TRANSCRIPT
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The Rabbi Daniel Lapin Podcast
Episode: Pardon Me, Working for Your F U Money Is a Fiscal Mistake
Date: 12/19/22 Length: 30:27
Daniel Lapin 0:00
Greetings, happy warriors. And thank you for being part of the rabbi Daniel Lapin show. You know that I think of you as happy warriors, men and women, happy warriors because you've learned that happiness is a decision. It's not a reaction, I am not happy because things are going well. I am happy and very often that helps things to go well. And we're worriers because we recognize the virtue in tackling life with both hands, grabbing it by the horns, and being able to confront things and deal with things. There is a delight and a thrill. There's something essentially godlike, it brings us in fact, closer to the boss, when we involve ourselves in the struggles of improving our lives, not improving the world, please do not fall into the trap of thinking that it is virtuous and moral, and beautiful, to throw yourself into improving the world for that avenue leads to tyranny. You know why? Because when you're improving the world, you're improving it in the way you think it should be improved. And so you are trying to make the world into a place that is more a reflection of how you see it, that may be very different from how I see it. But since you are engaged in this moral endeavor, of trying to improve the world, who am I to be allowed to stand in your way, and I need to be crushed as you move forward with your grand enterprise of improving the world? No, run like crazy run for fear of your life. When you meet people who busy on improving the world. It's dangerous and it's it's it's it's it's very, very problematic. One of the the prime functions of Sam Bankman-Fried is a gentleman who was recently arrested in in the Bahamas in connection with a cryptocurrency platform that he created exactly what he did the the courts will, and the investigations will uncover. But apparently billions and billions of dollars are missing. And if you read about the the Wall Street Journal, front page story on a Friday, a couple of weeks ago, talking about Sam Bankman-Fried and what's happening to his, they, they mourn the fact that all his philanthropic plans to improve the world may now no longer come to fruition. And I say thank God, they're not coming to fruition. I do not like people who try to improve the world. My main concern is if people would refrain from damaging it that would be enough. But of course, that's far too much to anticipate. What should people be doing people who should be trying to improve their own lives? That's right. No, that's selfish. No, it's not selfish.
Daniel Lapin 3:12
Because in the paradox, of how we've been created, and the paradox of the world into which the good Lord is placed, because when each and every one of us takes care of our own families, and our own finances, and our own friendships, and our own fitness, and our own connection with God, and with the spiritual reality, that works out best for everybody else, and to just make it clear, even on his most basic financial level, when you are taking care of your financial needs, you are helping other people, because absolutely the only way other than pointing a gun at people, the only way you can get people to give you their money is by giving them an exchange something they like more than their money. And so you might sell them something or you might do them a service, but whatever it is, they consensually and voluntarily take what you're offering and give you money instead. And so there you are seeking out your own benefit. And yet you're improving lives for everybody else's. Adam Smith, who wrote his great book, The Wealth of Nations in 1776. Interestingly enough, he said it's not through their benevolence, that the baker and the brewer and the butcher provide me with dinner. No, they're doing it to take care of themselves. And yet the end result is that I have what I need as well. And so no, we're we're not struggling to improve the world please let's not do that. Get that out of your mind and try to everything your past everything possible to discourage other people do not train your children that them mission is to improve the world. No, that's not how it works. What that does is open the path for tyrants, because they're always busy improving the world. Now I don't need anybody improving the world I love the world is beautiful. And I just hope that people won't do any unnecessary, no damage at all, actually.
Daniel Lapin 5:23
Now as happy warriors, it occurred to me you might like to be given a glimpse into my workshop. No, I don't mean to take you out to the garage and, and see where I make things or fix things. No, I mean, my spiritual workshop, and I thought you might get some benefit, some improvements, some way of enhancing your life, from some of the things I want to show you. What I want to show you is how an innocuous verse in Scripture becomes a gateway to deeper understanding in matters that will, yes, improve family and finance, relationships, our connection with people in friendships and communities, even our physical fitness. That's right. All of these things can easily flow from only one verse provided you know what you're looking at. And so take a look, if you would, and if you don't yet have a good Bible, and my goodness, how Why would anybody not have a copy of a good Bible, and it's always good to have a copy of the Hebrew Bible as well. And so on our websites on the rabbi Daniel lapin.com, you will find it very easy to get ahold of Rabbi Daniel Lapin is recommended Bible and it's this one right here. And I know you may well not read Hebrew, and that's fine. But you will derive great benefit from being able to see not only the English text, but also the Hebrew text, there really is value in that. And I explain all of that, but at any rate for now, let us go to page 83, shall we? PAGE 83? Or for you, those of you who may be using a different Bible? How about we go to chapter 28. And we're going to verse 10. All right, so here is the story. We read in Genesis, chapter 28, verse 10, and Jacob went away he left bear Sheva, and he went to heroin. And he arrived at this place, he stayed the night there because the sun had set. Okay, now, it's odd, isn't it? I mean, really, every single time somebody goes to sleep, we mentioned the sunset. No, the point is here, that the sun stays set in a certain spiritual sense, you know, until when, until all the way into chapter 32. And in chapter 32, verse 20, missy, verse 32, and verse 31, Chapter 32, verse 31, and this is now at the end of Jacob's 14 years of service to Lavon, in order to marry Rachel and Leia. And there it says in verse 31, vase rock launch image, and the sun rose for him. This is the closing of the parenthesis that is opened by the sun setting for him. So here we got Joseph, on his way to laymen's house, at the start of what is going to be 14 years of servitude, plus along your time working, and then finally departing on his own as an independent man with wealth and with a family. And now the sun rises for him. So that's a very much of an ancient Jewish wisdom, insight. To see that they are very often parentheses. Jacob starts off young man got nothing going for him fleeing in terror from his brother, the sun goes down. And in a certain sense, he enters a dark period, and then he's going to be spending time with labor and also all dark times. And then finally, he acquires his freedom. He gets out of there, and he's now an independent man with his own establishment, the sun rises. So that's, that's one thing to be aware of.
Daniel Lapin 9:51
Another thing he took from the stones of the place, and he made a sort of place for his head, again, interesting is That knocks, I mean, really, a bunch of leaves would work better than some stones for a pillow. But okay, I'm not sure I've got time to go into that, because we've got a lot of stuff to cover today in terms of what the real message of today's show is all about. And the dreams and the dreams of a ladder going up to from earth to heaven. And there are angels on the ladder moving going up and down. Now the order is very important. Angels, I think, live in heaven. And so it should have said that there are angels coming down and angels going up, but it doesn't say that says angels going up, and angels coming down? What's going on there? Well, what are angels doing over here with Jacob, here's a very important point, maybe one of the most important of today. And that is leaving aside for a moment what an angel is, and please, please do not fall into the trap of concretizing. In your, in your mind's eye. Very complicated ideas. We should not do it in mathematics, we shouldn't do it in business, we shouldn't do it in Bible. There are certain ideas that are abstract ideas. And unfortunately, because we all be been accustomed to television and screens that we're in, we're so accustomed to visualizing things, and watching documentaries, and movies and video depictions of things, instead of what used to be the case until the probably the 19. Late 1950s was when television really swept through the homes of, of the Western world, primarily America and then England, and then Europe. But until then we were accustomed to using words which are an abstract depiction right there. So our cognitive processes were probably superior. Today, we think in terms of visualizing almost everything that changes it. So angels think of it perhaps as a force, a force that helps you a force that carries you forward, a force that helps you in overcoming adversity and resistance. And why are these angels there? Here's the beautiful thing, really important understand, we bring angels into existence for us, by undertaking and committing ourselves to difficult and formidable adventure.
Daniel Lapin 12:32
So what was Jacob's formidable adventure, leaving his home, leaving his family and fleeing from what he believed to be the anger of his brother, Esau. And all of that described in chapter 28, verse 10. And, and so the reason, Scripture tells us that the angels were going up and coming down, instead of what you might have guessed to be the more natural going down from heaven, and then back up is because these angels that had been brought into existence by Jacobs, courageous, and, and determined act of building himself a new life away from the influence of his brother that produced these forces called Angels that helped him and so he dreams of those angels going off duty as it were, and new angels coming down for their shift. And the the, the full depth of that meaning is hard to capture. But I'm sure everybody has at times felt that things are just going their way that that somehow they are invisible forces that are moving them along and just helping them close to where they need to be. Conversely, there are other times where you feel that there are hidden, sinister forces obstructing your progress. It's almost as if you can do nothing right. Everywhere you turn, there appears to be a door shut, or an opportunity blocked. Angels really do help and acting with courage and being ready to do something that takes you way out of your comfort zone, doing something that you don't normally do and isn't easy for you to do. That is one of the big steps to being able to break through into new fresh green pastures. So that's what happens with Jacob. But then it gets particularly interesting listen to what happens next. And Jacob have dreams of the ladder. And then he says, we're in verse 13.
