Rabbi Zamir Cohen - The Wisdom of Investing Without Losing What You Have

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Zamir Cohen’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

Shalom and blessings. With God's help, we continue our study of the wisdom of King Solomon in the book of Proverbs. In the verse before us, King Solomon deals with a very practical question. How should a person invest? And what is truly worth investing in? And as in the entire book of Proverbs, there is an example and there is a deeper lesson. The example is in the material world and even on its own it is true and valuable to receive advice from the wisest man in history on how to approach investments. But the deeper lesson applies to the spiritual world. Let us read his words. Where there are no oxen, the feeding trough is clean, but abundant crops come through the strength of the ox. In biblical language, the word used here for oxen refers to strong charity, financial support. We find a similar expression in another verse. The offspring of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep. Rashi explains there that it refers to the young animals born from the cattle. The idea is strength and power. Oxmen are powerful animals. They pull the plow. They do the hard labor in the field. That is why in the language of the Bible they are described with a term that reflects strength. And here King Solomon says when you do not have oxen to do the work to labor and struggle then the feeding trough remains full of grain. What is the feeding trough? It is the container from which cattle, sheep, horses and donkeys eat. It may be made of stone, wood or metal. and inside it people place straw, hay, seeds or whatever the animals eat. So King Solomon is saying if you have no oxen to plow the field then your feeding trough remains full. No one is eating from it and you may feel wealthy.

Jump to a moment

1. 0:00Shalom and blessings. With God's help, we continue our study of the wisdom of King Solomon…
2. 5:39beginning allowing your ox to eat a little of the grain you had will later bring…
3. 11:50the limits, knowing how far caution should go because otherwise a person never acts and never…
4. 18:00wise? One who sees what is coming. You are earning money. Open a savings plan. Let…
5. 23:43the simple level, a storehouse means a warehouse. But on the level of dash, the Torah…
6. 29:55Maharal says when a person relies on the holy one, blessed be he, Hashem protects him…
7. 36:04kinds of financial leaks. But when a person has blessing, things are different. He finds good…
8. 41:39Hamishbaha, family purity. Everything can be done in holiness. And then there will be blessing in…
9. 47:47They told that same rebi what had happened. The man whom the Rav blessed and who…
10. 54:01is another area that is also included in produce in abundant produce a great abundance that…

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