Naso 5784: Money Matters

GOOD MORNING! For some time now I have been mulling over the concept of mixed blessings. To be sure, every great power comes with the innate potential for both great achievements and disastrous consequences. From the simple example of a knife with the power to both create and destroy, to the realms of technology and communication, which give us access to all sorts of information but also open the door to disinformation. Artificial intelligence, we are told, has the potential for some of the greatest advances the world has ever seen, but some fear it may also lead to the end of humanity as we know it.

Charles Dickens captured this duality in his novel A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This line encapsulates the profound contradictions of that era, underscoring how progress and suffering seemingly have to coexist. I think that is part of the axiomatic and essential balance of everything in the universe – good and evil and the continuous push-pull tension between the two.

We find examples of this universal balance in our personal lives as well. One’s children can be the source of the most sublime pleasure, but they can also be a source of anxiety and heartache – and are often a heavy dose both. If we look at things objectively, we will find that this is also true for most everything in our lives. In this way, we all tend to live in a universe of mixed blessings. Unfortunately, many people take the blessings in their lives for granted and tend to focus on everything that is “wrong” instead.

It seems like part of the human condition is to believe that if only our lives would get “better” we would find a lasting state of happiness. The famous actor Jim Carrey once said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” Perhaps Oscar Wilde captured it best when he wrote, “When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.”

I am reminded of a joke about a group of seniors who were sitting around drinking coffee and discussing their various ailments. “My arms have gotten so weak I can hardly lift this cup of coffee,” said one. “Yes, I know,” said another, “My cataracts are so bad, I can’t even see my coffee.” “I often forget where I am, and where I’m going,” said a third. “What? Speak up! I can’t hear you!” shouted the fourth. “I guess that’s the price we pay for getting old,” winced another old man as he slowly shook his head.

The others nodded in agreement. “Well, count your blessings,” said the last member of the group, “Thank God we can all still drive!”

Most people strive to make their lives better in the hope that they will find joy. But, in reality, it is quite the opposite; when a person has more joy, he has a better life! The question is: How do you begin to acquire joy?

We find an illuminating verse (Job 5:7) that describes the very essence of man: “Man was born to labor [...].” According to the great Biblical commentator Rashi (ad loc) the context of this verse is the challenge mankind faces in contradistinction to angels who don’t sin. In other words, angels dwell in the heavenly realm, while mankind lives in the universe balanced by the polar forces of good and evil.

So, while angels do not sin, they also do not have potential for personal growth. They simply exist in the state in which they were created. Man, on the other hand, is dynamic; man is given the potential to achieve and become much more than the state in which he was created. However, this potential for growth also enables him to falter and sin – the challenge of living in a universe with polar extremes.

Thus, the very essence of man is driven by a desire to accomplish, which therefore defines much of his existence. This is the reason people define themselves by what they do; personal growth is at the very core of our being. This is also why many men who retire from work and choose to lead a purposeless life (aside from driving their wives crazy) begin to emotionally and physically deteriorate quite rapidly – often leading to an earlier demise.

We find this concept in this week’s Torah reading as well, which includes perhaps the most well-known blessing in Judaism, the “Priestly Blessing.” God instructs Moses to entrust his brother Aaron and his sons – the Cohanim (priestly caste) – with the responsibility of blessing the Jewish people. This blessing, known in Hebrew as Birkat Cohanim, is:

"May God bless you and keep watch over you.
May God’s countenance be illuminated towards you and endow you with grace.
May God direct His providence toward you and grant you peace."

The Torah continues, “They will thus link My name with the Israelites, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:24-27).

In Hebrew, the word for blessed is “baruch” and a blessing is called a “bracha.” The Hebrew language is a holy one and words aren’t merely happenstance. According to Jewish tradition, there is a deeper, more mystical meaning to the root of the word blessing.

As explained in prior editions of the Shabbat Shalom Fax, each Hebrew letter has a numerical value assigned to it. Many people are familiar with the importance of the number 18 in Judaism; this is the numerical value of the Hebrew word for “chai – life.” The Hebrew root word for blessing is comprised of the three letters bet – reish – chaf.

