In a way, life itself is about 'Divine Commerce'.
Trade is an interchange of goods and commodities. When I buy something it comes into my possession, and when I sell something I'm transferring the object from my domain to someone else's. That's basic business.
It's also a framework for life.
At a simplistic level, I tend to divide my life into two conceptual domains or orbits: The important and the less-than-important (meaningful and less-than-meaningful).
My experiences seem to automatically find a place in one orbit or the other.
But sometimes I need to stand back and reframe: When my children are calling my cell phone about something I consider less-than-important, I need to take pause.
The topic may be trivial, but our relationship is not. So, if I'm thinking, I should recognize every interaction as ‘important’. I should see this 'mundane moment' as an opportunity for 'relationship-building'.
Once I recognize that, I may still choose to defer the specific conversation until later. But I’ll be doing so from a healthy and respectful position.
And rest assured: If I feel it, they will too.
So, in 'commercial' language, I need to ‘secure’ slices of life from the trivial domain, and lift them into a meaningful orbit.
This also applies to my relationship with the Divine.
If I eat a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch today, that’s relatively trivial.
But does it need to be?
What if I'm eating with a Torah paradigm? If I first thank my Creator for this incredible life and the food I'm about to eat? What if I'm conscious of my need to make a difference in the world, and my need for nutrition as fuel?
If I'm mindful and focused, I can transfer my lunch from the mundane to the meaningful; the bowl of soup becomes a tool in my life’s mission.
When I take a situation and infuse it with meaning, I'm ‘acquiring’ it for the Divine. That's spiritual commerce.
In the Torah, and in our Amidah liturgy, G-d is referred to as (if we translate the words literally) "the Purchaser of all things” (‘Koneh Hakol’).
G-d gave us a world that seems disconnected from meaning, out of His 'domain'. Our job is to 'buy it back'.
And the assets pay immediate dividends: The inner peace that comes with living a Purposeful Life.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mendy