Moving the Torah Section
New Dvar Torahs / lessons learned from the weekly Torah Portion has moved to Substack
Parashat Toledot
Toldot
This weeks Torah Portion is called Toldot תּוֹלְדֹת which means “Generations” and the Torah talks about some geneology;
“This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac.” And then the story of the twins Yaakov and Esau
A lesson to be learned from this weeks parasha was after Esau returned exhausted and famished from a hunt one day, Esau sells his birthright for a pot of red lentil stew.
And Esau said, “I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me?”
– Genesis 25:32
And Esau said to Yaakov, “Give me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished”—which is why he was named Edom. The Torah tells us he was named Edom (Red) due to asking for that red stuff, not due his birth when he emerged red. It is an eternal reminder that Esau lost his chance for greatness because he forgot what this world is for.
This teaches us how to do business in this world. The Torah does not say that Yaakov didn’t leave any red stew for himself, he filled Esau’s throat, but does not say he did not save any stew for himself. A servant of Hashem understands that the way to get to the next world is to walk before Hashem in this world to walk through the hallway planning for the grand ballroom
Esau only thought about the present, he was hungry and traded his future for some stew. He thought he would die this this world as the life of a hunter is not easy. I get it the early stages of a company is difficult, and the majority of startups fail and the lure of taking Venture Capital is huge. Going from Ramen Profitability (means a startup makes just enough to pay the founders’ living expenses) and taking Investments just to get to lentil stew is not the way. If you need the injection because you are growing and want to put fuel on the fire that is the right reason.
If you can be a pegasus, “For every round of financing you skip, you save 10-20% dilution. If you skip 2-3 rounds of financing this could double your ownership at an exit.”
How to Be a Pegasus
It’s fairly simple if you want to be a Pegasus, I can describe it in five tight bullet points:
- Have a modestly paid, small team that produces an extraordinary product (easy!).
- Charge from day one and pour those profits into growth.
- Focus on four things: team, product, customer feedback and growth.
- Triple revenue year-over-year.
- Ignore any ovation from an investor who doesn’t have the twitter handle @jason
Don’t trade your future for today unless you can turn that stew into success.
Parashat Chayei Sarah
This weeks Torah portion Chayei Sarah which means “Life of Sarah” which talks about the passing of Sarah, Abraham buying the cave of Machpelah and Eliezer in search for a wife for Issac.
In the first part of the parasha Abraham goes to the land of the Hittites and asks for a burial plot. At first Ephron wished to give the plot to Abraham as a gift, but Abraham insisted on paying full price of four hundred shekels of silver in negotiable currency.
From Episode 1002 on This week in Startups at the 47th minute mark Wealthfront CEO Andy Rachleff talks about legendary investor John Doerr.
Jcal: … And you said he was one of the top two or three, who else is up there?
AR: You know the only other person up there I would say would be John Doerr he was amazing
Jcal: What was his skill? what was his superpower?
AR: He was amazing at recognizing things that could be big and didn’t let anything else get in the way.
Jcal: So, Conviction?
AR: Well no he didn’t worry about price, about structure, all those things, for example Netscape. You know the founder of Netscape Jim Clark, had previously founded silicon graphics he is one of the handful of entrepreneurs I know who have created more than one company that have generated a 100 million in revenue, and because he had been so successful at Silicon Graphics, which was the google of its time in the 1980’s he was able to command a really high price. But the going valuation at that time for startups in 1994 was 5 million dollars and we wanted 20 million, and so Jim had gone to his investors at Silicon graphics which had backed him and they had only wanted to pay 5 or 6 million pre and he asked for 20 which at that time was outrageous today it’s not at all. and Doerr doesn’t even blink and said absolutely because he saw how big it could be and didn’t worry about how wacky someone was, about the price, he really focused on the opportunity.
Abraham could have taken the gift, but it is brought down in Proverbs and Kiddushin, that one should not take gifts lightly, if the gift being given is not sincere.
