He's got money."
"They come from a well-to-do family."
"He's a man of means."
It is often difficult to sense the influence that society has upon our way of thinking until certain events transpire and bring them to light. The recent financial meltdown is one of those events. It's a chance to see how much we have adopted from outside influences. One of the negative values that we have picked up from the society we live in is rating people by their financial success, where money becomes the sole measure of "making it." It has gotten to the point that for many people, their self-worth is directly tied to their net worth.

Who can look at a sunset and not say Wow, look at the beauty of this world.? Yet, it seems that we rarely do that. It is almost as if we are detached from the natural world -- As if the world of lions and tigers and bears is a place reserved for taking our children to when they are little, but has no connection to our lives.

The Rishonim tell us that the surest way to come to understand that there is a creator of the world is to look at the creation and say just that. Wow! Look at the wisdom, look at the vastness; look at the sophistication of this world. But looking at the world with an eye to see its creator requires attention and training.

This Shmuz helps us focus on the Wow behind nature thereby allowing us to be moved by the awe inspiring miracles with which HASHEM has created the world in which we live.