How much is the asking price?
This week the famous anonymous British graffiti artist Banksy, whose work normally sells in the six figure range, had a very difficult time selling his art pieces. Banksy is a respected Graffiti style artist and his work easily fetches many hundreds of thousands of dollars from art collectors and others. Yet this week, when he had an art stand setup in Manhattan’s Central Park his stuff just wasn’t selling.What is even more baffling is that despite the steeply discounted price his works were being sold at, this was still not enough to get buyers on board. Pieces of art that would normally sell for six digits and more were being offered at the mere price of $60, yet even that wasn’t enough to lure in the buyers. In fact it took almost 4 hours for the first passerby to buy a piece or two and even the handful of buyers who ended up buying Banksy’s pieces over the course of the entire day only spent a collective total of $420.
What changed and why were people not willing to grab up these expensive pieces of art that were being offered at dirt cheap prices?
Well, first the artist is famous for seeking to remain anonymous and is known for staying behind the scenes as his random art appears in random places. Yet this time he decided to pull a prank on New York and not let anyone know that this was his art that was being sold at this stall. To the passerby, this art looked no different from the many other vendors of art, New York City memorabilia and sellers of T-Shirts and artwork. One lady even negotiated a 50% discount and bought two pieces for $30 each and one guy just bought a bunch of pieces since he needed some stuff on his bare walls. Whatever the case, some people went home and may now be several hundred thousand dollars richer and some people are very disappointed that they missed out on this tremendous opportunity.
(CNN News Article & Video on this Story)
The story got me thinking and made me think about the many choices, acquisitions and actions that we choose to do each day. We often measure our choices by the street value and the standard mode of the culture where we live. In fact, it is very natural for us to place our energy and objectives on the things that are known to have huge value and the items and actions that shout out their value. Sometimes the big things in life seem like the natural way for us to achieve our objectives, as they are clear, well defined, and lure us into their path and direction with their clear path to success in physical and spiritual matters.
Sometimes though, G-d the ultimate discreet street artist, places some surprises for us, and sometimes in the most discreet circumstances or in what may seem like the most insignificant situations and encounters, G-d has placed opportunities of immense proportions. Sometimes, just by learning how to handle a small situation with coworkers or family members that may seem to involve seemingly insignificant value, we are actually accessing the keys to our own spiritual success of huge magnitudes.
The Talmudic sages famously said in the Ethics of our Fathers, “don’t measure a Mitzvah by its apparent value, since we often don’t know the true value and depth of what each little action and Mitzvah can do”. In other words, you may think you are looking at a $60 piece of art, yet in truth you are dealing with a million dollar piece of art. Mitzvos and Jewish observances may sometimes seem trivial when we compare them to the many other fast paced and important dimensions of life, yet in truth, the keys to life’s greatest values and direction, are often expressed and accessible in the small and daily details of how we live our lives.
Abraham & Sarah the very first Jews earned that title for several reasons, including their sincerity, persistence, dedication and more. One element of their uniqueness is expressed in how they lived every moment of each day and experience, where they looked and acted as if each moment was the ultimate opportunity in how it could be used.
We find multiple occasions where they didn’t concede on the seemingly little details of life and what’s important. For example, Abraham is in recovery from his circumcision and is still insistent on wanting to have guests, the guests arrive and Abraham wishes to serve them the best food, Abraham hears about evil cities that are about to be destroyed and he stops everything to pray and advocate on their behalf.
Abraham and Sarah were people who personified the idea of using each and every opportunity that comes our way in life as an opportunity to do the right thing and as a moment or opportunity that was priceless in its value.
As I read and reflect on Banksy and his New York Shtick this week, I realize that I am too late to become an overnight millionaire by spending $60 on a million dollar piece of art. Yet Banksy has reminded me and many others this week, that life’s successes are not always measured by the branding and glamor alone, often it’s in the discreet and simple chores and experiences of life where we can make the most difference to ourselves, to our Judaism and to the world around us.
Next time that little challenge comes your way, or next time the opportunity arises to do an extra Mitzvah, hey that might be one of those things that appear like a $60 piece, but are potentially priceless in their value when handled correctly.
Good Shabbos