Wealth from a Jewish Perspective is Not Evil

In parshat Terumah, the Israelites are given the opportunity to contribute to the building of the mishkan according to their desire to give.  Here is a group of former slaves, wandering through the wilderness, not being told that they must contribute part of the wealth they had taken with them upon leaving Egypt, but could do so based upon their sense of gratitude.  And as we know, their sense of gratitude even when they were faced with so many challenges was overwhelming.  At one point, later on, Moshe has to ask the community to stop making donations. 

When I read this parsha, for some reason it took my mind to the concepts being bandied around by politicians about wealth.  It seems that many in our society tend to look at the accumulation of wealth as an evil.  Many discussions also abound about the distribution of wealth in society.  So, I thought we would look at the Jewish attitude toward wealth and giving.

 “When you have eaten your fill,” Moses warns the people, on the edge of the Promised Land, “and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied . . . beware lest your heart grow haughty and . . . you say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me.’. . . Remember that it is the Lord your God who gives you the power to get wealth . . .” (Deuteronomy 8: 12-18).

If G-d gives us the power to get wealth, is wealth in and of itself evil? 

According to Rabbi Meir Tamari, director of the Centre for Business Ethics in Jerusalem, the concept of the divine ownership of wealth “is the only reliable means whereby greed is able to be channeled into morality.”

State some ways you know that Judaism attempts to channel greed into morality?

T]he heavens to their uttermost reaches,” cries Moses, “belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is on it!”–to the God who “upholds the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, providing him with food and clothing. You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deuteronomy 10: 14-19)

Christianity did not view wealth in the same way.  Here are two statements found in the Book of Luke in the New Testament:

There is still one thing lacking: sell everything you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven (Luke 18:22).

 "How hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Luke 18:24-25)."

 Judaism does not look at wealth in this way.

Perhaps you’ve never really thought about the words that we recite after Havdallah.

 At the end of the havdala ceremony which concludes Shabbat, we send aloft the fervent prayer that "God who separates sacred and profane may also forgive our sins and increase our seed and wealth like grains of sand and stars in the sky."

Hamavdil bein kodesh l’chol…

Our forefathers were considered wealthy and blessed…

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at flocks and prospered.  They worked hard and had

In the birkat Hamazon we say: "May the Merciful bless us and all that is ours, as our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were once blessed in everything."

Wealth per se, then, is not evil, nor its pursuit condemnable.

The only individual in the Torah denied the right to amass a fortune on principle is the king, in whose hands it can so readily lead to a perversion of power. (Ismaar Schorsh , z’l)

money ought not to be an ultimate value in our lives, but rather a force for doing good in the lives of others. 

The Talmud theorizes that when we enter olam ha-bah we will be asked,  "Did you conduct your financial matters with integrity?" is clearly a formulation that undervalues the bottom line.

So is the second question that awaits us in the heavenly court: "Did you set aside time on a regular basis to study Torah?" The good life is a matter of balance. To devote all our waking hours singlemindedly to making money is to shrink the purpose and potential of our lives.

 The third question aims at the same end: "Did you raise a family?" And often the Talmud urges us in other passages to realize that wealth is not a matter of money but of mind: the truly rich are those who are satisfied with what they have.

Finally, Judaism obliges us to share our blessings through charity, maximally at the rate of 20%, normally at 10%. Giving must become a habit of the heart; even a person dependent on the dole is not exempt from the commandment. No one, Jewish law asserts, ever became impoverished helping the poor. Charity ennobles the giver as it ameliorates the human condition.

Then of course there is the question of how one accumulates wealth: 

 "When you sell… or buy [property] from your neighbor, do not cheat one another" (Leviticus 25:14). Maintaining strict honesty in business dealings is equivalent to upholding the entire Torah, and is the first thing for which one is judged in the heavenly court.  

So when wealth is gained via honest dealings, an individual is judged favorably.  They are not to be judged negatively because they have wealth.

In Judaism, the pursuit of wealth must be combined with the concern for the good of the community and the wider society. To denigrate an individual because they are wealthy is truly not appropriate in Judaism.  We need to look at how individuals contribute to the well-being of society as a whole and to groups and individuals in need, etc.

