kids everything but parents so that's something we always have to ask ourselves money is very valuable is it more valuable than being a parent than raising our children you know in Judaism sometimes we ask you know what value does the Torah place on spending time with children you know do we find great rabbis spend time with children so it's that it's interesting you know I I researched this topic I have a friend Kenny pinsa he showed me that the again it's his yard side so he he's just making a lot of appearances said the same way Judaism believes we have to be set aside fixed times for learning in the morning in the evening one also has to betim set aside fixed times to overseeing the education and the development of your children every morning every evening you can't just say well I'm just going to DAV in today I'm just going to learn today you also have to spend time with your children daily you know this is coming from the who valued time more than the you know the didn't want to buy shoes with laces because it took a few extra seconds a day to tie the shoes better with velcro or slip on okay so we're not talking about somebody who had a lot of time on their hands we're talking about somebody who valued every millisecond of life but he said you have to set aside time every morning and every night to spend time with your children so that's something that's more valuable than money when it's all said and done people regret oh I wish I could have spent more time with my children that I wish I could have spent more time in the office the brisker of you know the brisker of dedicated 10 years of his life to learn with his children now you know in in the early days of the state of Israel the reality was many of the Great Torah leaders their children did not always stay on the streight an arrow there were many many very prominent religious families that their children because many of them gets got swept away with the spirit of the day and uh they would ask the brisar you know like what did you do what did you do to marit brisk all his children were what we call God-fearing wholesome and the brisk would always downplay it he would say you know there are no techniques there's no there no parenting courses it's all all about prayer you have to pray for your children but you can't help but think he really the bisar dedicated 10 years of his life you know not not for his own not to write his own Torah innovative ideas to learn with his children that's something that uh every parent is challenged to really carve out the time to to spend time with their children you can't do it every night you know certainly shabas weekends as much as you can in Jud this is more valuable than money you know the one of the greatest Torah Scholars of the last generation was R kki he lived in Ben and he was the address for all all of the Jewish people for any problem any halic inquiry any any issue and you know where did such a person come from his father his father rakov Isel kki he was known as the stier G when R Ki was young the stier Learned with him always daily many many tractates ofas many many different garas he learned with him hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and you know one might have said that well you know why is he spending so so much time with his kid he could be you know writing his own books he could be and look look what he produced you know so the real investment the real investment because what you're saying gives a whole new meaning to homework homework is considered a chore right I have to sit and go over math equations with my son I have to learn with him and break my teeth to try to better understand a already after a Long Day's Work homework's not in the morning I mean for the most part right so look I'm not the biggest homework guy it doesn't have to be you know what the morrow what the teacher what the rebi said okay learn this it's a matter of cultivating that relationship regarding of course spending time doing things the kid enjoys but regarding the values that the parents want to transmit to their children so that's certainly something more valuable than money what else what else I'm sure there are there are other uh I see a whole list over there what else is more valuable than cash so if I may there's a very hot topic now and without getting KNE deep into this you know this is this is the hot button issue in the state of Israel today their counter protests there advocacy protests should everybody be drafted to the Army and I'm going to leave that question to people much greater than myself but just to give some insight some people wonder how could there be an entire segment of society dedicating themselves not to be gainfully employed not to defend the country just to sit and study now I'm not commenting on whether this is the morally correct thing or not I'll leave that to the leaders of the generation I just want to provide just a little insight where are they even coming from why would somebody dedicate their life to full-time study I mean you know in the secular world you go to college to get a job to make money you go to school even if you want an advanced PhD it's ultimately to use it for something what is this ideal of learning Tyra right in Judaism we see there are people who dedicate their life to learn to what what value does that have so to give an appreciation there's a gamar gamar in Tam Babylonian T we spoke about Aramaic before Babylonian Tama is written Aramaic it tells a story of Hill one of the tanim one of the sages of the period of the mishna who made a very meager salary The Tam says he made a Tara which is a small coin every day half of it he used to support his family the other half he used to gain entry into the study hall to be able to listen to the Torah discourse of Shay thear says to hear div the word of the Living God doesn't mean he heard God speaking the T The Tam tradition is the word of God he wanted to hear the the teaching of Shay so one day he would give half of his daily earnings to the guard so you see you know even to get into the the study it's not free nothing nothing good in life is free you got to pay one day he didn't have the money so the guard didn't let him in and it was a cold snowy January day so he has no choice he climbed up to the roof he pressed his nose and his eyes against the window and he was lying there on the roof listening in to the discourse of shalan so you know I guess you had to pay to get a warm cozy seat but you're you're still allowed to listen if you could finagle it and he's listening and you know they're sitting there in the hall and the and the room's getting darker and darker and darker and they what dark it's the middle of the day they look up the Skylight it's pitch black and what it looks like you know they see the outline of a guy they go up there they clear off the snow they you know they bring hillo to the fire they warm him up after he he you know regains his body temperature they say you know what were you doing he said well I couldn't get in I but I needed to hear the shear so just think for a moment how much would this