Lessons from a Thief

'Ben Zoma says: Who is wise? He who learns from every person..Who is strong? He who subdues his personal inclination.. Who is rich? He who is happy with his lot.' (Pirkei Avot, 4:1)

This has always been one of my favorite lessons from 'The Ethics of our fathers', sayings of the Sages that resonate today as strongly as they did when they were written 2,000 yrs. ago. The first thing that pops out from Ben Zoma's words, is that they are counter intuitive to what many people would think to answer to these Q's. Wealth? Having lots of money & assets. Strength? Being muscular and in shape. Wisdom? Being a PH.D. And yet we learn that one can be monetarily poor, and yet rich because of his contentment with what he has. "What I need to succeed in my personal mission in this lifetime, I have. What I wasn't given is for a reason, and I therefore don't need it." One can be physically powerful, even exerting one's passion & strength on someone who gets in the way. But holding back and controlling one's inner emotions often times takes more inner strength: "A master of his passions is better than a conqueror of a city." One can be a great philosopher and thinker. But does he really understand the world around him? Is he utilizing his life's opportunities to understand life better? One who learns a lesson from every person & opportunity is constantly growing in wisdom.

One of the examples of learning from everybody that stuck in my mind, was a story with Rabbi Zusia of Anipoli. He taught that one can learn 3 things from babies, and 7 things from robbers! 1) A baby is always busy & is not unoccupied even for a minute. 2) When he lacks something, he isn't embarrassed to cry out for his needs (Like we should do in prayer/requests to G-d). 3) Whenever his basic needs are satisfied, he is happily content. A robber? 1)Does his work under the cover of night, away from the eyes of people (we should perform good deeds without throwing it in people's faces). 2) Even if he fails one day, he will attempt again & again. 3) He is loyal to his comrades.

The list goes on, and maybe you can figure out the rest? May we continually learn good lessons from our surroundings & the people we meet, as well as work to control our anger & impatience. Let's be truly rich, by realizing that everything we have is what we need, given to us by G-d for a reason.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom!