A few days ago, a clip of the Seinfeld show appeared on my feed. It was where George Costanza decided that he would do the exact opposite of what his instinct told him to do. And of course, this newfound strategy works like a charm.
Another theme of the same show was that for Jerry, one way or another, he always ended up even. He said, “Yeah, I know; like yesterday I lost a job, and then I got another one, and then I missed a TV show, and later on they re-ran it. And then today I missed a train, went outside, and caught a bus. It never fails! I always even out!”
In this week’s Torah portion, we read Parashat Behukotai. Rabbi Berel Wein writes, “This week’s parsha, which concludes the book of Vayikra, deals with the realities of Jewish national and personal life. On one hand, it describes in rapturous terms the blessings of happiness, security, and serenity that can happen to the Jewish people and to the individual Jew. But on the other hand, it vividly and graphically describes death, exile, troubles, and tragedy.
Jewish history bears out the accuracy of both visions. We have lived through both experiences. Jewish history seems to have contained much longer periods of darkness than of light, of more tragedy than of joy and serenity. Though the Torah assigns observance of the commandments as the prime cause of security in Jewish life and non-observance of the same as the cause of tragedy, history and the great commentators to Torah seem to modify this cut and dried axiom.”
Wein continues, “God’s wisdom and judgments are inscrutable and are beyond even elementary comprehension by us mortals. As such we are left wondering as to the tragedies that descended upon the Jewish people and that continue to plague us today.
Though there are those amongst us that are prepared to give and accept glib answers to the causes of tragedy, the wise men of Israel warned us against such an approach. Observance of commandments is enormously difficult to fulfill completely and accurately.”
Reflecting on this reading in our time
How appropriate is this reading during the period we are currently in? A war thrust upon us, quickly approaching nine months, with no clear end in sight. Antisemitism is rearing its ugly head globally. Basic truths have been turned upside down. It’s as if we are living in a world of falsehood.
How much do former US president George Bush’s words ring true today when he said following 9/11, “This is a war between good and evil. And we have made it clear to the world that we will stand strong on the side of good, and we expect other nations to join us. This is not a war between our world and their world. It is a war to save the world.”While the situation looks bleak, in a few days we have a reminder of some of the blessings that have been bestowed upon us. We will celebrate Jerusalem Day, where 57 years ago we were blessed with the reunification of Jerusalem.
It’s one of my favorite days as there is nothing more optimistic than watching tens of thousands of our youth celebrating something of substance, especially in the era of social media and smartphones. The outpouring of youth participating together in the celebration of the unification of the holiest city in our religion is very moving and brings immense hope for our future.
I am certainly not making light of the individual pain suffered by so many these last months. But both nationally and individually, sometimes we need to take a step back and appreciate all that we have instead of focusing on the here and now. It helps bring perspective and, for me at least, a feeling of calm that, ultimately, everything will work out.So now you are asking how am I going to tie all of this into something relating to personal finance?
On an individual level, our financial lives are also full of ups and downs. Even if we do everything by the book, i.e. live within our means, get out of debt, save, and invest, sometimes life happens, and we have financial struggles. In such cases, it is so important to focus on the future and your goals to help you get through the current turmoil.
As I have written many times, the achievement of financial security is a process, and as in any process, there are steps forward and steps back. You just don’t want to let the steps back start to take control. You must realize that these things happen, but you need to stay the course.
Whether you are building a business, running a long-distance race, dating, raising children, or even your marriage, to list a few examples, it’s never a smooth process. There are always obstacles on the road and low points that we go through, but we stay focused on the goal, and we achieve it.
The same thing with your money. Stay focused on what it is that you would like to achieve and don’t get frustrated when there is a hiccup in the plan. Stay the course and it should work out.
The information contained in this article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Portfolio Resources Group, Inc. or its affiliates.
Aaron Katsman is the author of Retirement GPS: How to Navigate Your Way to A Secure Financial Future with Global Investing. www.gpsinvestor.com; aaron@lighthousecapital.co.il