man spend on his own personal learning literally half his money mhm are you Al allowed to do that you know the the gamar says in tractate K that in one of the Babylonian cities in the times of the Tad they made an enactment you can't spend more than 20% of your money on charity on on religious causes it's considered uh extravagant too extravagant spiritually you know you have to live within reason with in Balance you can't spend so much money on a religious cause so they they capped it at 20% fifth one F thear says we're doing a lot of Aramaic if somebody uh wants to give overly generously can't give more than a f so but Hill gave 50% for his for his personal study how is he allowed to do that you know who ask this question mayor he lived that pass about 90 years ago or so this is what he asks his commentary to the sacrificial parts of Shas Kim and he says when we talk about a person's learning your learning is your life it's not your life in your physical life in this world you know the the the soul doesn't just live for 70 80 90 years in this world it lives on eternally in the afterlife what gives it its Vitality its ability to thrive its ability to enjoy the pleasures of the world to come Torah study is the primary commodity in the world to come so Torah study is your eternal life so of course you're allow to spend more than 20% on your Torah study because your Torah study is your eternity it's your entire existence you see one of the important things we have to think of is if you have a million dollars how long do you have it for you know how long do you they have deals today how how do the banks get you to put money in a money market they say oh we have 9% interest for two days okay so you go you run you put in your money and two days you have 9% and then it's stuck there at 0.00001% interest so was that a good investment you're right it sounds like a lot but it's two days is not a long time actually I just you know I went to the bank today because some of the money was sitting in uh you know 01 they have a new deal 5% for 3 months I said three months last time it was 5% for six months but they got smart because they know sounds good 5% but uh I don't know if some people are going to call me you know they have better deals but so okay a million dollars how long do you have the million dollars for you have it for uh so you make it when you're 30 40 then you have it until uh however long your teeth stay in your mouth you know you could enjoy it not a very long time a quick break from this week's episode to tell you that Autumn Fall is officially here it's my favorite season the ear is crisp the leaves are changing and it's the perfect time to transition to those cozy layers that's where twillery comes in I'm loving their long sleeve polos super soft and versatile so I'm wearing a polo shirt right now it's the long sleeve and they're perfect for those cooler days when you 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and create your account click around their website to learn more about it the donor fund welcome to the Future and now back to this week's episode so funny you say the word enjoy it but if you think about it you have it you enjoy the fact that you have it but you're not actually enjoying it because it can only be used for something else which brings you back to your earlier point right it's it's like this great mystery right I'm happy I have the money right heaven forbid to spend it on something that could actually be useful right cuz then I won't be happy that I have it anymore and the thing that I use that's useful doesn't really make me as happy as having the the wad right but it's a finite amount of time you don't have this money for right on the other hand there are Commodities that we believe we have infinitely so you know the soul everybody senses there's more to them than you know the hands the Flesh and the blood there's a soul that that feels satisfaction or shame or spiritual elevation or sometimes we feel if we do the wrong thing embarrassment there's something Beyond just the physical that spiritual entity is an eternal existence so you know what's the commodity there they don't take over they don't take credit card they don't take mutual funds you can't cash in miles over there you know so what what's the commodity that works because that commodity must be very valuable because it's it's more than 40 years it's infinite and if you imagine if you could use the commodity that you only have for 40 years to buy a commodity that's forever and ever so would you say oh look at that person who's utilizing his life to serve to serve Hashem let's say you know we believe if you do a Mitzvah it's you reap an eternal uh reward would you say oh look at that person studying Torah he's really giving up of himself he's so religious he's so superstitious he would say he's smart he's smart it's not religion it's good business decision it's a good business decision because instead of using his money or making money he's acquiring a commodity that's not a hundred years not a thousand years that's Eternal just a good business decision why invest your money in something that will only earn interest for three months if you could put it somewhere that it's an unlimited uncapped uh potential so we believe the words of Torah are the most valuable spiritual commodity now so you say okay now I understand why these people would want to be involved in studying Torah after all but is that selfish because here they are they could be you know helping Society they could be defending the country so so what are they doing so they're earning spiritual commodities for thems so now maybe I understand what they're doing but is that selfish again and I'm and you know sometimes without commenting on whether it's the right or wrong thing another thing that uh should be articulated is that aside from the fact that it's the greatest commodity and spiritual commodity it also is the single greatest thing to benefit the entire world you know we say every morning there's certain activities that a person eats the fruits of in this world and the the principle lasts eternally and the BR that we recite says different examples acts of kindness uh lending money helping a poor bride get married these are all things that we get let's say uh perks in this world but the main reward is for the world to come why would you get perks in this world you know if the reward is in the world to come why is God giving you like uh peros perks in this world the ramom says look if you help someone in this world it's only right you should also get some benefit in this world so the main reward is going to be in the world to come but you're going to also get some good stuff some treats in this world because you helped someone else in this world so the question is if you noticed why is learning Torah listed in this list of things that you get perks in this world and the main rewards of the world to come because when you learn Torah you're not helping anybody in this world you're just studying so this is another important misconception and that is it's not true we believe