Israel Matzav

Chag Kasher v'Sameyach - A Happy and Kosher Passover everyone!

As many of you know already, before Pesach (Passover) and Rosh HaShannah (the Jewish New Year), I send a mailing to about 2,500 of my "Clients, Colleagues and Friends," in which I send them a summary of my business activities for the last six months, wish them a Happy Holiday and send them an inspirational story. For those of you who are anonymous - or to whom I am anonymous - I am reproducing some of last night's mailing below (yes, that's why I didn't blog all evening last night).

I always try to give you an inspirational story as part of these missives, and this time will be no exception. This time, I am going to tell you two short stories about the Rothschild family that I heard from my client, Philip B, at a conference a couple of weeks ago. We do not know which members of the Rothschild family were involved in these stories, nor whether each story involved the same or different members.

As it happens, ten years ago, I was in Frankfurt, Germany on a business trip, and when the business broke a little early, one of my partners and I got into a cab and went to the grave of Rabbi Shamshon Refael Hirsch, a well-known German Rabbi of the 19th century who was one of my partner's wife's ancestors. Several of the Rothschilds were buried in the same cemetery. Therefore, I feel like I 'know' a little of the Rothschild family.

In the first story, someone came to one of the Rothschilds and asked for an accounting of his wealth. Mr. Rothschild took out his notebook and began to calculate the value of his various investments. In those days, there were no calculators or computers, and the calculations took quite some time. After an hour or so, one of Mr. Rothschild's children noticed that his father was calculating the amounts in his notebook of charitable ventures and not in his business notebook. The child suggested to his father that he was using the wrong notebook. The father answered, "No my child, I purposely use my charitable notebook to calculate my wealth. My business dealings are here today and gone tomorrow. But the charity I give and the acts of kindness I perform for others remain forever in my merit. They are my true legacy."

In the second story, one of the Rothschilds used to give money to a poor person around this time every year. Each year, this Rothschild would take his son with him and give the poor person an envelope full of money. The poor person would come to the door, take the envelope and thank his benefactor.

Eventually, the older Rothschild passed on. When Passover came the first year after his father's death, the son put some money in an envelope and sent his secretary to the poor person's home with the money. The poor person refused to accept it. The son knew that his father had given the poor person money every year, so the next day he sent the secretary back with the envelope, and the poor person refused to accept it. The same thing happened the next day and the next, until finally the son took the envelope himself and went to the poor person's door.

The poor person opened the door and the Rothschild son handed him the envelope, which he accepted. Mr. Rothschild asked the poor person why he had not accepted the envelope when he sent it with his secretary. The poor person answered, "Your father brought you to me every year to give me money. Had he not done so, you would not know that I exist and you would not have been so determined to follow in your father's footsteps. But when you pass on, how will your son know that he too should come and give me money? If you send your secretary, your son has no way of knowing that I exist. That's why I insisted that you come yourself, and that's why I insist that next year you should bring your son.

My dear friends, I don't have to tell all of you what a difficult half year this has been for all of us in the business world. Many of my oldest friends are out of work - men and women in their 40's and 50's who have been thrown by the wayside from jobs they held for many years, and who may never again find anything equivalent. Those of you who are still working and are able to give to charity, please consider contributing to the charity of your choice. When you do so, please have in mind that you are doing so because I asked you to. That way, I will feel like I have done a good deed too. And you will be preparing your legacy that you will pass on to your children.

Chag Kasher v'Sameyach to all of you - a Happy and Kosher Passover. And let's all hope for better times ahead.

That's meant for all of you too, my dear readers. Thanks so much for letting me be part of your lives.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:55 AM