Jul

13

If I were a rich man I would after seeing Sholem Aleichem last nite have gone down to the bourse as he did and bought the stock markets and the Germanys and the Londons the way he did in 1890 after inheriting money from his father in law.

When he wasn't writing about the conflict between the old ways of life of the Jews in the shetl and the market place, beset by the forces of modern commerce and the industrial revolution, he was busy speculating. The Jews in the wave of shetls those days were blamed for every calamity, every assassination, every downturn so he had to speculate when not writing to soothe his heart and take care of his big family.

He started his career as the son of a wealthy merchant and was talented with the books. He got a job as a tutor to the daughter of a most prosperous banker merchant. He was caught in a romantic dalliance with her, and his pay check was left on the desk of an empty house with a sleigh waiting for him outside. After getting a government job, he was able to make enough to elope with her.

He inherited his father in law's fortune. And then went to Odessa to trade on the bourse during the day and write Yiddish stories for newspapers during the evening. He wrote a story a week for 25 years despite bad health.

During the day, he lost everything frequently. First in the stock market, then in venture capital. When he said " I'm talking 10 million rubles if this speculation works out " my partner and I immediately looked at each other and she said " I didn't say anything ". Next in commodities. Finally in real estate , and London and German bonds. He fled after declaring bankruptcy but the mother in law called him back and paid off his debts. She continued living in the house and never spoke to him again.

He tried to make his fortune in America but his plays talked about the old ways of life and the young Jews who attended the plays in those days in 1916 were interested in the new ways. He was unsuccessful . He then tried to make a living by going on lecture tours a la Mark Twain, Dickens, Kipling. He was well received but could not cover his expenses, and died a pauper.

After his death, he became popular again first in Russia, then in Israel and finally in the US. 200000 people attended his funeral in new York.

With Fiddler on the roof,the play and the movie, one of most popular shows ever, his estate became very prosperous again.

What can we learn from Sholem Aleichem. He would have thought it was a matter of course that the big people, the connected would have the inside information and contacts to make money at the expense of the little people. Some of his best stories, talk about the morals of the business man. I like the one about the business man who insisted on charging his guest for the meals and lodging even after begging him as a favor to miss his train and be the tenth in a minyan .

He is a prime example of the evils of thinking that because you are good at one thing, in his case writing stories and philosophy that you could be good at another. He knew nothing of the fields he speculated in, and pyramided, and was defrauded and was guaranteed to lose everything.

He is also a good example of how envy is an insidious disease that cause you to become a degenerate and die broke almost as much as gambling. He saw the Rothschild's making money, and walking and marrying with the prime ministers, and wanted to have that himself. The only avenue to achieve it was at the bourse where he was victimized by the same forces that keep the little man at bay today.


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