Successful at Business Without Degrees?
The parshiyos of the building of the miskan are very inspiring to those seeking to leave the confines of the beis medrash and enter the working world. To build the mishkan, the Yidden were entrusted with highly skilled work work of which they had no prior experience, yet they were able to produce a finished product that was perfect and exact. The Ramban points out that this was a gift from Above – those who dedicated themselves to the work, would be rewarded by being granted the skills needed to carry out the work as expert crafstmen.
It’s amazing to see how yeshiva eductated men who have no professional training of any kind enter the work force and become super stars. It doesn’t matter what industry or field they find themselves, they are soon making a name for themselves as serious contenders to be dealt with.
What is amazing to see is how adapatable we are. I remember back to the late 90s when the stock market was booming. Yeshiva guys with no finance background at all were sitting around computer screens analyzing a stock’s technical performance. In those days, more than just a few of them were making serious money by trading securities, and doing amazingly well. When the stock market petered out in the 2000 crash, real estate came in. Soon many people – with no formal training or background – were making very good money in both residential and commercial real estate. Since 2008, when the bubble burst, it may seem as if all is quiet, but the next phase of money making enterprising fellows are out there – hard at work buidling successful businesses.
Making a living is a holy task, much like building the mishkan was. Hashem promised those who dedicated themselves to the work of the mishkan – even those without the knowledge and expertise that was needed – would be successful.
Is it any surprise that earning a parnossa is no different?
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Which Son is Yonason Rosenblum More Proud Of?
In a recent column in Mishpacha, Yonason Rosenblum wrote glowingly about his son Yechezkel who learns a few hours in the morning, and repairs major appliances the rest of the day. This is an a quote of what he responded to a questioner if he was indeed successful with his children:
“Yes, baruch Hashem, my children are successful,” I told him. “But I’m not sure if my most successful is not my son who learns in kollel in the morning and repairs major appliances afternoons and evenings.”
In the article, he goes on to praise his son for taking responsiblity for his family’s income by realizing that no one else would provide his needs, for teaching himself an honest trade that can support his family, and for using his skills to problem solve and give others satisfaction in exchange for honestly earned payment.
He may not had said it in black and white, but when reading the article one can’t help but notice that Yonason has a favorite son – and that would be his son Yechezkel.
Everything he said about Yechezkel is so sensible and logical – taking resposibilty for his family, feeling satisfaction from his work, and using his skills to help others. The only question is – why does the world consider this a chiddush that is was worth writing about it in a column of a weekly magazine.
My prediction: If in Eretz Yisroel – where a working man was traditionally looked down upon – Yonanson Rosenblum can publicly praise his son (and publish his picture!), then we are definitely on the way to recovery. Kollel will always exist, but working will become the normal way of life even for the “shtarka” Bnei Torah.
TweetIs Supporting a Son-in-Law in Kollel an Essential Need?
When it comes to giving tzedaka, we try to make sure that our money is indeed going for a worthy cause. No one would want to give money for a family that is in “dire straits” only to find out that they used the funds to go to Florida for a vacation.
Making a chassuna is a very expensive undertaking, and can be out of reach for many families. Most people would consider chassuna expenses as being an essential need – one that is worthy of soliciting tzedaka for. It is estimated that over 40% of the total tzedaka raised amongst the frum world is to pay for chassuna expenses.
The question we must ask though, is raising money to pay for someone’s son-in-law to learn in kollel considered an “essential need”? Obviously, if the parents feel like using their own money to support their children, that is a worthy decision. But when the family does not have the means to do so, and tzedaka is being raised on their behalf to pay for “chassuna expenses”, should money be raised for this purpose too?
I raise this question because recently I was asked to help out with the chassuna expenses of a worthy talmid chochom whom I know. I was told that he said to the person raising the money, “I don’t have one penny to make chassuna.” Now this person has B”h a job, his wife has a business, and they make ends meet. Paying the cost of the chassuna and setting up his daughter’s apartment could have been manageable for them, if they were to pay it out over a few years (and which is what most people do).
So why does this wonderful talmid chochom not have “one penny to make chassuna”?
Because aside from the cost of the chassuna, he has obligated himself to support his new son-in-law to the tune of at least $15,000 a year. That money – which will come at great personal sacrifice – is what would have been going to cover chassuna expenses.
Essentially, when contributing to his chassuna expenses, you are really paying for his son-in-law to learn. Which is a worthy cause – though it might not have been the cause you were thinking of.
What are your thoughts?
TweetThe Path to Success is a Secert
It seems that the world is obsessed with discovering the “secrets” to becoming successful. Books, websites, radio commercials, and online programs all promise to show you the path to glorious riches and “proven success”. Obviously, many of us are out there buying this information thinking they can find the secret that will make all the difference.
Deep down we all know the painful truth. If there is a path to success, it is a secret for a reason. The only way to succeed is to chart the path yourself, making wise choices along the way. There is no one to show you the path, because each person has to work it out themselves.
Why is it a secret? After all, what worked for one person should just as well work for others?
I had an inspiration from a recent post by Matt Cutts, a senior search engineer for Google. He wrote about the complainers out there who say that Google should release their highly confidential search algorithm to the public, who will use that information to make their sites in the best way that Google wants them to be. Mr. Cutts response to them was that if Google would release the ranking algorithm, every spammer and unscrupulous site operator would use that information to game the system and get their site to rank well when it doesn’t really deserve to. By keeping the formula secret, Google is able to try and focus on getting the relevant sites to rank well when they actually should, while keeping all the spammers and manipulators out of the rankings.
Perhaps this is the reason why there is no real “Manual for Success”. If there was such an easy formula, the world would be full of undeserving successful people. Instead, the path to success is a secret, something that needs to be discovered by your own hard work. The discipline and focus that is required to become successful all but shut out those that try to game the system and are not really deserving.
It’s for our own good that success is not too easy for us. The hard work you invest and the falls along the way are not in vain. Make it worthwhle so that when you achieve success you will indeed be worthy and deserving of it.
TweetHitting the Publish Button
photo credit: Mishpacha Jewish Weekly
There is a tremendous sense of awe when you hear someone has published 84 seforim in his lifetime. That person is Rav Yechiel Michel Stern of Yerushalayim, who was featured recently in Mishpacha magazine. The article focused on miraculous events that happened to him throughout his life, and some very touching stories that he experienced in the past year.
Publishing 84 seforim in his lifetime is quite a feat, especially for someone who is not even 70 years old! So what is his secret? Is he some super genius? How does someone manage to release new seforim at the rate of 2.3 per year?
The secret lies in his ability to “ship” products fast and without delay. Most people have a fear of “Shipping”. Everyone can think up great ideas, but only some people actually start working on them. And from those that actually start working, only a handful end up delivering something to the world.
There is a fear of completion that holds most people back. We fear the ridicule and rejection, so we hide back and do nothing. Rav Stern didn’t care what other people think. He published. (One of the episodes he recalled was how one of his seforim was such a dismal failure that the stores called him to pick them up because no one was buying them.) And published again. And didn’t stop. That’s a rare talent, but it doesn’t take a genius to do so. It takes focus, persistence, determination, and courage. In the famous words of the founder of Apple computer, “Real artists ship.” Everyone can be that artist. We just need to push harder.
TweetFrom Kollel to Business…with a Partner
When kollel yungeliet leave kollel to form their own businesses, they invariably do so with a partner. Almost never do you find a new business in Lakewood opened with just one owner. And most frum owned businesses are started the same way.
Given that many partnerships don’t end nicely, why do we continue to open businesses together with someone else? If one person can’t come up with the money to start up on his own, he may have to look for someone else to put up part of the funding. But that is not always the case. Many times both partners are broke, and the money for starting up comes from friends/family/investors etc.
Perhaps subconsciously the reason we tend to open with a partner is from our yeshiva/kollel days, where we spend our days learning with a partner. We get used to only learning with someone else, otherwise the quality of the learning is not the same. Automatically we take this idea to starting a business. We tend to think that if we don’t have someone else to work with, then it won’t end up being worthy of anything.
Partnerships do provide this advantage, but there are serious risks involved. Everyone knows of a partnership that has a messy ending, splitting up lifelong friends and even family members apart. You don’t have to open shop with a partner. Instead, consider going over major business decisions with an advisor who is older, wiser, and more experienced than you. He will be more than willing to coach you along and give guidance. Or, if you do need someone else to be involved in the day to day operations, hire them and pay them from profits.
