Pillow Book of Talmud Wisdom

Chapter 28 Breaking a Covenant Is Blaspheming God—Jews on Covenant (2)
One cold winter day, there was a long queue at the dairy store early in the morning, and they all wanted to buy hot fresh milk.When everyone was waiting to buy in order, Mike came.He squeezed into the line as soon as he arrived.The Jewish young man John, who was at the bottom of the queue, felt that it was intolerable, so he wanted to play a little prank.So he ran over, pulled off Mike's hat suddenly, then returned to his original position, put his arms behind his back, held his hat high, and shouted to Mike with a smile: "Man, your hats are all in line , are you still in line?"

This is the awareness of the rules of the Jews. They do not violate the rules themselves, and they do not allow others to trample on the rules formed by everyone at will.

Jews pay attention to rules in life, and when it comes to business, they also attach importance to rules. A typical example is that Jews never evade taxes and seldom do illegal things when they are in business.In the eyes of the Jews, tax evasion is a shameful act and a hateful thing.The Jews said that businessmen and the country have rules, and the country provides the conditions for operation and management responsibilities, and the businessmen on the other side of the responsibility should fulfill their responsibilities to the country and society—pay taxes.If everyone did not abide by such rules, then this country would not exist.

All illegal activities are violations and challenges to the rules, and are unforgivable mistakes.Therefore, when the Jews were doing business, such illegal and criminal activities rarely occurred. Their low crime rate is rare in the world.

The most effective management in an enterprise is the prevailing rules and practices, usually we call it the system.

There is a Jew who manages a large company, but everyone sees that he looks very relaxed. He often goes out for inspections. He said proudly: "Even if I don't come back to my company for a year, everyone will do their own things. There will be no problems with the company."

That's the beauty of rules.

Now look at an example that demonstrates Jewish rationalism.

A hires B and B's cattle for farming.During the work, the cow died in an accident.In this case, is the responsibility A's or B's? "Talmud" believes that it should be B's responsibility. A hired B and his cattle together, so it should be understood that B also acted as the manager of the cattle when he was hired.

Another situation is that A initially rents cattle from B, and then hires B himself.If the cow dies on a later job, A must compensate B for the death of the cow.why?The lease of the cattle and the employment of B are two independent contractual relationships.

Workers (or employees) have the obligation to compensate the employer for the losses and defective products produced during the production process, because the raw materials are paid for by the employer.However, if the employer inspects and receives the goods and pays the wages of the workers, it is not the employer's responsibility to discover that there are insufficient quantities or defective products, because the contractual relationship has ended at that time.

These practices clarify the scope of the responsibility of the employed party, and people may now regard these as common sense.Even if it is a custom within the scope of common sense, it must be incorporated into the legal system.Included or not included, the difference is huge.Without legislating business practices, you hire workers who irresponsibly produce a lot of bad product and think, "Shouldn't the operators realize that losses in production are inevitable?" Or If the employer accidentally damages the product after receiving the goods and making payment, he will put the responsibility on the employee and say: "No, there are defective products in the goods you delivered!" compensate.Even if it is a very clear matter, both parties involved must make it clear. This is a contract, which can protect the interests of both parties.

For the sale and purchase of items, the "Talmud" shows a unique way of thinking.

A sells grain to B.If B receives the grain before A correctly measures the grain, then B's ownership of the grain (which has nothing to do with the payment of the purchase price) is determined at this point in time.Conversely, although A has completed the measurement of the grain, as long as B does not get the grain (even if he has paid for the goods), then B has no ownership of the grain.

The purpose of buying and selling is essentially the transfer of goods, and it is to judge the validity of the sale from whether the seller has transferred the goods to his own hands.It is also the focus of the Talmud.Therefore, if the buyer gets the goods without paying, even if the goods are all damaged, the transaction is considered to be completed, and the buyer cannot ask the seller to pay the full amount of the goods.

What if it is the case that the transfer of goods can only be guaranteed by payment for goods?What should we do if we buy or sell bulk commodities that cannot be easily transported, stone materials or crops that have not been harvested in the field?
The answer to this question in the Talmud is very succinct:
After the contract of sale is signed, the buyer shall borrow the seller's place to deposit the goods under the contract.Thus, by taking possession of the place, the commodity is in fact passed into the hands of the buyer.If it is a crop, the buyer only needs to harvest a little symbolically, and the ownership of the crop will become an established fact.

Once upon a time there was a king who had only one daughter, who was smart and beautiful, and loved by the king.

Once the princess got seriously ill and was in critical condition.The helpless imperial doctor told the king that unless he got the magic medicine, the princess would be hopeless.

The king was very anxious, and quickly posted a notice: Anyone who can cure the princess's disease will not only marry him, but also make him the heir to the throne.

There were three brothers in a distant place, the eldest of whom had a clairvoyance telescope, and happened to see the king's announcement.He discussed with the two brothers to cure the princess.The two younger brothers also have their own treasures: the second child has a flying magic carpet, which can be used as a means of transportation; the third child has a magic apple, no matter what kind of disease, eating this apple will heal immediately.

After the three brothers discussed it, they flew to the royal family together.After the princess ate the apple, she was cured of her illness.