Rav Giddel did not descend to claim this plot of land, as it is written: “But he who hates gifts shall live” (Proverbs 15:27), and therefore he did not wish to accept the land as a gift. Rabbi Abba also did not descend to it, because Rav Giddel was already engaging in the acquisition of it when he acquired the land. In this manner, this Sage did not descend to take the plot of land, and that Sage did not descend to take care of it, and it was called the land of the Sages.
By insisting on paying there was no possibility that Ephron would later challenge the purchase at a later date. And give Abrahams descendants proof of their roots in the land of Israel. Which is why Jacob told his children he wanted to be buried there and not in Egypt.
We can learn many things from this week’s real estate purchase. The confirmation of the adage “Location, Location, Location.” and that sometimes we need to what seems like overpay in the present for higher value in the future
Chag Sukkot
The Sfas Emes writes, “The mitzvah of succah is the mitzvah of bitachon.” As Chazal said, “צא מדירת קבע,” Go out of your permanent house… and stop trusting in your assets and begin trusting in Hashem alone….
According to Rabbi Eliezer, the word “sukkot” refers to the Clouds of Glory that protected the Jews in the desert. During Sukkot we leave our homes and live in Sukkah for eight days (seven in Israel). We are told to have bitachon (Trust in Hashem), that he will protect us from the elements just as our homes do.
At the same time we have minimum guidelines for building a proper Sukkah; such as the number of walls and size. During Simcha Torah bags of candy are passed around, do we eat as much as we can and have bitachon that you won’t get cavities? No, we brush our teeth and go to the Dentist. The Chazon Ish (Hilchot Eruvin 13:6) suggests that a wall is not valid only if it falls or sways more than three tefachim in normal wind.
This past Sukkot (2019/5790) we had a Nor’easter and many Sukkahs were blown away, way more than three tefachim. Does that mean they were invalid? No, as this was not a normal wind. In that situation what we do is fortify ourselves. We add support to our sukkah and continue in the hardest part of the mitzah; To be happy continuously the whole week.
Parashat Nasso
This is a past Snapchatorah where Hillel Fuld takes the Torah portion, learns some lessons and apply them to entrepreneurship and startups.
This weeks Torah portion is called Nasso which means “Elevate” and it’s the longest in the entire Torah, it’s dry, it’s technical, but all of a sudden in the middle there are these three very meaningful verses. In the middle of the portion, G-d says to Moses, “Here is how you should bless your children, and he says these three verses that we repeat in our prayers and we bless our children with these specific words, these three verses loosely translated are “G-d should bless you, and guard you, G-d should shine light on you and G-d should carry you and bless you with peace.”
Like I said we say these verses every single in our prayers, you don’t really pay attention to things that you say routinely, but then I tried to pay attention to those first words those verbs how they’re different. The first verse is to bless and guard. How do you bless someone? You put your hand on top of them and you bless them. Or you guard them, think of an umbrella that shields someone from the sun, it’s top down.
The second one we said is shining light, how do you shine a flashlight? Straight on, if you’re too far up you cant shine light on an object, you have to be straight on.
So what do we say, the blessing and guarding is from the top down. The shining light is straight on, and the third one should lift you up.
“The three blessings are actually not repetitive at all, it is three different types of protection and leadership”
Bottom… up, so while these three blessings seem somewhat repetitive, they are actually not, three different types of protection. Top down, the same level and bottom up. Three different types of leadership.
And while these three blessings might refer to how G-d loves and protects us, I think its actually a super important lesson for leaders and entrepreneurs on how to build a company, three different types of leadership.
The first type of leadership top down, you need to protect, you need to shield, to manage from the top as a leader as a CEO in order to build a successful company.
But as someone smart once said, “When I talk to a manager I feel like they’re important when I talk to a leader, I feel like I am important.” You need to not be condescending and be on the same level as your team at all times, but a good leader. A great leader doesn’t only know how to manage from the top down or even on the same level a great leader knows how to lift up, and inspire when things are a little down.