Frum business owners get their training in the beis medrash, not in the real world. Before jumping into business, think for a minute if you are doing the right thing. A bad chavrusa is an easy problem to fix. But a bad partner is a mess that can drag you down for a long time. There is a better way.
TweetTu Bshvat – A Multitude of Choices
It’s Tu B’shvat, and the choices are endless. No, not the choices of fruit to eat. It’s the opening of the freezer in Lakewood, when the fresh batch of bochurim are free to date at last. Of course, the negotiations have been ongoing for months, and by now every eligible bochur in Lakewood has at least 10 different girls to choose from.
However, in many frum homes across town and all over the country, the situation is not so rosy. Thousands of eligible girls are sitting and waiting for the phone to ring. It’s been months since they’ve dated, and their list of names are slim to none.
Do the boys really have it so good? Is the fact their phones don’t stop ringing and the list keeps on growing with an abundance of names something to envy?
When faced with too much choices, it becomes difficult to make decisions. Where does one start? How do we begin to select from all the names of girls (who all are great girls, of course)? It then becomes a full time job for the bochur or his parents to whittle down the list and make broad generalizations (no out-of-town girls, the father has to be heimish, what does he do for a living, etc.) to settle on just a few names.
However, by the girls’ side of things, when a name finally does come in, it gets full attention. Because names are far and few in between, the decision doesn’t have to be based on trivialities, but rather on substance. Most of the time, the girl will agree to meet him, for lack of alternative choices. The decision process is practically non-existent.
If you think I’m wrong, and that having endless choices is a good thing, then please do me a favor. Go into the halls of any kollel, and explain that to the many yungeleit who are looking to move on, but don’t know what they should go into.
They are looking for something to do, but they don’t know where to begin. The world of opportunities is too big, so they have to start making decisions based on trivialities. Not based on real criteria such as what they enjoy doing, or what they seem to have a talent for, but rather on considerations like “What will X think about me?” or “My in-laws will be mortified if I do…” Or, even worse, they become so overwhelmed with all the choices that they freeze in fear and don’t take any action, because they can’t come to a decision on what to do.
Having choices is a great thing, but too many choices make it hard to make a decision worth following.
Tweet42 Years Old and No Job – What Should He Do?
The following encounter happens so often these days. A friend of mine who is in his 40′s and his children are rapidly approaching shidduchim asked me what I think he should go into. He learned in kollel many years, and now does odd jobs around a yeshiva where he earns a pittance. He tried like so many others to get a job in chinuch – first as a high school rebbe, then even as a 7th or 8th grade rebbe, but is now realizing his chances of ever getting a job are almost none. So he asked me with a smile, “So what should I go into – does the business world offer any opportunities?”
There are probably 3,000 men between the ages of 27-35 in Lakewood in a very similar situation. And the answer to his question – what should a man in his 40′s who finally realizes he needs a job do with his life to earn a living?
It’s all comes down to one’s perspective. Do you feel that you deserve a comfortable job or other form of parnossa? Well then, forget about the opportunities in the business world. Continue searching for the elusive shteleh that you feel so sure about.
But with the right attitude, there are actually plenty of great opportunities out there waiting for the right people to come along and scoop them up.
Here’s a recent example I’ve come across in my line of work. (Minor details are skewed to protect identities):
A business run by two former BMG kollel yungeleit provides a service to large businesses which can save them thousands of dollars in property taxes annually. The typical sale is around $100,000, with an astounding 60-70% of the sale as gross profit! All they have to do is make 3-4 such sales a year to cover their salaries and company expenses. However, this business is struggling. They don’t have a sales process in place to bring leads into the pipeline that they can attempt to sell to, and therefore they have to survive on the few referrals that come from friends and former clients.
They need a good salesman to bring them in new clients, and would be more than happy to pay him $10,000 for each sale. Imagine – make one sale a month and earn a very comfortable living of $120,000 a year.
What are the skills needed for this job? Do you need a masters degree in business administration? No. Do you need 2 yrs. minimum experience in advanced programming languages? No. You don’t need to have even graduated high school. Here are some characteristics of a qualified candidate for the job:
- Speaks confidently
- Courageous
- Makes a good impression
- Can present a convincing argument
- Able to make connections
- Get through to the decision makers
That’s all. No degrees, no intricate knowledge of complex systems. Just some basic people skills will get you a $120,000 a year job, with no limit on income potential either.
