Small tidbits and Sparks of wisdom

A Clear Torah Explanation of Wealth, Loss, and Divine Allocation

—

I. The Core Principle

Chazal establish an uncompromising rule:

“אין אדם נוגע במוכן לחבירו”
A person cannot touch that which is prepared for someone else.
— Yoma 38b

This is not poetic language.
It is a direct statement on how Divine distribution operates.

What is decreed for a person — income, property, opportunity, position — cannot be taken by another.
And whatever Heaven has ruled must leave a person will leave, through one channel or another.

—

II. Two Tracks: The Decree and the Delivery

Torah thought separates the outcome from the method:

1. Heaven decrees the outcome.

For example, that a person will lose or gain a certain sum this year.

2. Human beings determine the method.

The loss or gain may come through:

business success or failure

market rise or collapse

unexpected expenses

government intervention

or, when wickedness prevails, through theft or corruption

The decree is fixed.
The path is chosen by human beings.

This explains:

“רשעים – שלוחי דינים”
The wicked become the agents of harsh decrees.

They are not forced; they choose to walk into that role.

—

III. The Victim’s Loss and the Thief’s Gain Are Separate Calculations

A common mistake is thinking that if one person steals from another, he “took” the victim’s destiny.

Torah rejects that notion.

A. The loss reflects Heaven’s ruling, not the thief’s power.

If the victim was decreed to lose, the money was already spiritually on its way out.
If the thief did not choose sin, another channel would have carried out the decree.

The thief did not remove something that was still “his” in the eyes of Heaven.

B. The thief’s gain reflects his portion, not the victim’s.

Whatever he receives through sin is simply the material form of his predetermined portion — delivered in a corrupt way.

Heaven does not bless him for stealing.
He merely contaminates his own portion through his choices.

—

IV. Why the Thief Is Punished

If the victim was supposed to lose the money, why is the thief guilty?

Because Divine decree determines what, not who.

Chazal say:

“מגלגלין חובה על ידי חייב”
Heaven brings harm through those already inclined toward guilt.

The thief is punished for choosing to be the instrument of harm.
The decree of loss never forces anyone to commit sin.

The victim’s decree does not excuse the thief’s free will.

—

V. The Outward Success of the Wicked

A thief or corrupt individual may rise:

gaining wealth

projecting prestige

influencing society

This does not mean he took someone else’s portion.
It means Heaven is giving him his entire reward here, often as:

שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא
Payment for any merits he has, delivered in this world only.

Such success is unstable and spiritually empty.
It rarely lasts and never elevates.

—

VI. The Decline of the Formerly Wealthy

When someone once wealthy becomes poor, Torah sources describe this as part of a larger spiritual calculation:

misuse of resources

insufficient generosity

completion of a prosperity cycle

character tests

or reasons hidden from human knowledge

The person would have lost the wealth one way or another.
The human agent who triggered it is judged separately.

Heaven does not confuse the two stories.

—

VII. The Principle in Full

The teaching from Yoma 38b is absolute:

No one takes what Heaven has destined for another.

No one retains what Heaven has ruled must leave him.

Wicked people may temporarily hold wealth, but it does not endure.

Every person receives his portion; every action carries its own judgment.

Providence and free will operate simultaneously and without contradiction.

—

VIII. A Classic Example: Haman’s Wealth and Its Collapse

Chazal provide a historic example of how wicked people may temporarily rise and then collapse completely.

1. Haman’s Sudden Wealth

The Midrash teaches that Haman discovered the hidden treasures of the descendants of Korach, becoming one of the wealthiest men of his era.

This explains how he:

bought influence in Achashverosh’s court,

purchased the highest ministerial position,

and offered a massive fortune to annihilate the Jews.

This was wealth without blessing — corrupt, arrogant, and spiritually rotten.

2. Wealth Without Stability

Haman’s fortune fueled delusion, hatred, and paranoia.
He lived with no inner peace, despite his power.

It was the textbook case of a rasha receiving his portion in this world alone.

3. The Collapse and Transfer to the Righteous

When Haman fell, all his property transferred to Esther and then to Mordechai, exactly as the Megillah records.

This is the clearest demonstration that:

The wicked do not own what they hold.

Their wealth is temporary and fragile.

Providence redirects it when the time comes.

4. The Broader Shift: Wealth Reassigned to the Jewish People

After Haman’s downfall, the resources and political capital he had accumulated were used:

to support the Jewish population throughout the empire,

to strengthen Jewish communities in exile,

and eventually to assist in the restoration of the Second Beis HaMikdash, as seen later in Tanach.

What looked like victory for evil was actually preparation for its downfall.

5. The Lesson

Haman is the model:

Wicked people may rise quickly.

Their wealth is not truly theirs.

Heaven redirects their resources to serve righteous purposes.

Their downfall is swift and total.

This is the full expression of “no one touches what is meant for someone else.”

—

IX. The Final Torah View

The Torah’s position is direct and without sentimentality:

A person cannot take what belongs to someone else in Heaven’s accounting.

A person cannot hold what Heaven decrees must leave him.

Wicked people may appear to succeed, but their rise is hollow.

Their wealth ultimately collapses and shifts to the righteous.

Divine allocation and human free will function together with perfect precision.

This is the sober, traditional understanding of Divine justice, wealth, and destiny.