Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov was an important chasidic leader in Poland known for his asceticism, his wisdom, and, parenthetically, his mystical support of Napoleon. He said, “I was never in need of anything until I already had it.”
Here’s an anecdote worth preserving in anyone’s album of memories. It has a similar message: I was driving through upstate New York to visit my children and grandchildren, when I pulled into a rustic gas station for a refill. I noticed a sign announcing free coffee at a department store five miles up the road. I went on my way and soon approached this store, upon which was spread an elephantine banner that read, “If we don’t have it, you probably don’t need it.”
The store was a one-of-a-kind type of place, large and rural and unlike the big box stores in the urban areas where we live. It was a charming place, fully vested in serving a well-defined countrified demographic. Nothing there attracted me as a purchase for my grandchildren, but I did take something away from that store – something much more valuable.
Query of the day: What do we really need in this life to make us happy and satisfied? I like to think that I have everything: a wonderful wife and terrific children and grandchildren. I feel a close proximity to the Almighty, and I’m in good health, baruch Hashem. Are there things I don’t have? Yes, but, to paraphrase, “If I don’t have it, I probably don’t need it.”
I also have interests and hobbies that keep me busy, including an autograph collection I’ve cultivated for decades. It includes hundreds of signatures from sports figures, politicians, and entertainers – a living history of those who have defined my lifetime. (By now, my grandchildren have most of it.) In addition, I have the best neighbors anyone could ask for. The community surrounding me is a protective barrier against anything that might threaten my well-being, real or imagined. Am I missing anything? I wouldn’t know. Again, “If I don’t have it, I probably don’t need it.”
Many Torah scholars have persuasively concluded that the mitzva of lo tachmod (you shall not desire what belongs to your neighbor) is the foundation of all the other commandments. The rabbis intuit that when someone is satisfied with what he already has, he is not tempted to transgress the other commandments. Makes all the sense in the world to me.
Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon) points out that man will never stop wanting more than he has. How much is enough, how much is too little, and how much is too much? In our hyper-materialistic, hyper-politicized, you-are–what-you-own world, it would appear it is never enough. Like all of us, I live in a society where temptations abound, yet I have everything anyone could wish for. Sadly, there are those who have everything and still experience misery.
The revered Rabbi Mordechai Gifter once remarked that it is human nature to want more than what we presently have. (He was raised in Baltimore and was a very close friend of my Uncle Morris Siegel, of blessed memory.) Rabbi Gifter said, “People are not always happy when getting something substantial, because they think it could be better. Rather, we need to rejoice in what we have. We should not dwell on what we don’t have. We should be glad with all the goodness that Hashem has given us.”
There is one exception to the rule: Knowledge and wisdom are commodities worth accumulating. Along with autographs of the famous, I’m a collector here, too (although I often wonder if I’m equipped to understand what I’m collecting!). I would not say, regarding Torah, that “If I don’t have it, I probably don’t need it.”
Thankfully, I have been undeniably blessed to have learned with many talmudic and halachic scholars throughout my yeshiva years. My seventh grade Rebbe, in particular, was most humble, never overbearing or impressed with himself. He had a courteous regard for everyone he met. I was very fond of this Rebbe. He had an innate love of his students, and we all loved him. He had a profound intellect and 3,000 years of Torah scholarship at his fingertips. Truly, Rebbe had a compelling need to spur the non-learners to learn and the learners to improve their learning. We can only thank Hashem for giving us the privilege of having had such a special Rebbe who made us feel very special. It says in Michah, He has told you what He requires of you: “…to do justice, to love chesed, and to walk humbly with your G-d.” This was Rebbe’s life.
No one knows what the future holds. We need to be mindful that everything that happens is orchestrated by the Almighty. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Rimanov told us that we never lack for anything, because if it were truly in our best interest to have something, then the Almighty would provide us with it.
“If I don’t have it, I probably don’t need it.” Truly a mantra for o