Daniel Lapin 15:17
Where am I up to?
Daniel Lapin 15:26
Sorry if there's 14 any dreams of his receiving this blessing, verse 15, verse 16, I'm sorry, [Hebrew spoken] verse 16, Jacob awakens from a sleep. And he says, Oh, my goodness, it looks as if this is a place of, of God, the gods in this place. And I never knew it. Meaning had I known that you think kind of gone to sleep. And he was very, he was filled with all and he said, how awesome is this place? This is the house of God. And this is the very gateway to heaven. And you now expect Jake, Jacob to stay awake the rest of the night communing with the Lord. But no. The odd thing is that after waking up and can't believe I went to sleep, this is a place of God, this is the gateway to heaven. What was I doing the sleep? You know what the very next thing he does? He goes back to sleep. Because verse 17-18 says, And he awoke in the morning, so obviously went back to see how do you explain that? He first of all said that this is unbelievable. I had no idea this page was so special. I couldn't possibly have slept. And now he goes back to sleep. ancient Jewish wisdom, your lovely answer. The first time we went to sleep there, because the sunset is just a normal going to sleep. biological needs of the body needs sleep, he went to sleep. But now it was a deliberate going to sleep. And I'm going to use a phrase very specifically here. He went to sleep with God, what's going on here.
Daniel Lapin 17:26
And so, my friends, let me explain to you something of profound significance, that is going to be extremely helpful to you, in growing your family and your finances, your faith, your fitness and your friendships. Watch. When you sleep with someone, what's really happening, I want you to overlook for the moment and ignore the erotic or the sexual overtones that are implied when we say somebody slept with somebody, move that to the side temporarily. And think about what it means when you sleep with somebody. You are making yourself the most vulnerable you can ever be. Right? Think about it. When you're asleep. There's nothing to stop somebody else coming along and doing you a harm, doing you a damage cutting your neck to be specific, it's pretty bad. How can you possibly go to sleep with somebody? How can you make yourself so vulnerable? The answer is it has to be somebody with whom you have a deep trust and they for you. And so you will find this, that even in military barracks, men who have slept alongside of one another for a period of time, that's part of the relationship that builds men and women in in dormitories, whether it's at college Wales school, wherever it is, when you sleep together with somebody without any erotic overtones, merely the fact of going to sleep with somebody else in the same room. That is hugely profound. You are basically saying, I trust you at the moment of my ultimate vulnerability because I'm asleep. I don't know what you're doing. And we're willing to to not surprisingly, that then becomes very, very important. And so the intimacy and marriage is not why we sleep together. It's almost the other way around. That the act of sleeping together is precisely what produces the intimacy in the trust of marriage. It's quite a big thing and making oneself vulnerable But essentially you're saying, Your I depend on you not to hurt me while I'm asleep. That's right. It's exactly what we all say. Now, we're all trained from childhood to seek independence, whether we are boys or girls, our parents are eager to instill in us a growing sense of independence. And their hope is that by the time we reach young adulthood, we're actually able to be young adults and stand on our own feet. And so this drumbeat of independence is something we hear again and again and again. And young women, in their teens start hearing it on an even more powerful level. They hear, don't ever let yourself be dependent on a man, you don't need a man, you don't need to tie your happiness in your sense of security to a man, you must be independent. And so we are all raised to believe that the idea of dependency is a terrible thing. You'll pardon me being a bit vulgar here, but I need to report something accurately. There is a phrase for having enough money that you don't have to care about anybody else. There are even books about it there magazine articles about it. And it said, you know, people will say, I'm going to work until I've got my f you money and it's a vulgarity. It implies that I want enough money so that I don't have to care about another single human being I can do what I like with disregard for what anybody else thinks or says. That's right. If you money, you can hear from the vulgarity of the phrase and the dismissive quality of the attitude towards other people, that this cannot be a good thing. It certainly feels very satisfying. On one level, I don't need anybody in exactly the same way, as I'm sure that there is a burst of of enthusiastic self congratulatory emotion. When a girl says I don't need any man, I don't need a man, I can make a living, I can take care of myself, I don't need a man. Apropos of that, I just want to tell you something. Ukrainian women also thought they didn't need men till Russian soldiers invaders. And in the closing days, as the Russian army closed in on Berlin, up till that point, Berlin, women were very enlightened, and very liberated, and very much not needing men. But the ones that had men did a whole lot better than those that didn't. When the chips are down, and things get rough. Women do need a man. There is no question about it. When things are running smoothly, and modern liberalism is functioning well. And the police are taking crime into under control. Everything is working smoothly. Civilization looks successful. You're right, it does look as if women don't need men. But that hasn't been the case for most of human history. And there's no guarantee that it is the case at any given time. So I just want to put that in as a proviso. Now men need women as well. Do men depend on women? Sure. Absolutely. Independence in Thai independence is is not a good thing. So much. So that scripture made sure that ancient Israel for one year every seven years, was not allowed to plant they had it literally just depend on God.
