Forbes Richest to Enriched
I chanced upon the ‘Forbes Richest Under 40’ wondering for a moment why I wasn’t gifted with ideas for Facebook, Uber, SnapChat, etc. and then realized I’m not under 40! Born a few years early.(What would I do with all those billions?)
A few hours later I listened to Shahar Azani speak about not pursuing a tech career path with the other tech Israeli’s and choosing to be a representative of the State of Israel “until the day I die”. He spoke about his passion to share with the world what Israel is really all about beyond the media’s and BDS agenda.
I was struck by the contrast between these two experiences; money, purpose. Can one pursue making a lot of money and remain focused and idealistic or does idealism by definition mean a life of simplicity?
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In this week’s Torah portion we read about the Kohen Gadol and who he is permitted to marry and whom not. It’s interesting that the Torah prohibits him to marry either a Divorcee or a Widow. Since a KG is meant to be a man of peace he can’t marry a divorcee who even if no fault of her own was involved in a relationship that had strife in it or discord or at least ended in a division instead of unity. However, a widow had her husband die on her without any cause of her own. Why then should a KG be prohibited from marrying her?
One of the reasons given is that we are afraid that the KG might have set his sights on a particular married woman. As such when he enters into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur we are concerned that he might pray for the demise of the husband so that she will be available to him. As such, knowing that she remains prohibited will prevent from offering this prayer.
SHOCKING! To say the least. The High Priest?! On Yom Kippur?!
We see the reality that even someone in as a high a position as the KG and on YK no less, is susceptible to ulterior motives.
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If this is true for the KG on YK how much more so for us regular folk who engage in the mundane day to day pursuits of materialism and money.
We surely are challenged to to remain focused and idealistic in the pursuit of money.
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In conclusion, it is possible to have both but one needs to remain focused on the main why. It is much easier to stay focused on the why when your life is preoccupied each day with the why. Much more challenging of course when you’re caught up with the balance sheets, investors and stock market. That doesn’t mean that people who are caught up in the balance sheets, etc. can’t be heroes.
The real heroes are those that can never lose focus of the why. How you embrace that challenge is yours for the choosing. Whatever you choose or have chosen, good luck!
