Last week we read Parshat Lech Lecha, where Avraham was commanded by Hashem to “Go from your land, from your relatives, and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you….”
Avraham did as he was told. He left his home, and, in subsequent parshiyot, he continued to move. He left Haran and went to Canaan, the land Hashem promised as the setting to found his great new nation. Avraham’s journeying continued to Egypt when there was a famine, followed by the Negev, then Bethel, where he built an altar, and finally Mount Moriah, where he took Yitzchak to offer him as a sacrifice.
Travel was not unique to Avraham. His son, Yitzchak, and grandson, Yaakov, also traveled throughout their lives. They traveled for better business opportunities, to find a shidduch, and to escape hardship.
Moving for a better life has been a fairly common concept throughout history. In the United States, there were waves of migration from Europe, full of people searching to improve their circumstances. The migrants escaped intolerance, famine, and other challenges in their country of origin. Moving often necessitated leaving family and loved ones behind.
There has also been migration within the United States. During the Dust Bowl migration, depression and drought caused hundreds of thousands to leave their homes in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri and move to California (this was before California had such an onerous state tax). There was also the Great Migration, from the 1910s until the 1970s, where approximately six million African Americans moved from southern states to northern, mid-western, and western states, to pursue a better life.
I’m sure readers can point to their own parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents, who moved to this country to improve their respective circumstances. Whether it was to flee antisemitism and pogroms, or perhaps to find a job, moving has always been an effective financial planning strategy.
Personally, I have relatives who left Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Sweden, and Ukraine. Once in this country, some relatives continued to move. My grandfather moved from Brooklyn to Perth Amboy, N.J. My great-grandfather moved from New York City to Detroit. Even I moved, from New Jersey to Long Island, in search of greener pastures (Just joking. My wife is from Queens, so it was prudent to stay on the east side of the Hudson River).
Despite humankind’s long history of moving for financial reasons, in recent conversations with friends, clients, and prospects, there seems to be a reluctance to move. While picking up and moving from a home, community, and friends is undoubtedly difficult, it may be the best financial and lifestyle decision most people can make.
In the past month, I had two similar conversations, one with a physician in Los Angeles and another with an attorney who lives in the metro New York City area. Both individuals were bemoaning the high cost of living in these regions, compounded by the astronomical prices of living a frum lifestyle. Neither individual could find an affordable home, and both are barely remaining afloat financially, living paycheck to paycheck, despite having an annual household income that ranks in the top 10% of all Americans. I suggested several strategies that could help free up cash flow. However, I advised that the best financial decision was to relocate. I explained how there are thriving Jewish communities across the country with more affordable housing and a robust job market. In some cities, they may not need to take a pay cut to move there. The physician may even get paid more money in some rural cities given his specialty.
In both scenarios, they pushed back on moving. Understandably, they didn’t want to leave family or the Jewish amenities that their current cities offered. I clarified that they didn’t necessarily need to move across the country. Even moving just a few hours away can be a financial game changer. This also proved to be a non-starter. Moving anywhere, other than the few towns adjacent to their current rental home, proved to not be an option for either of them.
One point I often emphasize to clients and readers is that smart lifestyle decisions are also typically the best financial decisions. Moving is one of those decisions. Relocating to a more cost-effective area can instantaneously lower your housing costs, Yeshiva tuition bills, and property taxes, while also potentially broadening your income earning opportunities. There is no such thing as a silver bullet to cure the unaffordability of living a frum lifestyle, but relocating may be the closest thing to it.
As the cost of living continues to rise, hoping for a miracle to solve your financial problems is not an effective strategy. Rather, I would suggest drawing inspiration from our forefathers, in the time of the Torah, and our great-grandparents in modern times, by deciding to move in order to improve your lot.
For all those who are contemplating a move, keep in mind the Hebrew expression “M’shane makom, m’shane mazal.” (If you change your place, you change your luck/destiny.) Your financial destiny is in your hands. You just need the gumption to move.
