It must have been a miracle. The New York Times got one right. The “Paper of Record,” which somehow missed the Holocaust, which has condemned Israel tirelessly for the sin of being savagely attacked by Hamas, which sees nothing wrong with Zohran Mamdani’s anti-Semitism and imbecilic socialism, actually got something correct.
In last week’s issue (August 24, 25), the Times actually took aim at the excesses of the super wealthy. Entitled “They’re Rich, They Travel and They Love to Complain,” the Times exposed the madness of “billionaires and hundred-millionaires” who have everything and appreciate nothing. Some examples of these excesses: A “travel advisor” whose sole job is to placate and cater to the already spoiled, reports that one client insisted on a “rental house in Aspen, Colorado with at least six bedrooms and ensuite baths, a gym, a sauna and a chef” capable of providing rare foods. Another insisted (a big word amongst the super wealthy) that “she be extracted from a charter boat when rough seas prevented her from reaching a Greek party island.” She wanted to be rescued by helicopter or a submarine so that she could “dance until dawn on the island.” Still another had spring water shipped to a Caribbean Island because “she was annoyed that shampooing with the local tap water gave her an itchy scalp.” Come to think of it, maybe I miss-scheduled this article from Purim to Elul.
But let’s not laugh so fast. Didn’t many of us decide during Covid that we would scale down our simchos? We set up chupahs in backyards and had sandwiches for sheva brachos, and the couples are still happily married. In fact, the statistics might be better than the multi-million dollar weddings and vorts. Yes, Elul is the time to think about where we have been and where we should be going. Anti-Semitism is raging, the city with the largest number of Jews outside of Eretz Yisroel may soon be taken over by a rabid anti-Semite communist, and many of us — not just billionaires — are planning trips and functions that spend money that our desperate brethren could use to buy basic food and keep their children in yeshiva. Countless boys and girls have been denied permission to learn Torah — not by said anti-Semites — but by our schools, which cannot meet their budgets and feel that they must turn away Yiddishe neshamos. I’m not criticizing, just wondering where we have gone wrong.
Let’s listen to some wiser, saner — and even more normal voices — of our gedolim down through the ages. Rav Tzvi Hirsh, the Lisker Rebbe (Sefer Ach Pri Tevuah, Drush for Rosh Hashanah, page 173b), quotes the Medrash (Koheles Rabbah 1:34) that “by the time a person passes away, he will not have fulfilled even half of what he had wished to acquire.” The rebbe explained that “this refers to a wicked person who wants only to pile up more and more material pleasures. But a tzaddik can achieve all of his worthy spiritual goals.” The Lisker Rebbe elaborates on this theme with the halacha (Chulin 58b) that an animal that has an extra limb is considered a treifah — forbidden to be eaten. It is the same for someone who is constantly seeking more physical things that he doesn’t need.
The same Medrash (Koheles Rabbah 1:13) had already established that someone who has one hundred [dollars] wants two hundred.” This means that the incessant desire for more worldly possessions and urgings is never fulfilled, while the spiritually driven person is always happy. He proves this from the well-known contrast between Eisav, who said, “I have plenty” (Bereishis 33:9), and Yaakov Avinu, who said, “I have everything.” Eisav represents those who couldn’t care less about the Next World (Bereishis 25:32) and Yaakov who lives only for that eternal reward in the World to Come. Rav Moshe Feinstein (Dorash Moshe, Drush 24, page 347) plumbs even deeper into what we can learn from Yaakov Avinu about physical versus spiritual goals. He reminds us that Yaakov said, “I have been diminished by all the kindnesses… You have done Your servant” (Bereishis 32:11). Rav Moshe explains that Yaakov is grateful to Hashem for each and every gift, large or small, that he receives from the Creator. He never feels that he deserved more and is energized even by the most basic gift of life itself.