So the Torah tells us that there are three types of blessings top down, the same level and bottom up. Same thing goes for leadership you need to know as a good leader when to active which direction and lead.
Parashat Terumah
This is a past Snapchatorah where Hillel Fuld takes the Torah portion, learns some lessons and apply them to entrepreneurship and startups.
This weeks Torah portion is called Terumah which means Donation and it is about the Jews giving donations in order to build the tabernacle which was sort of like a mobile Temple.
The portion goes into great detail about the construction of this tabernacle including what materials to use what dimensions and so much more. As always I like to focus on just one word, at the beginning of the portion when it says G-d spoke to Moses and said tell the Jews not to give a donation but strangely it said to take a donation.
Giving Selflessly is the epitome of receiving
The answer is everything when you give, more often then not you end up actually getting. In this case Moses was saying to the Jews yes you are giving but actually, you are taking donations, because you are going to be getting so much more. You are going to end up getting blessing and prosperity and much much more.
If you have not yet read Tim Ferriss book Tool of Titans, you must. But I want to focus on one specific chapter called the Canvas Strategy. Tim Ferriss explains what I always believed. The best way to do business is to create a canvas for other people to create masterpieces on, to pave the road for others to succeed, to facilitate success. If you pave the path for others to walk down you end up walking down that path as well, the path to success, but you need to do it without yourself in the equation.
Tim Ferriss says imagine if for every person you meet all that concerned you was how you can help that person what kind of profound effect that would have on you, on them and society. He explains that in the process of helping others you’d establish relationships you’d learn a lot you’d make yourself indispensable and yes you’d have a bank of favors to call upon. Love in Hebrew is אהבה the root of that word is אהב which means give, how do you know you love someone when all you want to do is give them
Make yourself indispensable to others
The lesson for Entrepreneurs, play the long game, take yourself out of the equation, build a brand by helping others providing real value. Get out of sales mode and put yourself in giving mode, or as Gary likes to say Jab Jab Jab – Right Hook. Make sure for everything you take you are giving 5x. You as an entrepreneur or as a company don’t want to be thought of as taker but rather as a giver who is indispensable to others. Go to the extremes with your giving let others take credit for your work. Don’t pursue respect because when you don’t look for it, it will find you in spades.
G-d says to Moses yes tell the Jews that we are collecting donations and they should take donations yes in the short term they are giving but really they are on the receiving end, so the bottom line lesson for you take yourself out of the equation, put yourself in giving mode make yourself indispensable and read Tools of Titans.
Parashat Vayigash
This is a past Snapchatorah where Hillel Fuld takes the Torah portion, learns some lessons and apply them to entrepreneurship and startups.
Over the past couple of weeks, we talked about Jacob and his son Joseph, and the story in which Joseph’s brothers sold him into Egyptian slavery. This week he confronts them. Just to remind you the backstory Jacob favored Joseph out of his twelve sons, the brothers, therefore, hated Joseph out of jealousy. Threw him into a put and sold him into slavery. In Egypt Joseph’s problems only got bigger, he was falsely accused and jailed and we talked about last week how Karma worked in his favor.
Long story short Joseph ends up ruling over half of Egypt and when there is a famine in other countries his brothers come down to Egypt to get food. Joseph sees his brothers in Egypt they don’t recognize him and the stage is set for the most beautiful the sweetest revenge in history. Just think of the grudge, the negativity Joseph must have felt for his brothers for all the suffering he underwent. But now when his brothers needed him most for food, what he could have done. Joseph stands there eavesdropping on his brothers as they are talking amongst themselves just think of the tension that he must have felt and the desire to take revenge. And at the peak of the suspense Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and says I am Joseph, they are in shock. He says I don’t hold a grudge, you did not send me here G-d did I don’t blame you. Now just think what type of discipline and self-control and restraint it must have taken Joseph to not take revenge and to forgo his anger toward the brothers. After decades of not seeing his beloved father and suffering in Egypt he now has the sweetest opportunity to take revenge but what does he do? He throws the confrontation and negativity out the window.
