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I am delighted to share that my book, Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, has been excerpted in the distinguished Harper’s Magazine* December edition. See excerpt below.
HARPER’S MAGAZINE / DECEMBER 2008
READINGS
RABBI IS RICH
By Rabbi Levi Brackman and Sam Jaffe, from Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, published this year by AMACOM.
Why have so many Jews been successful at business? It’s a question many silently mull but few dare to ask openly. That doesn’t mean it’s not a legitimate question. After all, Jews make up less than .02 percent of the world’s population yet represent more than 10 percent of the Forbes 400 list of the world’s wealthiest people. Jews do seem to have some sort of advantage when it comes to financial success. We believe that the root cause of Jewish success in business lies in the book Jews hold most dear and sacred. The Torah offers a blueprint for the businessperson to create, maintain, and grow a profitable enterprise.
THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR OF ALL TIME
There have been few people in history more successful than Moses. According to Jewish tradition, his greatest asset was humility. A truly humble person has a clear picture of his abilities and is able to accept the criticism and advice of others without being offended. Too many businesspeople see their enterprise as testament to their talents and as fulfillment for their egos. If they instead saw the business as a means to making their vision come true, rather than a means of boosting their ego, they would be more successful.
SMASHING THE COMPETITION
Abraham’s father, Terach, sold idols to the people of Mesopotamia. Like any good businessman, Terach created multiple streams of revenue for his shop. Not only did he sell idols, he leased them too. Customers could bring a sacrificial offering and, for a small fee, present it to one of the idols in the store. One day Terach left Abraham in charge of the store. Even at this young age, Abraham was a master salesman; he just wasn’t selling what his father wanted. While Terach was gone, Abraham took his father’s axe and smashed all the idols in the room—except for the largest one. Then he placed in front of it a food tray that a customer had left as a fee. Abraham told his father that the idols had fought for the plate of food and that the largest idol had won. “I know these idols can’t move,” Terach said.
“They are just pieces of wood and stone.” “So if they have no power,” Abraham said, “why do you serve them?” Abraham’s entire strategy here was risky, but he was driven by what drives most businessmen: he had something better to sell—a new, more powerful God. Marketing is crucial in business, as are your credibility, sincerity, and belief in the product sold. Abraham’s public-relations stunt with his father’s idols earned him a reputation as a holy man. Now all he had to do was launch a religion using this effective advance marketing as a springboard.
GRASSROOTS IN THE DESERT
Abraham wanted to build a successful brand. He wanted to bring new worshippers to the concept of a single God and make them understand God’s power and glory and the importance of striving to be close to him. The Midrash describes Abraham’s business model: he set up shop in the desert outside
Mesopotamia, at a busy junction of trading paths. He built a large tent and invited any passing traveler inside. Abraham served free meals, and while the traveler was eating, Abraham would preach about monotheism and God. If Abraham was looking for quantity, his strategy worked. Despite the economic drain of providing so much free food, he was attracting thousands of converts. But a careful reading shows that Abraham’s success did not have the desired permanence. When the newly religious travelers made their way home, they found it difficult to maintain excitement about the new faith. A modern marketing consultant would conclude that Abraham’s converts did not remain loyal to his ideology because he didn’t provide enough customer-service infrastructure beyond the tent in the desert. Creating a new business—or a successful religion—must enhance customer satisfaction through a series of support systems so that customers become comfortable and trusting enough to remain loyal patrons.
*“Harper's Magazine, the oldest general interest monthly in America, explores the issues that drive our national conversation through such celebrated features as Readings, Annotation, and Findings, as well as the iconic Harper's Index. With its emphasis on fine writing and original thought Harper's Magazine provides readers with a unique perspective on politics, society, the environment, and culture. The essays, fiction, and reporting in the magazine's pages come from promising new voices as well as some of the most distinguished names in American letters, among them Tom Wolfe, Annie Dillard, Barbara Ehrenreich, T.C. Boyle, Jonathan Franzen, David Foster Wallace and Mary Gaitskill.”
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