Sefer HaMiddot, Money, Part I/ספר המדות·ממון·חלק ראשון

1When a person is derisive of others, his livelihood diminishes.

2The words of the Sages bring wealth.

3One’s wealth does not last if he shows no compassion for others.

4Whoever withstands a test of his morality merits great wealth in the midst of his enemies.

5An occupation is a great thing; God Himself cautioned mankind to engage in some form of work.

6[Nevertheless, if one has no choice, he should] borrow in order to eat.

7[A farmer] who wants to grow wealthy should plow with a lean animal.

8A person should spend less than what his income allows for food and drink, clothe himself in accordance with his means, and honor his wife and children by spending on them beyond what he can afford.

9Poverty in one’s home is worse than fifty plagues.

10A man’s wife won’t die unless he is first approached for money and has none to give.

11The ability that the nations have to steal from the Jews comes from their learning TaNaKh.

12Drinking wine leads to poverty.

13Whoever possesses daat will in the end be wealthy.

14One who steals from his fellow Jews is made impure by a chance seminal emission.

15A new insight that comes to a person clearly will be followed by great wealth.

16As soon as the money of a Jew falls into the hands of a gentile it is instantly purged [of the special quality it acquires from Jewish ownership].

17A person whose children are starving is spared from death by fire, one of the four judicial forms of capital punishment.

18Whoever transgresses a Rabbinical enactment becomes poor.

19Whoever breaks his desire for food merits beautiful dwellings.

20Providing a person with his livelihood is as difficult [a miracle] as splitting the Red Sea. It is even more difficult than bringing the Final Redemption, and twice as difficult as [the miracle of] childbirth.

21Once a person has been put in charge of the public’s welfare, he becomes wealthy.

22The incense-offering brought wealth [to the one who burnt it in the Temple].

23You need not worry that someone will interfere with your livelihood. Against his will he will call you by name for you to take what is rightfully yours.

24There are four things that cause a man of means to lose his wealth: delaying to pay his workers’ salaries; outright refusal to pay their wages; shirking an obligation and instead placing the burden on someone else; and a haughty spirit.

25A change of place and a change of name improve one’s livelihood.

26Rain is withheld only because of the following: ceasing to tithe the Holy Land’s produce, speaking slander, arrogance, disrupting Torah study, and the crime of theft.

27Rainfall can be restored through many prayers.

28Faith in God increases livelihood.

29When there is satiation in the world, sickness is diminished.

30Rain is held back only because of those who publicly pledge to charity but don’t give.

31Disgusting behavior in one’s home leads to poverty.

32Three things bring a person to poverty: urinating in the nude in one’s bedroom, taking lightly the requirement to wash one’s hands before eating, and a man’s wife cursing him to his face.

33Tithing is a segulah for wealth specifically in the Land of Israel.

34Honoring the Torah and honoring Shabbat are a segulah for wealth.

35The olive-size helping of bitter herbs eaten on Passover is a segulah for earning a living.

36Writing a Torah scroll is a segulah for earning a living.

37When the daughter of a Kohen marries a regular Jew (Israelite), or when the daughter of a Torah scholar marries a boor, she causes her husband to become poor.

38Associating with someone upon whom fortune smiles is beneficial for one’s own prosperity.

39A person who loves God in his eating, drinking and other physical pleasures merits sustaining many nations.

40One who despises money merits long life.

41A person who searches for treasures hastens his own death.

42Whoever has not rectified the sins of his youth becomes poor.

43A person who struggles day and night to make a living but still does not have enough can rectify this by bringing people closer to God.

44Whoever accidentally breaks something clearly has sinned.

45Someone with an unquenchable desire to work the land is certainly worthless.

46In whatever you do, ask the Tzaddik to pray on your behalf.

47Constant joy is a segulah for success.

48Earning a living requires strengthened effort.

49Whoever makes the Name of Heaven a partner in his distress [by asking for God’s mercy] has his livelihood doubled, and it comes flying into his hands like a bird.