You have no idea how many times I have seen this, the grudge, the defensiveness, the confrontation, the negativity. The investor who didn’t get what you were doing and therefore didn’t invest in your company, the journalist that did not agree to cover you, the knee-jerk reaction to defensiveness confrontation and negativity. He didn’t give me a check, I’ll never take money from him. He didn’t cover my startup, I’ll never give him a story again. Wrong response, throw the negativity out the window.
I am not even referring to the dangers of burning bridges or the fact that the investor you just blacklisted might have been about to help you with something else. I am simply referring to the dangers of negativity for you. The ability to throw that bitterness out the window, the ability to not confront shows a level maturity that every entrepreneur needs and vice-versa. The definition of a successful entrepreneur is one that not only celebrates the positive answers they get but knows how to learn from the negative ones and put aside the instinct of negativity. Joseph taught us as entrepreneurs the very valuable lesson to fight the instinct for negativity the unbelievably strong instinct he must have felt, move on and embrace positivity.
ℵ
Hillel is a Co-Founder at ZCastApp, mentor at Google, Microsoft, and many other accelerators across Israel. Add Hillel on Twitter
Parashat Miketz
This is a past Snapchatorah where Hillel Fuld takes the Torah portion, learns some lessons and apply them to entrepreneurship and startups.
This weeks Torah portion is called Miketz which means ‘After.’ The story is of a very interesting one with endless valuable lessons for entrepreneurs. Last week we talked about Jacob and his 12 sons, including Joseph his favorite one. Joseph is sold into slavery where he is falsely accused of something, and thrown into Jail.
After Joseph is falsely accused and jailed he encounters some of the king’s officers who have a dream that Joseph then interprets with the help of G-d according to the commentary. All that was in last weeks portion. In this weeks portion, Pharoh himself has a dream and those officers they remember Joseph, and they tell Pharoh there’s this guy in jail, they tell him who interpreted our dreams successfully and suggest Pharoh invite him to the palace, which he does and Joseph indeed interprets his dream as well. Long story short after Joseph successfully interprets pharaohs dream pharaoh is impressed he takes Joseph out of jail and puts him in charge of the treasure of all of Egypt.
Let’s break this down for a bit. Joseph by his own brothers is sold into slavery, then falsely accused then jailed but he doesn’t give up. I don’t know about you but if I was betrayed by my own brothers then falsely accused and jailed. I’m not sure I’d spend time bothering interpreting some random dudes dream in jail. I’d be pretty down on myself.
What ends up happening is what we call Middah k’neged Middah or Karma. Because Joseph spent that time interpreting those dreams. He ended up ruling half of Egypt. Huge lesson for Entrepreneurs, First lesson; there will be many hardships don’t let them get you down, move on. But there actually is something much much more important here. If I had a dime for every entrepreneur or investor that didn’t do anything unless it generated instant ROI on their time, I’d be an investor myself. As an entrepreneur, I can not tell you how many times, hundreds and hundreds of times of meetings I’ve had that were not clear they would generate any ROI but ended up generating tremendous ROI. Karma is an entrepreneur’s best friend. Unless it’s his worst enemy don’t always think of the instant ROI sometimes just do good. I’m not saying your time isn’t worth money, it is. But not everything is about money and when somebody asks for help be prepared to offer that help. Even if that helper’s guidance doesn’t boomerang back and help you in your future, worst .comes to worst you have helped someone and in most scenarios, at least in my experience it absolutely does come around.
Joseph could have easily sat in jail and have said dude leave me alone, I don’t have the patience for your dreams but he didn’t he offered help. And boy did that ROI come fast. But this goes beyond meeting others and giving guidance and experience this is true about marketing as well. don’t always measure the instant RO think the long game. Do you think Joseph in his wildest dreams has ever thought his brothers betraying him selling him into slavery than being falsely accused in jail would lead him to save all of ancient Egypt?
