Toward the end of Hovot HaLevavot’s discussion of recognizing the wonders of G-d in creation, he discusses wonders that aren’t necessarily in the physical realm of what G-d created, but more so in the runnings of the world. He says that one of the most distinguished signs of G-d’s wisdom is the fact that people have agreed to a monetary system, to using gold and silver as a medium for buying and selling. This is a sign of how much G-d loves and cares for us. Money is wanted by all, and yet it can’t quench thirst, feed hunger, heal or take care of you in any way. It is just a medium, and yet people want money. And because people want money, that’s what makes the world go round.
When you get up in the morning, you want a cup of coffee. Do you know what went into that cup of coffee? Someone planted beans in Africa. Another person gathered them, and someone else ground them. Then they got sold and shipped to America. Mr. Starbucks decided to open a coffee shop, and the people working in his store brew the coffee for you.
Why are all those people doing those things? Why does the man in Africa plant those beans? Why do the people gather the beans? Why are they shipping and selling them? Why are they brewing them? It’s not because they like you. It’s because they want money. Money makes the world go round.
You work and make money, and now that you have money, you have the world at your fingertips. You are able to buy clothing and shoes, because people who want money sell clothing and shoes. You can get anything, all because of money. This is a phenomenon that we might not have appreciated; How G-d in His wisdom is running the world.
So, we may start worrying about the economy, but we don’t have to.
G-d has it all figured out. If you look in secular books there’s a phrase, “The Invisible Hand of the Economy,” This means that there is something about the economy that just runs. Of course, people think that they are going to get involved. But who created the economy? Who came up with this great idea called “money?” Who put into man the desire to have money? G-d did. It’s one of G-d’s wondrous creations. The Gemara in Pesachim (44b), lists some of the wondrous ideas that G-d came up with for the world. One of them is that, Lo Alenu, when a person passes away, the body decomposes. That forces them to be buried, and it forces people to go on with their lives, and to deal with their loss. Imagine if their precious child wouldn’t be buried- they would just keep the person around and he would never be forgotten. This is one of G-d’s great ideas, in order to help us to function.
Another one of the great ideas on the list is the idea of the coin. We look at money as a source of all evil, but money is the source of all good.
The Maharshal says that poor people wouldn’t survive without it. They wouldn’t have any means, fields or other commodities, but that is where money comes in. How fundamental is it?
Rabbi Weissmandel is quoted as saying something fascinating, ( to read up about this extraordinary individual buy the book written about him, Unheeded Cry) He says if we look at the creation of the world, in Bereshit, all the way back in the beginning, in chapter 2, G-d planted a tree in Gan Eden and put man there. Everything grew, the fruits were growing, and the rivers were flowing, and there was a garden. And then it says, “And the rivers left the garden,”
One of the rivers is Pishon, of which it is said, “and there is the gold.”
Rabbi Weissmandel noted that included in the basic fundamentals of creation, “there is the gold,” because without gold nothing happens.
With this, Rav Yosef Ibn Shushan, one of the Rishonim, comments on Pirkei Avot, saying that there is something very strange about the desire for money. For all other desires, once you fill the need for the desire, the desire goes away. You get hungry so that you should eat. Then, once you eat, you are no longer hungry. And he gives other such examples. But the one exception to this rule is making money. There is no end to how much money one wants to make. Why? Because the purpose of wanting to make money is not for you. It is for the rest of the world. There is no end to the amount of money Mr. Bezos is supposed to make, because he is supposed to grow his business, and keep in growing it. There is no end. Therefore, the real עשיר״ wealthy one,” is not the man who is making a lot of money. We don’t like to see this that loudly, but when people work, they aren’t really working for themselves, they are working for the rest of the world. The person that sells millions of pairs of shoes is serving the world. G-d fooled him into thinking that he is going after the money. But he is just a messenger. He is just a cog in the system. Ultimately, the one who is really wealthy is the one who says, “Stop- I don’t need that much!” And if he wants to be a great Baal Hessed, there are other ways to do kindness. This is one of the wonders of creation, that should cause us to pause and say, “Who created the economy?” It says in tehillim,
(ט) הֲנֹטַע אֹזֶן הֲלֹא יִשְׁמָע אִם יֹצֵר עַיִן הֲלֹא יַבִּיט:
“The One that created the ear isn’t able to hear , the One that formed the eye isn’t able to hear ?”
So too, can it be that the One that created the economy can’t control the economy? Have no fear. Have a wonderful day.