As Jews should not be in the business of feeling that wealth is evil nor should those who have wealth feel that their material considerations are more important than living a life serving G-d’s commands to uphold the needs of the fatherless, widow, and stranger in our midst.

 Look at what has taken place among many of the world's billionaires:

The Giving Pledge is an effort to help address society’s most pressing problems by inviting the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will.  

The Giving Pledge was started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.  The list of 40 who have currently signed up are included below:

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, cofounders of the Giving Pledge, led our list with $35.8 billion and $35.1 billion, respectively, in lifetime donations. George Soros was third, with $32 billion (Forbes)

·         Bill Ackman

·         Tegan and Brian Acton

·         Margaret and Sylvan Adams

·         Leonard H. Ainsworth

·         Paul G. Allen (d. 2018)

·         HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz AlSaud

·         Brian Armstrong

·         Sue Ann Arnall

·         Laura and John Arnold

·         Marcel Arsenault and Cynda Collins Arsenault

·         Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC

·         Stewart and Sandy Bainum

·         Lynne and Marc Benioff

·         Nicolas Berggruen

·         MacKenzie Bezos

·         Manoj Bhargava

·         Aneel and Allison Bhusri

·         Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Bin Musallam Bin Ham Al-Ameri

·         Steve Bing

·         Sara Blakely

·         Arthur M. Blank

·         Nathan and Elizabeth Blecharczyk

·         Michael R. Bloomberg

·         David G. Booth

·         Richard and Joan Branson

·         Eli and Edythe Broad

·         Charles R. Bronfman

·          Nugtfrmr7BH6UDvy5GTCRZS

·         Charles Butt

·         Garrett Camp

·         Steve and Jean Case

·         John Caudwell

·         Brian Chesky

·         Scott Cook and Signe Ostby

·         Lee and Toby Cooperman

·         Joe and Kelly Craft

·         Joyce and Bill Cummings

·         Ray and Barbara Dalio

·         Jack and Laura Dangermond

·         John Paul DeJoria

·         Ben Delo

·         Mohammed Dewji

·         Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg

·         Ann and John Doerr

·         Dagmar Dolby

·         DONG Fangjun

·         Glenn and Eva Dubin

·         Anne Grete Eidsvig and Kjell Inge Røkke

·         Larry Ellison

·         Henry Engelhardt and Diane Briere de l'Isle-Engelhardt

·         Candy and Charlie Ergen

·         Judy Faulkner

·         Charles F. Feeney

·         Andrew and Nicola Forrest

·         Ted Forstmann (d. 2011)

·         Phillip and Patricia Frost

·         Mario and Regina Gabelli

·         Bill and Melinda Gates

·         Joe Gebbia

·         Dan and Jennifer Gilbert

·         Ann Gloag OBE

·         Dave Goldberg (d. 2015) and Sheryl Sandberg

·         Jeremy and Hanne Grantham

·         David and Barbara Green

·         Jeff and Mei Sze Greene

·         Harold Grinspoon and Diane Troderman

·         William Gross

·         Gordon and Llura Gund

·         Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou

·         Harold Hamm

·         Nick and Leslie Hanauer

·         David and Claudia Harding

·         Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin

·         Lyda Hill

·         Barron Hilton (d. 2019)

·         Orion and Jackie Hindawi

·         Reid Hoffman and Michelle Yee

·         Christopher Hohn

·         Elie and Susy Horn

·         Sir Tom and Lady Marion Hunter

·         Jon (d. 2018) and Karen Huntsman

·         Dr Mo Ibrahim

·         Carl Icahn

·         Joan and Irwin Jacobs

·         Badr Jafar and Razan Al Mubarak

·         Sonia and Paul Tudor Jones

·         John W. Jordan II "Jay"

