'Profit vs Prophet' - Abigail Morris

A Jewish man was praying for a lottery win when he heard God say to him, "Can you meet me halfway and buy a lottery ticket."

Our topic tonight is about the business of well being and wealth. Research demonstrates that wealth does not make us happy. 58% of people in the relatively affluent UK define themselves as being happy compared to 86% in the relative poverty of the African continent. The UK has a mental health crisis with £6bn lost on stress in the workplace and mental health issues cause more deaths than cancer. 1 in 10 children have a mental health problem.

It seems that having less than a certain sum of money (in the UK, this amount seems to be around £20,000 per annum) tends to make people miserable but that earning above that level makes no difference to people's reported levels of well being. Interestingly, the poverty of others makes us unhappy. The spirit level of inequality affects you even if you are at the top.

Well being is, of course, hard to measure. Ed Diener studied the well being of nuns from their entry into the convent as novices and then throughout their lives. He found that attitudes made a significant difference to length of life, with those having a positive attitude living up to 15 years longer than those who did not. Our sense of well being ad our attitude to life seems to affect our health and longevity.

Martin Seligman, who studies postive psychology, suggests that we can shift towards improving our sense of well being; that there are practical steps we can take to do so. Based on such scientific evidence, the new economics foundation has created a set of five simple actions which can improve well-being in everyday life.

These have clear corrollaries to teaching within Judaism: Give (Tzedakah) - being a volunteer and giving to charity has consistently been shown to be hugely beneficial, both mentally and physically (peer to peer support has been noted as the biggest help to cancer suffers with the implication that giving gives you more); Connect (Kehilah) - people cope better if they are part of community networks and possess strong relationships with friends and family; Be Active (P’ilot v’kasher) - exercise is not just about physical health but mental wellbeing as well, while kosher practices are about an awareness that our bodies are changed by eating animals; Keep Learning (Torah) - learning new skills stimulates the mind and can have long term benefits in reducing your chances of developing dementia or alzheimers; and Take Notice (Tefilah) - reflecting on your surroundings and your feelings can help you to appreciate what matters to you most (something towards which Shabbat or Sabbath assists), while prayer can bring an awareness of daily miracles. Maimonides argues that bodily health and well being are both part of the path to God.

To these, and based again on the work of Martin Seligman, ResponseAbility add Gratitude (Berachot) as studies have shown that if people take time at the end of every day to reflect on things that have gone well there is a marked increase in well-being. Seligman suggests each day writing down three things for which you are grateful while Rabbi Meir urged an obligation to recite 100 blessings daily.

None of these steps towards well being are about making money. The scriptures say, "Choose life, that you should live." The Jewish toast is 'L’Chaim: To Life.'

'Profit vs Prophet': seminar 1 summary

Presentations from  Mannie Sher (Tavistock Institute), Abigail Morris (ResponseAbility) and Harmander Singh provided a rich variety of perspectives on and approaches to the topic 'Profit vs Prophet: making money and making a difference, are they opposed?', as well as clearly demonstrating the relevance of faith traditions in grappling with the issues.

Mannie Sher began with the Biblical prophets, and the prophet Micah in particular, sketching out the context into which they spoke and highlighting the way in which they demonstrated the courage to denounce the corruption of rulers, sympathise with the poor and call for justice as being the essence of God's demands. The prophets however were opposed to excessive and unequal profits, and not profit per se. In an Agrarian society, production cannot be solely for immediate consumption, some produce must be stored for future planting and a contemporary equivalent may be the division of one third for direct costs, one third for indirect costs and one third as profits for future investment. Time is a key factor as profiteers seek to shorten work processes to maximise profits and are solely concerned with profits in the present rather than investment for the future.

Current research undertaken with Alison Gill seems to suggest that bankers are currently inhabiting a bubble where their only talk is of investments and decisions are made solely on the basis of how much a particular investment has increased. In speaking about the banking crisis they seemed only able to talk in terms of headline phrases and seem unsure of how to judge their part in a systemic failure. The system is drunk on debt and has distorted negatives into positives, so that 'Greed is good'. A middle way is needed which understands that money is more than the value of the things we buy as it is also a vehicle for our fantasies (conscious imagination) and phantasies (inner unconcious). We need both prophets and profiteers in order to marry the wisdom, humility and care of the prophets to the wit and acumen of the profiteers.

Abigail Morris provided a different model for translating the wisdom of the Jewish tradition into the contemporary business world by utilising the insights of psychological and sociological research into wellbeing. Research demonstrates that beyond what is, in the West, a minimal level of wealth (£20,000 per annum) levels of well being do not increase with income. Levels of well being for those with wealth are reduced by surrounding poverty and levels of mental ill health are also high and rising in the affluent West. Positive psychology impacts on wellbeing, including health and longevity.

Based on such scientific evidence, the new economics foundation has created a set of five simple actions which can improve well-being in everyday life. These have clear corrollaries to teaching within Judaism: Give (Tzedakah) - being a volunteer and giving to charity has consistently been shown to be hugely beneficial, both mentally and physically; Connect (Kehilah) - people cope better if they are part of community networks and possess strong relationships with friends and family; Be Active (P’ilot v’kasher) - exercise is not just about physical health, but mental wellbeing as well; Keep Learning (Torah) - learning new skills stimulates the mind and can have long term benefits in reducing your chances of developing dementia or alzheimer’s; and Take Notice (Tefilah) - reflecting on your surroundings and your feelings can help you to appreciate what matters to you most. To these, and based on the work of Martin Seligman, ResponseAbility add Gratitude (Berachot) as studies have shown that if people take time at the end of every day to reflect on things that have gone well there is a marked increase in well-being. It is worth oting that none of these steps towards well being are about making money. Instead, the scripture says, "choose life, that you may live."

