Rabbi's Blog

There are many idioms which aren't just cute- they're actually very true! "Bulls make money, bears make money, pigs get slaughtered" is a pretty simple saying that conveys more than first glance will reveal. Its meaning is this; do not let greed affect your judgment. While this seems simple, its applications are many.

The stock market and other investments can punish greed through setting up unreasonable expectations. An investor who is doing well might expect to do even better in the future, ignoring reversion to the mean, commonly causing the investor to hold onto stocks past the optimal time to sell or overpay for new holdings. This mistake commonly occurs in bubbles. I am only too familiar with this syndrome.

In fact, very often greed kills. It can kill investors' returns by making them act in haste. The best investor is the one who is intellectually flexible and dispassionate in analysis. As Warren Buffet has said, the critical determinant in an investor's success is not intelligence or skill but temperament.

This concept is not new to the Jewish people. We know it by the phrase 'Tafasta Meruba Lo Tafasta, Tafasta M'oota Tafasta'.Loosely translated it reads: 'If you grab onto a lot, you will not grab anything, if you grab a little then you will seize it'. This idiom is found no less than seven times in the Babylonian Talmud and once in the Talmud Yerushalmi. Rashi, in Gemara Chagiga 17a explains the benefit to this precept. Rashi states: 'Every place you find two paths or ways, one system seizes a lot and the other seizes a little. It is better to snatch the smaller one, because even if you deserved the larger one but grabbed the smaller one, at least you grabbed something. For in the big one contains the smaller one, so you got at least a piece of the larger one. But if you grabbed the larger one but were only entitled to the smaller one, then you are trying to take that which is not yours'.

The Safra in Vayikra 15:25 quotes Rebbi Akiva with regard to hearing lectures. If a person hears many things and hears a few things, grab onto the small "chunks" of information, since then you will be able to absorb and follow them. Unfortunately, people tend to listen to too much and try to learn it all, ending up retaining very little or nothing at all.. It is important to remember that it is destined from Rosh Hashana how much we are to receive this year from Hashem. It is possible for us to fretter away money and opportunity that God was actually giving us, therefore take it when it is offered and if it falls short of what we are supposed to get Hashem will arrange for the remainder to reach us in another way.

We find a similar lesson in this week's Parsha Vayishlach. In Bereishis 33:9-11 the Torah states: 'Eisav said: "I have plenty, my brother; let what you have remain yours." But Jacob said, "Please do not! If I have now found favor in your eyes, then accept my tribute from me, inasmuch as I have seen in your face, which is like seeing the face of a Divine being, and you have been appeased by me. Please accept my homage which was brought to you, inasmuch as God has been gracious to me inasmuch as I have everything." He urged him and he accepted'.

Reb Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, in his work Ksav Sofer, quotes an idea from his father, the Chasam Sofer. Mainly a wicked person, a Rasha, is never satisfied and never gets his fill. Therefore, Eisav said the words 'Yeish Li Rav' I have a lot, but not everything. Yakov Avinu, on the other hand, uses the words Yeish Li Kem, because a tzadik, a righteous person, is satisfied and feels satisfied with that which Hashem gives him. This is accentuated by the end of his words: Ki Chanani Elokim - God has been gracious to me, and therefore I'm satisfied with my lot.

The Ksav Sofer adds his own words of understanding this concept. Wealth and gifts that come to a person through mazal are never sufficient. The nature of mankind is to seek out more. Shlomo HaMelech said someone who loves money will never be satiated from money. But wealth that comes from Hashem comes with an added benefit. That added benefit is Histapkus, which is satisfaction, gratification, and contentment. The true Bracha of wealth is not just having the physical item; it is also being content with it. This is the bracha that Yakov received from Hashem - the blessing of feeling satisfied. Once we are satisfied with what we have, we need not seek out more.

Yakov tried to reach out to his brother Eisav and give him the gift that keeps on giving- Histapkus - the blessing to learn to be satisfied. Once a person is able to control his thoughts and feel contentment then he will not have the urge to seek out more or bear the pain of not having more. Therefore Yakov begs Eisav to take his offering so that he will enjoy all of his possessions with satisfaction. Eisav's statement of Rav I have a lot reveals his true feelings that he is neither content nor satisfied with what he has. Yakov recognizes this problem within his brother and therefore adds the words of Chanani Elokim.This is an extra special added bonus which purifies all that we receive from Hashem.

This attitude is not an easy one to learn and accept, but it will make life far more pleasant and gratifying. Take a quick short gain. Don't risk losing it all by holding on and not selling, hoping for more and more. Take your gains and Hashem will bless them for you to enjoy. Histapkus, the blessing of understanding restraint and of being satisfied is a major key to living life with the fullness of genuine contentment.

Ah Gut Shabbos Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky