Thursday, August 31, 2017

Random Musing Before Shabbat–Ki Teitze 5777–B’shetzef Ketzef - Expanded and Revised

Revisiting and greatly expanding this musing, originally from 5766 (2006.) Also, since they are among my favorites, I encourage to also read the series of musings for Ki Teitze starting with 5757’s “The Torah, The Gold Watch, and Everything” and subsequent retellings and expansions in 5764 and 5772. (Links at the end of this musing.) It’s a wonderful, truth is stranger than fiction  story.

On this Shabbat, parashat Ki Teitzei, we read the fifth haftarah of consolation after Tisha B'Av, taken from the first ten verses of Isaiah chapter 54.

You've heard the words before:

רָנִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה לֹ֣א יָלָ֑דָה פִּצְחִ֨י רִנָּ֤ה וְצַהֲלִי֙ לֹא־חָ֔לָה כִּֽי־רַבִּ֧ים בְּֽנֵי־שׁוֹמֵמָ֛ה מִבְּנֵ֥י בְעוּלָ֖ה אָמַ֥ר יְהוָֽה׃

Rani, akarah lo yaladah pitzkhi rani v'tzahali lo khalah Ki rabim b'nei-shomeimah mib'nei b'olah, amar Ad"nai

Shout, O barren one, who bore no child! Shout aloud for joy, you who did not travail. For the children of the wife forlorn shall outnumber those of the espoused--said Ad"nai

The prophet Isaiah (or, in this case, some would say either deutero- or even tritero- Isaiah, scholars believing the book to be the work of more than one generation) provides us with an inspiring and positive outlook for the future, with rebuilt dwellings, restoration of lands.

The prophet has G"d saying

בְּרֶ֥גַע קָטֹ֖ן עֲזַבְתִּ֑יךְ וּבְרַחֲמִ֥ים גְּדֹלִ֖ים אֲקַבְּצֵֽךְ׃

"for a little moment I forgot you, but with great mercy I will bring you back." (54:7)

And there is this wonderfully playful  bit of text in 54:8

בְּשֶׁ֣צֶף קֶ֗צֶף הִסְתַּ֨רְתִּי פָנַ֥י רֶ֙גַע֙ מִמֵּ֔ךְ וּבְחֶ֥סֶד עוֹלָ֖ם רִֽחַמְתִּ֑יךְ אָמַ֥ר גֹּאֲלֵ֖ךְ יְהוָֽה׃

B'shetzef ketzef histarti panai rega mimekh uv'khesed olam rikhamtikh, amar go-aleikh Ad"nai

The JPS translation is

"In slight anger, for a moment, I hid My face from you, But with kindness everlasting I will take you back in love --said the L"rd your Redeemer

Just say those first two words in Hebrew:

בְּשֶׁ֣צֶף קֶ֗צֶף

B'shetzef ketzef.

Isn't that fun! Word a great word pair.

There’s some speculation by scholars that the root of the first word

שצף

shin, tzadee, final fey

is actually a cognate of the root

שטף

shin, tet, final fei. Scholars believe that both these roots mean flowing, streaming, or, perhaps, an overflow. Thus both the nouns Shetzef and shetef are translated as "flood,” “flowing,” “overflowing” and the like.

The second word. That has been the cause of some speculation and division between scholars. We know there is a Hebrew root word

קצף

quf, tzadee, final fei.

It's general meaning is to be wrathful or wroth, or wrought up. The noun form ketzef, usually means "wrath" (and in all but a few cases of late biblical text, it refers to G"d's wrath, not that of human beings.)

However, there is also a secondary meaning of the root, which is believed to mean "snap, splinter or break off, thus some conjecture that

קֶ֗צֶף

ketzef

can also mean splinter. So perhaps we have a flowing or flooding splinter (sliver?) (This occurrence is a hapax legomenon – a word occurring once in a book – appearing in Hoshea (10:7.)

So some scholars translate "b'shetzef ketzef" as "a flood of anger” which seems to fit in a sense of plain meaning. Others, including the JPS committee, perhaps speculate on some orthographic oddity here, both words ending with

צף

and, playing off the alternate meaning of the second word, translate it as slight anger (or splinter of anger) though I’m not entirely sure where they then get the “anger: from. In this translation, the second word seems to have all the meaning of both splinter and anger/wrath and the first word seems to have none.

Perhaps the basis of this speculation is the belief that

בְּשֶׁ֣צֶף קֶ֗צֶף

is the cognate equivalent of a phrase found in Proverbs (27:4)

שֶׁטֶף אָֽף

translated by JPS as an “overflowing of anger.” I think it’s a stretch, but who I am I to argue with the august editors of the new JPS translation?

Seems to me there's a world of difference between a flood of anger and slight anger, or a splinter of anger. We have either an extremely wrathful G"d who has turned away from us, or a G"d only slightly annoyed. The JPS committee, it seems, prefers the latter. In the context of the verses before and after it, that translation does make some sense, even though the actual Hebrew has to be sliced and diced to make it work. These are verses meant to reassure, to remind up though G”d may have briefly turned away from us, but will bring us back in love.

What's important, as much as I might want it to be, prone as I am to not go easy on G”d, is not G”d’s turning away. After all, we've all done it-turning away in anger. If we don't, we might do or say something we oughtn't do or say. G"d knows this as well. (Moshe, too, kept trying to reinforce this lesson for G”d.)

What matters in these verses  is that G"d will always take us back. And in this month of Elul, as we examine ourselves and our faults, and prepare for the Days of Awe, that is needed comfort. Soul-searching can be a painful and depressing task. Knowing that, however badly we have missed the mark, the gates of t'shuva, or returning to G"d,will always be open to us.

No sacrificial lamb, no rabbi on a crucifix to atone for our sins. Just us, humbly seeking G"d's presence. For whether G"d has turned away from us briefly in slight or flooding anger, G"d will always take us back with  

חֶסֶד

khesed - loving kindness.

How do we return? One way is to soften our edges. We can take our anger, and turn it into loving kindness. Observe.  First we soften the hard “k” sound of the ק quf to the softer “kh”sound of ח khet. Another is to turn our sharp points into smooth surfaces, just as when we change a sharped-edged צ tzadee to a smooth ס samekh. With our softening and smoothing, we are led more easily to the end – the ף final fei, literally the end of the word end, which in Hebrew is sof, סוף samekh, vav, final fei. And what is the sof but the Ein Sof - the kabalistic name for G"d - "without end." But there is one more transformation to make or ף final fei to a ד dalet. For the ein Sof, the G"d without end, is elusive and hard to find. We must seek another manifestation of G"d that we know. For the ein Sof, the G"d without end, is elusive and hard to find. We must seek another manifestation of G"d that we know. We must go from a ף of soft acceptance to the stronger ד dalet, our determination to soften our edges in order to reach the One. We must seek the Ein Sof with determination. It is not with an attitude of "feh" that we can find the path of t'shuva. No, it is the One we are seeking. The אחד  Ehkhad. And so our determination to do t'shuvah transforms our soft ף final fey into a determined and deliberate ד dalet. The same sound we emphasize at the end of the word אחד to remind us that G”d is One. From Ketzef to khesed. From wrath to loving kindness.

Thus we have gone from

קצף

anger or wrath, to

חסד

loving kindness one letter at a time, step by step, our reflections upon our inner selves during this month of Elul, trying to turn away from anger and turn to love. To the Source of love.

The hard ק qufs and sharp צ  tzadees make getting to the Ein Sof more difficult. Let us beat our  ק qufs into ח  khets and our צ tzadees into ס samekhs, and seek the path of t'shuva, of return to the One, the אחד Ekhad of חסד.

בְּשֶׁ֣צֶף קֶ֗צֶף. בְּשֶׁ֣צֶף חֶסֶד

B'shetzef ketzef B'shetzef khesed.

From a splinter of anger, or overflowing anger, to overflowing loving kindness.

