A Good Servant, a Terrible Master
Adolf Merckle was a German businessman who, in 2007, was ranked the 94th wealthiest person in the world, worth $12 billion. In 2008, he attempted to short the Volkswagon stock, figuring that the stock’s value was about to drop. Little did he know that Porsche was about to purchase Volkswagon, and so the stock’s price shot up. Overnight, Merckle lost $1 billion. At around the same time, he needed to make a $2 billion payment. This was after the 2008 financial collapse, when banks were reluctant to grant loans. Unable to secure a loan, he needed to liquidate some property. And so in a matter of just a few months, he went from being worth $12 billion to being worth $9. As a result, when 2009 began, he was no longer the wealthiest man in Germany.
On January 5, 2009, Adolf Merckle stepped in front of a train and committed suicide. As he was no longer the wealthiest man in Germany, and was now worth “only” $9 billion, he felt life was not worth living anymore. He was so attached to his money, to the number alongside his name in the bank, that his life lost all value the moment that number dropped.
There is another man, who is still alive, who is so different from Adolf Merckle that one wonders how the world could possibly be large enough to accommodate both men.
There was a boy in the 1930’s who studied in a certain yeshiva in Europe. Upon his arrival in the yeshiva, he met another boy who became his havruta, and they learned together all day. They even slept in the same room. They learned together with unparalleled diligence, never wasting time engaging in idle chatter. When this boy returned home for Pesach, his parents, who had not spoken to him since he left to yeshiva after Sukkot, excitedly asked him about his studies. He told them about his outstanding havruta with whom he learned the entire day and with whom he shared a room.
His parents were impressed, and asked the boy what his havruta’s name was. He said he didn’t know. They were so diligent, and studied so intensively, that the boy never got a chance to find out his friend’s name.
The havruta’s name was Aharon Leib Shteinman, who is now over one hundred years old and regarded by many as the leading Torah sage of our generation.
It is told that Rav Shteinman each week takes a loaf of bread, cuts it into pieces, and sets it aside as his food for the week. This is all he eats, and he drinks only water. It is also told that the mattress which he sleeps on is the same mattress he has used since 1950. I was in Rav Shteinman’s home, and I saw the mattress. I don’t think I’d be able to take a five-minute nap on this mattress.
As I said, it is hard to believe that this world is large enough for both Adolf Merckle and Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman. The first was somebody who determined the entire value of his life based on his financial holdings. The second is somebody for whom money and wealth have no value whatsoever, who recognizes that life is so much more significant, meaningful and precious than material assets.
Hair and Money
Korach led a brazen uprising against Moshe and Aharon, assembling a considerable group of rebels and confronting Moshe, challenging his authority. The revolt ended in tragedy, as every member of the group was killed by G-d.
Our Sages tell us that Korach was one of the wealthiest members of the nation. The Gemara (Pesahim) teaches that Korach had 300 mules carrying just the keys to his treasuries. Yet, he was dissatisfied, and so he launched his assault on Moshe’s authority.
What led Korach to make this catastrophic mistake?
The Midrash tells that Korach was egged on by his wife. At the time when the tribe of Levi was set aside as the special tribe that would serve in the Mishkan, G-d commanded Moshe to have the Leviyim undergo a special purification process, which included having all the hair on their bodies removed. Korach’s wife said to Korach, “Look what Moshe is doing! He made himself the leader and his brother the kohen gadol, and now he made you bald. Why do you put up with this?” Korach listened to his wife, and made the fatal mistake of launching a revolt.
Why was Korach’s hair such a sensitive point? Why would this, in particular, be the trigger of this challenge to Moshe?
Hair is something extraneous to the body, but which is attached to the body. As such, it is an accurate symbol of money – or, more precisely, of the wrong way to relate to money and to material possessions.
There is nothing wrong with having money, or with having a lot of money. There is also nothing wrong with wanting money, or with wanting a lot of money. There is, however, something very wrong with being attached to money, with being consumed by the pursuit of money, with making one’s happiness or the value of his life depend upon his money or his material standards.
For too many people, money is like hair – extraneous matter which they keep attached to themselves, which they make part of their being.
