The Weight of Wealth
Rabbi ben Zoma taught: “Who is rich? Those who are happy with their portion.” (Pirke Avot 4) For the ancient rabbis wealth and riches are about perspective. Happiness is not related to how we typically define success. It is not a matter of winning the lottery. It is instead about being content with one’s lot. It is about not pining after what others have.
The Torah reminds us that our forefather Abraham was wealthy. “Now Abraham was very rich in cattle, silver and gold.” (Genesis 13) The Hebrew uses a curious phrase. “Avram kaved maod.” A literal rendition might read: “Avram was very heavy with cattle, silver and gold. The Hebrew suggests that he was weighed down by his riches.
The plain meaning is clear. The journey on which God sends Abraham is difficult not only because he must leave his ancestral home but because of all the riches he must carry with him. It is not easy to travel across the desert with so many belongings. It is not easy to shepherd a flock across the wilderness. Better to travel light. Abraham is unable to do so. And thus, he travels in stages. “And he proceeded by stages from the Negev as far as Bethel.”
Perhaps there is an even greater truth in this phrase “very heavy.” I am given to wonder. How do our riches weigh us down? How do they prevent us from seeing beyond ourselves?
For Abraham the Torah suggests that his accumulated wealth might have prevented him from leaving his home and answering God’s call, from setting out on the journey that forever defines the Jewish people and bringing us to the land that is now a source of our current anxiety but yet our eternal hope.
A curious fact. Holocaust survivors tend to accumulate portable wealth. They do not purchase valuable paintings and sculptures, but instead jewelry and watches. Such items can be easily carried on a person if one is forced to flee. Jewels can even be sewed into jacket liners if one needs to secret a family across borders. Such are the scars that survivors carry. They are always readying their escape.
For others wealth is often a stumbling block to change. We do no march forward for fear that we might lose our precious possessions. We do not set out on new journeys because we worry about their financial risks. Listen to Ben Zoma’s teaching. Wealth is a matter of a perspective.
There are many reasons why Abraham is called righteous. One reason is found in how he treats his wealth. In his hands all that silver and gold is transformed into an obligation.
For the righteous, wealth is weighty because it is a burden. It is a call to use our success in the service of others.
Wealth is not a privilege. It is instead a challenge. It is a call. “Lech lecha—Go forth!”