Daniel Lubetzky is the founder of Kind Snacks and the nonprofit Builders Movement.
When a young man recently hurled coins at Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy outside a Mississippi restaurant, shouting “F— the Jews,” I was reminded of a painful episode in my life — and of questions about success and the nature of hate that have been gnawing at me ever since.
When I was in law school, a classmate, whom I had considered a dear friend, out of the blue started throwing pennies on the floor, sneering, “Pick up the pennies, Jew.” Besides being heartbroken by the episode, I have, ever since, found it strange that some would consider picking up coins demeaning.
My maternal grandfather — who fled pogroms in Lithuania and landed on the shores of northern Mexico, where he became a successful cattle rancher — taught his grandchildren about humility and resourcefulness. He used to say, in Spanish, “A man who is too arrogant to pick up a penny is not worth a penny.”
Why do antisemites consider saving money an ungodly, despicable trait? It’s mystifying. I would have not been able to build my company from the windowless basement of my apartment building into a multibillion-dollar operation without the entrepreneurial resourcefulness to salvage discarded furniture left on Manhattan’s sidewalks, or to apply similar discipline and humility as the business grew.
My grandfather’s Jewish values were not far from the values of America’s founders. John Adams, in a 1774 letter to his wife, Abigail, wrote, “Let Frugality, And Industry, be our Virtues.” Benjamin Franklin’s maxim, now paraphrased as “a penny saved is a penny earned,” appeared in the 1737 edition of Poor Richard’s Almanack under the heading “Necessary Hints to Those That Would Be Rich.” His advice reflected the ethos that helped build the United States and along with it the world’s most entrepreneurial and vibrant economy.
The idea harbored by some that picking up a penny is beneath them, and is disgusting in others, isn’t just bad for Jews. Its manifestation today seems to reflect a cultural crisis marked by economic anxiety, frustration and a growing rejection of the very values that have long been the foundation of the American Dream. The crisis has been marked by the emergence of a victim-oppressor mindset; those who feel left behind often believe that they have no agency, and it is all too easy to deflect responsibility onto convenient scapegoats — including those perennial targets, the Jews.
The challenges America is likely to face from job disruption driven by artificial intelligence, and from widening economic and educational gaps, may exacerbate existing divisions and heighten us-versus-them thinking that fuels resentment and shifts responsibility onto others. It is alarming today to see a significant share of young people turning away from classical liberal values and toward communism. Capitalism is far from perfect, but as with American democracy, it remains the most effective of flawed systems, fostering innovation and human flourishing.
The free-market, entrepreneurial spirit is often accompanied by the impulse to save money — which is too often misunderstood, and resented, as a selfish trait concomitant with greed. Humans have many failings, and greed is among them, but that has nothing to do with frugality or thrift. In my experience, when you avoid waste, you have more to give.
My Zeide Marquitos (as I called my grandfather in Yiddish with a thick Mexican accent) used to get in trouble with my Bobe (grandmother) Pola for coming home without a shirt because he had gifted it to one of his ranch hands. I teach my kids not to throw away food. I teach them to save. Of course, my family can afford to have streaming accounts with every entertainment provider, but I would be cursing them for life if I didn’t teach them to make thoughtful choices and to be charitable.
The lesson I carry from my grandfather remains simple but powerful: Never be too proud to pick up that penny. It’s a reminder that every small effort counts, humility is strength, and taking ownership of your circumstances is the pathway to realizing your fullest potential. And now, with the government’s recent decision to stop minting them, pennies have an added attraction: They’re collectors’ items.
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