In 1989, Noah Alper, without any meaningful baking experience, opened a small bagel store known as “Noah’s Bagels” in Berkeley, Calif., based upon “a strong hunch that a good bagel would find an eager audience.”
The single shop expanded to 38 retail outlets, a wholesale operation, and 1,000 employees. Almost seven years later, Alper sold the business for $100 million. Alper’s new book, “Business Mensch: Timeless Wisdom for Today’s Entrepreneur” (BCH Fulfillment & Distribution, $14.95), is the story of his incredible journey.
It is not unusual for a successful businessperson to write a biography. To a degree, the CEO as a cult figure who recounts his or her life has become somewhat common within the business community, resulting in numerous autobiographies of business leaders.
Alper’s story differs from many others in that he did not work his way up through the ranks of a large corporation with the safety net of a huge infrastructure. Rather, he started from scratch. Alper is a true pioneer.
But something else is unique about his book — and that is Alper’s unabashed belief that Judaic teachings have played an integral role in his professional life.
Alper recounts that he “was born and raised Jewish, but I never had much understanding of what it was all about.” He notes that throughout most of his life, he kept his business career and religious life separate.
However, as Alper grew older, he “came to realize that Judaism had everything to do with business, and business had everything to do with Judaism.”
Alper recalls a “transcendent moment” during a Friday night service in an Israeli synagogue when it all came together. He realized that Judaic teachings led him to a “successful business life that felt right: honest, deep, meaningful, and fulfilling.”
Alper believes that in the post-Madoff era, it is important “to set the record straight about the relevance of Jewish values to running a business with honesty, integrity, and ethics.”
He sets forth seven principles (referred by him as “timeless wisdom”) which guide his business life. To a large extent, each has a Judaic underpinning.
For example, the seventh principle (“Remember the Sabbath”) is particularly noteworthy when contrasted with the frantic 24-7 life of many executives.
Alper begins his discussion of this principle by recounting the Jewish tale of a successful pianist who said, “The notes I handle no better than many pianists.” However, “the pauses between the notes — ah, that is where the art resides.”
In the same way, the Sabbath, like the pause between the notes, provides an opportunity for reflection and renewal for busy people. Alper states that such contemplation is necessary to lead a meaningful life — and a successful career.
The overwhelming theme that permeates Alper’s book is the importance of having a passion in one’s life — or as he puts it, “discover[ing] what exactly it is you were born to do.”
Noting that the Hebrew language has a term for this concept (meshuga le’davar — literally “crazy about a thing.”), Alper states that “entrepreneurial ventures require … a person at the center who is so passionate and driven about the business, the person is almost crazy about it.”
He talks about being “crazy about paying attention to details; crazy about getting it right; crazy about keeping customers happy and devoted.”
Significantly, to Alper, this concept is applicable to everyone, not just entrepreneurs. The key, according to Alper, is to “discover yourself…. Find the thing that makes you excited, and pursue it with a passion.”
Although Alper’s book is written from the Jewish perspective, his message is important to the entire community. As Alper writes, “the Torah speaks not just to Jews, but to all people.”
In the same way, this book is valuable to those interested in deriving greater meaning in pursuing “what they were born to do.”
Nathan Fishbach, a shareholder in the Wisconsin law firm of Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C., is the chair of the board of directors of Jewish Family Services.
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