The symbolism of hair can be seen in the famous story told in Sefer Bereshit of Yitzhak’s blessing. Yitzhak wanted to grant a special blessing of material prosperity to his older son, Esav. Rivka, however, wanted Yaakov to receive this blessing, instead. Yaakov initially refused, noting, “…my brother, Esav, is a hairy man, while I am a smooth-skinned person.” Esav had a lot of “hair”; he was a man driven by materialistic passions, by a lust for wealth, whereas Yaakov was “smooth-skinned,” a man engrossed in Torah and spirituality, who had no interest in material blessings. We might say that Esav was Adolf Merckle, and Yaakov was Rav Shteinman. Rivka therefore took goatskins, layers of hair, and wrapped them around Yaakov’s arms. There is nothing wrong with “wearing” wealth, Rivka was saying, as long as a person does not become attached to it. If the “hair,” one’s material blessings, remains extraneous, external to his essence, and not part of his essence, then it is indeed very valuable.
After Beneh Yisrael left Egypt and were in the desert, G-d decided to set aside one special tribe, the tribe of Levi, that would be devoted to spiritual pursuits. The Leviyim did not receive agricultural lands in Eretz Yisrael, and were instead supported by the other tribes so they could serve in the Bet Ha’mikdash. As part of their consecration ceremony, they were required to remove their hair, to detach themselves from materialism. They needed to embody the concept that money must be extraneous, not an essential part of our being.
This was Korach’s wife’s complaint. She was not foolish. She objected on ideological grounds to the message that was being conveyed to the Leviyim. She wanted to Korach to fight to keep his “hair” attached to himself, to keep money and material pursuits part of his being.
What All Houses Have in Common
Over the years, I’ve been to many, many different homes. I’ve visited many people, and I’ve attended and spoken at far more events in people’s homes than I could possibly remember. I’ve seen many, many large and beautiful homes.
But all the dozens upon dozens of homes that I’ve been to have two things in common. First of all, no matter how beautiful the house is, there is another house somewhere which is newer, larger, and fancier. As lavish and magnificent as we want our homes to be – and, once again, there is nothing wrong with wanting a large, beautiful home – there will always be a larger and more lavish home somewhere, probably even in that same neighborhood. Secondly, after about a half-hour or an hour of time spent in a home, you get used to it. Whether it’s bigger or smaller than what you were used to before, whether it’s fancier or less fancy than what you were used to before, you get used to it very quickly. This is true about every house.
When parents bring their children to an arcade, they generally amass dozens of tickets. They play the video games, skee-ball and basketball hoop, and after each game, they earn a few tickets. Their excitement builds with each ticket, as they dream what kind of terrific, life-altering prize they will get. But every parent knows that when it is time to leave, the children will bring their two hundred or so tickets to the desk and receive two toys which in two days will either be broken or no longer interesting to the children. As exciting as the prospect of a new toy is, adults know that it loses its charm and appeal very quickly.
But what many adults fail to realize is that they make the same mistake. So many of us find ourselves overly excited about our new car, our new home, our new extension, our new phone, our new gadget, or something else, which we very quickly get used to. This does not mean that we should not buy new car, homes or phones, or renovate our homes. It does mean that we need to keep some perspective and not put too much emphasis on it. They key is to ensure that the “hair” is not “attached,” that our material pursuits are not part and parcel of our identity or indispensable to our happiness.
Free Happiness
I sat down and composed a list of enjoyable things that do not cost anything. Without too much effort, I came up with over a dozen, and I am sure there are countless more. My list included the following:
1) Taking children to the park
2) Doing a favor for somebody
3) Playing sports
4) Observing our children talk to and interact with each other
5) Going to the library and reading an interesting book
6) Watching the fireworks on July 4
7) Learning with a partner for about twenty minutes
8) Watching the sunrise or sunset
9) Watching the ocean
10) Taking a nap on a lounge chair in the backyard
11) Spending time with one’s spouse
12) Having a deep, meaningful conversation with a friend.
If a person is unable to do these things, then no amount of money in the world will make him feel happy and fulfilled. And if a person is able to do these things, then he does not need money to feel happy and fulfilled.
Real beauty and joy is not a fancy sofa, but grass, flowers, the ocean and trees, a meaningful conversation with somebody we love and care about, and quality time with children.
There’s an expression that goes, “Money is a very good servant, but a terrible master.” Money is great when it serves us, when it enables us attain things that help us enjoy life. But as in the cases of Korach and Adolf Merckle, it becomes terribly destructive when it takes over our lives and controls us, making our happiness dependent on it. Let us, then, follow the example of the tribe of Levi, and ensure to keep money external to our beings. If we live with this mindset and view our material possessions with this perspective, we can make our money serve us, and avoid being controlled by it.