As a matter of fact, being in kollel actually trains one pretty well for this kind of job. If you ever had to say a chabura to a crowd, or even tried to convince someone “good” of your shtickel torah, you have already practiced these skills.
Opportunities like this are all over the place. Don’t paint the future black with negative attitudes. If you really have the desire to create value, there are so many businesses that are in desperate need of your help, and will reward you handsomely for your contributions.
TweetNY Times Article on Kollel Stipends in Eretz Yisroel
I recently came across this article in the NY Times about a frum member of the knesset – Chaim Amsallem, who publicly announced that the Israeli government should stop subsidizing full time kollel and instead encourage them to work.
He was publicly criticized and ridiculed for his comments, and even ousted from the Shas party having the audacity to suggest such a revolutionary idea.
But the mere fact that he saw fit to come out publicly with such a statement shows that the tide is slowly turning. Both the Israeli government and the frum community in Eretz Yisroel are keenly aware that the current trend is both not sustainable, and not working well. The tax payers of Israel will not continue allocating all that money on people who are not contributing to their economy. The Charedim are too big a segment of the population to be ignored any longer. And their ability to contribute positively to the economy is enormous.
In America, parents of young couples are coming to the same realization. No longer can we afford to raise a generation that has been trained not to work, instead of providing for their own needs. The kollel members of society are too large to ignore any longer, and they too can greatly contribute to our own mini economy.
The tide is already turning.
TweetThe Riverdale Rosh Yeshiva Sets an Example
This point was already made a way back, but is so powerful that it must be repeated.
A week ago, the Telshe Alumni of Riverdale yeshiva held its 30th Anniversary dinner at the Tarrytown Hilton. There are many yeshivas that hold annual dinners, and there are quite a few that have made it to 30 years. But only a handful of them have had the amazing success that Riverdale has experienced throughout their entire history. Often, a yeshiva has its good times and bad, as many mainstay yeshivas in America can attest to. Even those that have been the prime yeshivas of the 50s and 60s have seen their glory fade over time. But Riverdale’s success defies all the trends, and is one of the top yeshivas in America today.
Everyone points to the Rosh Yeshiva, R’ Avremel Ausband, as the prime reason of the yeshiva’s success. His lomdus, charisma, leadership, and personality, are what attract scores of talmidim and donors to flock towards him. But the point that often gets unnoticed is that these very qualities could have easily been the cause of his downfall, and it was only due to his diligence and courage that allowed him to become the success he is today.
Let’s explain.
R’ Avremel is the eldest son of Rav Isaac Ausband shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe. His father is the son-in-law of the late Rav and Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe D’Lita, Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Bloch HY”D, who was killed by the Nazis in World War II. The present day yeshiva is a continuation of the yeshiva that was led by R’ Avremel’s grandfather, whose name he bears. He is also a son-in-law of Rav Binyomin Tzeilberger ZT”L, the Rosh Yeshiva of Beis HaTalmud, another yeshiva with a rich history that traces itself back to the Mir Yeshiva in Poland.
Most people in this situation would sit tight and wait for the shteleh to come right along, especially such a rising star. It was a natural that he would get a coveted spot somewhere in the family tree, as soon as the opportunity would present itself. But he wanted no part in that. He realized that at the end of the day, even with a “secure” and “comfortable” job, he would just be following orders, while someone else would be calling the shots. Such a job was not appealing to him.
Instead, he went out in the cold and frightening world of starting his own yeshiva. It was, and still is, very tough. He gave up the security of a job waiting for him, for the unchartered territory of starting what was probably the first “Turnpike Yeshiva”. First in Westfield NJ, where he had to deal with vicious anti-semitism, and then over to Riverdale, where he had to deal with hostility from the local community, besides all the headaches and tremendous pressure that opening a yeshiva requires. But today, 30 years later, he has a crown jewel of a yeshiva that is entirely his own, while both Telshe and Beis HaTalmud are but shells of their former glory.
This lesson applies to all of us. We may feel deserving of a position – be it a shtele, a job, money, a house, an inheritance, a rabbanus – but at the end of the day none of these are really worth waiting for. Don’t squander the opportunity of today for the hope that tomorrow will bring something good. Instead, use your talents and energy to build something worthwhile that will be all yours. In 30 years from now, you will look like a genius – while everyone else will have to make do with whatever opportunity wandered into their hands.
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