Book Review - Thou Shall Prosper (Part 1)

Over the last several weeks, I've been reading the book Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. This book comes highly recommended by both Dave Ramsey and Dan Miller.

I'll say this from the beginning, this is a deep book and not an easy read (it was written by a Rabbi!), but I'm so glad I persevered and made it all the way through. The last 2 chapters were the best of the entire book.

For today's post, I'm just going to give a quick overview of what the book is about.

Introduction: This book is essentially a Jewish outlook on making money and creating wealth.

Lapin contends that God's chosen people have long been known to be excellent business people and good money managers, due to certain fundamental principles detailing how the world works being deeply ingrained in the Jewish people since the time of Abraham. These certain fundamental principles all come from the Bible and Jewish oral tradition.

The essential "framework" in which Lapin constructs his book is his Ten Commandments for making money.

1. The First Commandment - Believe in the dignity and morality of business
2. The Second Commandment - Extend the Network of your connectedness to many people
3. The Third Commandment - Get to know yourself
4. The Fourth Commandment - Do not pursue perfection
5. The Fifth Commandment - Lead consistently and constantly
6. The Sixth Commandment - Constantly change the changeable, while steadfastly clinging to the unchangeable
7. The Seventh Commandment - Learn to foretell the future
8. The Eighth Commandment - Know your money
9. The Ninth Commandment - Act rich: give away 10 percent of your after-tax income
10. The Tenth Commandment - Never retire

I'll post more on this book over the next couple of weeks.

Larry