Sublime

The Talmud18 offers an imaginary case for your contemplation. Suppose you embarked on a journey across a remote and distant desert in company with an associate. Imagine that you brought a large water supply for yourself, whereas your associate neglected that elementary preparation. Halfway across the desert, it became apparent that there was insuff

It’s as if, notes Rabbi Telushkin, the Hebrew Bible is one long answer to the question Cain asked in its earliest pages: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”*6 (Spoiler alert: The answer is yes.)

The main reasons that Jews found their way into the fields of finance were undoubtedly trustworthiness and their conviction that they were fulfilling a necessary need in society.

But my purpose has been merely to demonstrate how the Jewish people, throughout their often difficult history, derived real business effectiveness and economic power from possessing a deep conviction about business being an honorable profession. This is what allowed them and, indeed, spurred them to succeed.

Different communities develop different sets of behaviors for this purpose. By demonstrating a willingness to sacrifice for the community’s well-being, and deference to its authorities and customs, members of a community convince others that they are good types who can be depended on to cooperate for the long term.

A man went looking for Rabbi Hillel and said to him, “I want to become a Jew. But only on the condition that you teach me the Torah, all of it, while I stand on one foot.” Hillel looked at this smart-aleck and said, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow man. That is the entire Torah—all of it. The rest is commentary. Go and study.”