July 7, 2015, Israel
What would you do if you had unlimited money? No financial worries, no need to earn a living? No bills to pay?
This is not merely a fantasy question, the answer, even if only hypothetical, tells a great deal about who we are, our core, our values.
Who are you??
For even if we never earn that million, if our ship never comes in, the dream remains, our goals, our values are always with us.
To have a dream is to live. We Jews have lived with our dreams, and our faith.
If I were a rich man, sings Tevye, the classic Jew from Fiddler on the Roof...I would treat my family well, give money to the poor and most of all, most of all...spend several hours every day with the learned rabbis, studying the holy books, sit in the synagogue and pray. Oy....Ahh...If I were a rich man.
This tell us that though Tevye is a poor milkman, a poor Jew living in an exiled condition, never knowing when his Ukrainian/Russian/Latvian/Lithuanian... neighbors will turn on him, his dream is to devote time to sitting with the rabbis, the wise men and studying the holy books. Ahh..If I were a rich man....
There was a commercial for the Israeli lottery, very clever, and each episode featured a different Israeli answering the question, what would you do if you won the lottery?
An old Yemenite Jew, with traditional side-curls and prayer shawl says..."I would build a large building, three stories, one for Jews from Europe, one for Jews from Africa and one for Yemenite Jews"
Ahh...such is the dream of an honest pious man, not personal gain, not personal glory, just the needs of the community. If I were a rich man....tells a lot about our character.
And what would I do? What would I, Moshe Katz, do?
If I were a rich man....If I were a wealthy man, I wouldn't have to work hard..
but I would do the same thing, only differently.
IKI Krav Maga would continue of course, but I would have more help. I would have full time help, I would make IKI better. I would make less mistakes with e mails, I would have a larger inventory of T shirts, the packages would go out faster, I would not accidentally book the same flight twice (Yes...has happened).
But I would also have more time for personal growth, as Tevye said....sitting with the rabbis seven hours every day, posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes..
Give to the community, continue the rich legacy of our people. Make the world a little bit safer for all...Heal the world. I want to give people a sense of personal safety.
Yes, if I were a rich man I would do exactly as I am doing now, only better.
Live a life worth a living, live your dream...
Oy...If I were a rich man....
I believe in what I do, I believe in what I teach. And I love it when IKI instructors offer something for free "to contribute to the cause". For yes, this is a cause. It is a cause so noble that I would do it even, even if.. ...even if I were rich man!
And remember we come in all shapes and colors...speaking all languages...