it is our tradition it was taught in peros it was given to Moses on sin that one of the three pillars of the world is the learning of Torah but moreover the greatest religious activity that one could be involved in that upholds the whole world that brings peace to the world that brings success to the world that brings blessing to the world that brings security to the world that brings goodness to the world is learning Torah which means if you wake up in the morning you say you know I want to do something to benefit Society I could uh help an old lady across the street I could save the whales I could help poor people I could help sick people according to Jewish tradition the learning of Torah is the greatest act of loving kindness that could be done for the entire world so again that doesn't mean sometimes a person could say well I'm not going to help anyone I'm just going to sit in the study hall and look at my gamar because I'm helping everyone so you suffer you suffer you suffer no sometimes you need to proactively and actively lend a hand and when is the correct time to study and when is the correct time to act I'll leave that to bigger people than me but this is giving a certain perspective the religious value of learning Torah is the single greatest activity that one could be involved in to come closer to God to earn spiritual reward to bring blessing to the whole world which means you know it's a 10 days of repentance now it's made CH if somebody wanted to know I have 10 minutes what could I do for myself and the Jewish people what's what's the most important thing I could do go to your shelf open up gamarra open up AES and study Tor or if they don't have that watch a YouTube video on your YouTube uh Channel thank you Rabbi DG has his own YouTube channel but but it's interesting because one would think and this is where maybe the misconception comes from learning you know I can learn anything I can learn how to build a chair I can learn you know science you know this idea of learning God's word has an elevated role in this world okay so that's an important idea like what what exactly is so significant about learning Torah why is Torah different than any discipline Than Mathematics science biology chemistry physics you know when we fulfill God's Commandments he tells us sit in the Suka we are to sh we're doing his command he told us to do things we're doing the activities he told us to do but when we learn his teaching we are now developing our minds to think like Hashem so this is the greatest single act we could partake of to come close to him it is the most uh Sanctified Divine activity that a Jew could be involved in because we're made we're made with the spark of God right like we have part of that God soul in in US yeah look uh you know the zor teaches that when God created us he blew into our nostril the Living spirit and there's a cabalistic teaching when one blows they blow from within themsel so God blew from within himself and he gave us a piece of the Divine actually you know in Rashana when we blow the chofar there's an idea we are reenacting the act of God blowing the soul into man so that gives us a new beginning on the on the day that man was created so it's really a very empowering uh ennobling idea so learning Torah is something more valuable sometimes you see somebody you know he's sitting in the study hall come on what you drive that car you live in that house you wear those clothing you know maybe work a little more you'll live a better life and people oh he's being religious you know it's a superstitious type of thing that he that he's being involved in but what the say he's smart it's a business decision because if a guy had a shopping spree for uh 10 minutes and he spent nine of the minutes you know dressing up putting on his tie putting on his suit you know grooming himself say come on you know you'll do that later now take advantage of the time so you know people who devote give their heart and soul to the service of God it's it's a new perspective about them it's not from it's not saintly it's smart the old television show Supermarket Sweep where they only had a certain amount of time to throw it in the cart I'm just thinking of the guy standing there for the first few minutes you know just looking around seeing what he wants to grab but you're saying we're here for a limited amount of time grab the real gold right use your time super wisely so I feel like we're gaining momentum we're opening people's eyes that there are actually things more valuable than money uh what else what else is on the list I think we we we flew out into the highest Realms let's come back a little bit let's speak about some other more mundane things that I think will really resonate with people on a rational level it's important to make sure we have good friends my mani's rights raham says most of a person's perspectives and attitudes are just what we see other people do you know how many young people they're on the right path and all of a sudden you know they take a left turn and nobody knows why you know like where did this come from nobody saw this coming like what happened to this kid and more often than that they just hooked up with the wrong friend and it it could be very dangerous so you know the the words that the sages use are can buy a friend buy a friend doesn't just mean money because like we're learning there are things more valuable than money so actually sometimes a better way to buy a friend is with things are more valuable than money look you know what everybody agrees is more valuable than money everybody loves honor right because people exchange money people you know people donate millions of dollars why is it always altruistic no they're giving millions of dollars because they want recognition because in their in their conscious or subconscious they realize recognition and honor is more valuable than money now sometimes it's hard to be somebody to give somebody the compliment or the honor that uh they're yearning for but if you want to have a good friend now who's a good friend how do you know how do you know if someone is a good friend for you very simple when I'm associated with this guy do I spend more time learning Torah do I come earlier to the daving earlier to the prayer am do I give more charity in other words just ask yourself associating with that guy is it elevating my service of God or is it you know am I more involved in in the physical world so that's the type of barometer a person should use a good friend it's more valuable than money it's also interesting because sometimes you could be with somebody and walk away feeling elevated you're in a better mood you're feeling positive and then sometimes you can have a conversation with someone and you just feel down afterwards right and then you realize hey maybe the subject matter the convers ations that I was having with so and so he may not be in the best place I'm going to help him but maybe I should distance myself because like you said especially teenagers there's a negative influence there that can shape someone's life without even