Billion Dollar Question - R. Moshe Dov Heber - TorahAnytime.com

In 2019, I had an opportunity together with the boys in Yeshiva Gedolah Waterbury to go to the Lakewood Yeshiva. We went to Beth Medrash Govoha, and there we saw the magnificent Yeshiva, thousands of people learning. And we had an opportunity to hear a story from Reb Malkiel Kotler, shlita. Reb Malkiel shared the story, and I later went back to the source, Reb Yisroel Mendelowitz, who is a rebbe in Silver Spring, and also the director of Camp Marabu in the Midwest. And he shared the following story. That every year, besides for the unbelievable trips where they go on to see Marabu Maseches Hashem, to see Hakadosh Baruch Hu's unbelievable world, the highlight that they were looking for was a Shabbos in Los Angeles. And the highlight of that Shabbos was that at the end of Shabbos, they were going to have a questions and answers session with wealthy people in Los Angeles. And the boys were excited. They had prepared their questions. And then came the questions and answers session, and they were sitting with these wealthy people, the boys on one side, the wealthy people on the other side, and this was the moment. And the boys started asking, "How do you make your first millions?" It was fascinating. It was business questions, different things. The boys were enamored. And then, they said that there was time for one more question. And a boy in the back raises his hand, and he said, "I have a question. It might be a little awkward, but I feel I want to ask this question." And he said, "Our our rabbaim always taught us that money doesn't buy happiness. I want to ask this question to the wealthiest person in the world. You told us before that there's a billionaire in the world. I want to ask him the question. Honestly, tell me the truth. Does money buy happiness?" And there was pin-drop silence in the room. Everyone It was almost awkward. What if he does say that money buys happiness? Everything that the Rebbe taught is now questionable. Because if the wealthy man, the one who tastes the money, he says that money buys happiness, what's going to be? And the man takes a deep breath and he says, "It's a great question. I ponder it sometimes, but I want to give you the answer. Money? Money buys pleasure. Money has the ability with one call to the travel agent, boom, I can be on a yacht off the Pacific Ocean. I can be there and he can get me a singer, a caterer, bring my family there. I can do everything. I can have the time of my life without a problem. One phone call, one credit card, I have it. But I'll tell you the honest truth. Money buys pleasure. But money Money does not buy happiness. There are only two things in my life that buy me happiness or get me happiness. One is that no matter where I am on business, I travel far, but for an hour a day I learn with my Rebbe, I don't care where it is, I tap in, I zoom in, whatever it is, an hour a day. And the second is when the bochurim come home from Yeshiva and they sit around the Shabbos table and they share divrei Torah and they share insights on life and they sing together. That That brings me happiness. The money just pleasure. Doesn't do happiness. And you can imagine the boy sat there taking this in from the man who has it all, the man who has the money and yet he realizes that money yes, it does buy pleasure, but pleasure doesn't equal happiness.