I asked a kind man steeped in religion if he knew
the Jewish view on money. “More of it?” he joked,
not meaning to offend. It stung. “Who is rich?” our rabbis ask,
“He who is happy with what he has.”

I thought of Dallas, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,
our country’s chronic coveting, then of the Taj Mahal.
The slaves, we forget, encrusting it in jewels.
The pyramids. And what of them?

A convert taught me my religion’s views — money, a blessing,
if come by honestly then shared with others, something
that I wished I’d known. The poor, required still, to help those
less fortunate, unless one is too poor to give. No shame in that

yet not a good way to live. Tikkun Olam! Repair the world.
Leave it better than I found it. When I meet my maker,
how will I answer, “Have you welcomed every permitted pleasure?”
I warm my bath and now I step in.