them realizing right no one's really actively thinking should I be hanging out with this person is he having a positive or A negative effect on my life you know and I think um one of a parents most important responsibilities is some parents are afraid to do this you see your kid hanging out with somebody don't be afraid to say you know are you sure this is the right friend for you what you know so and so such a nice kid now you know you don't have to say never speak to that kid again kid will pick up the message you know sometimes parents are afraid to meddle in kids' relationships that's your job that's your responsibility your job is to be super sensitive to who your children are associating with to direct them to the correct uh relationships I was once at a conference and there was a multi- multi-millionaire many businesses probably in his 40s at the time and he was asked what is your biggest fear in life and you know I started to think okay losing all my money business goes south dying and he says my biggest fear in life is dying alone loneliness he would give up all the money in the world to be surrounded by people that love him that have a positive effect on him that he can give to others his biggest fear out of everything on the list was loneliness so when you mention good friends I've seen it you know this idea that people think once I come into money then I'm going to have everything set and you know what are you going to have just a big bank account that you're looking at even on a materialistic level you don't have anyone to spend it with where you going it's an empty existence yeah yeah so it really resonates yeah the sages have an expression there's a Maxum either good friend or death uhhuh where they recognize life is only valuable if if you have someone who you could enjoy it and have a h relationship with there's something a lot more valuable than money you know there's an expression in the world time is money what does time is money mean time is so Val Val you know what you could do with time you could make money with time or if you if you lose time it's like losing money because I could have made money in that time that's the expression time is money and r salant r salant was the father of the mus move in the mus Movement we once discussed is the movement to to emphasize the ethical teachings of the Torah so salant said no not time is money that's just the opposite this that's exactly why we're having this conversation no not time is money money you know why money is valuable you know how valuable money is it's so valuable you know what you could do with it you could buy time time is much more valuable so in the world time time you know how valuable time is it's so valuable because why you can make money no we say just the opposite money is valuable because you could use it to buy the most important commodity time you know RAB yosf one of the leading rabis the last generation of the sparck world he would uh he would say if something broke in the house he said I could fix it I'll take out my toolbox take out the hammer pull out the thing but takes me I'll call someone to fix it it will cost me money but I'm saving 15 minutes so I'm using money to buy time what's more valuable time or money the most value able commodity we have is life CH we're asking God give us life what's life we're not asking for more than one year at a time life are is conglomerate of segments of time I remember uh the bank used to give out checkbooks there was a slogan on the top we going have to show we're gon to have to show on the screen what a checkbook is for they don't have them anymore no no I'm sure they do but for the the in their 20s theyve only heard about it but yes um I I know what a check is you use checks to buy records right so the checkbook it it said on it life the ultimate blank check think about it life is a blank check it's the most valuable commodity and it's as valuable as you write it out to be so really time is the greatest value you know I think uh uh Ellie you showed me from one of the Masters ofos there's a famous comment of the medrash that says that when RAB AKA was giving his Torah class his students began to fall asleep I always say you know the more things change the more they stay the same his students were falling asleep and he wanted to wake them up so he said you know why did Esther Queen Esther she ruled over 127 provinces why did she have that privilege in the Merit of of her righteous ancestor Sarah who lived 127 righteous years so says wow that's so interesting well I'm sure if uh I'm sure everybody woke up when they heard that you know that alone could put you out you know what exactly so interesting about the fact that Esther ruled over 127 provinces because her great great grandmother Sarah lived 127 righteous years she said like this if Esther ruled over 127 countries because Sarah lived 127 righteous years that means for every righteous month of Sarah Esther probably ruled over another state and for every righteous day of Sarah's life Esther ruled over an entire city and for every hour of Sarah's life Esther ruled over a burrow and for every minute of Sarah's life she ruled over a city and for every second of Sarah's life she ruled over a whole neighborhood wow look what you could do in a second a second that you could amass an entire neighborhood he was telling his students you're dozing off you're losing seconds here you know how valuable a second of life is uhh you know so they woke up they realized you know seconds are the building blocks of life you know if if I could just illustrate you know and putting together the value of Torah and time by the way you know dollars there's a measuring stick like their cents and their dollars and their $100 and their thousand doll and their million how do you evaluate Torah like what are the what's the breakdown what does it mean Torah is is learning for one minute the same minute the same as learning for an hour like what does it mean to learn Torah do you have to learn for 12 hours straight do you have to learn for 10 minutes do you have to learn a chapter do you have to Lear like how do you what's so the V was from the period ofon the later sages he lived in the 18th century he teaches each word of Torah is an independent Good Deed which means the made a calculation in one minute you could learn 200 words and the reason why Torah is the greatest Mitzvah he said let's say I help an old lady across the street yeah so it took me 30 minutes until I pressed the button and the light changed and I helped her cross the street took a half hour I did one Mitzvah it was a big Mitzvah it took 30 minutes out of my time but it was one Mitzvah if I learn Torah each word is a separate Mitzvah in one minute 200 words in 30 minutes do the math 200 6,000 so again someone who so to speak gives up Comfort to study is that religious or is it smart you know that's what it comes down to is it religious or is it smart so just to illustrate you know to put a little bit of a value you know because you know I I did a lot of traveling lately I was in uh Brazil I was in Australia