When Wealth Harms Its Owner

“There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner, to his own harm.” A Puzzling Verse King Solomon wrote a puzzling verse: “There is a painful evil I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner, to his own harm.” This needs explaining. Wealth is a true blessing from Hashem. The Torah says: “Remember Hashem, for He is the One who gives you the strength to make wealth.” So how can wealth turn into harm for the person who has it? Is the blessing itself cursed? Does Hashem give harm? There is a deep new idea here, and it reaches right into the heart. The Gas, Not the Steering Wheel Picture a driver, my friend, turning the steering wheel as he goes. The gas does not decide where the car will go. It only makes the car go faster. If the driver is heading home, the gas will get him there sooner. If he has taken a wrong turn and is about to go over a cliff, the gas will speed that up too. Money is the same. It is not a destination, and it is not a compass. It is a power, a neutral power. It is only a means, never an end. Money does not ask where you are headed. It only makes stronger what is already inside you. This is the simple meaning of the verse “wealth kept by its owner, to his own harm.” Wealth does not create evil out of nothing. It speeds up and brings into the open the evil that was already hidden in its owner, stored away and concealed in his inner desires. Wealth is the power that takes what is hidden inside a person and makes it real. That can lead to holiness, or, Heaven forbid, it can lead to a fall. Two Faces: Korah and Jacob Let us look at two people, so we can see this clearly. First, Korah, who rebelled against Moses. He was enormously rich, “one of the greatest of the world’s wealthy.” But his wealth did not create his arrogance. The arrogance was already burning inside him, and his heart was already swollen with pride. The wealth only took away the brakes. It sped up the drive and brought him over the cliff he was already standing at the edge of. The Torah says: “And the earth swallowed them.” The earth only finished what he himself had started. Jacob, the father of our people, was the opposite. Even before he received any abundance, he stood at Bethel and set his direction. He said: “If He gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear… then Hashem will be my Lord.” First he decided on his purpose: holiness and serving Hashem. Only after that did he ask for the means. When his abundance came, it became for him a holy kind of plenty, a vessel for building a home of Torah and kindness. Two drivers. The same gas. Completely different destinations. The Personal Point You, a young married man, know this tension well. You sit at your study session, learning Torah, and thoughts about earning a living come knocking at the door. “If only I had a little more, I would…” Would what? Study more? Give more? Build my home in a different way? Maybe. But ask yourself this. Right now, while the abundance is not here yet, where are you headed? What do your thoughts turn to in your free hours? What lights you up in the morning? When the money comes, it will not change your direction. It will only put fuel in the engine. The power of imagination in the soul is waiting for the right fuel so it can set out on its way. That means the daydreams, the cravings, the “if only I had more.” If you have not worked on it now, there is no reason it will grow weaker when the money arrives. The opposite is true.