·         Ryan D. “Jume” Jumonville

·         George B. Kaiser

·         Brad and Kim Keywell

·         Vinod and Neeru Khosla

·         Sidney Kimmel

·         Rich and Nancy Kinder

·         Beth and Seth Klarman

·         Robert and Arlene Kogod

·         Elaine and Ken Langone

·         Erica and Jeff Lawson

·         Liz and Eric Lefkofsky

·         Francine A. LeFrak and Rick Friedberg

·         Gerry (d. 2018) and Marguerite Lenfest

·         Peter B. Lewis (d. 2013)

·         Daoming Liu

·         Iza and Samo Login

·         Lorry I. Lokey

·         George Lucas and Mellody Hobson

·         Richard and Melanie Lundquist

·         Duncan and Nancy MacMillan

·         Alfred E. Mann (d. 2016)

·         Joe and Rika Mansueto

·         Bernie and Billi Marcus

·         Richard Edwin and Nancy Peery Marriott

·         Strive and Tsitsi Masiyiwa

·         Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

·         John and Marcy McCall MacBain

·         Craig and Susan McCaw

·         Red and Charline (d. 2019) McCombs

·         PNC and Sobha Menon

·         Dean and Marianne Metropoulos

·         Alya and Gary K. Michelson, M.D.

·         Michael and Lori Milken

·         Yuri and Julia Milner

·         George P. Mitchell (d. 2013)

·         Thomas S. Monaghan

·         Gordon and Betty Moore

·         Tashia and John Morgridge

·         Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman

·         Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna

·         Patrice and Precious Motsepe

·         Elon Musk

·         Arif Naqvi

·         Jonathan M. Nelson

·         Rohini and Nandan Nilekani

·         Gensheng Niu

·         Pierre and Pam Omidyar

·         Natalie and Paul Orfalea

·         Bernard and Barbro Osher

·         Bob and Renee Parsons

·         Jim Pattison

·         Ronald O. Perelman

·         Jorge M. and Darlene Perez

·         Peter G. Peterson (d. 2018)

·         T. Boone Pickens (d. 2019)

·         Victor Pinchuk

·         Hasso Plattner

·         Vladimir Potanin

·         Azim Premji

·         Ernest and Evelyn Rady

·         Terry and Susan Ragon

·         Emily and Mitchell Rales

·         Julian H. Robertson, Jr.

·         David Rockefeller (d. 2017)

·         Edward W. (d. 2016) and Deedie Potter Rose

·         Stephen M. Ross

·         David M. Rubenstein

·         Chris and Crystal Sacca

·         David Sainsbury

·         John and Ginger Sall

·         Henry and Susan Samueli

·         Herb (d. 2019) and Marion (d. 2012) Sandler

·         Denny Sanford

·         Vicki (d. 2018) and Roger Sant

·         Lynn Schusterman

·         Stephen A. Schwarzman

·         Paul and Jennifer Sciarra

·         Ruth and Bill Scott

·         Walter Scott, Jr.

·         Tom and Cindy Secunda

·         Dr. B.R. Shetty and Dr. C.R. Shetty

·         Craig Silverstein and Mary Obelnicki

·         Annette and Harold (d. 2013) Simmons

·         Jim and Marilyn Simons

·         Liz Simons and Mark Heising

·         Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons

·         Paul E. Singer

·         Jeff Skoll

·         Robert Frederick Smith

·         John A. and Susan Sobrato

·         John and Timi Sobrato

·         Michele B. Chan and Patrick Soon-Shiong

·         Ted (d. 2016) and Vada (d. 2013) Stanley

·         Mark and Mary Stevens

·         Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor

·         Harry H. Stine

·         Jim (d. 2014) and Virginia Stowers

·         Dato' Sri DR Tahir

·         Vincent Tan Chee Yioun

·         Nicolai and Katja Tangen

·         Tad and Dianne Taube

·         Robert and Jane Toll

·         Claire (d. 2014) and Leonard Tow

·         Ted Turner

·         Albert Lee Ueltschi (d. 2012)

·         Hamdi Ulukaya

·         Sunny and Sherly Varkey

·         Shamsheer and Shabeena Vayalil

·         Dr. Romesh and Kathleen Wadhwani

·         Jian Wang

·         Sanford and Joan Weill

·         Dr. Herbert and Nicole Wertheim

·         Shelby White