August 4, 2025 • 12 mins
We all face different tests in life, but few are as challenging as the test of wealth. Why do so many people fail this test? Because money easily becomes entangled with our sense of power, importance, and self-worth.
The wealthy person faces a unique spiritual challenge: recognizing that their money isn't truly theirs. Instead of viewing wealth as personal achievement, we must understand it as a divine assignment with clear responsibilities. This podcast explores how wealth should be divided—a portion for personal needs, a portion for supporting those in our circles, and a portion for building assets that can help more people. When we hoard resources while telling ourselves we'll be generous "someday," we're simply deceiving ourselves.
Perhaps most revolutionary is the idea that when giving charity, the recipient does us a favor, not the other way around. They become the vessel through which we fulfill our spiritual obligation to distribute resources properly. Even when facing potential scammers, small acts of generosity still count in the divine ledger because intention matters. The wealthy person who demands respect often receives mere flattery instead, creating a form of poverty that spans both worlds—anxiety in this life and spiritual loss in the next.
Whether you're wealthy, struggling financially, or somewhere between, your situation is divinely ordained as part of your spiritual journey. Passing this test doesn't just secure some distant future reward—it creates a present paradise of clarity, purpose, and joy. How might your relationship with money transform if you viewed yourself not as an owner, but as a steward? What peace might you find in recognizing that every dollar passing through your hands serves a purpose beyond your own desires?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 0 (00:00):
Good morning everybody and welcome to the
Trust Factor.
I hope you had a meaningful 9thof Av Tisha B'Av.
That was yesterday, one of themost difficult days on the
Jewish calendar for a variety ofreasons in our history.
We had some very, very tragicand difficult times for the
Jewish nation, not unlike someof the things that we've been
dealing with recently, and so itwas a day of fasting and
(00:21):
mourning and some introspection.
I hope it was meaningful foryou as it was for me.
Let's get back into the book.
We left off on Friday with somepretty powerful statements.
We were talking about somebodywho has means, somebody who God
has given money to an abundanceof wealth, and what their
(00:42):
outlook should be.
We said that most people failin this area.
Why?
First of all, we said it's avery difficult, evil inclination
.
It's one of the top two, it'sprobably the top one where
you're looking for money, whichequals power in a lot of
people's minds, and so that, bydefinition, puts them above
everybody else, and so they feelas though they are entitled and
(01:06):
it was their wisdom and it wastheir strength and their
brilliance that got them thatmoney and that if they're going
to give it to anybody, thenthose people have to be
profusely grateful for them,having given them the money, not
realizing that they were giventhat money in order to do that
very thing.
That the money should be split,generally speaking, in three
(01:26):
ways.
We said a portion of it stayswith you, takes care of your
expenses.
A portion of it goes tosupporting those around you and
your circles, whether it'simmediate family, extended
family, community members,friends.
There are people, employees,there are people that you need
to support.
You were entrusted with excesswealth, not for you to hoard,
(01:48):
not for you to buy buildings andassets and cars and luxuries
beyond anything.
That is reasonable.
Luxuries are reasonable.
Everybody is entitled to themto a certain degree.
There is reasonable and thereis unreasonable.
And if it's always about youlooking inwards because the
money is yours and that's youroutlook, then we've said you are
(02:10):
sorely, sorely mistaken.
That money was given to youpartially for yourself,
partially for others andpartially to be able to amass
some assets and some savings sothat you can utilize those to
assist other people.
The problem is we don't knowhow much of that money was
destined to remain in assets,was supposed to be in investment
(02:31):
portfolios or in real estateportfolios?
We don't know.
So if we're hoarding and we'rejust amassing and building and
growing because it makes youfeel important, it makes you
feel accomplished, but in themeantime you're deluding
yourself to think that you'rereally doing it for the future,
in case something happens forsomebody else, for your family
to be able to support Torahcommunities or whatever it may
(02:52):
be, but in the meantime you'renot even doing that today with
the money you have, theneverybody knows, including the
Creator and yourself, thatyou're really just lying to
everybody and yourself.
Yeah, that if you're livingthat way today, where you're
giving and you're generous andyou understand that you are a
steward of God's money andyou're supposed to give it to
(03:13):
the people who need it as wellas yourself, and then you begin
to build investment portfoliosand real estate portfolios and
you begin to invest money for agreat return and then you use
those monies to be able tocontinue to support, then you're
on the right track, you'redoing the right thing.
Now let's finish off thatconversation by talking about a.
It is not as he thinks that heis the wealthy one, while those
(03:37):
who rely on him for income arepoor.
We said that when you givecharity to somebody, you're not
doing them a favor.
They're doing you a favor bybecoming the vessel by which you
are able to distribute thatwealth and do the commandment to
do what you are commanded to do.
That person is assisting you inthat.
(03:58):
They didn't choose to be poor.
They didn't choose to have torely on other people.
Most healthy, normal humanbeings with a healthy mindset do
not want to be a strain on thesystem, do not want to go and
ask for handouts, do not want togrovel, do not want to lower
themselves.
They want to hold themselves uphigh.
They want to have pride, theywant to feel as if they are
(04:20):
accomplished and capable.
So when somebody has to reducethemselves to go and ask for a
handout, it's a very, verydifficult thing, my friends,
very difficult.
That's why you should give,even when you suspect that it
might be criminal, even when yoususpect that the guy has
ulterior motives.
Now again, you have to becareful.
If somebody's coming to ask forlarge sums of money and you
suspect that they're a scammer,you have an obligation to do
(04:41):
your homework.
But if somebody's in the streetor in a synagogue or whatever
it is, and they put out theirhand and you're going to give
them a few dollars to make themfeel good, to be able to get
them through the day, and thosefew dollars two is not going to
change your life.
Then you don't have to do thecalculations.
You know, I often see peoplecoming through synagogue and
they're coming to collect in themornings.
When you come in, when you goto pray in the morning in the
(05:03):
synagogues, sometimes,especially during difficult
times, people come through andthey ask for donations because
they know that people who are inthat environment have the right
mindset, and yet still theycome.
Now, today, we have thesecertificates.
They walk around once or twice.
They have to go, get registeredand recognized as somebody
who's legitimately collecting.
Unfortunately, we're living in aworld where there are a lot of
(05:24):
scam artists.
We discussed this and so, as aresult of that, we've had to put
safeguards in place to makesure that these people are
legitimate.
But, my friends, think about itfor a second, really, really
think about it.
That person came out of theirway.
That person came and loweredthemselves and got on a plane
(05:45):
and flew here from a foreigncountry and is struggling to
survive and, whatever it is,they're coming by and they're
lowering themselves to put outtheir hands and ask you for a
handout.
That is not an easy thing to doand if you've never done it
before like I thank God I'venever done it before just try
and put yourself in thatperson's shoes and understand
the challenge, the difficulty ofgoing to ask for a handout.
(06:07):
So, if you're going to give himtwo, three, five dollars, give
it to him.
And if he's a scammer, he'sgoing to have an accounting.
After 120 years he's going topay the bill.
And you know what happens, myfriend, you still get the reward
.
You still gave charity.
The guy's a multimillionaire,yeah, which is obviously not the
case.
But let's say the guy's doingvery well, he just has an
(06:27):
illness for money and he'scoming to ask and he has no
shame.
Okay, you give him three, four,five dollars.
Right, it wasn't really charity, because the guy doesn't need
it.
He's got more than he needs.
Guess what, my friends in thenext world, it's charity.
Your mindset was and you believethat you were giving charity
and this person led you tobelieve that you, that you was
(06:48):
receiving your charity, you gavecharity, end of story.
You get full credit for thatcharity.
Same time, if you give somebodycharity, but you give it to
them with a sour face, while youmay get some credit for that
charity.
