A few weeks back, I became a member of Hillel at Baruch. Prior to attending Baruch, I never really explored religion, epistemology, and philosophy. I always questioned the things that occurred around me but never looked into my Jewish background for the answers. Hillel at Baruch College gave me an opportunity to do this as students informed me about EMET Fellowship, a seminar held every Thursday in which students can discuss a variety of topics and how they relate to Judaism. Other weekly discussions are held as well by Rabbi Shlomo Nisanov, giving you another outlook on the same topics. Being that I never considered myself religious, it took some convincing on behalf of my friends to actually attend this event but I finally did and can only regret I hadn’t come sooner.
The Hebrew word, EMET, in itself means truth. If you look at its Hebrew spelling, it is made up of three letters, the first, middle and last letter of the alphabet. This indicates that truth encompasses all things, and prevails from the beginning to the end. The first two letters alone mean death, and the last letter on its own represent being one with god. Essentially, truth is all around us, begins at the start of our life, and becomes most clear with increasing awareness of god. This is just one of the interesting and thought provoking things I learned at this event but the list goes on as each rabbi brings forth his own perspective and interpretation of the Torah, applies personal stories and events that are relatable, and makes you understand the religious significance of simple daily events.
At the seminar I attended, we talked about doing positive things for others and how this in turn would bring us happiness and good fortune in our future lives. From a modern perspective, it sounds a bit like karma and the idea of doing unto others as you wish to be done unto you. Although this event itself is very difficult to relate to the theme of economics aside from the fact that is an outstanding, free and openly available resource at Baruch College, the lessons you learn can be applied to daily life. For example, one prevalent idea in Judaism is that God is the creator of man, man lives and aims to become closer with God and God enables you with certain possessions that allow you to lead the best life you can and a life that was essentially created for you. If you look at it from this point, the accumulation of wealth is a virtue not a vice but you must put in the effort in good faith to achieve that wealth. I think this applies to us as students because it gives us the incentive to do our best and be a few steps ahead in order to be more prepared for the future as we venture into the job market and deal with the economy. If we remain dedicated, steadfast, act in good faith and set goals for ourselves, wealth will gravitate toward us. Overall, these seminars have made me question the world and the people around be both in a positive and negative way while simultaneously pointing me towards answers and solutions to problems. I feel that a lot of the things I learn here fall into a category of ethics as well and can be applied not only in my daily tasks, but in business ethics as well.
