Monday, April 2, 2012

Book Review: Thou Shall Prosper

Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making MoneyThou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money by Daniel Lapin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rabbi Daniel Lapin has written a book that I believe should be read by anyone who is in business, which means just about everyone! He tackles misconceptions such as it's okay to cold call people asking for donations to charity but to try and sell something door to door is much different. He explains if you believe in your product you should take the same pride in it if you are selling or soliciting for charity!

Lapin challenges ten ideas that many people seem to hold. Such as money is bad. Money itself is not bad, it's what we do with it. I know this is something I heard many times as I was growing up. I heard the Scripture of I Timothy 1:6 MISquoted to say "Money is the root of all evil", but if you read it in context it says "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil." That's a huge difference. Rabbi Lapin explains why money is neither moral nor immoral -- it just *is*.

One thing I loved about this book is how he weaves Jewish ideas and concepts throughout its pages. It's not just a stereotype that Jewish people often have good business sense, Rabbi Lapin explains that many of the concepts he is presenting in this book are things that someone who is Jewish has likely learned, and he's teaching the rest of us. As someone who has studied Hebrew, I have a great respect for the Hebrew language which he occasionally explains a word to make a point.

He also emphasizes the importance of giving to charity. Instantly I would think being a rabbi, he would back this up with Scripture, but he explains this has far reaching consequences It often empowers us to make more money, and we should give to charity even if we have no religious system. That, on the surface, seems like a oxymoron, giving to get, but he explains how many times business contacts are formed while doing community service even if you are not to actually form business deals there, you can pass along your business card and meet for lunch later!

You can purchase this book here:


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