and it gets confusing you know something is $5 is it Azie dollars is it American dollars you know soon I'm going to be in South Africa there the Rand is you know you know $1 is I don't know how many Rand so how valuable as Tyra of K taught it was worth it for God to create the whole world for 6,000 years for one Jew to say in the synagogue during after a blessing blessed is he and bless is his name which is like the smallest possible prayer that you could respond in terms of value it's like the least value it's like a penny you know if we have pennies nickels dimes quarters in the spiritual world the penny would be or the nickel would be now I don't want to underestimate the it has an estimable value but it's like the lowest building block okay but it would be worth it for God for one person to give that response to create the world for 6,000 years but to answer a Amen to a blessing amen a is the equivalency of 1,000 and a that's like you know aain on steroids that's like the real powerful Praise of God the Tama teaches if you say that with all your strength you could rip up bad decrees you could uh accomplish great things may his great name be blessed forever and ever yeah amain meaning you acknowledge the blessing of true his great name thank you bless for eternity yeah a thousand AMS equals a thousand AMS so that's like a was like a million do the math it's like a million and one word of Torah equals a thousand think about how many decrees one can rip up with just one amain right one I mean one word of Torah is like a billion wow and in one minute you could learn 200 words so the guy who says you know what I don't need a luxury car I could drive a regular car I'm going to spend more time studying is that religious or is that smart it's interesting there's uh no one thinks of currency as it relates to religious but oh I'm happy you brought this up yeah so you have he was like one of the fathers in the world of muser you know he was a very strong proponent muser but the the founder of the Muslim movement so the said like this I have a 100 lessons that we could learn from the business world to apply it to spirituality you know people don't like to think this way they think the religious world is like you know this Supernatural mystical world where we do o you know I don't know what no we call the business world the real world but what's the real world and said there are hundred lessons we could take from the business world and apply it to maximizing our life for the spiritual world but R salant the Father the the Muslim movement he had 400 lessons that you could take you know whether it's people who want to be successful in business they make sure to get up early and they make sure to come on time to their meetings and they make sure they treat everything with the proper attention re so salant would be able to extrapolate based on how people treat the business world and apply it to the spiritual so yeah I think it's important for for us to recognize that the spiritual world mitzvos have value and we we should think of it we should think of don't don't think you're above thinking of these things in a physical way I mean uh you know said no I want to do it for its own sake I don't want to do it for reward don't fool yourself I heard personally from rabbi Victor Miller he said if only we would serve God to get reward if only we were on that level before we get back to the episode I want to tell you about homish have you heard about this let me back up you're just a regular guy you're trying to pay the bills expenses are growing and you're starting to panic just a little bit you don't have very high expectations of making millions of dollars and you're just trying to get by but I need to tell you something our commentators have a prescription for a better option you continue doing what you're doing but you give more charity you give more tadaka hundreds of people are taking the words of the rush who lived in the 13th and 14th centuries to Heart the rush says quote one who keeps homish is Promised wealth end quote so what is hes hes is giving 20% of your post tax earnings to charity to sta not more than 20% and it sounds like a lot because it is but before you continue on it's worth reading the stories of blessings that have happened to people who have given homish given 20% of their post tax earnings there's a lot to know about hes there are sources there are stories I'm going to link to the website in the PDF of the how to and those stories in the show notes take a look there hop around you can sign up if you are committed to giving 20% of your charity away right we know that there's a Mitzvah to do 10% but the promises of wealth are there for those that give more according to the Hakim according to the holy commentators so you might be giving homish already the team at homish would love to know just how you're doing it and they have a sign up link you can sign up for this incredible movement even if you're not ready you can visit the site you can sign up for their informative newsletter again these are a group of people dedicated Jews who are encouraging others to give 20% of their earnings to charity and as they say a yid is a wealthy yid now let's discuss Israel I want to paint a scenario for you imagine waking up each day unsure if you can provide food for your family well in Israel many of the poorest families face this harsh reality day in and day out they find themselves in the heartbreaking position of begging their relatives friends and Community for help just to secure the next meal this constant struggle not only affects their physical well-being but drastically hurts their dignity and self respect as you can imagine but together we can make a difference we really can there's a food program in Israel that's stepping in to help these families they provide nourishment restore a sense of dignity this program from K kabad relies on the generosity of people like you they cannot do this vital work without you and they see these cases up close and personal and they say it breaks their hearts these are real people that are asking friends in a WhatsApp message they're calling an uncle they're literally going door too and without alhabad that would never stop so K kabad needs our help to do this great work if you want to lend a hand check out kab.org kosam money the link is in the show notes whatever you can give let's pull together and support our family and friends in Israel this war has taken a great toll on them and K kabad needs our help so every donation no matter the size no matter the currency makes a real impact again the link is in the show notes thank you for your support thank you on behalf of everyone in Israel who may or may not speak the language that you speak but they know and feel your support and K kabad is our partner in all of this so reach into your pockets pull out your credit cards make a donation whatever you can literally $5 goes a really long way and we cannot thank you enough now back to this week's episode it's interesting you mentioned time and how time is more valuable than money if you were to