Shabbat Shalom,

Adrian

©2015 (portions ©2006) by Adrian A. Durlester

Other Musing on This Parasha:

Ki Tetzei 5775 - Re-Honoring Inconsistency
Ki Teitzei 5774 - Microcosm
Ki Teitzei 5773 - Be True To Who You Are
Ki Teitzei 5772 - The Torah, the Gold Watch, and Another Retelling
Ki Teitzei 5771 -  Metaphorical Parapets
Ki Tetzei 5769 - The Choice of Memory
Ki Tetzei 5767 - Honoring Inconsistency
Ki Teitzei 5766 - B'Shetzef Ketzef
Ki Tetze 5764/5-The Torah, The Gold Watch, and The Rest of the Story
Ki Tetze 5757,9,60,63--The Torah, The Gold Watch, & Everything
Ki Tetze 5758--Exclude Me
Ki Tetze 5762--One Standard

Friday, August 18, 2017

Random Musing Before Shabbat–Re’eh 5777–Between the Mountains

 וְהָיָה כִּי יְבִֽיאֲךָ יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּה בָא־שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ וְנָֽתַתָּה אֶת־הַבְּרָכָה עַל־הַר גְּרִזִּים וְאֶת־הַקְּלָלָה עַל־הַר עֵיבָֽל

When the L”RD your G”d brings you into the land that you are about to enter and possess, you shall pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal

I thought our ancestors were wiser than that. If you believe in Divine authorship of the Torah, then I amend that to: I thought G”d was smarter than that. Or…maybe it’s not as dumb as it seems, Read on.

It’s exactly this sort of black and white thinking that resulted in thousands of years of Judaism shaping itself to accommodate the reality that is reality. It’s messy. It’s liminal. It’s fuzzy.  Few things are easily categorized as only one thing, one type. In fact, I’ve remarked before how Judaism is the faith of balance, of finding the path to navigate through so many seemingly opposite things. Our tradition has sought to preserve a diversity of opinions. Often, the answer to “does Judaism say…” is “yes, no, and maybe.”

Millennia of history have demonstrated to us that things that appear to be blessings can also be curses, and vice versa. The world of blessing and curse has its own yetzer tov and yetzer hara (good and evil inclinations) and finding the balance is key.

Balaak’s desire to curse the Israelites became Bilaam’s blessings of the Israelite people. There’s at least an inkling there of the idea that blessing and curse are but two sides of the same coin – and a coin can’t exist without both sides.

Grumble about there not being enough to eat, and G”d sends you quail to excess.

An excess of caution can lead to stagnation. Stagnation, perhaps, can inspire a bored someone to try something new.

A parched person could cause self-harm by too quickly and in too much quantity drinking when it is finally available. Similarly – you can drown in water or sand!

It wasn’t until 1600 that Shakespeare finally put the idea of excess as a curse into the by now well-worn phrase “too much of a good thing.”

The Besht (Baal Shem Tov) spoke of finding and liberating the small kernel of good hidden inside evil.

It is easy to think of things that are both blessings and curses. Diamond mines. Oil fields. Abundance. Scarcity. Modern medicine. Gene therapy. Smartphones. Computers. The internet. Religion. I suspect that almost everything in this universe has the potential to be blessing or course. For those things which we can utilize and manipulate, we exercise some control over whether they are blessing or curse. For those things that are beyond our control, how we react and respond to them can determine how much of a blessing or curse they are,

Adversity can build strength. Wealth can create moral poverty. Familiarity breeds contempt. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Sometimes, being stubbornly positive in trying to turn every curse into a blessing can wind up with negative consequences.  At other times, being stubbornly pessimistic and finding the worst in every blessing can result in a positive result. It’s a circle. A cycle. Two sides of that same coin.

Mitchell Chefitz tells a story called “The Curse of Blessings” (the title story in a published collection of ten stories.) It’s a wonderful illustration of how curses and blessings are intertwined. If you search for it by googling “The Curse of Blessings” you will find a few sites with versions of the story to read (though perhaps better you should buy the book https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00T57NHAO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I won’t retell the story here because I recalled  it just today as I was writing this musing and haven’t had time to ask for permission. (I’m hopeful that places I found on the web where the story is retold had Mitch’s permission to use it.  I urge you to read the story, and believe at least two of the only sources were likely done with permission, but I can’t vouchsafe for any of them, so let your conscience be your guide.)  In the story, a man is cursed with having to say a new blessing every day or he will die. I’ll say no more, as the story has a great O Henry-esque twist

All in all, the Torah making this very kind of assertion – that blessings are of one type, and curses of another, is exactly the kind of challenge that enables us to turn a curse into a blessing (or a blessing into a curse.)

