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Parshas Shmos - More Employees, Not Less, is the Answer                      18 Teves 5778

01/04/2018 10:40:58 PM

Jan4

I am a firm believer that everyone should have at least one but preferably two hobbies in life. The reason two would be better is that they each work as a kind of diversionary occupational insurance policy: if you get bored of one of them, you always have the other. On the other hand, having too many hobbies leaves you unable to focus on any particular one and never really fulfilling the pleasure of a genuine hobby. Hobbies are largely investments of time and money, usually without any monetary gain involved. They are, without a doubt, beneficial enjoyment upon which there is no price tag.

For those of you who know me, one of my hobbies is playing the stock market. True to my analysis and definition of ‘hobbies,’ I invest money without any monetary gain. One of my investment ‘hobbies’ was General Electric; if I would have sold that stock at the right time, I would have made some money, but then again it would no longer have been my hobby. So, for those of you who follow the market - and GE in particular - understand clearly that thanks to the fact that I still own it, I am definitely fulfilling the ‘hobby’ aspect of this investment. I am a believer in GE and will hold onto it until I see a profit from it, but the turmoil my stomach has endured has been rough through their transition to new leadership. It only made matters worse when I read an article that I completely agree with, and I hope this trend will reverse itself. Here is an excerpt from the article:

An August 31, 2017 article in Fortune Magazine suggests that John Flannery, the incoming CEO of GE, is looking to make “aggressive” job cuts in the next year to reduce spending and increase profits. “We have a plan to take out $2 billion in cost by the end of 2018,” GE spokesperson Jennifer Erickson said. “We’ve said John [Flannery] is reviewing all aspects of the company. He will present to investors in November.”

Cutting costs are always easier than actual innovation. It’s the low-lying fruit a new CEO can pick to make an immediate impact with the board. Long-term, however, it does little for GE stock and GE shareholders. Digitization might be the solution to GE’s woes, but it shouldn’t come at the hands of job losses. Creating jobs is one of the best ways I know to add value to shareholders and GE stock. Companies that are adding jobs are growing. That’s simple economics! Economics is the science that concerns itself with economies - how societies produce goods and services and how those societies consume them. It has influenced world finance at many important junctions throughout history and is a vital part of our everyday lives. The assumptions that guide the study of economics have changed dramatically throughout history with this one exception: adding manpower shows growth. We see this clearly in the transition from Chumash Bereishis to Shemos. Rav Aleksander Yehoshua Levinson, in his sefer K’Ayal Ta’Arog, explains this transition as follows.

Sefer Shmos, the book of Exodus, crystalizes the Jewish people into a nation. The Jews as a family traveled south to Egypt with seventy souls and left 430 years later with hundreds of thousands (approximately three million including older men, women and children). There are three major events or themes we read about in Shmos: the exodus from Egypt, receiving of the Torah, and the building of the Mishkan - the portable sanctuary. Each one of these major components is wrought with trouble and difficulty which are difficult to comprehend. The first scenario occurs when the Jews left Mitzrayim after years of hardship and slavery. They have the audacity to complain and declare in Bamidbar 14:4 “Nitna Rosh V’Nashuva Mitzrayma.” “Let’s appoint a new leader and go back to Egypt.” The second occurs immediately after the Jewish people receive the Torah. They turn to Aharon asking him to make them a Golden calf. To add insult to injury, they declare in Shmos 32:4 “Eileh Elohechaz Yisrael Asher Hotziacha MeiEretz Mitzrayim.” “This is the God of Israel that took us out from the land of Egypt.” The third case takes place when the Jewish people build a Mishkan where the service to Hashem takes form and is clear. Nevertheless, the individual is left wondering about his own personal service and connection to God. The common thread in all three of these events is feeling the loss of personal identity as they grow into a nation. The Jewish people leaving enmasse, receiving the Torah, receiving the laws of our nationality and religion coupled with the mechanism of the Mishkan combine to demonstrate how we serve God as a people on the national level.

In Sefer Bereishis it was all about the individual merits - those of Avraham, Yitzchok, Yaakov, and their wives. It was those personalities and the twelve sons of Yaakov, the Shvatim, that gave character and quality to each individual Jew. In Shmos we see the role of leaders in Moshe, Aharon and Miriam, each of whom instill a sense of looking towards and following our leaders. Leaders are necessary to command and direct large groups of people; smaller groups trailblaze on their own. Moshe and Aharon, in their respective roles, imparted and communicated to all future leaders of the Jewish people how to guide the nation as a group while appreciating everyone’s personal identity. The flip side is for every individual to maintain his/her individuality and unique physical and spiritual make-up while at the same time humble themselves to the Tzibur, the community or congregation. As important as it is for every person to know who they are and where they stand as Yechidim/individuals, it is equally if not more important to recognize their role and service to the Klal, to the general group. Sefer Shmos takes the faith and Emunah of the individual and nurtures it onto the national field.

In order for the Jewish people togrow from a small-time family to a nation of magnitude and force in the world, numbers were required. It was necessary to ‘hire’ more people in order to get the attention from their neighbors in demonstrating the we’re no longer a small family of individuals, but rather we are becoming an emerging company that will lead the world. L’Havdil (to make a separation between the holy and the mundane) Haadosh Baruch Hu the CEO of the Jewish company has the Jewish women giving birth “Paru VaYishritzu” Shisha B’Keres Echad, six children at a time; some Midrashim multiply that by ten! Hashem said we need to turn this little family business of seventy into a major corporation and “hired” hundreds of thousands through the birthing system. This caught the attention of Pharoah, who feared his country would be taken over and therefore systematically tried to reduce them.

Chazal, the Rabbis, teach us “B’Rov Am Hadras Melech” - with a multitude of people it creates a greater honor for the King. It isn’t easy to forego my individuality and my personal interests. It takes a great person to put his personal interests aside for the betterment of the Klal.
 

Ah Gut Shabbos

Rabbi Avraham Bogopulsky

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784