ask a 95-year-old billionaire trillionaire how much would he pay to be 20 years old healthy and have a whole life ahead of him you know I would imagine most if not all would say give me give me the time right take all the money so there's uh a lot of Truth to that right I think uh everyone would acknowledge there are more valuable Commodities than uh than money you know the would say he spent so much time working in the office so you could have nice wallpaper said you wallpapered your house with pages of the gamarra that you could have learned that was the trade you know like look at the wallpaper are you are you enjoying it now right was that a smart decision again God wants us to be happy and he wants us to enjoy this world and he wants us to appreciate his bounty he doesn't want us to live in a cave or live in a hav but on the other hand there are decisions that everyone has to make in life and which World should we be focused on what do you want more which world do you want which world do you want it's interesting because in some religions they view money as inherently evil and for us it's a tool but it's not a tool that's looked down upon no no I mean thear says re would honor people with money this is someone who God gave an amazing tool God trusts this person God is giving this person an opportunity to gain uh because with money is time money is time look what God is giving this person God is giving this person the ability the potential for great life not great wealth great life interesting okay so we got friends we got time learning Torah spending time with Children what else comes to mind when you're uh driving the car down the highway and you're thinking I could have money or I could have blank well we are in the 10 days of repentance and uh you know healthc care reform is a very hot issue where the question is Health Care allocation 40% of a person's health care costs are in person's final years of life so the question is uh the modern world says well is that a wise way to allocate our funding on person's life at the end of their years when the mind is not functioning so well when the kidneys are not so functioning so well when the whole body is run down you know let's give it to someone healthier they have people who evaluate the these things they're called quaes quality adjusted life years in other words in the modern world it's a matter of quality of life and that's a ideal which is antithetical to traditional Judaism we don't believe in quality of life we believe in sanctity of life life is Sanctified whether one is 20 and imp perfect health or one is 95 and is gasping to to stay here on this world you know the Tama teaches us that as important as chabas is we will desecrate the chabas to save someone's life let's say somebody Falls a building collapses and someone's in there and we could desecrate the chabas to save them but we will only prolong their life by two seconds are you allowed to desecrate the chabas to prolong someone's life by two seconds okay what are they going do in two seconds you know what could they possibly do in two seconds thei one of the Reon one of the medieval commentaries explained we will desecrate the chabas to prolong someone's life even for two moments why in that two seconds the person can have a thought of repentance and we believe that if a person's mind they have a sincere thought of repentance of regret for wrongdoing of Yearning to come closer to God that thought of repentance is so valuable is it's more valuable perhaps than a person's whole lifetime we're taught inos better is one moment of repentance and goodies has this world than the entire afterlife so in one moment where a person is nearly dead and is not functioning on all cylinders in fact he's basically in the next world but if he can muster the focus to say you know I regret something I did in my life I wish I could come closer to God that thought we call it a heror that fleeting thought is more valuable than anything in this world so we believe you know it's more valuable than money repentance these 10 days these 10 days are the most valuable Days of our year you know where we focus on chuva on bettering ourself on correcting any misdeed between us and God between us and a fellow man we owe people money we got to pay them back you owe people wages you got to pay them back you know that's that's step one by the way you know this is the kosher money show before you want to come close up there you got to make sure your personal interactions are in order you don't want to go into the high holidays owing anybody money or having one buck in your bank account that doesn't belong to you so that's like the first order of business so chuva repentance I tell you you know Rabbi JD BL tells a story of uh he went to visit an elderly grandmother in the hospital and he sees you know the doctor's not doing anything for the lady he says what's going on you know you're not giving her uh um fluids you're not giving her nourishment they say she's old she's about to die let her die in peace let her die in peace he said do for her whatever you could do for her to prolong her life okay so so he turns to the grandmother and he says Baba grandma and Baba chabis it it was Saturday was and she responded like with her last gasp you know what she did in that last second you know that RAB akar one of the great teach that if you say good chabas to someone you fulfill the positive precept of kidos of sanctifying the seventh day you know we all sanctify the seventh day we make kiddos Friday night on a cup of wine but if you don't have a cup of wine you just wish somebody a good chabas you fulfill the Commandment of God in that one moment that her life was prolonged she fulfilled the Commandment of God and we don't believe in quality of life we believe in sanctity of life every moment so more valuable than money is time is time I love this next one because and this one is people talk about this all the time but we forget right would would you rather be a millionaire and unhealthy or would you rather be healthy with Z in your bank account yeah health is uh I think everyone realizes instinctively that you know you could have uh all the money in the world but if you're writhing in pain at night you know what good what good is a nice car or Nice Clothing or you know extravagant food going to do for you if you're writhing in pain and we don't we don't think like that we don't think because I'm healthy I'm the biggest millionaire in the world right we take a lot of things for granted you know I think an important attitude shift is you know for us what's a good day a good day is if I eat something really good or I got something really good a good day is you wake up in the morning and you don't have a headache you don't have a toothache I mean look thank god this is my my worst problem but I just came back from Australia you know before Australia I was having a little um sensitivity in a tooth cold hot and I went to the dentist okay use this mouthwash use this sadine toothpaste but it was just acting up and then start to really hurt so the when when I got