Same time, if you give somebodycharity, but you give it to
them with a sour face, while youmay get some credit for that
charity, because you've done itin an inappropriate way, with a
sour face and you may have madethem feel bad, you may get
credit for it, but it'scertainly not anywhere near the
(07:10):
credit that you're supposed toget.
There's a right way and a wrongway of doing things, but what he
says over here is he says thatyou have it wrong.
He says that he thinks thathe's the wealthy one.
The one who has the moneythinks that he's the wealthy one
, while those who rely on himare poor.
And he says, in fact, theopposite is true he's the poor
one.
He toils and labors and suffersemotional distress, thinking
(07:35):
that, without this effort, hisemployees and dependents would
not have what they need, when,in truth, god has merely chosen
him as a conduit, but wouldsupply them with their income in
any event.
As for the honor that he craves, it eludes him, as his
dependents may flatter himbecause they need to", but they
(07:55):
do not respect him.
Wow, think about that.
This person is demandingrespect, demanding that people
fall in line, demanding thatpeople give him honor, and these
people do it.
And this comes with thechallenge, my friends this is a
big part of the challenge ofhaving resources is that you
don't know who's real and whoisn't.
You don't know who's reallyjust stroking your ego and
(08:17):
telling you what you want tohear, just like we see in
Hollywood All these A-listcelebrities.
They've surrounded themselveswith an entourage of people.
Their entire existence is therejust to tell them how wonderful
they are and how correct theyare and how beautiful they are
and how perfect they are and howtalented they are Right.
Why?
Because every time they givethem these wonderful compliments
, it comes with dollars, itcomes with support.
(08:40):
They keep them closer becausethey make them feel good.
Do they mean it?
Obviously not, obviously not.
They're doing it because it's apaycheck.
It's literally a job for them.
All I need to do is placate thisperson.
All I need to do is give themcompliments and make them feel
good and I'll get my paycheck.
Beats working at McDonald's, itbeats having a nine to five,
(09:01):
right.
I could just make somebody feelgood, make him think I'm his
friend and he's going to give memoney.
He's going to let me in ondeals, he's going to tell me
when the stock goes public, he'sgoing to give me a few extra
shares.
He's going to do all thesethings and in fact it happens.
It's absolutely true.
I've seen it firsthand.
People who are wealthy need tobe surrounded by people who make
them feel good and important,because that's what the power of
(09:22):
money can do, and as a resultof that, in their desire to keep
them around, they shower themwith all these little benefits
to be able to keep them aroundlonger, so that they can
continue to give them all ofthese false compliments.
He says.
If he could at least lookforward to being rewarded for
his efforts in the next world,his toil would be worthwhile and
(09:44):
he would be rich.
But in fact, he has failed thetest that God sent him.
He was tasked with the missionof supporting those below him,
while faithfully recognizingthat he is merely God's agent
for this purpose.
Instead, he acted as though itis his money, so he effectively
denied having been entrustedwith it by God.
He is thus truly a poor person,for he loses out in both worlds
(10:10):
struggles in this world to makethe money, struggles in this
world with giving the money awayand has anxiety and fear with
regards to parting with hismoney, has struggles in their
relationship because he's tryingto keep people doing things for
him and maintaining thoserelationships and discerning
between what's real and what'snot.
And in his failure todistribute it properly, he's
(10:33):
lost out on the benefits thatcould have awaited him if he
actually saw God's hand in this,which means he lives a
beautiful life here, a lifeworry-free, stress-free,
anxiety-free, depression-free.
He doesn't walk around like atyrant.
He's not worried about theirrelationships.
In fact, this individual becomesrewarded in this world because
(10:53):
he's elevated.
He earns for himself a goodname.
He's somebody that people lookat and remember him kindly and
fondly and they think, ah, whata difference this individual
made in the world.
Although he will be rewardedfor his acts of charity to the
poor and kindness to hisemployees, like I said before,
he'll be rewarded, but heforfeits the reward for all of
his toil in maintaining hisbusiness and the like.
(11:15):
Had he borne in mind that he isworking as God's agent, he
would have been richly rewardedfor that as well.
He also would have received agreater reward for his charity
and his kindness had heperformed them with the proper
attitude, guys.
Mindset and attitude is critical, not just for the wealthy, but
(11:35):
also for the poor.
Remember why you are in thatsituation.
Whether you are wealthy,whether you are poor, whether
you are somewhere in between,you are in that situation
because God, in his lovingkindness, put you there.
It's all part of your test.
It's our job to pass that testand when you pass it, you
benefit.
Not only in the world to come,my friends, but you live a
(11:58):
utopia.
Only in the world to come, myfriends, but you live a utopia.
You live a life of pleasure andof joy and of clarity in this
world.
Have an amazing day, my friends.
We'll chat tomorrow.
Good morning everybody and welcome to the
Trust Factor.
I hope you had a meaningful 9thof Av Tisha B'Av.
That was yesterday, one of themost difficult days on the
Jewish calendar for a variety ofreasons in our history.
We had some very, very tragicand difficult times for the
Jewish nation, not unlike someof the things that we've been
dealing with recently, and so itwas a day of fasting and
(00:21):
mourning and some introspection.
I hope it was meaningful foryou as it was for me.
Let's get back into the book.
We left off on Friday with somepretty powerful statements.
We were talking about somebodywho has means, somebody who God
has given money to an abundanceof wealth, and what their
(00:42):
outlook should be.
We said that most people failin this area.
Why?
First of all, we said it's avery difficult, evil inclination
.
It's one of the top two, it'sprobably the top one where
you're looking for money, whichequals power in a lot of
people's minds, and so that, bydefinition, puts them above
everybody else, and so they feelas though they are entitled and
(01:06):
it was their wisdom and it wastheir strength and their
brilliance that got them thatmoney and that if they're going
to give it to anybody, thenthose people have to be
profusely grateful for them,having given them the money, not
realizing that they were giventhat money in order to do that
very thing.
That the money should be split,generally speaking, in three
(01:26):
ways.
We said a portion of it stayswith you, takes care of your
expenses.
A portion of it goes tosupporting those around you and
your circles, whether it'simmediate family, extended
family, community members,friends.
There are people, employees,there are people that you need
to support.
You were entrusted with excesswealth, not for you to hoard,
(01:48):
not for you to buy buildings andassets and cars and luxuries
beyond anything.
That is reasonable.
Luxuries are reasonable.
Everybody is entitled to themto a certain degree.
There is reasonable and thereis unreasonable.
And if it's always about youlooking inwards because the
money is yours and that's youroutlook, then we've said you are
(02:10):
sorely, sorely mistaken.
That money was given to youpartially for yourself,
partially for others andpartially to be able to amass
some assets and some savings sothat you can utilize those to
assist other people.
The problem is we don't knowhow much of that money was
destined to remain in assets,was supposed to be in investment
(02:31):
portfolios or in real estateportfolios?
We don't know.
So if we're hoarding and we'rejust amassing and building and
growing because it makes youfeel important, it makes you
feel accomplished, but in themeantime you're deluding
yourself to think that you'rereally doing it for the future,
in case something happens forsomebody else, for your family
to be able to support Torahcommunities or whatever it may
(02:52):
be, but in the meantime you'renot even doing that today with
the money you have, theneverybody knows, including the
Creator and yourself, thatyou're really just lying to
everybody and yourself.
Yeah, that if you're livingthat way today, where you're
giving and you're generous andyou understand that you are a
steward of God's money andyou're supposed to give it to
(03:13):
the people who need it as wellas yourself, and then you begin
to build investment portfoliosand real estate portfolios and
you begin to invest money for agreat return and then you use
those monies to be able tocontinue to support, then you're
on the right track, you'redoing the right thing.
Now let's finish off thatconversation by talking about a.
It is not as he thinks that heis the wealthy one, while those
(03:37):
who rely on him for income arepoor.
We said that when you givecharity to somebody, you're not
doing them a favor.
