Parashat Ki Tetzeh

This a past #Snapchatorah where Hillel Fuld takes the Torah portion, learns some lessons and apply them to entrepreneurship and startups.

Ki Tetzeh is jam-packed with mitzvos (commandments) of all kinds

This weeks Torah Portion Ki Tetzeh Which means “when you go out” is super unique for so many reasons. Number one, its the portion with the most commandments in the entire Torah. The portion starts with laws of war, divorce, it talks about day to day routine things. But then there is this one commandment that stands out. The Torah talks about if you see a nest with a mother bird and chicks and you want to take the chicks, don’t do it while the mother is still there, send the mother away.

What does this have to do with day to day life? Also, guess what the rewards are for this commandment

Torah teaches us a very valuable lesson here about morals and ethics and compassion. even when it comes to birds, even when it comes to trivial things in life

This commandment called “Shiluach Haken” aka sending away the mother, along with respect for one’s parents, the reward is a long life.

With most commandments in the Torah, we don’t know the rewards we will get if we fulfill the commandments, not so with this commandment, the reward? A long life. Now the Torah literally means that if you fulfill this commandment along with respect for one’s parents, you live a long physical life. but what I think it means is, a long and sustainable lifestyle

It’s not only about the years; it’s about the type of life.

Behave with ethics in everything you do and that is how you build a sustainable lifestyle. A lesson for entrepreneurs, could not be clearer. If you want to build a sustainable business behave ethically. Not only people are looking and not only with the big things, the way you treat employees, the way you do your marketing, in everything. The goal of every entrepreneur? To build a sustainable business! The Torah tells us how! Good ethics, good culture should be at the foundation of everything you do!

Every meeting. Every strategy every announcement, every milestone. Ethics. Morals. Compassion

The mitzvah of “Shiluach Haken” belongs right there in the middle of all the commandments about how to build a just and ethical society because that is how you do it. By behaving compassionately. Ethics and morals need to run through the veins of the organization and manifest themselves in all aspects, without exceptions. Even the most trivial things!

Its just birds no one is looking maybe I don’t have to act ethically right? It just a small announcement perhaps I’ll lie to the press maybe I won’t be upfront about my employees. No! The Torah tells us. You want to live the longest sustainable life behave ethically even when it comes to taking chicks out of a nest. Want to build sustainable business ethics in every aspect of your organization.

The Torah could have taught us how to behave ethically in bigger things in life like doing business, but no it takes about taking chicks out of a nest. The most trivial matter and it says then is when you need to behave ethically

Being ethical with big things isn’t that difficult. It’s when no one is looking that is difficult

None of us are stealing millions of dollars for our startup but sometimes you know, you might bend the truth a little bit. The Torah says no, even the smallest things. The reward for behaving ethically for the mundane things. Sustainability. Behave ethically with the little things in life, and you will live a long life. Same goes for your company

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Hillel is a Co-Founder at ZCastApp, mentor at Google, Microsoft, and many other accelerators across Israel. Add Hillel on Twitter