By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — When I was growing up one of my rabbi’s favorite sayings was: “Rich or poor, it’s good to have money.”
Judaism has never disparaged living comfortably and encourages us to enjoy all of God’s blessings. However, at the same time we must always be mindful to share our blessings with others. When we use our material gain to help others and support important causes, we do God’s work.
Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz made this point from one of the verses in this week’s parasha. The Torah says: “All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary-the elevations offering of gold-came to 29 talents and 730 shekels by the sanctuary weight.” (Ex. 38:24)
The same holds true for any accumulation of wealth today. While money and material goods make our lives more pleasant, they only achieve sacred status when they are used to improve and better the world in which we live and the lives of those around us.
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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com