George Jenkins was the founder and owner of Publix, making $27 billion annually, and he was known to be extremely philanthropic.
Jenkins was once asked, "If you hadn't given away so much, how much do you think you would be worth today?" Without hesitation, he replied, "Probably nothing."
After all the excitement of the High Holidays, we begin the Torah anew as we read the Torah Portion of Bereishis (Genesis) this Shabbos. And it's refreshing indeed.
Though you might have studied the story of creation before, a closer look exposes an interesting discrepancy between how Man was created and how everything else was created.
With regards to everything other than Man, from fish and birds to planets and atoms, all were created through G-d's speaking them into existence. "And G-d said let there be light, and there was light'. Not so with Man. Whilst creating Adam, G-d blew the soul of life into his nostrils.
Our sages point out the powerful difference between speaking and blowing. Whilst speaking requires minimal effort from the speaker, blowing tires one out very quickly, because blowing comes from your very guts, whereas speaking does not.
Our Kabbalists conclude, therefore, that only Mankind has a soul within him that is quite literally from G-d's essence, a piece of G-d. Everything else has merely a glimmer of G-dly energy within it.
Whilst everything else on Earth is subject to the laws of nature and instinct, we are not. What defines us is the piece of G-d within us and when it comes to G-d, the sky simply isn't the limit!
For everything else, Jenkins answer that charity made him wealthy defies logic. But for us G-dly creatures, who march to the beat of a different drummer, our G-dly soul defies nature and even mitzvahs can be turned into money.