A Soulful Journey

The story is told that one of the heads of the House of Rothschild was once asked what he was worth. He took out the record of all his charitable contributions. His secretary, thinking that he had taken the wrong ledger by mistake, tried to correct him.  Baron Rothschild answered, “Never fear; I know that I own all kinds of mines and properties, business ventures, and securities. But the mines may be flooded and the properties confiscated; war can disrupt my businesses and render all my securities worthless. Only the figures in my tzedakah ledger record what is really mine. This I am worth; this nobody can take away from me.”  -Rabbi Danny Pressman

The Dubner Maggid was once asked by the Vilna Gaon for words of "mussar" (ethics). "What can I say to you?" replied the Maggid. "You, who are the pride and light of our people and who studies and prays all night...." But the Vilna Gaon was not satisfied and pressed the Maggid for "mussar" on the eve of Yom Kippur. "You are learned an pious," he began, "but how long would you last in the marketplace?  There are thieves about, ruthless competitors are everywhere and price fixing is common.  You who have never had the chance to sully your cloak, how long would you remain holy in a place like that?" The Vilna Gaon accepted his chastisement.  - Harold Shulweis

“No corporation president would try to run a large company with a table of organization first sketched by the quill pen of some eighteenth-century ancestor whose sole managerial experience consisted of running a farm.” –Alvin Toffler, Third Wave

Rabbi Nachman Kossover taught that we should always have the Lord in our thoughts.   He was asked, “Can we think of the Lord when we are engaged in buying and selling?” “Surely, we can” answered the rabbi.   “If we are able to think of business when we are praying, we should be able to think of praying when we are doing business.”   - Hasidic Anthology

A developer wanted to buy a farmer’s field to put up condominiums.   “What will you pay?” asked the farmer. The developer said, “We want to do the right thing.   We will pay you what the field is worth.” The farmer replied, “I’ll be darned if I’ll sell it for that!” Would this conversation ever take place if people acted with integrity?   Spoke the truth?   If not, perhaps we have a head-start on living the best life possible.