Dress English, Think Yiddish! By Dan Pena

“Dress English, think Yiddish“.

I heard this advice during an interview with Dan Peña, a proudly non-politically correct millionaire and business coach known as ‘The 50 Billion Dollar Man.’

He is a truly singular voice, with an extraordinary front-loaded approach to life and a strong taste for self-dramatisation: a Mexican-American raised in Los Angeles, now reinvented as a millionaire English gentleman living in a castle in Scotland — a character worthy of a 007 movie!

Needless to say, his slogan ‘Dress English, Think Yiddish’ stayed with me. Beyond the reference to the English tradition of formal dress, I was especially intrigued by the idea of ‘Yiddish thinking’ — that strand of Jewish wisdom often associated with a particular edge in business and money matters, as I discussed in my article on the Money Code. 

It is worth noting that his exposure to this tradition came through business relationships; he is not Jewish himself.

Dan Peña commented on such thinking as “canny, shrewd, real“. He received such advice decades ago from Constantine Gratsos:

“he had made his fortune as a lifelong associate of shipping icon Aristotle Onassis. He took a liking to me, became my first mentor, and showed me how to swim in the deep, dangerous waters of business”.

LIVE QUOTE ON YOUTUBE: DRESS ENGLISH, THINK YIDDISH

You can watch an extract of his YouTube interview, where he livens up quotes and comments on the expression’ dress English,’ think Yiddish. 

I admit that such a reference to canny Yiddish thinking intrigued me and gave me more historical reading opportunities.

A quick search online immediately clarified that Yiddish is a language used by Jews in central and eastern Europe before the Holocaust.

It was originally a German dialect with words from Hebrew (the official Jewish language) and several modern languages. It is now used only by a minority of Jews.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON JEWISH WISDOM

While looking for some books, I came across one by Howard Ward Charles: “The Money Code: Become a Millionaire With the Ancient Jewish Code“.

H. W. Charles studied Biblical Studies and received several academic awards. The title sounded a bit like “pop culture” for my taste, but I enjoyed it. You can read my review in this article: “The Money Code” by H.W. Charles.

If you are looking for additional Jewish wisdom, I read several other authors.

Rabbie Daniel Lapin’s book is almost a classic: “Business Secrets from the Bible“. It dives into the Holy book with new eyes and further sparks my interest in ancient money management wisdom in other ancient books.

I have also enjoyed the book of Rabbi Naftali Horowitz: You Revealed: A Torah Path to a Life of Success. You can check my takeaways from his interviews in my blog article: Jewish Wisdom on Money and Life.

My take on Dan Peña? Dress as it suits you, but make sure to Sweat Your Assets.

RECOMMENDED ARTICLES

–  Dress British, Think Yiddish, by Eitan Kensy (Jewish Review of Books)

– Dress British, Think Yiddish. How Jews Came to Yale in Ivy League Cloting, by Daniel Horowitz