I quote “Reb Simcha Speaks“, ArtScroll 1994.
From p. 80:
A Torah scholar causes all of the Jewish people to become rich. In economics, there is the sphere of the individual’s domain and the sphere of the community’s domain. When it comes to the total national wealth, it does not make a difference to the wealth of the nation, in one particular sense, whether that wealth is concentrated in a few hands or distributed equally among everyone. The nation is still wealthy. And a wealthier nation can accomplish more. Even a poor man who is living in a wealthy nation has certain advantages.
It is exactly the same in the Jewish community. When someone is learning, he is adding to the public good with his learning. The Torah scholar adds to the accumulation of Torah and causes the whole nation to be rich. When the Chafetz Chaim lived, all the Jewish people were rich. When he passed away, the entire nation became poorer.
We have a responsibility to the Jewish people to become great in Torah…
From p. 85:
“You open your hand and You give to every living being…”
The Master of the World has organized everything so that we have all that we need. But that is not enough; if we have food but we have no appetite, we will starve. So the Master of the World gave us also the will to eat.
…
This appetite and ambition is what Hashem has instilled in us. A shoemaker makes shoes not because he does not want people to walk barefoot. He makes shoes because he has an appetite to eat. But Hashem uses him in order to provide shoes for people. He has given us ambition, but the wise ones realize that, in truth, we are not working for ourselves, but for others.
Sounds like the famous passage in Adam Smith to me…
And from p. 105:
The Jew doesn’t ask for a blessing for his bread. He says, “Thank You, G-g, for giving me the bread.” He’s not asking G-d to serve him; he realizes that he has to be grateful to -d for giving him this.
That is the difference between the giver and the taker. Idol worshippers are takers. A person would like to have everything, but there are some things which are not in his reach, so he conjures up a mysterious power that can give him whatever is beyond his reach.
Children are very much like this. They are concerned with who is going to bring them a gift and give them toys. A truly mature person is interested in more than simply receiving gifts. The realities of life teach him that if he want to consume, he has to produce. Only the child thinks he can take and not give. He would like to have things, so he dreams that maybe there will be a miracle.