Winning is Everything

When it comes to winning, the Israelis know how it’s done.   

Seven years in Israeli high-tech has shown me what people will do to win a new client, another round of funding, a promotion, and even a few extra Likes on social media. Eight elections have shown me the lengths people will go to to win one more Knesset seat.   

Israelis are resourceful. They are ambitious. They will seek out any opportunity and do whatever it takes to break the tape while crossing the finish line.   

The best example can be seen in Israel’s First Citizen: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.   

In the first eight pages of his recently released autobiography, he teaches us why winning is so important.   

By page 10, Bibi already tells how he got shot while saving scores of passengers from Arab terrorists. He describes how his brother Yoni made the ultimate sacrifice to save 106 passengers on a plane that had been hijacked by Palestinian terrorists. Yoni flew thousands of miles from Eretz Yisrael into the heart of Africa to get them back.   

Bibi told us about learning from his father’s left-wing friends while growing up. He spoke about his love of America and that he lived there at least twice. Bibi spoke of being a descendant of the Vilna Gaon, not forgetting to mention that the Gaon allowed mathematics and science into his Yeshiva.   

He even mentioned Christianity a few times.   

Before we completed the number of pages you could count on your two hands, Bibi lobbied for the vote of just about everyone in Israel and most of the people in America.   

In his quest for supporters, he left no stone unturned.   

How It’s Done  

If men like Bibi will do everything it takes to achieve political power, and men like his predecessor Naftali Bennett have done everything it takes to achieve financial power, what do we do?  

The Ramchal gives us the answer. In his Path of the Just, he gives us our mission in life:   

Perpetual wealth.   

Our job in this world is to accumulate as many mitzvot as possible to secure ourselves the best place in the Next World.   

We do it by serving Hashem with all our heart and all our soul.  

The necessary evil in this world is money and influence. Israeli leaders like Bibi and Naftali go to obscene lengths to acquire them. They teach us the most important lesson: Winning is everything.  

To acquire the only asset that is forever, you have to have their attitude.   

Today Naftali is deciding what to do next. Tomorrow, Bibi will be collecting pension. The money and influence that they are after is fleeting. It’s as limited as the world we live in, especially our stay in it.   

What we are going after is far more valuable and infinitely more important.   

What is a Win? 

It’s a win when you make sure all the strings on your tzitzit are the required length. You get a full-day mitzvah for wearing the clothes Hashem commands. You do this every day.   

Talk about shooting into an open net.   

It’s a win when you make sure your tefillin is put on properly. It’s a mitzvah Hashem commands in the Shema that we recite twice daily. It’s a mitzvah to recite the Shema twice.   

It’s a win when you guard Shabbat. It’s a win when you bite your lip instead of regurgitating the vile you read about in today’s paper.   

It’s a win when you give your loose change to someone going through a tough time. It’s a win when you smile at everyone you see.   

It’s a win when you spend your commute time listening to a Torah shiur. Rabbi Brody. Rabbi Mizrachi. Rabbi Wallerstein, of blessed memory. Rabbi Alon Anava. Take your pick. 

Let the naïve be like Mike Jordan to pursue their win.   

We, the Jewish People, live in God’s treasury. It’s filled with diamonds, sapphires, gold coins, and rubies. Every mitzvah nets us a priceless gem that, unlike everything of value in This World, comes with us in our inevitable journey to the Next World.   

There is no such thing as a minor mitzvah. There is no such thing as being “too Bnei Brak.” Every Godly act is a win. It’s a win where it counts.   

The examples are all around you. Bibi. Naftali. Your boss. Your neighbor who has a bigger home than you. Let them give you something of everlasting value!  

Take a page from Bibi’s book and do whatever it takes. In the “game of life,” the A-types are right:  

Winning is everything! 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David’s Israeli startup, Center Stage Marketing, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.