to they said you know let's take a look there was a hairline fracture in the tooth and when I was biting down on it it was stressing the tooth and the nerve was angry it was you know until I got back to New York I was living on Advil and Tylenol and that's not a big deal people they live on a lot better stuff than Tylenol and Advil right and you know just that person has teeth if none of them hurt you like that's unbelief you should be you know jumping for joy do you know how many billions of things have to go right for a person not to be in excruciating pain right right we don't think like that and was a herline fracture in this is not a big deal is not this is not one of the most excruciating pains a person could have right but it's enough to disturb quality of life right so even simple simple quality of life not to have pain you know what people would pay for that or limbs I mean you know I mean this is just Elementary what would person pay to to see right right to hear if they couldn't to speak and it's also not only physical health people suffering emotional distress right that's as painful or not or perhaps more painful than physical pain you know if you wake up in the morning and you're sane you have people in the house with you you have a family you're not a millionaire you're a lot more than that right how many millions would people pay to be alive to be healthy to have family to have friends all of these things you know each one of the billion things that have to go right for B not to be in pain you would pay a million dollars for each of them right there you could make a list of at least a million things that you would pay a million dollars to fix with the person's body and you have all of them so you're not a millionaire you're not even a billionaire you're you know after you went through that experience because you went through that hardship now you appreciate it so much more right like going through something difficult or even when it comes to attaining money someone who attains money because they rolled up their sleeves and and they worked hard on something or when you're learning Torah and and you don't understand it but you continue pounding away the appreciation you have from the toil or the the appreciation you you you have after the toil is completely different than somebody that it was handed to on a silver platter right then there's no denying that you know there's no denying the idea that sometimes difficulty is one of the greatest kindnesses of God right right and we have to be grateful that he he keeps the difficulty in a way that we could handle and not too hard thank God it was only a hairline fracture in a tooth right and yeah I hope Hashem gives me the the memory and the Gratitude not to forget it you know right just to wake up in the morning and to be able to chew you know right right no well said well said so we've got quite a few things here one thing I don't want to leave out go ahead okay and this this real you know we'll tie it all together beautiful look going back to the idea that there are two worlds the finite and the infinite and one of the most important tasks we have in this world is elevating the value of the infinite World so I'll sh with you just a story that happened about a 100 years ago in the city of slitz one of the historic cities in Europe uh the rabbi there was rvas who wrote a well-known commentary on the tadami and story goes like this so there's a butcher and he's telling him get out of the store get out of the store if you want your meat for shabas get it right now otherwise out and if if you come back tomorrow if you really need today come back in an hour just then the wealthy doctor walks in and he's like who in the right mind chases customers out of a store he said what's going on he says I 30 seconds I'm closing the store I'm going to Min I'm going to the afternoon prayers and the doctor's like you out of your mind well you know you're not a rich guy you live off your customers take care of them so you could support your family says I have to go to Min you have to go to and after all it's not about making the buck I'm interested in getting some world to come we believe for Good Deeds God rewards Us in the world to come the doctor get out of your mind world to come you really you want some more world to come I'll give you my world to come you just give me one Ruble he said great deal here's a Ruble and he runs off to end of the story years later 15 years later a woman walks into the store A well-dressed woman she says uh I would like to have a word with you yeah who are you do you remember my husband I'm the the Widow of that wealthy doctor oh yeah sure I remember him do you remember what you bought off him yeah well well uh frankly I do well the woman said you wouldn't believe this and I never would have paid attention to this after the first time and after the second time but every single night he's been coming to me in a dream and he's been telling me that he's up there in the world to come and he's broke because he sold his world to come to you so I'm here to say have mercy on him here's the rubal would you please give back the world to come so he said what world to come what do he had anyway he he wasn't observant she said well actually you know he was a doctor and he treated people for free so he really he had a pretty nice share and he gave it to you and you got a A you know a Bargain Basement deal on his world to come so you know be be a gentleman here's the rubble give him back the world to come he said really he had such a big sh in the world to come not a chance I don't know if I'm going to have anything in the world to come and I bought everything of him for a rubble no sorry lady I can't do it I mean this is my eternity you know feel bad but uh I guess I W the jackpot and uh she end she left the store dejected that night he came to her in a dream screaming tormented he said the angels are giving me a hard time I'm living in the slums of the Harlem of uh you know the world to come I'm living on a park bench somewhere and the scary Angel you know help me out help help and she comes back to him and she said I'm going to sue you he said why what do you mean you're going to sue me this is not a monetary claim this is not this is the world to come which court are you going to I'm going to take you to the rabbi and she went to the rabbi and she told the rvas story and the rvas took it very seriously and he summoned the butcher to a court case meanwhile word the buzz went out like the court case of the century that there's a dispute between the wealthy Widow and the poor butcher regarding whether this was a good deal that he bought the doctor's world to come and like people can't believe that the rabbi even like entertain is taking this seriously I mean this is not like a homicide case this is not like a you know Ponzi scheme this is like a spiritual deal why is he even paying attention to us so the whole town gathers there to watch the court case of the century and the advas listens to her case and to his side and he says okay we'll reconvene in 30 minutes