What Does Judaism Say About Money?
What is the Jewish attitude towards money and making a livelihood? What economic system does the Torah advocate? What are our responsibilities as a community?
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Anonymous
Coral Springs, FL
January 17, 2010
A Beautiful talk Appeals to all the Jewish senses. Reply
Money Money does not consist of wealth. All it does is to represent the right to wealth after goods are purchased. In order to earn money we need to bring together land, labor and durable capital goods such as building and machinery. Two of these are controlled by monopolists and consequently the limitation of progress in our ability to earn rests also with the monopolistic land and capital owner. Speculation in these quantities, particularly in land values results in a restricted amount of opportunity to work.
To stop this problem from affecting us, the land was supposed to be shared not owned according to Liviticus 25, but today this principle has been neglected so economic crisies and business cycles occur as the speculation in land values and capital brcomes unstable and it is deliberately allowed to vary. It is vital for our Jewish ethical approach to money to recognise the macroeconomic forces involved. Charity begins with understanding of the macroeconomic systen by which we live.