Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, the medieval Italian commentator, remarks that the good life consists of having plenty of resources available: natural resources like water, staple crops like wheat and barley, and a few treats like oil and date honey. More surprisingly, Sforno explains that “food without stint” means “a land full of treasures” (Isaiah 2:7) which he understands to mean a place with plenty of money.
Is Sforno suggesting we Jews are all about the money? No. He means something different.
Sforno argues that a shortage of money is worse than a shortage of goods. He refers to a discussion in the Talmud, where the rabbis consider when and why Jewish communities might institute public fasts, a collective call for help in response to hardship. In the hierarchy of hard times, drought is bad, say the sages, but famine is worse (Ta’anit 19).
Drought means there has been less rain than usual. This results in less produce and so prices go up. The resulting hardship is due to natural seasonal variation.