50For the sin of not tithing the Holy Land’s produce, wages are lost and people’s pursuit of livelihood is without success.

51The rains come for the sake of an individual; livelihood, for the sake of the many. But an individual whose merit is powerful is reckoned as the many.

52Sanctifying [Shabbat and the Festivals by reciting the blessing] over wine brings rain and causes one’s prayers to be heard.

53Whoever keeps in his house a Torah scroll that belonged to his father is rewarded with wealth.

54Rain falls in the merit of a single man, a single field and a single blade of grass; as well as in the merit of the land, kind deeds, and because of suffering.

55Rainfall is withheld because of idolatry, immorality, because a Tzaddik has not been properly eulogized, and because people interfere with the livelihood of others.

56One who suffers poverty is spared the punishment of hell.

57Misusing God’s Holy Names brings poverty and death, even to anyone who has the ability to protest their misuse but does not.

58The Holy One exacts judgment on behalf of anyone who has a complaint concerning his livelihood against a fellow Jew and is nevertheless silent.

59When a person sees that his livelihood is limited, he should give charity.

60Worry and distress over one’s livelihood sap a person’s strength.

61Immorality leads to poverty.

62A Tzaddik who has no mazal when it comes to earning a living will sometimes have opponents sent against him. He is then given the income that was coming to them.

63One who works in construction puts himself in danger.

64Modest behavior is a segulah for wealth.

65Once coveting and envy spread in the world, people began interfering with each other’s livelihood.

66A person’s livelihood diminishes when he judges others unfavorably,

67or dilutes the alcohol [he sells],

68or follows the advice of someone who persuades others to turn against God.

69When one sins out of spite, he becomes impoverished, yet no one will believe that he is poor.

70One who makes use of unholy names and sorcery becomes poor.

71When consumption, a disease that weakens the body, affects a member of one’s family, it is a sign of impending poverty.

72When a person suffers some embarrassment, it is a sign that he will soon become poor.

73Whoever despises money is shown by Heaven the path that he should follow.

74There are times when death by excision at the hand of Heaven is replaced by impoverishment.

75A poor person is confused, like a drunkard.

76Fraudulent practices cause one to become poor.

77Anyone who acts hastily, without presence of mind, falls into debt.

78Interfering with one’s means of income is akin to killing him.

79A person should always hold onto his ancestral inheritance, never selling or exchanging it.

80One who lusts for money falls from his spiritual level.

81Atheism leads to poverty.

82A person who is poor should work diligently to provide sustenance for those who seek God.

83Faith is beneficial for livelihood.

84Pain of the eyes is a sign of poverty.

85By being humble, a person livestock multiplies.

86By giving charity, a person is rewarded with livelihood.

87When a person gives money to sorcerers, his livelihood will require him to work in the homes of non-Jews.

88The words of the Tzaddik bring livelihood.

89Depression decreases one’s income.

90Giving charity will alleviate your financial restraints.

91Too much sleep makes one poor.

92One who is diligent in Torah study and giving charity merits wealth.

93Honor your wife and you will become rich.

94Blessing is found in a person’s house only because of the honor he has shown his wife.

95When a person charges usury for lending money, his financial worth plummets and never recovers.

96Forbidding the singing of frivolous songs lowers prices.

97A person without a living should occupy himself with Torah study and then pray for livelihood. His prayers will certainly be accepted.

98One should never sell the first property he purchased.

99Whoever deprives a fellow Jew of income is considered wicked.

100Were it not that he has grown haughty, no Jew would have the audacity to harm a fellow Jew’s livelihood.

101Leaving fallen crumbs triggers poverty.

102Wealth is a masculine principle, whereas poverty is feminine principle.

103Pain of the eyes {teeth} is a sign of impending harm to one’s livelihood.

104Whatever one wants, whether it is wisdom, or wealth, or children, he should strive to attain it through natural means, and plead for mercy that these means prove successful.