These three letters are unique in that they are the only letters in the Hebrew alphabet that are a precise doubling of the numerical value of the previous letter (ex: bet is 2 while aleph is 1; in English that would be like A = 1 and B = 2, but also Q = 100 and R = 200). Thus, when you give someone a blessing (bracha) you are in essence giving a blessing that they should receive a multiple of what they have. But this needs further clarification. A multiple of what?

It is interesting to note that while there are many explanations as to what precisely this blessing refers, Rashi – the preeminent commentator on the Torah – understands the first line of the Priestly Blessing to be referring to a blessing of wealth and a special protection from the Almighty not to lose it (see Rashi’s comment on Numbers 6:24).

This is rather difficult to comprehend. First of all, it is awfully stereotypical to claim that the most important thing to Jews is money. What about a blessing for family or good health? There seem to be many things that should precede an emphasis on monetary wealth. Moreover, we find some teachings related to wealth that are downright negative: In the second chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of Our Fathers) we find the teaching, “One who increases possessions increases worry” (2:8).

It’s absolutely true: money is not a magic elixir. It cannot reverse one’s age, cure paralysis, reverse mental decline, or magically create happiness. Similarly, one cannot buy “better” parents, siblings, or children. Sadly, the vast majority of people view the value of wealth in a superficial, empty, and self-absorbed manner. The sages’ teaching that an accumulation of possessions also equals an accumulation of worries applies to a person who mindlessly focuses on acquiring many homes, cars, and other expressions of wealth to impress others.

The true power of money lies in its extraordinary potential to act as a multiple. Because we all have an innate desire to accomplish, the real value of money is the potential good that one can accomplish by using it properly. For a person whose main focus and desire is to help improve the lives of others, their wealth can be put to use in a way that they can essentially clone themselves, so to speak, to do far more good.

For example, if a person has an innate desire to feed those who don’t have access to healthy and nutritious food, there are only a limited number of people for whom a person can prepare and distribute food. If a person is a doctor and wants to help people get healthy, there are a limited number of patients that he or she can actually see in a day. If a person’s goal is to enlighten people with education, there are a limited number of hours in a day that they can spend teaching.

This is true no matter what good works a person pursues, because their individual time and resources are finite. However, with the proper resources (i.e. wealth) a person can, in effect, “multiply themselves” and achieve very lofty goals that they would be otherwise unable to achieve. They can fund a food bank that will feed hundreds weekly, build hospitals that will care for thousands monthly, and set up schools that will educate generations to come. This is why the root for the word blessing (bracha) hints to its real power– that of being a multiple.

In this way, money is a unique blessing to an individual; it has the incredible power to create a multiple of oneself, something that cannot be accomplished even by having a large family. In fact, show me a person who looks at his children as an extension of himself and I will show you a person with a terrible relationship with his children.

Thus, the ultimate blessing that a person can get, in terms of actualizing one’s life, is the blessing of having resources to multiply one’s good works. For this reason, it is the focus of the Priestly Blessing for the Jewish people and the blessing that Jewish parents give their children every Friday night.

Naso, Numbers 4:21 - 7:89

This week's portion includes further job instructions to the Levites and Moses is instructed to purify the camp in preparation for the dedication of the Mishkan, the Portable Sanctuary.

Then four laws relating to the Cohanim are given: 1) Restitution for stolen property where the owner is deceased and has no next of kin goes to the Cohanim. 2) If a man suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he brings her to the Cohanim for the Sotah clarification ceremony. 3) If a person chooses to withdraw from the material world and consecrate himself exclusively to the service of the Almighty by becoming a nazir (vowing not to drink wine or eat grape products, come in contact with dead bodies, or cut his hair), he must come to the Cohen at the completion of the vow. 4) The Cohanim were instructed to bless the people with this Priestly Blessing: “May the Lord bless you and guard over you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His Countenance upon you and give you peace.”

The Mishkan is erected and dedicated on the first of Nissan in the second year after the Exodus. The leaders of each tribe jointly give wagons and oxen to transport the Mishkan. During each of the twelve days of dedication, successively each tribal prince gives gifts of gold and silver vessels, sacrificial animals, and meal offerings. Every prince gives exactly the same gifts as every other prince.