Community Magazine November 2009

the globe, a letter written during the Great Depression of the 1930’s began circulating among religious Jews. The author was the venerated Lithuanian sage Rav Elchanan Wasserman (1875- 1941), who sought to offer a Torah perspective on the financial ruin wrought by the Depression. He noted that the Hebrew word for coins, “ zuzim ,” is derived from the Hebrew word for “move” (“ zuz ”). As economists have noted, financial markets succeed when money flows, when funds are being transferred from investor to corporation, from buyer to seller, from customer to proprietor. Financial crisis surfaces when people stop spending, when people keep their money idle and frozen, rather than buying and investing. Taking the discussion one step further, Rav Elchanan asked, what causes people to stop spending? Why does money stop flowing? Money stands still, the rabbi explained, when people lose faith in the system, when they are anxious and untrusting. An anxious banker stops lending and offering mortgages; anxious consumers stop buying on credit; anxious investors stop investing in new enterprises; anxious employers stop hiring. Markets slump, and eventually crash, when people lose faith in one another, and prefer keeping their money locked up in a safe, rather than spending and investing. Rav Elchanan’s analysis until this point is no different from basic economic theory. Unlike the economists, however, he dared to address the next question: what makes people untrusting? Why do people lose faith in the marketplace? His answer, very simply, is that people lose faith in people when they lose faith in Gd. Rav Elchanan observed a society that removed Gd from the equation, that celebrated the independent abilities of the human being and the greatness of manmade economies. People grew accustomed to trusting only themselves, their own skills and their own handiwork. It was only natural that they then became untrusting of others. Once people are in the habit of trusting themselves and not Gd, they cannot trust anyone else. This is how the absence of faith has a direct impact upon the economic climate. When people take full credit for their success and fail to acknowledge Gd’s role, they gradually lose the ability to trust others. And in an environment of mistrust, economies collapse. When people maintain their faith in Gd, they are able to maintain their faith in others, and in the economic system. It is easy to lose hope and faith during times of hardship. Unlike the darkness of night, which we know will eventually end at a specific time on the clock, the darkness of misfortune appears permanent and seems like it will never end. Yaakov Avinu never lost faith amid the darkness, and indeed the sun eventually rose. At the end of his life, he was reunited with Yosef and lived happily and peacefully among his children and grandchildren in Egypt. We, too, must reinforce our faith and be determined to weather the storm until happier times come upon us. The night ultimately gives way to light, the brilliant light of happiness, success and prosperity that Gd will soon shine upon all of us in the merit of our firm and unwavering faith even during times of hardship. Mattresses For Less New Line Has Arrived! Free Set Up... Fast Delivery!!! SandraMansour 718.382.8419 or 800.SLeep.56 & Free Gift For Newlyweds With Purchase! Dedicated inmemory of Mr. Irving Semah     22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE