Make More Money Through Relationships: A Lesson from a Rabbi


For me, it can be a struggle to understand how money works and learn the value of it.
For the last two years, I have mused over what money is supposed to mean to me. I ask myself questions like:

Why do I work 40 hours a week for it?

What goals do I have with the money I make?

What is money supposed to do for me?

Hi. In case we haven’t met, I am Daniel and I am not a rabbi (more on that later).

I grew up with not much of an education about the benefits of money. I did grow up with an education on how the lack of understanding money can ruin relationships, though. That was not an education that I signed up for, but it was forced to be one I had to obtain.

Going through those situations, and living as an adult who has been living paycheck to paycheck has led me to the above questions. And now the questions had led me to the one question that I believe is life-defining:

How do I become wealthy?(Fair warning: I will refer to this as the question)

As you can see, I know that I am not an expert on money, so I don’t blame you if you do not want to read this article anymore. I will submit this to you though: I am on a journey that has been changing what I think about money, and I am choosing to listen to those who are proven to know a thing or two about the almighty dollar. Take a chance with me and let’s peer into the nuggets of someone who comes from a culture of money-making people.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin is a Jewish author who has published multiple works, such as “Boost Your Income: Three Spiritual Steps to Success”, “Let Me Go”, and has received endorsements by the likes of Zig Ziglar.

In his book, Thou Shall Prosper, he shares his thoughts on wealth with the belief that the bible has helpful insights about prosperity for people of all faiths. To be honest, I have just started reading this book, but have gained deep insight from the first few pages of it already.

Rabbi Lapin writes in page 5: “…learning how to increase your ability to make money and produce wealth suffuses every aspect of your existence. It sometimes turns things on their heads. For instance, whenever I ask university students why they are studying, they invariably answer that they wish to increase their ability to earn money. Is gaining wisdom all about increasing wealth? No, of course not. The reverse is far truer. Gaining wealth is about increasing wisdom.”

Further on he states, “…the wonderful thing about learning how to make money is that it does inevitably teaches you how to improve your relationships with others.”
I have not read much further past that point, but I really like where he is going with this! Making money is not all about making the green, but it’s about everything you need to know and everyone who needs to be important to you.

As I look into my life, I see that I am most happiest when I feel like no one hates me. It’s hard for me to move on when I know I have offended someone and nothing has been done to deal with that offense. Granted, there’s wisdom in letting go of people who are toxic in your life, but when you know you have wronged someone, how could you really prosper in life? And if you do not learn how to reconcile with those people, how will you be able to do business as well as you possibly can?

Obtaining money usually involves an exchange of at least two parties. That means that there is a kind of good will somewhere in that exchange. If you own a business that provides a service or product, you get paid by the customers your business has provided for. If you’re a server who did a good job serving a few people at a table, they usually leave you a tip for serving them well. You get the jist.

As the rabbi shows, relationships have a lot to do with making money. It’s not about using people to get money but it’s about understanding how money works with relationships.

Tell me, was this article helpful? If so, how do you reflect on your relationships when it comes to money?



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I am a 32 year-old central floridian. I work at a 4-Diamond hotel in Florida. I live with a roommate who is so different than me, it's insane, but we make it work. Also, I am a 6'3" tall, 240 lb black, straight man who wants to blog about self-care!

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