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Is there really such a concept of saving money according to Judaism? In the beginning of the year, it is decided how much we will gain and lose. A person putting money aside might feel they are saving money, but are they really? Many times a person might try skipping buying food or clothing in order to save money and then be hit with a traffic ticket, physically lose cash, or any other unexpected need to spend/lose that money they thought they were saving. So is putting money away just an illusion of saving it? Should we just spend as we see fit since it is something that was predetermined anyway? I know there are various sources including the Talmud on this matter so I’d like to hear what you think.
The total money spent is being determined not individual items. You can buy something else for the difference or give it to tzedaka.
We are supposed to take care of ourselves and our families. If you are fortunate enough to have inherited considerable wealth or have worked hard and earn a good parnassah than saving for the future is not such a priority. For most of us, however, a rational balance of spending with some put aside and invested for the longer term is a reality unless we want to become a burden to our children or live or beg for tzedakah when we are older.
The rambam talks about how to invest with your money. Real estate etc.
Live through life with one value on spending money and always be happy no matter how tight or rich you are in money.
“GET WHAT YOU NEED NOT WHAT YOU WANT”
don’t own 3 cars and 3 vacations a year and then be shocked when a person is broke and in dept C”V wake up to reality and face the issues a person has. Yes making a wedding and school tuition is a lot of money. So wife/husband we are running right and cannot afford to send our kids to camp or go on our usual summer vacation this year etc….. Be positive at least our child is getting married Boruch Hashem
We are required to do hishtadlut. The decree might even be conditioned on it. Chazal say that one should save one third, invest one third in land and one third in a business (Baba Metzia 42a). One should also supervise one’s workers (ibid 29b). Both Rav Moshe (IM OC 2:111) and Rav Ovadia (Yehaveh Daat 3:85) advise buying life insurance.
The alternative to saving money is to borrow, and often it is hard to borrow without paying interest.
לוו עלי ואני פורע Hashem says borrow on My behalf and I will repay. There are certain things that are not determined like tuition for Talmud Torah and Shabbos and Yom Tov expenses.
akuperma, As I mentioned, Hashem wants us to borrow and He promises to repay, obviously fron a Jew where no interest is charged.
Your parnassa is decided by Hashem. You can burn all your money and then have nothing left for your needs. But that would be a bad idea.
You can’t control how much you earn but you can choose if you will waste the money you have.
If you have kids and plan on paying for their bar mitzvahs, tuition, weddings. If you plan on living till 90 and not working till that age you’ll have to save too.
Laskern, the Aruch haShulchan says (OC 242:44) that is only if someone has a business where the natural order of things is for there to be ups and downs. However, if someone has a fixed income he should not. In fact, someone who borrows not knowing how he will not be able to repay is a rasha (Rambam Hilchot Malveh v’Loveh 1:3) and according to the Rav Soloveichik in the name of the Brisker Rav he is a thief.
JJ, suppose Hashem decides that if you will work a certain amount you will earn a certain amount?
Avi K, You opened up an interesting discussion. From the Rambam above is no prove as he uses the expression borrowing for no need but here there is a need for shabbos. The Aruch Hashulchan answers a contradiction because it also says עשה שבתך חול ואל תצטרך לבריות make your shabbos like a week day and don’t rely on others. So he says if he does not have a means of support, he should not borrow. What about tuition? Can you borrow for it when you don’t have the means to repay it? The above is not said on it but is one of the things that is not pre-determined and you should borrow to be able to pay it.
Avik – my understanding of Rav Dessler is that the amount of work you do doesn’t affect your income. It may be the right thing to work for most people for various other reasons. Also there must be some kind of human effort made to allow a needs to happen but it could be something very small such as buying a lottery ticket. To be clear I’m not advocating do that. I’m just saying that I don’t think your income is dependent on the hours you work.
Litvishchosid- it’s true that Hashem can give you more money if you run out. I don’t know if there is a way to know how much Hashem planned to give you. Just because Hashem gives you money after you blew your salary on a fancy sports car doesn’t mean you didn’t waste the money. Maybe you are using up zchusim for that, who knows. But we don’t judge our actions based on the outcomes. We judge them based on the information we have at the time we make the decision.
It may not be so easy to know if your wasting money. If you are spending money because you are jealous if your neighbors car, house, vacation, clothes etc then that is probably a waste and worse.
Knowing if you are spending you money properly really takes a lot of introspection. Some people spend too much other’s don’t spend enough on their family or to take care of their own health for example. It could also be useful to have a Rav or chaver to help with this.
Tosfas in Betzeh 15b according to the Mahrshal answers that he can borrow if he has investments but no liquidity.
I’m sure that you can bring down many interesting inyanim from chazal as to how to organize one’s financial planning but there is no single directive that applies to all circumstances. As to our not “having control over what we earn” that is also clearly a silly concept since in today’s world, there is a direct correlation between education and earnings (although there are exceptions). Borrowing money with no means of repayment is also a foolish idea since there is no greater fool who will lend money to a destitute person with no assets or income. Ultimately one can apply some notion of hashgacha paratis and fall back on the notion that no amount of financial planning makes sense since everything in life is “predetermined” but that means you make no effort to live a rational and healthy lifestyle consistentwith daas torah since in the end, “it doesn’t matter”.
Laskern,
1. According to your view one should not ask for a scholarship. Commit to pay the entire tuition and hope that Hashem will provide.
2. We see from Yaakov Avinu that a sin can cancel a good decree (shema hachet yigrom). Hashem Himself gave Shmuel a cover story so that Shaul would not kill him.
3. There is no dispute. The Maharshal does not say that he has no means to repay. He just does not have cash at hand but he has collateral. The Gra says that no one will lend to him. Perhaps this is because he is known to be a deadbeat. In fact, it is prohibited to lend to him because of lifnei iver (the Chafetz Chaim discusses this in Ahavat Chesed).Avi K, You are putting things in my mouth that I never said. It does not say anywhere that you should not ask for a scholarship. You borrow what is necessary for tuition (see the gemora Betzeh 16a on the top of the page). You should try to lower the tuition as much as you can because you might not be worthy for more because of your sins.
Gadol – correlation does not imply causation. We have to work because of Adam’s cheit. In order to realize that Hashem sustains all living things. The idea is to earn back what Adam had before the cheit. We have to see through the seemingly real nature of things and understand that Hashem runs it all.
Laskern,
1. You are putting words in my mouth. I was extending your sheeta.
2. Borrow? What if you have no realistic expectation to be able to repay? I have already quoted sources that someone who does that is a rasha. Maybe that sin alone will cancel some good decrees.Avi K, The Rambam you quoted above 1:3 says ולהוציאה שלא לצורך ולאבדה I don’t consider Talmud Torah spending without any purpose. If the yeshivas are not considerate what should he do? He can even borrow with ribus with a heter iska. This will not make him a rasha.
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