Harmander Singh noted that the Sikh Gurus bestowed upon the Sikhs the concept of "Miri-Piri" and "Raj Jog" which is princely living according to Gurmat (Guru's teaching/thinking) and therefore attuned to the Almighty. Miri-Piri is the balance between Spiritual and Temporal living and is denoted by the two crossed swords in the Sikh symbol, the Khanda. All Sikhs are encouraged to be householders but this does not mean becoming property developers or Peter Rachman's. It is acceptable to be rich as long as you live according to the principles of Gurmat and not indulge in un-Sikh businesses or those businesses which force you to a life that is anything but "honest living."  

Here, the three basic principles of Sikhi always apply.  These are: Naam Japna, Kirat Karni and Vand ke Shakna. Naam Japna is to remember God lovingly during all waking moments. Kirat Karni means making an honest living that is according to Gurmat living. Selling alcohol, tobacco, illegal drugs, and being in the adult entertainment business are activities which Gurmat strictly forbids. Vand Ke Shakna is to share with others, especially the needy and vulnerable. As there is no Welfare State equivalent worth mentioning in certain parts of the world and certainly not in the times gone by, Sikhs donate (Daswandh or Darshan Pehta) whatever they can from their earnings to the Gurdwara – which is more than just a place for congregational worship as it provides a centre where support of all kinds can be sought either directly or signposted.

Among the responses made by seminar participants to these presentations were the following:

• There needs to be a relationship between the systems we inhabit and our human emotions. Systems need to accommodate the expression of emotion and imagination.
• Wealth can feed a feeling of omnipotence but common wealth can equal common well being and is similar to the concept of shalom.
• Often we begin with the present situation and apply theology to it. This is secondary theology. Primary theology begins with God's economy and challenges the current situation. Primary theology sees most Western life as built on the exploitation of others.
• Change is afoot as organisations recognise that in order to gain business you also have to contribute to society. Corporate Social Responsibility is one aspect of this change.
• We need to explore the idea of common wealth, which was there in the Early Church but was quickly lost as the Church became a defender of private property. Wealth is a gift from the Almighty; a loan to us with a duty to ensure that everyone beefits according to their need.
• Society promotes greed and consumption; we all bear responsibility for this and need to learn to live within our means. Small businesses and enterpreneurs can signal a different approach to that of the multi-nationals.
• Money has been fantasy since Nixon delinked the dollar from gold. We have experienced hyper-Capitalism from this point onwards. 

Questions arising from our discussion included:

• How to define excess?
• Who will be our Micah?
• Our use of discernment questions developed by the Amish Community: Is it useful for our community? Is it doing God's work? 

These and other questions will be discussed further through this blog and at the subsequent seminars. The next seminar is Bonus vs Pro Bono which will explore the place of inspirational leadership in renegotiating 'value'. Speakers are: Peter Hyson (Change Perspectives), Bruce Irvine (Grubb Institute), and Baronness Uddin. The seminar will take place on Thursday 4th November, 4.00 – 6.30pm, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 4JJ. Cost: £5.00. To register, phone 020 8599 2170 or email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com.

L'Chaim : To Life

ResponseAbility’s project over the next year is called ‘L’Chaim : To Life’. Abigail Morris, ResponseAbility's Director, will be speaking about this project in Profit vs Prophet, the first in our seminar series entitled Renegotiating 'value'. To get a preview of the project click here.

In introducing the project, ResponseAbility write:

"What it means to live a good life lies at the heart of this project. The theme of life pulsates through Judaism; it is, most would say, its fundamental tenet. We may be unclear about life after death but we are very clear about life. We hope for a long life, and a good life – a life that embraces the here and now. Judaism is fundamentally about giving us pointers as to how to achieve this.

ResponseAbility is exploring this theme in a way that is both thought provoking and groundbreaking. The simple questions ‘what does it mean to lead a good life?’ and ‘how does one live a good life?’ underpin Judaism. These questions are now being asked across various disciplines. Cutting edge philosphers, pyschologists, economists and even epidemiologists are already addressing this issue.

Lying at the heart of these ideas are the ethics of the Jewish tradition. For example, Shabbat, the idea of a day not being a producer or a consumer. A day not working has been accepted in the Western world but shoppins is seen as a leisurely pursuit. Tzedakah, the idea of sharing wealth and giving to charity, and Tefilah, reflection on positive aspects of life. Mitzvah, being a volunteer and performing good deeds, and Kashrut, being aware of what we eat ...

ResponseAbility’s interest in this project grew out of the realisation that cutting edge scientists, such as positive psychologists, were producing work that was a secular version of much of Jewish teaching. ResponseAbility became aware that growing secularization meant this teaching was being lost and that this loss might be contributing to the rise in mental illness. It sees this as an opportunity to reclaim and popularise these ideas and help to help people lead better lives, better for themselves as individuals and better for society as a whole."
 
ResponseAbility will be working with both private sector and third sector organizations to examine what steps an employer would take to safeguard the wellbeing of its workforce. They will examine the creation of a Chartermark of Wellbeing for workplaces which would form part of the company’s annual report. The incentive for business, they argue, is the proven data about this reducing absenteeism, incapacity benefit (the biggest percentage of which is due to stress at work) and higher productivity. There is also research which shows much higher satisfaction of clients and customers of workplaces that really promote the wellbeing of their employees.