Rav Moshe Sternbuch (Taam Vodaas, Eikev, page 69) discovers in the words of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh a formula for happiness along this route. The posuk (Devorim 8:9) describes Eretz Yisroel as “a Land where you will eat bread without poverty; you will lack nothing there.” The Ohr Hachaim, hundreds of years and a hearty dose of lehavdil before the New York Times, notes that “the rich tend to be tightfisted with their money for two reasons. First of all, they are always afraid that the economy will change or they will have a reversal in their fortunes. Secondly, they don’t want to appear rich or suffer from an ayin hora. However, Rav Sternbuch sees it a bit differently. He understands the posuk to be saying that the greatness of Klal Yisroel, especially in Eretz Yisroel, is that we don’t seek anything other than the avoidance of poverty. We want nothing that can be considered extra or superfluous. Ideally, we don’t even want materialism at all and that will make us perennially happy. As he concludes, “Why would we even want luxuries? All we need and desire is to be holy and bask in the radiance of Hashem.” This is the lesson that Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzato (Mesilas Yeshorim, Oros edition, page 45) teaches that “to the eternal soul, all the baubles of this world are worthless.” All we need is a bit of perspective.
Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuvah 2:17) speaks even more sharply of this dichotomy between those obsessed with this world and those who live for the next. He first quotes from Chazal (Brachos 63a) that the Torah does not reside in a person unless he “kills himself over it.” He explains that far from suicide, G-d forbid, this is the embracement of life itself. For since we cannot bring our earthly pleasures with us to the World to Come, to — so to speak — put all our eggs into the basket of this world is truly suicide itself. But to those who reject the lure of excess and all that is unnecessary, the reward is the true life itself, which is the life that is forever.
Rav Shimshon Pincus (Tiferes Shimshon, Acharei Mos, page 181) relates an interesting anecdote that he heard from his rebbi, Rav Berel Soloveitchik, rosh yeshivas Brisk.
An American father of a girl who was seeking a good Brisker boy for his daughter whispered to the rosh yeshiva that he had always trained his daughter to avoid unnecessary luxuries, which the rosh yeshiva understood to mean that he didn’t have much money to offer. Rav Berel smiled but shared a moshol with the would-be father-in law. In a small village, a melamed was celebrating a siyum with his students. The children had never seen so many chocolates, candies and other goodies. The rebbi turned to one of his talmidim saying, “Remember when we learned in class that we must overcome our yeitzer hora for eating? Now is the time to activate that lesson.” The wise little boy answered, “Fine, rebbi, but I will start after this piece.” The rosh yeshiva concluded to the now-nervous father, “Everyone agrees that the first piece is necessary. The only question that always needs to be resolved is where the first piece begins and the next one starts.”
It is always up to us to make that crucial decision, but we have seen that the secular New York Times, the embodiment of sheker, knows that there are limits to normal consumption, even for the fabulously wealthy. What all of us need to do is to honestly assess what is truly necessary for us and what are wanton and needless expenses and waste.
My rebbi, Rav Mottel Weinberg (see Sichos Mordechai, Maamar 24, page 188), used to lament that there are people who could easily support their entire family, both sons and sons-in-law, for a lifetime of Torah learning. However, they don’t seem to be willing to give up on the luxuries, such as large houses in the best of neighborhoods, with the latest model cars, and eating regularly in restaurants. He referenced the words of the Chasam Sofer on the Gemara (Tomid 32a), “Who is wise? One who sees that which will be born.” The Chasam Sofer explained that one who can see into tomorrow and deduce what will happen is a wise man. But one who can do that for the next year, for a hundred years or more is even wiser. We should be the people who can calculate what the next world will bring through all that the Torah has taught us. It is just a matter of accessing that information and conducting our lives accordingly.
Rav Ezriel Auerbach (Kovetz Sichos Chizuk, page 80) offers an incredible metaphor for our daily lives. He says that if a person lives very sparingly, including nothing unnecessary in his life, he may yearn for more. When he receives it, he will certainly be joyous and perhaps forget about the basics of life. But if, chas veshalom, his life is in danger and is then spared, he will suddenly be grateful for life itself. Ask anyone who has nearly drowned or received what turned out to be a false diagnosis. He is ecstatic just to be alive. That is the way that we should live every day of our lives.
The New York Times was not wrong to poke fun at the obvious imbecility of the current crop of instant billionaires and their ideas of necessities. But we must constantly — especially during the Yomim Noraim — look to the higher goals of this world and the next world. May we always keep our eyes on the long range goal for both body and soul.