The king was ecstatic, and immediately ordered to prepare a banquet to announce the new consort to the whole country.

However, the king has only one daughter, but there are three people who heal the disease. From the reality of life and the Jewish law, "one woman serving three husbands" is not allowed, so who should the princess marry?
The boss said: "If I hadn't seen the notice with clairvoyance, we wouldn't have come here to treat the princess."

The second child said: "If there is no magic carpet, how can we come to such a far place?"

The third child said: "If there is no magic apple, even if it comes, it will not cure the disease."

This problem made the king very embarrassed. The princess could neither marry three people nor marry one of them alone, otherwise she would be breaking her promise to the other two.Breach of a covenant is also forbidden under Jewish law.Then, it can only be said that there are loopholes in the content of the notice, and if we want to solve this problem satisfactorily, we can only avoid the loopholes.

After careful consideration, the king finally chose the third child who took the apple as his son-in-law.

The king believed that the oldest one with the clairvoyance telescope still owns the clairvoyance telescope; the second child with the magic carpet still owns the magic carpet; only the third child gave the princess the apple, and in the end there was nothing left.

According to the "Talmud" law: "When one person serves one person, the most valuable is the person who gives everything."

This was the standard sought by the king in order to avoid a breach of contract, but also to avoid the loopholes of the contract.That is to say, we don't look at who has contributed the most to the treatment of diseases, but only look at who has contributed more.

The "Talmud" requires: "What you swear is harmful to yourself and you can't go back on it." Osman, a Jewish businessman who sticks to this way, is good at considering problems in the long run. He would rather lose money temporarily for the sake of reputation. deep impression.

In 1940, Osman graduated with honors from Cairo University and received a bachelor's degree in engineering, and returned to the city of Ismailia.A poor college graduate wants to fend for himself as a construction contractor.In the eyes of businessmen, this is simply a daydream.Osman is also in a dilemma: "I have no money, but I am determined to be in the construction industry. For this purpose, I can compromise and start from scratch."

Osman's uncle is a construction contractor, he once enlightened Osman: to have your own thoughts, not to copy what others say.

In order to raise funds, learn contracting business, and consolidate the knowledge he learned at university, Osman went to his uncle's contracting business as a helper.

Ottoman pays attention to accumulating work experience during work, understands all procedures required for construction, and understands methods to improve work efficiency and save materials.After more than a year of practice, Osman has gained a lot, but he also has a lot of emotion: "Uncle is a construction contractor who lacks funds. The equipment is outdated, the technology is backward, and he is unable to compete with European contracting companies. I must own my own company and become a construction contractor. A contractor who has the knowledge and skills to compete with the Europeans."

In 1942, Osman left his uncle and began to realize his dream of becoming a construction contractor. He only had 180 Egyptian pounds, but he wanted to set up his own construction contracting firm.

Osman believes that everything depends on man's effort, and man can change the environment, but cannot become a slave of the environment.Based on the work experience he gained in his uncle's contracting company, he established his own business principles: seek things with sincerity, treat each other equally, and put credit first.In the early days of his business, Osman actively fought for it regardless of the size of the business or the amount of profit.The first time he contracted was a very small project - designing a storefront for a grocery store owner, and the contract fee was only 3 Egyptian pounds.But he did not refuse this trivial deal, and he still took great pains and was not sloppy.The shop he designed was in line with the wishes of the grocery store owner, who praised Osman whenever he met, so Osman's reputation increased day by day.Osman's business principles gained the trust of customers, and his contracting business grew day by day.

In 1952, in order to suppress the anti-British struggle of the Egyptian people, the British colonists dispatched planes to bomb the villages along the Suez Canal, and the villagers were displaced.Osman Contracting Company started the work of rebuilding the homes of the villagers. It took two months to rebuild the houses for more than 160 villagers, and his company made a profit of 5.4 US dollars.

After the 20s, a large amount of oil was discovered and developed in the Gulf region, and the rulers of various countries accelerated the pace of national construction one after another.They need to expand the palace, build barracks, and build roads.This gave Osman a historic opportunity. With entrepreneurial vision, he led his company into the Bay Area.He met with the king of Saudi Arabia, stated his intention, and assured the king that he would contract the project with low bid, high quality and credibility.The king of Saudi Arabia granted Uthman's request.Later, when the project was completed, Osman invited the King of Saudi Arabia to preside over the ceremony, and the King of Saudi Arabia was very satisfied with this.

"People believe first and then seek ability."Osman pays attention to credibility, quality-guaranteed way of dealing with people and operating principles, so that his influence continues to expand.In the following years, Osman established his own branches in Kuwait, Jordan, Sudan, Libya and other countries, and became a well-known large construction contractor in the Middle East.

Osman's approach of paying attention to credibility will make him suffer under certain circumstances.But in this case, the loss is temporary after all. The so-called loss must be profitable. A certain loss or loss of economic interests may have a positive impact on one's long-term career.

Like Ottoman, the shrewd Jews believe that a thousand dollars and one promise is a very meaningful principle. It can give you the necessary support when you are frustrated, ensure that you have enough interpersonal relationships to make a comeback, and it can bring you reliable. Opportunity, because you have earned the trust and commitment of others.

(End of this chapter)