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Can You Say Kaddish For A Dead Business?

July 12, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Putting the words “Jewish” and “business” in the same article is bound to get some comments. Of course, we as a people have a reputation for being very savvy in the career world. But sometimes life is not that simple, and we are forced to face a dreadful loss: the closing of a business.

I know a little something about this. I have worked for two businesses which eventually closed. The first one, a small coffee shop, and the second, a furniture store. In both situations, the loss was not just financial, but the loss of a dream, the loss of a sense of identity, the loss of the owner’s purpose.

Business owners are not the only ones effected by a company closing. Of course, workers lose their job: but also, the people who sold products to that company, the people who provided services like cleaning or temporary help. When someone falls, we all fall to a certain degree.

A member of our community recently lost her business, and while I was on the phone with her, I realized that Judaism does not offer her any solace in her time of need. There is no ritual to signify this transition from one place to another. If this were a new business about to open, I could have told her about Jewish business ethics, about proper weights and measures, paying her workers on time, and other Jewish values. But what do I say to someone who is stuck paying the rent on a business that no longer exists? How do I help a person grieve the loss of their creative potential?

This may seem over the top to some people, but the loss of a business can feel like the loss of a child. Just as we nurture our children and watch them grow, putting so much of ourselves into their development, so too do we put ourselves into our enterprises. And so I would suggest that we develop a way to Jewishly mourn the death of our ventures.

I could see several prayers working:

Min hameitzar karati Yah, anani vamerchav Yah (Out of the depths I call to You, God; You hear me fully when I call)

Ozi v’zimrat Yah, vayehi li lishuah (God, You are my strength and courage; God, be my deliverance)

Uvachartah bachayyim v’shalom (May you continue to choose life and peace)

What other suggestions do you have? What would make the loss of a business ritual meaningful for you? How would you construct a ritual like that?

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: closing a business, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jewish business ethics, jewish prayer, judaism business, judaism capitalism, judaism economy, judaism unemployment, kaddish, loss of business, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

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