Nimrod is scarcely mentioned in the Old Testament but many accounts of his life are recorded in other Biblical, historical texts. The following account was told to me by a Rabbi who learned of the story from his teacher in Rabbinical school. Nimrod was considered to be a massive and powerful man that was an incredibly skilled hunter and had the ability to strike fear in the heart of any man just by his imposing size and demeanour. One of the reasons he was so strong is that he inherited the garments of Adam and Eve that contained the lost name of G-d and so he became almost invincible. He was also hungry for power but knew that the only way that people would turn to him and become dependent upon his power is if he was somehow able to lure them away from their fear of G-d. Nimrod wanted to become the ruler of the earth but that is not a simple undertaking. He would have to band the people together, become the tyrant by casting out G-d and have the united nation under him rise up to defeat G-d. That nation would come together to build the Tower of Babel. There are many tricks that Nimrod played on the people to get them to do as he wished as he was quite sly but there is one that stands out for me and has implications with respect to security as it relates to your investments. One of the ways he attempted to lure away the faith of the people was to create false idols and try to make the people worship them. In doing this, the people would be worshiping material goods and so shifting their worship to an all powerful man would not be difficult. To convince people that idols were worthy of worship was no small task and so he had to play some trickery. One evening Nimrod placed the idols in a small building that only had one entrance and brought a man to show him the power of the idols. Nimrod told the man that he should make an offering to the idols and the man scoffed by saying that the idols were nothing but inanimate objects and so it was a waste of time. Nimrod then told the man to place a meal in the room and leave it for the idols. Nimrod would then give the man the only key and have him come in the morning to check on his offering. If the meal was gone then obviously the idols were in fact gods and worthy of worship. The trick was that there was a hidden trapdoor in the room that Nimrod had built. When the man placed the meal in the room and locked the door, he felt that the truth was safe and secure in the form of the key that was clenched in his hand. But, when the man was fast asleep Nimrod slipped into the room through the trapdoor, ate the meal, smeared some of the food all over the idols and left. The man opened the door in the morning and his jaw dropped...the idols were real. When you invest your money with a firm and look for signs of safety and security such as FDIC Insured or FINRA, while you may know that your money can be replenished or that the financial advisory firm has been vetted, you are only focusing on one side of the safety and security coin. Financial advisors would be wise to keep you focused on that side of the coin because the other side holds a bleak story. What you are not protected from is a downturn in the market or the valuation of the good or goods in that market. If Bonnie and Clyde hold up your local branch, sure, youll get your money back but if a Hedge Fund sells out of position you have taken, you will not get your money back. The fact is, financial advisors all over this country are keeping the public eye focused only on the side of the coin that can keep the money flowing into their coffers but people are getting hurt by looking into asset classes that are set up for a fall. So, when someone locks the door and hands you the key, be wary of the trapdoor. Go back in and inspect the lay of the land before you walk away, look at the key in your hand and smile with smug satisfaction. Shaun Cohen, President
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 06:29:03 +0000
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