Buy Nothing Day

International "Buy Nothing Day", celebrated worldwide last weekend, has grown with the years. There are a number of levels here:

• The simple reduction of consumerism (this seems to be the main motive for the creator of BND)
• Breaking the strangle-hold of the conglomerates ("buy a lesser known brand")
• Creative consumerism ("give your own handmade Xmas presents")
• The intellectualisation of consumerism ("think about what you need/buy, and appreciate what you have")

In the last sense at least, the Torah gives us our own BND once a week. But last weekend, Azrieli shopping malls across Israel had a bumper Sale as the Israeli "inverse spin" on BND.

Take a look at "The Pig Advertisment" promoting BND - aired during a CNN interview with the guy who started it all. Interestingly the ad itself was not accepted for airing as an ad on most American channels, because of their vested interest in promoting inflated consumerism during the holiday season.

The Sages said: “The more possessions, the more worry” (Avot 2:7); and the book of Proverbs states: “A meal of vegetables where love is found is better than a fattened ox and hatred withall” (Proverbs 15:17)