Remember the story? Something about an evil wolf in hot pursuit of three
animals of a highly non-kosher variety. In the end, their security depends upon
the stability of their homes. Two houses topple in the face of the predator's
powerful puffs. Only the third home, made of the right stuff, endures.
In the Torah portion of Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10-32:3), Leah, the wife of
Jacob, delivers her sixth child. Leah is ecstatic; having given birth to as many
children as all of Jacob's other wives combined, she is confident that the bulk
of her husband's attention will now be showered upon her. She names the child
Zebulun, proclaiming, "Now my husband will make his permanent home (zebul)
with me" (ibid. 30:20).
On the surface, there is a problem. Leah proposes that Jacob's permanent home
be established on the basis of the birth of Zebulun, but the personalities of
Jacob and Zebulun are inherently disparate. Jacob is synonymous with Torah
study. According to the Kabbalists, the three patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, are equated with the three "pillars" upon which the world is
supported -- Torah study, prayer and charity -- Jacob constituting the pillar of
Torah. Zebulun, on the other hand, is by nature a businessman. "Zebulun
shall dwell by seashores," the Torah tells us; "engaged in
commerce," Rashi explains (ibid., 49:13).
If we listen closely, the Torah is telling us something. In a Divinely
ordered universe, where some things refuse to rhyme but everything has a reason,
this symbolic linkage of Torah and business comes with a valuable lesson.
A Jewish home built exclusively on Torah runs the risk of coming down in a
puff. Life is not lived in a book and a home is not constructed from paper. The
Torah is meant to serve as a manual for real living in an often less than real
world. To properly corroborate and actualize its truths, as well as challenge
and realize the spirit of the Jew, the Torah must be experienced in the context
of worldly struggle.
So the worldly businessman who makes it his business to conduct his affairs
in accordance with the will of G-d is, in many respects, ahead of the isolated
scholar who sits over his books oblivious to his surroundings. Our businessman
has shown that he will not allow the ways of the world to come in the way of his
relationship with G-d. Were the world to sneak up on our sheltered scholar, we
could not be certain of the outcome.
Jacob knew this first hand, having "prospered exceedingly" both
spiritually and materially while hard at material work over a twenty-year period
in the employ of his uncle Laban.
Therein lies the eternal lesson of the "permanent home" that
Zebulun presents to Jacob: resist the temptation to live on an island; instead,
establish yourself on the mainland. In business, do not fear affluence, as long
as you're out there to influence rather than be influenced. This way, your home
will be impervious to the puff of the big bad wolf.
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