A Short Thought Each Day
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At this time of year, when the books of life and death stand open before Hashem, it is especially appropriate to ask how we measure a successful life. It is easy to envy people who seem to have everything — wealth, influence, success, and a future that appears secure. But we see only a moment in their lives. We do not know what comes next, and we certainly do not see the world as it appears from Olam Haba.
The following excerpt is from Rav Avigdor Miller on Olam Haba.
How can we not be envious of people who are extremely successful in this world?
The Edgewater Beach Hotel
In 1923, some of America’s most powerful men met at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. It was to be both a celebration of their success as well as an opportunity to plan their future exploits and dominance. Among the attendees were the following financiers and power brokers:
- the president of America’s largest utility company,
- the president of America’s largest independent steel company,
- the president of America’s largest gas company,
- the nation’s greatest wheat speculator,
- the president of the New York Stock Exchange,
- the president of the Bank of International Settlements,
- the nation’s greatest Wall Street speculator,
- the head of the world’s greatest monopoly.
They were the captains of their respective industries and some of the most distinguished and successful businessmen of the era. Yet, within twenty-five years, all these distinguished men met a horrific end to their careers and/or their lives.
The president of the largest utility company, Samuel Insull, died a fugitive from justice — a penniless beggar in a foreign land.
The president of the largest independent steel company, Charles M. Schwab, died bankrupt and lived on borrowed money during his final years.
The president of the largest gas company, Howard Hopson, lost most of his fortune after being sentenced to prison for fraud and tax evasion, and lived the rest of his life in “obscurity and ill health,” before dying in an insane asylum.
The greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cutten, died in 1936 while facing charges of tax evasion.
The president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, served time in Sing Sing penitentiary for embezzlement and grand larceny.
The president of the Bank of International Settlements, Dr. Leon Fraser, Esq., took his life in 1945.
The “Great Bear” of Wall Street, Jesse Livermore, one of the most flamboyant and successful market speculators in the history of Wall Street, took his life in 1940.
The head of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Kreuger, got caught running a huge pyramid scheme that resulted in the largest bankruptcy of its time. He took his life in 1932.
Now, none of these were accidents. They were all min haShamayim. Hashem wants to teach us the lesson that we don’t see the truth in this world, like it says, “Rak b’einecha sabit, v’shilumas resha’im tireh — Look with your eyes and see the payment for the wicked” (Tehillim 91:8). It means: When you see a rasha who is now ruined — bankrupt, imprisoned, sick — look at it. You’re supposed to look at it. You’re supposed to think about it.
The Gemara (Pesachim 50a) tells of a man who died and came back to life. His father asked, “Did you get a peek into Olam Haba?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“What did you see?”
“I saw an olam hafuch, an upside-down world, a topsy-turvy world. Those who are most important here are nothing there. And those who are not important here are the most important there.”
His father replied, “You didn’t see an upside-down world. You saw a right-side-up world. That’s the right world. That’s how it should be.”
Tzaddikim should be the rulers in this world. Rav Pam should be sitting in the White House. Of course, that would be a very small kavod for him, but he should be surrounded by talmidim and saying shiurim in the Oval Office. That’s how it should be. But it’s an upside-down world. It’s an olam hafuch.
The next world is where things get straightened out. Gedolei Yisrael — even talmidei chachamim and even plain observant Jewish men and women — are going to be kings and queens.
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