They're doing you a favor bybecoming the vessel by which you
are able to distribute thatwealth and do the commandment to
do what you are commanded to do.
That person is assisting you inthat.
(03:58):
They didn't choose to be poor.
They didn't choose to have torely on other people.
Most healthy, normal humanbeings with a healthy mindset do
not want to be a strain on thesystem, do not want to go and
ask for handouts, do not want togrovel, do not want to lower
themselves.
They want to hold themselves uphigh.
They want to have pride, theywant to feel as if they are
(04:20):
accomplished and capable.
So when somebody has to reducethemselves to go and ask for a
handout, it's a very, verydifficult thing, my friends,
very difficult.
That's why you should give,even when you suspect that it
might be criminal, even when yoususpect that the guy has
ulterior motives.
Now again, you have to becareful.
If somebody's coming to ask forlarge sums of money and you
suspect that they're a scammer,you have an obligation to do
(04:41):
your homework.
But if somebody's in the streetor in a synagogue or whatever
it is, and they put out theirhand and you're going to give
them a few dollars to make themfeel good, to be able to get
them through the day, and thosefew dollars two is not going to
change your life.
Then you don't have to do thecalculations.
You know, I often see peoplecoming through synagogue and
they're coming to collect in themornings.
When you come in, when you goto pray in the morning in the
(05:03):
synagogues, sometimes,especially during difficult
times, people come through andthey ask for donations because
they know that people who are inthat environment have the right
mindset, and yet still theycome.
Now, today, we have thesecertificates.
They walk around once or twice.
They have to go, get registeredand recognized as somebody
who's legitimately collecting.
Unfortunately, we're living in aworld where there are a lot of
(05:24):
scam artists.
We discussed this and so, as aresult of that, we've had to put
safeguards in place to makesure that these people are
legitimate.
But, my friends, think about itfor a second, really, really
think about it.
That person came out of theirway.
That person came and loweredthemselves and got on a plane
(05:45):
and flew here from a foreigncountry and is struggling to
survive and, whatever it is,they're coming by and they're
lowering themselves to put outtheir hands and ask you for a
handout.
That is not an easy thing to doand if you've never done it
before like I thank God I'venever done it before just try
and put yourself in thatperson's shoes and understand
the challenge, the difficulty ofgoing to ask for a handout.
(06:07):
So, if you're going to give himtwo, three, five dollars, give
it to him.
And if he's a scammer, he'sgoing to have an accounting.
After 120 years he's going topay the bill.
And you know what happens, myfriend, you still get the reward
.
You still gave charity.
The guy's a multimillionaire,yeah, which is obviously not the
case.
But let's say the guy's doingvery well, he just has an
(06:27):
illness for money and he'scoming to ask and he has no
shame.
Okay, you give him three, four,five dollars.
Right, it wasn't really charity, because the guy doesn't need
it.
He's got more than he needs.
Guess what, my friends in thenext world, it's charity.
Your mindset was and you believethat you were giving charity
and this person led you tobelieve that you, that you was
(06:48):
receiving your charity, you gavecharity, end of story.
You get full credit for thatcharity.
Same time, if you give somebodycharity, but you give it to
them with a sour face, while youmay get some credit for that
charity.
Same time, if you give somebodycharity, but you give it to
them with a sour face, while youmay get some credit for that
charity, because you've done itin an inappropriate way, with a
sour face and you may have madethem feel bad, you may get
credit for it, but it'scertainly not anywhere near the
(07:10):
credit that you're supposed toget.
There's a right way and a wrongway of doing things, but what he
says over here is he says thatyou have it wrong.
He says that he thinks thathe's the wealthy one.
The one who has the moneythinks that he's the wealthy one
, while those who rely on himare poor.
And he says, in fact, theopposite is true he's the poor
one.
He toils and labors and suffersemotional distress, thinking
(07:35):
that, without this effort, hisemployees and dependents would
not have what they need, when,in truth, god has merely chosen
him as a conduit, but wouldsupply them with their income in
any event.
