A Message from Rabbi Maurice

(February/March 2009)

Rabbi Yishmael said: One who wishes to acquire wisdom should study the way that money works, for there is no greater area of Torah-study than this. It is like an ever flowing stream… (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 175b)...

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Torah of Money

Over recent months, this “ever flowing stream” has been carrying some of our financial security out to sea. Some of us have experienced life-changing losses of retirement funds, investments, or jobs. These losses call into question our future plans, our hopes, or our sense of security. For some of us, troubling economic headlines carry little personal impact, and for others, the impact is moderate or uncertain. For still others, it is life-altering.

Money is fickle – we hold it in our hands each day, and yet it’s abstract beyond our comprehension. Even economists admit the same degree of uncertainty as weather forecasters. The flow of money is largely an amoral chaotic system, yet as Americans we have learned to place our faith in it.

In Tractate Shabbat of the Babylonian Talmud, our sages taught: Who is wealthy? “One who has pleasure of soul in her or his wealth,” – this is Rabbi Meir’s view. Rabbi Tarfon said, “One who possesses a hundred vineyards, a hundred fields and a hundred slaves working in them.” Rabbi Akiva said, “One who has a spouse who is rich in good deeds.” Rabbi Yossi said, “One who has a bathroom near his or her table [in rabbinic times, outhouses were usually distant].”

This text illustrates that different individuals experience themselves as wealthy based on different criteria. As long as we’re not in poverty – a condition the rabbis regard as a crushing hardship – we have a lot of say in whether we see ourselves as flush.

In the TBI community, as in Eugene, some of us are living in poverty. Most of us are not, but are facing financial anxiety. Regardless of our financial situation, we are all welcomed and affirmed in our synagogue. We can carry one another through this by opening our wallets and our hearts more to all who are facing poverty, and by looking to each other for friendship and sacred community.

To quote Rabbi Rami Shapiro, “We are loved by an unending love. We are embraced by arms that find us… We are touched by fingers that soothe us… We are counseled by voices that guide us… We are supported by hands that uplift us… We are urged on by eyes that meet us... ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices; ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles. We are loved by an unending love.”

May the ties of friendship, love and community we’ve built at TBI support us during uncertain times, and may we support one another with understanding and care.

L’Shalom
Rabbi Maurice