Poverty and Wealth

Rabbi Soloveitchik makes an interesting distinction between Jews and Gentiles. Even though we have a warning against one accumulating wealth and forgetting G-d, the Rav claims that for the most part, Jews have done well with wealth and with poverty. Jews learn to make the most of every situation.

This is not the case with the Gentiles. They do well when there is wealth and prosperity. But they are not able to handle poverty. A perfect example were the Nazis יימח שמם, whose inability to handle poverty, led to the death of twenty million people.

Rav Meir Kahane said it best. “When things are good for the גוי, they hate us quietly. When things are bad for the גוי, they hate us loudly. And when things are very bad for them, they hate us violently.”