I came here with five dollars in my pocket, and look what I made! That night his factory burns down. The man rushes to the scene, looks up to the Heavens and shakes his fist. We make the mistake of thinking that on the way up it is we who built the success. But when things go wrong, we blame God. When we rely only on ourselves, we are limited. But when we connect to the Source of it all, we are tapping into unlimited resources, unlimited potential, unlimited power.
Now we can do anything. One way to discover that is to think: What would I sacrifice my life for? My family? My country? My people? Many of us would give our lives for our families, and yet we spend little time with them compared to the time we spend at business and other activities. There are people who in a time of danger would be willing to give their lives for the Jewish people or the Land of Israel, and yet today their time and resources are barely allocated to either one.
We call him wise, because he is actively seeking to learn. He is curious, wants to grow, and values understanding. Wisdom does not belong to the person who has memorized the most Torah. Wisdom belongs to someone who, through humility, is open to learning from every person he meets. However, along with working hard, a person who wants to be happy must be satisfied with what he has.
In the middle of this section is a brief interpolated midrash on the verse from Psalms. The repetition teaches, according to the mishnah, that the verse refers to happiness and prosperity in both this world and the next. Who is he that is honored? One who honors others is really bringing honor to himself. Note that the prooftext from I Samuel is said by God, and not by a human being. However, one could argue that all the more so this is true with regard to humans.
If God honors those who honor Him, even though we were only created to honor Him, all the more so will humans honor those who honor them. Texts Topics Community Donate. Who is honored? Ben Azzai said: Be eager to fulfill the smallest duty and flee from transgression; for one duty induces another and one transgression induces another transgression. The reward of a duty is a duty, the reward of one transgression is another transgression. He also used to say: Despise no man and deem nothing impossible; for there is no man who does not have his day and there is no thing that does not have its place.
Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh used to say: Be exceeding lowly of spirit, for the hope of man is with worms. Rabbi Yochanan ben Baroka said: Whoever profanes the name of Heaven in secret will pay the penalty in public, whether it be done accidentally or intentionally.
Rabbi Yishmael his son used to say: He who learns in order to teach will be enabled both to learn and to teach. But he who learns in order to practice will be enabled to learn, to teach, to observe, and to practice. Rabbi Tzadok used to say: Do not make the Torah a crown with which to aggrandize yourself, nor use it as a spade with which to dig. As Hillel used to say: He who makes worldly use of the crown of the Torah shall perish.
Thus you may infer that any one who exploits the words of the Torah removes himself from the world of life. Rabbi Yosi used to say: He who honors the Torah is himself honored by mankind. He who dishonors the Torah shall himself be dishonored by mankind.
Rabbi Yishmael his son said: He who shuns the office of judge rids himself of enmity, theft, and false swearing. He who presumptuously rules in Torah matters is foolish, wicked, and arrogant.
Whichever way we read it though, the message is that wisdom is about the long term. Wisdom is not about short term advantage but long term sustainability, not about the immediate win, but creating foundations for long term development. Why am I talking about this today?
It feels as though every sermon in the last few months has been against a backdrop of a crisis in leadership, looking in on the insular game — for game, alas, is how it sometimes feels — of politics. But what we want most from our leaders, and from our public discourse, is wisdom. We cry out for wisdom. Not that our leaders be the smartest, or the wittiest, the most confident, the sharpest, the funniest at the despatch box, the most strident — but that they have the wisdom spoken about by the rabbis.
It is this that we need. The observation of the Chilcott report that the consequences of invading Iraq were foreseeable; the possibility that intemperate language about immigrants and immigration might lead to attacks on ethnic minorities; or that holding a vote on leaving the European Union might mean that we might leave the European Union. The selfish refusal to listen, the rejection of expertise, over-reliance on dogma and assertion, an ugly thuggery and abuse of opponents.
We know that the questions that now face us all are not ones with easy answers — we need plans for a generation. We end this week with a new team of leaders — a new Prime Minister, a new government.
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