Community Magazine March 2019

48 Community Magazine Sage Advice from Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l STRAIGHT TALK What should we be thinking when we hear that the stock market has reached an all-time high? Is there anything wrong with going to classes to learn karate?  Question and Answer supplied by TorasAvigdor.org. (TAPE # 555). Answer is taken directly from the words of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, zt”l. However, it has been slightly edited to allow for easier reading. Well, you should be thinking that the market prices are very high right now, but it’s very possible for them to fall and become very low again. And therefore, it’s nothing new. Many people have been ruined by the stock market. And therefore, I would say to put your money in the bank, in a savings account. And pray. Always pray. And I want to tell you something else. One of the most important reasons why the stock market fluctuates is just for that – so that you should call out to Gd. When it’s high, you should be calling out to Him in gratitude. And when it’s low, you should be calling out to Him that it should go up. And if you don’t do that, then the whole experience was a waste. Even if you made a lot of money, you wasted a valuable opportunity. And if you lost money, Gd forbid, but you were forced to pray, then you gained. You gained an awareness of Hashem, which is more important than all the money in the world. Who knows what can happen?! I know a man who lost tremendous sums in the stock market. He told me that he lost over $300,000 so far in the stock market. So, I said to him, “Maybe you should stop?” “No,” he said. “I’ll get it back.” “I’ll get it back,” he says. The poor man is still hoping. There’s nothing wrong with it, but you should never practice it. If you’re asking me, I would say that the best karate is to not go out at night. And not to ever dream of using it. Because if you’ll try to use it, you’ll discover that the thugs know it just as well as you. And they’re often bigger than you.  And therefore, the biggest hero is the fellow who is helpless but knows how to avoid trouble. The skinny helpless fellowwho doesn’t know karate, he is the one who avoids trouble. It’s always like that. Who drowns? The man who knows how to swim! If you don’t know how to swim, you stay on the shore and you keep out of danger.  So, although it could be that it’s not a bad idea, I disapprove of going out with weapons at night, even with just a stick. I don’t approve of that, because, first of all, the stick gives you a false sense of confidence, and then you’re liable to walk down a dark or dangerous street that you would have avoided otherwise. And secondly, the other fellow can grab the stick and use it better than you. Therefore, the best defense is to stay out of trouble. When you’re walking down the street, and you see a few thugs, or even just one thug, walking towards you, even if you’re not sure if it means trouble, just cross the street. Just cross over to the other side! You’ll be surprised how lazy thugs can be.