So maybe, what appears to be a curse – the challenge of black and white thinking, the idea that blessings are one mountain and curses are another, is actually a blessing. To extend the metaphor fully, what path did the Israelites follow when entering the promised land? They went through the middle, the valley between Mount Gerizim (the blessing) and Mount Ebal (the curse.) In this one little verse of Torah is a microcosm of life, the universe, and everything.

Shabbat Shalom,

Adrian
© 2017 by Adrian A. Durlester

Other musings on this parasha:

Re'eh 5775 - Think Marx, Act Rashi. Think Rashi, Act Marx (Redux/Revised 5772)
Re'eh 5774 - Our Own Gifts (Redux 5761)
Re'eh 5773 - Here's a Tip
Re'eh 5772 - Think Marx, Act Rashi? Think Rashi, Act Marx?
Re'eh 5771 - Revisiting B'lo L'sav'a
Re'eh 5770 Meating Urges
Re'eh 5766-Lo Toseif V'lo Tigra
Re'eh 5765--Revised 5759-Open Your Hand
Re'eh 5761--Our Own Gifts
Re'eh 5760/5763--B'lo l'sav'a
Re'eh 5759--Open Your Hand
Re'eh 5757/5758--How To Tell Prophet From Profit

Friday, August 11, 2017

Random Musing Before Shabbat–Eikev 5777–I. Just. Can’t.

I can’t. I just can’t. At least not today. I know I have a penchant for trying to redeem irredeemable texts. Not just a penchant, a passion. However, today I am weary of that effort, weary of the rationalizations, loop de loops, torturous paths, and cherry-picking that is too often necessary to find positive values from troubling texts.

This week, I found nothing redemptive in parashat Eikev. Oh sure, it starts off seemingly positive enough. All these good things will happen if…it’s that if that turns an otherwise positive passage into a troubling one. You’ll get to successfully enter the promised land – and along the way, you will mercilessly kill, with G”d’s favor, the present occupants.

We are reminded of how G”d dealt with the Egyptians. Hmmm. Let’s see. Many Egyptians died, their economy was left in a shambles, crops devastated, animals dead, and the whole country a stinking, fetid mess.

Yep. Y’all just head on into the promised land, slaying and killing along the way, and I’ll make sure your enemies fall – though you have to do the actual killing. Oh,and by the way, tear down their altars, and destroy all their idols, and don’t even think about imitating any of their ways.

You do this and you will be very fruitful and your population will explode.None of your animals will be infertile, and so your flocks will similarly increase in number. You won’t get sick. All you have to do in exchange is show no pity.

How very “Animal Farm” of G”d. All my creations are equal in My sight, but this people are more equal. It’s no wonder our “chosen-ness” has haunted us and is a concept often rejected by modern liberal Jews.

Oh, and, by the way, this won’t be some quick and easy process. No, only little by little will you defeat your enemies and come into possession of the land. Why? Hmmm. Gimme a second to come up with a good rationalization here. Oh, I got it. If you conquer all these people too quickly, there won’t be enough people to keep the wild beasts from ravaging the land, and harming you.

Now wait just a darn minute here. G”d, creator of the Universe, doer of mighty deeds, maker of great miracles, Deity capable of delivering these people into the promised land and given them future generations of success can’t handle some wild beasts? WTF is with that?

G”d promises to drive Israel’s enemies into panic, making it easier to conquer them.(But G”d can;t handle the wild beasts?)

Acting like a morale officer, Moshe then reminds the people of all the great miracles that G”d has done for them these last 40 years. Why,even our clothes didn’t wear out. Yes, there were some harsh times, but G”d only did this to teach you a lesson – and to remind you that it is G”d who will provide. When you lack faith, expect a hardship in order to bring you back to your senses. Of course, when it gets too hard, G”d will provide relief through a miracle.  (But G”d can;t seem to deal with this “wild beasts ravaging the promised land if the conquest is too fast” thing? SMH)

Okay, enough stick for a bit. Here’s some carrot. You’re gonna really like this promised land. Things will be so good. You will eat until satiety. Oh, and don;t forget after eating and being sated, to thank G”d.

