E-Commerce

What a jerk!

 

I thought moving to Israel would liberate me from those Wall Street vipers that tear your heart out and laugh about it. I made a good-faith deal with this guy. I would pay this amount, and he would deliver the asset.

 

Hours before we were about to finalize the transaction, he decided to deliver half of what he promised. I put money aside for this. I passed up other opportunities. He didn’t even express a morsel of remorse. He even got angry because I brought it up.

 

I wanted to kill him. It took an hour of dreaming up all the medieval torture chambers I would put him through before I realized my mistake.

 

My thinking is so 20^th century. That was the time I lived my life without emuna or Hashem. Everything was strictly materialistic. Through the eyes of a materialistic being, there are three outcomes to every transaction.

 

You win, and those dozen roses you planned to buy your wife quickly become an emerald necklace.

 

You lose, and that week-long vacation in Eilat becomes a 5 star barbecue on the balcony.

 

You break even, which feels like drinking a cup of decaf coffee, lots of expectation but in the end, nothing.

 

Then I discovered E-Commerce. The E is for Emuna!

 

If I win – Baruch Hashem! I feel good. There is more for tzedakah, more joy in the prayers and, my faith in G-d is reinforced.

 

If I lose, that’s also good. The greater the loss, the cleaner my soul – the more punishment is paid off. The greater opportunity I have to say thank You to Hashem for letting me pay the bill in this world, instead of where it really counts.

 

If I break even, I can thank Hashem for saving my money.

 

But if I get stiffed, that’s hitting the jackpot!

 

1. Hashem has gifted me with an atonement for something I did in the past. Being cheated is being embarrassed, and that’s a real soul correction.

 

2. Hashem has provided me with a test to see past my seething anger at the person who did this, and realize that this is Hashem doing it to me, for my own good, and that this person is just a tool in His Hand.

 

It’s easier to come to that conclusion when I lose, but when someone stiffs me — seeing through that anger is like trying to look at something through fire – that’s a real challenge!

 

3. I can crush my anger. Anger is one of the worst sins there is. It destroys us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Diffusing your anger while the flames of raw hatred are at their hottest is like cutting down a tree by tearing out its roots. It won’t be growing back anytime soon.

 

To overcome such a ferocious spiritual adversary is a huge leap forward in anyone’s personal development, and brings so much blessing to the world.

 

4. It gives me the chance to do some soul searching. I used to get stiffed all the time while I was working on Wall Street. But when I worked on Wall Street, I did all the things that please the body, yet upset my Father.

 

Now that this happened, are old habits returning? I have worked so hard to grow and move forward, am I getting complacent? If I am enduring the same agony I faced when I was in my 20s, perhaps I am beginning to act in ways that I did back then which merited these tribulations in the first place.

  

When you deal in old school commerce, it’s a lot like playing roulette, the odds are always stacked against you.

 

Once you upgrade to E-Commerce, you always win.

 

 

* * *

David Ben Horin lives in Israel with his wife and three children. He is the author of http://www.abetterlifeinisrael.com/, a video workshop on how to achieve in Israel everything you want to achieve anywhere else.