Vayishlach – The Value of Money

By Rabbi Ezra Friedman

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it”. The simple explanation for this quote is that it is not just important to save money, but rather to enjoy and indulge in it. We as Jews can take this expression and make it into something much more spiritual. One of the most essential foundations of Judaism is that religion and spirituality can only be achieved in the material world. When we perform  Mitzvot  with our bodies, whether it be when eating, talking or building, we are making the world and ourselves more spiritual. A Jew’s money should be seen in the same way. Money is an amazing medium by which we can serve Hashem and as such, it has great spiritual potential. Benjamin Franklin’s words can be given a “Jewish” twist. Having wealth or using it to purchase more goods does not make one wealthy. However, using wealth for spiritual purposes makes one truly wealthy. We can learn the true value of money from this week’s  Parsha.

In Parashat Vayishlach, when  Yaakov  travels with his family to meet Esav, during the journey he returns to his former camp to retrieve small vessels he had forgotten. In order to get those vessels, he fights with an angel. After his victory, he returns to his family with these small vessels. Why would  Yaakov make such an effort to retrieve such insignificant possessions? Was it really worth returning for them and consequently necessitating fighting with an angel? Our Sages learnt from this episode that a  Tzadik‘s (righteous person’s) wealth is very precious to him; he would even endanger himself in order to reclaim his money. This idea seems totally foreign to our Jewish values. Why would a  zadik care so much about his money, as spiritual things are so much more important? When the Talmud (Chulin, 91A) expounds on this idea, it explains that  Tzadikim always earn their money in an honest fashion and since they truly deserve their money, they take it very seriously. The  Gemara‘s logic is also quite perplexing, as it is logical for someone to be extremely connected to his wealth, but to put oneself in danger in order to protect it seems odd.

The deep meaning behind this idea is that Tzadikim  realize how much spiritual potential money has. We can use money in amazing ways; we can build institutions, invest in innovative endeavors, and of course help the sick and needy. Money is truly precious when used for the right purposes. Since righteous people understand this, they are willing to do anything in order to release the spiritual potential of their finances. This lesson is so important in our times because the quest to obtain money in order to acquire materialistic goods has become an obsession. Judaism explains that the true value of money lies in its use to serve Hashem. According to the Jewish perspective, we can explain another quote. A businessperson once said “a wise person should have money in his head, not in his heart”. When the use of money becomes so superficial, this idea is correct, however when we realize the true value of money, our wealth should be in our hearts as well.