Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

I. The Prayer of the Kohen Gadol

On Yom Kippur, at the holiest moment of the year, the holiest man of the generation — the Kohen Gadol — would exit the Kodesh HaKodashim, having pleaded for the forgiveness of the Jewish people. Among his concluding prayers, he would offer a simple but profound request:

> “שלא יצטרכו ישראל זה לזה ולא לעם אחר, אלא פרנסם מן ידך המלאה הפתוחה הקדושה והרחבה.”
“That Your people Israel should not need to rely on one another nor on foreign nations, but that their sustenance come directly from Your full, open, holy, and generous hand.”

This wasn’t a socialist dream or an entrepreneurial fantasy. It was a plea for dignity. That no Jew should become a beggar. That no person should have to degrade himself — not before his neighbor, not before a stranger, and certainly not before foreign powers or corrupted systems.

This prayer cries out across generations: let the Jewish people be sustained with honor.

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II. Proverbs 30: A Royal Wisdom of Restraint

Centuries earlier, King Shlomo, in his divine wisdom, offered a parallel plea:

> “רֵאשׁ וָעֹשֶׁר אַל תִּתֶּן לִי; הַטְרִיפֵנִי לֶחֶם חֻקִּי.”
“Give me neither poverty nor riches; provide me with my daily bread.” (Mishlei 30:8)

He warns of three spiritual dangers, each corrosive in its own way:

1. Excess wealth can cause a person to feel independent, insulated from divine Providence:

> “Lest I be sated and deny, saying: Who is Hashem?”
The illusion of self-sufficiency hardens the heart and clouds spiritual clarity.

2. Crushing poverty can push a person to violate the Torah’s laws out of survival:

> “Lest I steal and profane the Name of my God.”
Hunger drives sin, and shame silences the soul.

3. Craving wealth while not poor — a particularly dangerous middle ground:
A man who lives with basic sufficiency but lusts for riches beyond his reach.
He is not starving, but he is jealous. He cuts corners, gambles with his integrity, and games the system for a shortcut to luxury. He sins not out of necessity, but out of impatience and spiritual emptiness.

This third category, though less visible, is arguably the most widespread in our generation. It is neither desperation nor arrogance, but ambition corrupted by fantasy.

Shlomo does not idealize simplicity for its own sake, nor does he glorify hardship. He prays for a portion, not a fortune — enough to live with dignity and focus the heart on Hashem.

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III. Classical Voices: Alshich and Ibn Ezra

 Ibn Ezra:

The verse calls out for balance: not to be a slave to poverty nor to the illusion of self-sufficiency that wealth brings.

“לחם חקי” — daily bread — is that which “הראוי לי להעמיד בו הנפש” — is fitting to sustain the soul.

 Alshich HaKadosh:

He stresses that this verse is a moral warning: one who becomes too wealthy is at risk of saying “מי ה’?” — not out of atheism, but arrogance.

The danger of poverty is not only theft but loss of faith and dignity.

Hashem desires a society where every individual retains emunah and self-respect, regardless of material station.

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IV. Torah and Dignity in Economic Life

The common thread between the Kohen Gadol and Shlomo HaMelech is the sacred value of balance and dignity.

Wealth is not inherently evil, but it carries dangers of pride and disconnection.

Poverty is not noble, especially when it breaks a person’s confidence or leads to sin.

Dependency — on government, neighbors, or nations — is not ideal. It is tolerated in the short term, but the Torah model is that each person receives from Hashem’s hand, not man’s.

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V. The Brooklyn–Jerusalem–Monsey Reflection: A Modern Midrash

In today’s world — whether in Brooklyn, Jerusalem, or Monsey — the prayer of the Kohen Gadol is more needed than ever.

Too many live paycheck to paycheck, waiting for the next stimulus, kupat tzedakah, or bridge loan from a gemach. On the other hand, the ultra-wealthy fly business class to Zurich, build vacation villas in Ramat Beit Shemesh or the Catskills, and host extravagant events that blur the line between hakaras hatov and hedonism.

Walk into a kosher grocery in Flatbush or Geula, and you’ll see it: a mother standing at the shelf, doing mental math between yogurt, Shabbos chicken, and next month’s rent. This isn’t theory. It’s the daily reality of Am Yisrael, trying to balance kedushah and cost.

And when people turn to maos chittim, food programs, or overwhelming credit card debt — we must ask: are we still living out the Kohen Gadol’s prayer? Or have we, in our pursuit of frum appearances and communal norms, strayed from the simple plea for “לחם חקי” — daily bread?

The challenge isn’t just about affording food — it’s about preserving dignity, refusing to turn Yiddishkeit into a pressure-cooker of financial anxiety or a pageant of wealth. Both extremes distort what Hashem asks from us.

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VI. Toward a Torah Economy

We must return to a Torah-based philosophy of economic life:

Personal Responsibility — Work is not shameful. “Six days you shall labor…” is part of the Ten Commandments.

Communal Support Without Shame — Tzedakah is not welfare; it’s an act of restoration, not control.

National Independence — The Jewish people must not be dependent on foreign money or political favors to survive.

Daily Bread with Emunah — We strive for enough, not for endless accumulation.

Resisting the Illusion of the Shortcut — Wealth without merit is a trap. Torah does not bless those who chase fantasies at the cost of integrity.

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VII. A Final Prayer

> “Master of the World, give us not riches that lead us astray, nor poverty that breaks us. Sustain us with enough, from Your hand, that we may walk humbly, give freely, and never forget Who provides.”

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