As for the honor that he craves, it eludes him, as his
dependents may flatter himbecause they need to", but they
(07:55):
do not respect him.
Wow, think about that.
This person is demandingrespect, demanding that people
fall in line, demanding thatpeople give him honor, and these
people do it.
And this comes with thechallenge, my friends this is a
big part of the challenge ofhaving resources is that you
don't know who's real and whoisn't.
You don't know who's reallyjust stroking your ego and
(08:17):
telling you what you want tohear, just like we see in
Hollywood All these A-listcelebrities.
They've surrounded themselveswith an entourage of people.
Their entire existence is therejust to tell them how wonderful
they are and how correct theyare and how beautiful they are
and how perfect they are and howtalented they are Right.
Why?
Because every time they givethem these wonderful compliments
, it comes with dollars, itcomes with support.
(08:40):
They keep them closer becausethey make them feel good.
Do they mean it?
Obviously not, obviously not.
They're doing it because it's apaycheck.
It's literally a job for them.
All I need to do is placate thisperson.
All I need to do is give themcompliments and make them feel
good and I'll get my paycheck.
Beats working at McDonald's, itbeats having a nine to five,
(09:01):
right.
I could just make somebody feelgood, make him think I'm his
friend and he's going to give memoney.
He's going to let me in ondeals, he's going to tell me
when the stock goes public, he'sgoing to give me a few extra
shares.
He's going to do all thesethings and in fact it happens.
It's absolutely true.
I've seen it firsthand.
People who are wealthy need tobe surrounded by people who make
them feel good and important,because that's what the power of
(09:22):
money can do, and as a resultof that, in their desire to keep
them around, they shower themwith all these little benefits
to be able to keep them aroundlonger, so that they can
continue to give them all ofthese false compliments.
He says.
If he could at least lookforward to being rewarded for
his efforts in the next world,his toil would be worthwhile and
(09:44):
he would be rich.
But in fact, he has failed thetest that God sent him.
He was tasked with the missionof supporting those below him,
while faithfully recognizingthat he is merely God's agent
for this purpose.
Instead, he acted as though itis his money, so he effectively
denied having been entrustedwith it by God.
He is thus truly a poor person,for he loses out in both worlds
(10:10):
struggles in this world to makethe money, struggles in this
world with giving the money awayand has anxiety and fear with
regards to parting with hismoney, has struggles in their
relationship because he's tryingto keep people doing things for
him and maintaining thoserelationships and discerning
between what's real and what'snot.
And in his failure todistribute it properly, he's
(10:33):
lost out on the benefits thatcould have awaited him if he
actually saw God's hand in this,which means he lives a
beautiful life here, a lifeworry-free, stress-free,
anxiety-free, depression-free.
He doesn't walk around like atyrant.
He's not worried about theirrelationships.
In fact, this individual becomesrewarded in this world because
(10:53):
he's elevated.
He earns for himself a goodname.
He's somebody that people lookat and remember him kindly and
fondly and they think, ah, whata difference this individual
made in the world.
Although he will be rewardedfor his acts of charity to the
poor and kindness to hisemployees, like I said before,
he'll be rewarded, but heforfeits the reward for all of
his toil in maintaining hisbusiness and the like.
(11:15):
Had he borne in mind that he isworking as God's agent, he
would have been richly rewardedfor that as well.
He also would have received agreater reward for his charity
and his kindness had heperformed them with the proper
attitude, guys.
Mindset and attitude is critical, not just for the wealthy, but
(11:35):
also for the poor.
Remember why you are in thatsituation.
Whether you are wealthy,whether you are poor, whether
you are somewhere in between,you are in that situation
because God, in his lovingkindness, put you there.
It's all part of your test.
It's our job to pass that testand when you pass it, you
benefit.
Not only in the world to come,my friends, but you live a
(11:58):
utopia.
Only in the world to come, myfriends, but you live a utopia.
You live a life of pleasure andof joy and of clarity in this
world.
Have an amazing day, my friends.
We'll chat tomorrow.
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My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.