Preserve & Grow
Business owners and entrepreneurs are often faced with the challenge of preserving their capital and maintaining the core principles of their enterprise while investing in growth and developing their business or organization.
In life, it is important to learn, explore, expand our circle of friends and positively influence the world around us. However, at the same time, how do we avoid the risk of forgetting our core values and connection to our identity while being exposed to other cultures and interacting with others?
There is a story told of a great Chassidic leader, Rabbi Meir of Permislan (1703–1773) located in Ukraine. The Mikveh (ritual bath) in Rabbi Meir’s neighborhood stood at the foot of a steep mountain. When the slippery weather came, everyone had to walk all the way around for fear of slipping on the mountain path and breaking their bones—everyone, that is, apart from Rabbi Meir, who walked down that path whatever the weather, and never slipped.
One icy day, Rabbi Meir set out as usual to take the direct route to the mikveh. Two guests were staying in the area who did not believe in supernatural achievements, and when they saw Rabbi Meir striding downhill with sure steps as if he were on a solidly paved highway, they wanted to demonstrate that they too could negotiate the hazardous path. As soon as Rabbi Meir entered the mikveh building, therefore, they took to the road. After only a few steps they stumbled and slipped, and needed medical treatment for their injuries.
Now one of them was the son of one of Rabbi Meir’s close students, and when he was fully healed he mustered the courage to approach the Tzaddik with his question: why was it that no man could cope with that treacherous path, yet the Rebbe never stumbled?
Rabbi Meir replied: “If a man is bound up on high, he doesn’t fall down below. Meir’l is bound up on high, and that is why he can go up and down, even on a slippery hill.”
Metaphorically, this lesson applies to all areas of life and it is especially pertinent with regards to our Jewish identity. As long as we build a solid foundation of Jewish education, commitment and connection to G-d we can succeed to grow and positively impact the world around us without compromising on our ideals and values.
In this week’s Torah portion of Miketz we learn about the names Joseph chose for his two sons Menashe and Efraim. As the verse states, “And Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, for "God has caused me to forget all my toil and all my father's house. And the second one he named Ephraim, for "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction." - Genesis 41:51
Joseph chose names that represented the values which helped him succeed to not only remain connected to his roots and Jewish identity but also become prosperous in Egypt.
Joseph’s story also serves as an inspiration and guide for the Jewish people in the diaspora over these past two thousands years of exile. Like Joseph, we must employ two paradoxical approaches with regard to the world at large. On the one hand, we must be constantly vigilant against alien influences; on the other hand, we must engage the outside world in order to influence it positively.
Influencing our environment is obviously more important than merely maintaining our values. Temporally, however, the latter must precede the former, since if we forget our roots we will no longer have anything to contribute.
The two sons of Joseph, born and raised in Egypt, personified these two aspects of life. Manashe, so named by Joseph "in order not to forget his family and heritage," personifies our need to resist assimilation. Ephraim, so named "because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering," demonstrates our purpose in the "land of suffering": to be fruitful there and influence it positively.
The Talmud relates, “The Holy One, blessed be He, acted charitably towards His people by dispersing them amongst the nations of the world”. This dispersal enables the Jewish people to serve “as a light unto the nations (Isaiah 42:6) ” and elevate and refine all the nations on earth, by means of the Torah that we study and the commandments that we fulfill wherever we are scattered thereby preparing the world for the coming of Moshiach when we will experience a time of ultimate peace and prosperity for all nations on earth.