Daniel Lapin 24:04
And this idea of of beget, feeling a sense of dependence upon God is not a bad thing. It's a good thing. And having relationships with other people that have you feeling dependent upon them. It's good, not bad. And one of the reasons that the economic system as we've spoken about before rewards specialization. When you specialize in an area, you do much better than if you don't, if you show up for a job interview. And somebody says, well tell me a little bit about what you've done is I've done a little bit of everything. I'm a jack of all trades, you probably don't get the job, because things work better when everybody specializes on achieving a highly developed and polished and refined way of serving their fellow human beings. But here's the thing, the more specialized As a nation that goes on in the world, the more we are interdependent, because if I am going to be a domestic plumber, I don't do factories, I don't do the plumbing for office building, I only do the plumbing for homes, I am dependent on other people to take care of all my other needs, because it takes me all my time and effort to be proficient and diligent at what I do. And so I need somebody to repair my house, I need gardening, I need dental work, whatever it is I need, I'm interdependent with everybody else, the only person who's independent is the subsistence peasant, you know, who grows a little bit of wheat, and he's got one cow, and he's got a couple of chickens, and now he's not living very well, I'll tell you that. The more dependents you're willing to make yourself, the better you live. It's a very, very important point. Now, obviously, this doesn't mean that one should try and be destitute. And you have to depend on people for your daily bread. Obviously, I'm not talking about that.
Daniel Lapin 26:02
But I'm talking about authentic and meaningful relationships with other people where your vulnerability is genuine. And that's a key part of relationships, being willing to expose yourself. Even though there is a vulnerability, you're not all big, and you're not all powerful, and even between a man and his wife, and man exposes a certain vulnerability in certain areas, and his wife likes to see it. And obviously, in the other direction, as well, in business relationships, in social and friendship, relationships, I just want you to rethink this question of dependence. Because as I said, we've all been so indoctrinated to be, we've got to be independent, we mustn't need anybody else. So much so that for most of us, it's kind of hard to even ask for help, it's hard to ask for a favor. Dependence makes it a lot easier. And having those relationships where you allow someone else to do you a favor, and you seek out opportunities to do other people favors. These are the ways that a society is is created, how society is sustained, and nurtured. And so the reason I speak about friends and family is because that inner, that core entity of you, if you don't have family around you, then the next circle of acquaintances is community friends. But if this you and the next circle around you is actually friends, family, then friends, and society and community come outside of that, do you see how much bigger a circle it is? That's quite right. Because when you've got a family, your surface area, your envelope expands, and, and a man who has a wife and children ends up with a much bigger social circle than a single man alone, for these reasons, and that society is necessary for the functions that the that a group of people need, whether it's roads and sewers, or art galleries and museums, those are built by a society, they're not built by one or two people. And those societies function best when they when they are made up of family units inside of them. And those family units are made up of people who are willing to be vulnerable with one another, sleeping together as it were. And then a society built of that friendships built out of that social networks built out of that. You're talking about strong, creative and vibrant social networks. So if, if if today's Rabbi Daniel Lapin show was about anything, it was really about rethinking this thing. You don't have to focus on being independent of everybody all the time. Some measure dependence either on him, or also on those around us, in our friends and in our families. That dependence can go a long way. So my friends and all you happy warriors out there who are happy and warriors. It's time to bring today's show to an end. Love to hear from you, as always, you now to do that, right? You can go to the website, make sure you are a happy warrior. And that way we're able to connect and communicate and cooperate and collaborate. All of the things that come about when human beings have authentic relationships. with one another. Thanks a lot. Happy to be together with you. Until next week, I want you to have a week of passionate and profound growth in your families and in your friendships, in your finances and your fitness, as well as in your faith. I'm Rabbi Daniel Lapin. God bless.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
