Parshas Ki Sisah R’ Ben Tzion Shafier on the Parsha  WHEN MOSHE RABBENU est Naviim, which tells us that they knew COMES DOWN FROM HAR SINAI exactly why they were created and how pass- ing and insignificant is a person’s station in When Moshe Rabbeinu came down from this world. And yet Moshe Rabbeinu com- Har Sinai, he found a very different scene pared their being wealthy to such a difficult than the one he left forty days earlier. A For the test that it would be like putting a young segment of the Jewish nation, in rebellion man on the doorstep of sin. against HASHEM, had formed a golden calf and was worshiping it. The rest of the Love of This is highly illustrative of the inner work- nation stood by and didn’t protest. In con- ings of the human. HASHEM created deep text, this was such an egregious act that within our hearts many needs and desires. HASHEM threatened to destroy the entire One of these is the need for honor and Money prestige. The drive for Kavod is one of the nation. strongest forces in man. Often we are un- Rashi explains that during the process of g aware of its existence until a given situation asking for forgiveness, Moshe Rabbeinu “Moshe returned to HASHEM brings it to the fore. said to HASHEM, “You caused this. You and said, “Please! This people has While the Klal Yisroel were then living in gave the Jewish people gold and silver; they committed a grave sin and made the ultimate Kollel community, money still left Mitzraim with great riches. Isn’t it obvi- themselves a god of gold.” had value to them – not in what it could ous that they would come to sin?” buy, but in its more alluring sense, in the — Shemos 32:31 — This Rashi seems difficult to understand associated feeling of power and importance when we focus on who these people were that it brought. They were now rich people, and where this was taking place. and that sense is so dangerous that it can  THE DANGER OF WEALTH IS destroy even the greatest of men. For that The Klal Yisroel was living in the desert. THE SENSE OF BEING A RICH reason, Moshe said to HASHEM, “You They neither worked for a living nor had MAN caused this. The gold and the silver that any use for money. All of their needs were This seems to be the answer to this Rashi. You gave them brought them to sin.” taken care of. They ate Mon that was de- Granted the Jewish people living in the des- livered to their tents daily. They drank wa- ert needed nothing and could do nothing  LIVING IN OUR AGE ter from the Be’er, the rock that followed with their money, but the real risk of wealth them in their journeys. Their clothes were This concept has particular relevance in our is the sense of superiority that comes along day and age. Never in the history of man- washed by the Clouds of Glory, and their with it. In their minds, they were now rich. shoes never wore out. They didn’t need kind have so many enjoyed such wealth. As rich men, they were significant, impor- On some level, each of us has the opportu- money and couldn’t use it. How could it tant, too big to be dependent upon anyone, nity of “one day being rich.” become their downfall? and this feeling was the root cause of their rebellion against HASHEM. As with many life situations, prosperity can  THE REAL DANGER OF WEALTH be either a blessing or a curse. If a person changes because he is now a rich man, he The answer to this question is based on  WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE? needs more, he feels that he deserves only the understanding why the Misilas Yesharim This concept becomes a tremendous chid- best, and he won’t be satisfied with what ev- calls wealth one of the great tests of man. dush when we take into account that these eryone else gets by with. That sense of supe- Materialism and self-indulgence are the individuals were on a higher level than any riority will turn him against his Creator, and risks of affluence, but an even greater dan- other generation in the history of mankind. the very wealth that he acquired will be the ger is that wealth can lead a person to view They had been slaves in Mitzraim and were source of his ruin. For eternity, he will regret himself as different than everyone else. freed. They had lived through the entire having been given that test – which he failed. “There are regular people, but I am differ- process of the Maakos and splitting of However, if a person remains aware that he ent because I am rich. The world is full of the Yam Suf. They watched as HASHEM was granted wealth for a purpose – that he showed total dominion over every facet of people, but I am in a different category. I is not the owner of it, but rather its cus- am a rich man.” nature. todian, duly charged with its proper use With this also comes a sense of self-suf- But more than all of this, they had only re- – then he can use it as a tool to help him ficiency and arrogance. “I am a wealthy cently stood at the foot of Har Sinai when accomplish his purpose in existence. His man, so I don’t need anyone. I don’t need HASHEM opened up the heavens and the wealth will then be a true bracha that he my children. I don’t need my wife. In earth and revealed the greatest secrets of enjoys in this world, and for eternity, he fact… I am so wealthy that I don’t really Creation. They had seen and experienced will enjoy that which he need HASHEM.” HASHEM more clearly than did the great- accomplished with it. GET THE APP!

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