2. Wealth, if acquired in an honest manner, by hard work, is conducive to our well-being. But in our search for wealth we must bear in mind that it is not an end in itself, but serves only as a means of securing our well-being. Koheleth tells us, what experience endorses, that there are “riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt” (Eccles. v. 12). It is true we must struggle for the means of our existence. But in the struggle for wealth we must not entirely suppress the claims of our moral and intellectual wants, and if we were to suppress them, we should only work for our own ruin. “Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain” (Prov. xxx. 7–9). To this golden mean we should adhere. It is our duty to seek an honest livelihood, but we are told, “Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom” (Prov. xxiii. 4). One of the various duties of parents towards their children is to take good care that they learn a trade, and “he who does not teach his son a trade,” say our Sages, “is as guilty as if he directly taught him to rob” (Babyl. Talm. Kiddushin, p. 29a). There is an erroneous opinion abroad, that commerce is more congenial to Judaism than handicraft. In our Law no trace of such preference is noticeable; on the contrary, agriculture was the principal occupation of the Israelites. “When thou eatest the labour of thine hands, happy art thou, and it is well with thee” (Ps. cxxviii. 2). “Love work, and hate lordship” is a well-known lesson of the sayings of the Fathers (Aboth i. 10). Bible and post-Biblical literature equally teach us the lesson that our comfort and happiness do not depend on the amount of wealth we have amassed, but on the degree of contentment our heart has acquired. “Sweet is the sleep of the labourer, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep” (Eccles. v. 11). Industry is one of the sources of human happiness; but the blessing of industry is easily lost, if it is not combined with thrift and temperance. In days of prosperity we must bear in mind that days of misfortune may come; we must, so far as we can, provide for them, so that we may be able to hold out “till the storm has passed.” Temperance is inseparable from thrift and industry. Intemperance not only consumes the products of thrift and industry, but in course of time destroys these very sources of our prosperity. Even with regard to Sabbath, in honour of which some degree of comfort and even of luxury may be indulged in, the principle is laid down: “Treat thy Sabbath like an ordinary day, if additional expense is likely to make thee dependent on charity” (Babyl. Talm. Shabbath 118a).