Mazel Tov and business lesson from Mishnayos Sotah (seriously)
Baruch HaShem (Thank G-d), with help from Him and my family, I finished Sotah in my daily Mishnayos learning…
Sotah primarily deals with the halachos (Jewish laws) of a married woman who is suspected of adultery… there are many details involved - warnings, witnesses, time they spent alone, etc.. Sotah literally means “one who strays”... if the woman claims she was innocent and she wants to stay married to her husband, she has to take the test of the “bitter water” (hence my picture for this post)... if she is guilty, the waters will cause her death… if she drinks the water and is innocent she receives many blessings for G-d…
How does any of this apply to business? Oh I think it is 100% relevant…
One of the themes of “Sotah” is suspicious behavior… as a business owner, especially as someone that proudly looks like an “Orthodox Jew”, I do my best to do everything I can in the most “kosher” way, for example:
→ when I receive my taxes back from my accountant, I review it thoroughly to make sure all expenses and all income was accounted for… whatever the final number is fine, as long as it is accurate
→ when I started our free 30 day program, I was advised by people to set it up so if the customer did not cancel the membership they would start being billed… I say absolutely NO, I refuse to set up anyone for payments without their action or explicit instructions to do so
→ at one point I had a chance to teach a dream class inside a gym for boxers, but although the owner could guarantee that men only would join, he couldn't guarantee women wouldn’t be exercising in the gym at the same time… per my religious observance, I do not watch women exercise, so I couldn’t do the class
→ people have called me to discuss joining Jump Into Shape to increase muscle like lifting weights… rather than have them waste their time, I’ve advised them that Jump Into Shape is probably not going to achieve their goals..
Just a few examples that come to mind..
It also crossed my mind that we see this idea in sports.. I haven’t followed sports in 15-20 years, but 2 baseball players from my “era” are not in the Baseball Hall of Fame… 1 hit close to 800 home runs, the other won over 350 games… they were never convicted of anything, including perjury, so what gives? I think it is simply that there was too much suspicion of the people they connected with, the teammates that admitted using steroids…
My bracha (blessing) to all of us is that we do our best to live above suspicion, be honest with ourselves and each other and all make the Honesty Hall of Fame..
Thank you and many blessings,
Moshe
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Moshe Moskowitz
Jump Into Shape
CEO, Founder and Head Trainer
www.jumpintoshape.fun
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