DEUT1519 Prosperity is part of the Torah’s promises for obeying God's commandments, and the Rabbis imagine even greater prosperity in messianic times (Deuteronomy 28:3-5, 8, 12). … notice that although there are some expressions of asceticism in the Jewish tradition (for example, M. Ethics of the Fathers (Avot) 6:4 and Chasedei Ashkenaz, the German pietists of the fourteenth century), the vast majority of Jewish sources do not see wealth alone as a sin or even a necessary cause of sin; wealth, like everything else in life, gets its moral character from how we use it. Here again, Tevye [referencing Sholem Aleichem’s Yiddish story Tevye the Milkman and Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof-AJL] … had it right: “Dear God, you made many, many poor people. I realize of course, that it's no great shame to be poor-- but it's no great honor, either.” Still, wealth imposes a special duty on the rich to use their money to help those less fortunate. All of us must certainly recognize that our world is filled with such people. Millions die each year from starvation and homelessness. The Jewish vision of the ideal world, then, provides yet another reason for working to ensure that no human being goes hungry or naked and that everyone has a roof over his or her head at night.
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