We continue with the chapter of Hovot HaLevavot where he tells us how to look at wealth and success, and he discusses the pitfalls and mistakes that people can make when they’re successful. We’ve spoken about honor and now we move onto his next topic:
When a person has reached his goal.
מי שיגיע ממנו אל תכלית תאותו בדרך הסבות
When a person has reached his financial goal-some by taking the track of intermediaries, and others through an inheritance, or a wealthy father in law:
Each person thinks that without that “cause” he would not have gotten there, and therefore he praises the “cause,” without realizing that these intermediaries had nothing to do with his success.
This is the probably one of the most difficult things to grasp. A person is successful; He has a great brand, or license. He looks back at his year and reflects on the deal he closed, the license he got, or the move he made, without realizing that this is a mistake. His success had nothing to do with the move he made.
The Hovot HaLevavot compares it to a man in the desert. He was thirsty and finally saw water. Although the water wasn’t very sweet, he was excited to find it and was happy to quench his thirst, because he was so thirsty. Then he went a little further and found a beautiful wellspring with much sweeter water, and he regretted his actions. “Why did I drink the first water?!” he worried.
The Hovot HaLevavot says that the same is true for the way people get their money. They think, “If I wouldn’t have gotten it that way, what would’ve happened?” But they should realize that they would have gotten it some other way, and maybe the other way would have been sweeter!
He quotes a pasuk in Shemuel, where the Navi says,
כי אין לה׳ מעצור להושיע ברב או במעט
There is nothing stopping G-d from bringing success.
It’s not about the details.
Rav Yehezkiel Levenstein writes that most people are struck with blindness- they only see what they see with their eyes. We have to strengthen our belief in the concept that whatever is going to happen, will happen
Sometimes we see it in open ways and sometimes not.
My wife told me a cute little story, that illustrates this point. It might sound trivial or silly to some, but in our house, Baruch HaShem, we are trained in Hashgacha Pratit, which means we look at the little things, and we try to see the causes that make things happen.
On Simchat Torah my grandchildren came to shul. My grandson came with me to the men’s section and the two girls went upstairs to ladies’ section, with their mother and my wife.
While in the men’s section, my grandson got a lollipop from the candy-man, hung around a little, and then went up to join his mother and sisters in the ladies’ section. Like children in many other families, my granddaughters are always very careful that things are fair, so when their brother came up with a lollipop, it was a Big Issue. The little guy didn’t want to go back down to get two more lollipops, and there is no candy-man upstairs (It is beyond the scope of this lesson to discuss why there is no “candy-lady” in the ladies’ section).
This was a Problem that could possibly turn into a Major Event.
The lady seated next to wife has many daughters, and she brought her own candy bag to shul. She had already given out her candy, but seeing the predicament my wife was in, she checked her bag. She had two lollipops left! She gave them to the girls and everyone had their lollipop.
It’s a little story. And the whole thing might not have happened at all, if my grandson had brought up 3 lollipops, if there was a candy lady upstairs, etc. It wouldn’t have been an event.
The point is that this is a microcosm of life. We all get the candy we are supposed to get.
My grandson could have brought three, or there could have been a candy-lady, or instead Hashem could work it out that lady had two extras to give the girls.
That’s what life is: You get what you’re supposed to get, regardless. It’s coming the way it’s supposed to happen. All the causes make no difference.
It’s very hard to believe. I have a hard time with it myself. We look at a successful guy and have to realize that he would have gotten it any way, if not with the license than with a lottery or something else.
It’s hard to see, and as Rav Yehezkiel has said, most people are blind.
But we need this fundamental. We have to be able to look back and say, “It had nothing to do with what I did.”
Have a wonderful day.