The Three Reasons the Righteous Were Rich Across the Centuries

Midrash Aggadah Talmudic tradition; cf. Shabbat 119a

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 5, 2025

Someone once came to Rabbi Ishmael, the son of Joshua, with a question that must have been asked in every generation: how did the wealthy of the land of Israel come by their wealth? Was it luck? Was it inheritance? Or was there a merit behind it?

Rabbi Ishmael answered plainly: "They gave their tithes in due season, as it is written, Thou shalt surely tithe, that thou mayest be rich" — a creative reading of Deuteronomy 14:22, where the sages found a double meaning in the Hebrew aser te'aser. Tithe, and you will be enriched.

But the questioner pressed him. "Tithes were only given to the Levites while the holy Temple still stood. After the Temple was destroyed, while Israel lived in Babylon, they could not tithe. Yet some of them became rich there too. What merit sustained them?"

Rabbi Ishmael answered, "They honored the holy Torah by expounding it. The study hall took the place of the altar."

The questioner pressed again. "But in other countries, where they did not have great academies to expound the Torah, some of them also prospered. What carried them?"

"By honoring the Sabbath," Rabbi Ishmael replied.

Three eras, three merits. Tithe during the Temple. Torah after the Temple. Shabbat wherever Jews go. Where one pillar falls, another rises — and somehow, the rabbi is saying, the house always stays standing.

Themes

Rabbis Sabbath Torah Exile Community

Biblical References

Deuteronomy 14:22

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