I'll going discuss it with my fellow uh judges he comes back the decision has three parts to it three segments to it number one the sale is invalid it's an invalid sale the doctor cannot sell his world to come the world to come it's not a commodity it's not a it's not a piece of land it's not a piece of cougle it's not a thing it's not an entity you know what that's like imagine if uh a guy does a lot of exercise so he does exercise he has good lungs he has a strong heart could this guy sell exercise to somebody else I want to sell you my exercise can't sell exercise it's part of you it's the feeling of well-being that you develop by doing the exercise can't sell you the exercise so the world to come is the spiritual elevation that you brought to your soul by performing these Good Deeds you can't sell that it's not a it's not transferable so that's the first uh ruling everyone everyone breathes a side of relief you know the doctor could not sell his world to come he still has his world to come second ruling the doctor lost his share in the world to come everyone gasps why well the gamar teaches us that if you regret your good deeds you lose them this doctor undervalued the world to come he gave it all up he said he doesn't need it he traded it for a Ruble so he threw it out he threw in the garbage he lost his share in the world to come everyone's gasping she turns white you know her husband lost the share in the world to come imagine what he's going to tell her in the next dream the third ruling the doctor has gained a great share in the world to come why said the RAS because until this day people just spoke about the world to come as a concept as a belief but nobody took it seriously nobody treated it as a valuable commodity it was just words world to come but through this cord case it came to people's attention the world to come is a real place you need to worry about it the same way you need to worry where will I live when I retire where will I live when I'm in Repose when I retire for good it's a real existence it's a real reality it's a reality and through this court case people it became became more acutely aware that the world to come is something you need to think about and prepare for and live your life accordingly and make sure the same way when you're young you save up for a Helm and when you're a little older you save up for retirement your whole life you need to save up for a long Eternal journey and who brought about that awareness the doctor so even though he lost his share in the world to come he gained a very big share in the world to come because his story made it to kosher money addition of the 10 days of repentance and it brought to my heart and perhaps to others that this is something we need to uh think about and that the world to come is an important world is a more important world and as valuable as a million dollars are for 40 years Good Deeds Torah learning prayer charity acts of kindness being careful what we say being careful what we look at being careful to make sure that our is ours and not someone else's that's more valuable and it's a great uh privilege to discuss these ideas with you during the most important time of the year and I hope uh I hope these ideals are something that we could all think about and with the help of Hashem Hashem should give all of us good livelihood and a lot of money and even more important should give us the right ideas of how to use our money and buy the right Commodities and spend it on gaining the most valuable things to be able to spend time with our children with our families Shem should give us all good health Shem should give us opportunities to do good deeds to do chuva to learn Tyra and to acquire the world to come oh man if someone wants wants to ask a follow-up question consume more of the RV's content there's a website what's the best way to get in touch the classes are on uh our website rabid dg.com there's a YouTube channel I think it's official Rabbi Daniel gladstein okay and on the on the website you'll see their number ofarim in Hebrew and in English published by Art girlr nothing yet in Aramaic mhm so lots of books lots of uh content really appreciate you coming taking the time to put this together I I think I already know what our part three is um you know I know you have a whole class on how to make more money or you know I don't want to give too much of it away but I do think that would possibly resonate with the audience as we are in the hallway granted there's a whole another world after this one but while we're still here yeah in the meantime right thank you so much Rabbi I really appreciate it thank you very much thanks for the opportunity thank you for listening to a brilliant episode of kosher money if you'd like to be entered for the chance to win an amazing Dave Ramsey book will randomly select two people who comment on this YouTube video if you're listening on Spotify or apple podcast head over to this YouTube video and you have to comment with either the word life or view incorporate either word either word or both words into your sentence reacting to this video and you'll be entered for the chance to win an amazing Dave Ramsey book He's not giving these books away I'm buying the book and then sending them to you again the words are life or view congratulations to shaim period 3186 who just won a $500 Amazon gift card yes that commenter commented on our last kosher Money video which means it pays to play shaim reach out to us at living.com and we'll work our magic thank you to our friends at Living smarter Jewish they are helping people across the world manage their finances better head over to livings smarter jewish. org and you will learn all about their amazing free resources how to get out of debt how to manage your finances how to budget how to possibly invest yeah you like that so livings smarter jewish. org thank you to our sponsors we have hes which you heard in this episode is huge you can donate up to a fifth and we spoke about it in the episode but you can donate up to a fifth of your earnings and people are seeing massive success as a result of God's blessings thank you to twillery I'm wearing their shirt as we speak also wearing their ear shorts but you can't really see them under I know it's the fall but I still enjoy the crisp ear the shorts beautiful love it thank you to our friends at kabad but they're not sponsoring there's an anonymous person in California who sponsors and tries to push as many people as he can to help the people of Israel so visit links in the show notes for all of our sponsors and thank you to our friends at the donor fund we're nearing the end of 2024 which means it's time to take your donation seriously check them out links in the show notes so much good going on Yakov has tons in the works he's really been killing it a lot of people say oh Yakov are you sleeping and he says no and then boom he puts out a video has 36,000 views in a day he's really crushing it I'm really proud of him but just know that all the success he's had is because of me just kidding okay see you next time bye living l [Music]