A Profession will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune. - Jim Rohn

The Gemara rejects this contention: There, with regard to a firstborn, it is different, for if he leaves it and does nothing the animal will die, and therefore we say that a person is agitated over his property. In his agitated state he will overlook the details of permitted and prohibited actions and violate a prohibition. Here, however, if he leaves his animal and does not comb it, it will merely suffer pain from the stinging insects. In that case we do not say that a person is agitated about his property.

הָתָם, דְּאִי שָׁבֵיק לֵיהּ — מָיֵית, אָמְרִינַן אָדָם בָּהוּל עַל מָמוֹנוֹ. הָכָא, אִי שָׁבֵיק לֵיהּ — צַעֲרָא בְּעָלְמָא הוּא, לָא אָמְרִינַן אָדָם בָּהוּל עַל מָמוֹנוֹ.

Let’s talk for a bit about this concept, that people tend to get agitated over money, even to the point that they might violate issurim. What is it about money that makes some people so crazy?  How many sholom bayis issues happen over money? Some are compulsively cheap, obsessing and getting angry over the smallest waste. Others may spend compulsively, racking up credit card debt.

Psychologically speaking, money can mean a form of control, love or safety. When a developmental instinct is overindulged or conversely deprived it often leads to arrested development, that is being stuck in a less mature phase. Therefore, some persons who felt the only love they received was by money and gifts, can carry that into their adult life seeking shopping, in clothing and fancy cars as a way of finding love. On the other hand, someone who felt unusually deprived may also seek remedies for love in money. If one felt unsafe in various ways during childhood, extreme stinginess and control over money might be an unconscious way to stave off feelings of chaos or doom.

Though impulsive spending or compulsive hoarding can be difficult to treat, it is usually due to the person’s denial. Once a person can come to accept that he or she has a distorted perception of financial need or fear of loss of money, then treatment can go fairly quickly. The greatest challenge is the denial. Often these distorted ideas about money feel perfectly rational and normal to the person who has them; he or she is doing fine while everyone else is crazy and everyone else is suffering.

for Video Shiur click here to listen:  Psychology of the DAF Pesachim 11

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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