As they say, challenges if they don’t kill you make you stronger that’s first of all, and second of all do good and the ROI will come back in spades.
ℵ
Hillel is a Co-Founder at ZCastApp, mentor at Google, Microsoft, and many other accelerators across Israel. Add Hillel on Twitter
Parashat Vayetze
The portion talks about Jacob leaving Israel, exiting his comfort zone, entering a strange place, hitting obstacles, overcoming those obstacles using cold hard rocks, then dreaming big about a ladder that bridges between the ground (execution) and the skies (your vision)
This weeks Torah Portion is called Vayetze, וַיֵּצֵא which means “He left” and the Torah talks about Jacob our forefather leaving Israel and going to a place called Haran.
Anyone that takes a glance at the beginning of the portion will notice there are a lot of verbs. The verbs are very interesting; he left, he came, he slept he dreamt, he hit,… all kinds of different verbs. What do they mean?
The story continues that as Jacob arrives in Haran he places rocks around his head lays his head on the ground and dreams of a ladder, with Angels going up and down to the heavens.
So Jacob leaves his comfort zone he leaves Israel to go to Haran. Lesson number one what is the first thing that he does, he hits the place what do you hit? You hit obstacles, and how do you defend yourself? What does Jacob do to defend himself, to protect himself from these obstacles? He puts cold hard rocks around himself. To overcome those obstacles.
Then the Torah describes the sun setting and night coming down on Jacob. Hard times, and what does he do? He dreams, his vision, and what’s the vision? The vision is a ladder, climbing not a little high but all the way up to the heavens. A big freaking vision. I think you know where I am going with this. All entrepreneurs will tell you; there are many obstacles along the way. Use all your resources at your disposal, cold hard tock to overcome those obstacles
And even more so if the Angels going up and down between the execution and the high vision, between skies and the ground. If you examine the beginning of this weeks Torah Portion with the lens of an entrepreneur, you’ll notice those verbs accurately describe the life of every startup
Leave your comfort zone, hit obstacles overcome obstacles dream big but don’t just leave it as a vision, climb down the ladder and execute.
Parashat Vayeira
This weeks Torah portion Vayeira which means “He appeared” starts with a famous scene of three travelers who we find to be Angels visiting a recovering Abraham. Not wanting to miss out on the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim – hospitality to guests, Abraham runs towards the travelers to greet them.
Let a little water be brought; bathe your feet and recline under the tree. And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves
The Talmud in Bava Metzia 87a learns from this interaction. “Rabbi Elazar said: From here we learn that the righteous say little and do much, whereas the wicked say much and do not do even a little.”
The Righteous say little and do much
Talk is cheap, actions are everything. A lesson for entrepreneurs is clear, if you want to build a sustainable business don’t promise the moon not deliver. If a company promised 2-week shipping and delivered in one you’d be happy, compared to a 2-day shipping promise in one week. You get the package in the same amount of time but the expectations were different.
Every product. Every campaign every launch, manage expectations
Leaving Easter eggs for customers to find like Elon Musk does in his Teslas or “Secret” features in Apple products bring delight to customers. Not everything needs to be crammed into a presenation.
Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quick, three seahs of choice flour! Knead and make cakes!” Then Abraham ran to the herd, took a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant-boy, who hastened to prepare it.
Abraham hastened, he ran. After the encounter with Pharaoh In Lech Lecha, “He acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels.” Abraham was a rich man with servants but he personally wanted to pick out the calf for his guests. But we see that Abraham himself did not prepare the calf, he gave that role to another.
“Don’t be a bottleneck” – Matt Blumberg on What A CEO does.
Abraham is the founder of Judaism, there are jobs for the CEO, and jobs he hires for. Where Abraham himself wanted the personal touch of picking out the calf but leaves the cooking to his servant. As a founder, you don’t need to do it all yourself but there are times to get your hands dirty and times to delegate.