Enough carrot. Back to the stick. You’re gonna get so comfortable you’ll become haughty and believe your success is of your own making. Don’t do that. It is not your own merit that has won you this largesse. (Hmmm – then why, exactly is G”d showering this particular people with all this success? Could it be that G”d is over-compensating for a promise forgotten and ignored through 400 years of slavery in Egypt?)

Whatever you do, don’t follow the ways of the people you vanquish, or G”d will bring wrack and ruin upon you. (Note, no promise here, as one finds elsewhere, and especially in the later prophetic works, that you will suffer rack and ruin but only up to a point because G”d loves you and will ultimately show mercy in the end.

In some ways, this is a very Trump-ian situation. G”d (or perhaps it is really Moshe,) at times, appears to be saying contradictory things. First, that the people must go and fight and kill the current occupants of the land, and then later, it is stated that G”d will go at the front of you, a devouring fire, wiping out your enemies. So which is it?  Are the Canaanites gonna pay for that wall or not?

As if we haven’t had enough stick and too little carrot yet Moshe proceeds to recap all the times the Israelites were disrespectful to or showed lack of faith in, or disobeyed G”d. I’ve commented before about this segment of the text, and about Moshe’s proclivity to play fast and loose with the facts. Is Moshe deflecting responsibility for striking the rock any different than the behavior we see from today’s politicians? It would seem that, sadly, such dissembling and spin have a long history.

The one more recap. Moshe offers a recitation of G”d’s greatest hits and best characteristics.Isn’t that great! More carrot. Followed immediately by more stick. Follow ways other than G”d’s ways, and all this largesse will be taken away from you.

Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick.Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick. Carrot. Stick.

Enough already. Why this pep talk? If G”d is so all-powerful, why does G”d need us to do the dirty work? Yes, G”d is enabling a smaller force to overwhelm a larger one, but this is possible even without G”d. It’s called strategy and tactics. And this may be the fourth millennia BCE, but human beings already know all about war, and about how a smaller force can overcome a larger one.

It’s all so confusing. Yeah, I’ll grant you the admonition to remember to say thank you after our bellies are full is a useful nugget. However, as far as I can see, that might be the only one. All these platitudes about giving rain in its season and all that – that’s all they are – platitudes. They don’t redeem this text at all.

Another year I might be able to find (and clearly, in previous years I have been able to find) redeeming things in this parasha. Not this year. Not with a country in chaos, a world potentially on the brink of war. So if you’re looking for something uplifting before this Shabbat, I have nothing to offer – except the peace of Shabbat itself. As to this parasha:  I. Just. Can’t.

Shabbat Shalom,

Adrian
©2017 by Adrian A. Durlester

Other musings on this parasha:

Eikev 5775 - Kindlers of Fire (Revised from 5766)
Eikev 5774 The Hills Are Alive (Redux 5773)
Eikev 5773 - The Hills Are Alive
Eikev 5772 - Is El Al Really Doing the Right Thing?
Eikev 5771-Lining Up Alphabetically By Height
Ekev 5770 - For the Good Planet
Ekev 5769-Not Like Egypt
Ekev 5766 - Kod'khei Eish-Kindlers of Fire
Eikev 5765-Are We Forgotten?
Ekev 5764-KaYom HaZeh
Ekev 5760 (from 5759)-Not Holier Than Thou

Friday, August 4, 2017

Random Musing Before Shabbat–Va’etkhanan 5777–This Man’s Art and That Man’s Scope (revisited, revised, and expanded)

Whoops – last week passed without a musing - an unintentional hiatus. My apologies. Things just simply got away from me. A shame, too, because I had a nice theme planned for parashat D’varim this year. Guess you’ll have to wait another year. I’ve listed my musings for D’varim at the end after those for Va’etkhanan. Do take a look at them – especially the one I have shared many times over – “The Promise.”

This week's parasha, Va'etkhanan, gives me an opportunity to revisit the aseret habdibrot, the ten commandments. There's one commandment, in particular, that, for some unknown reason, popped into my head as something I wanted to muse upon this week. That commandment is the tenth, the one commandment (depending on how one views the first commandment) that is (apparently) focused on thought more than deed or action.

וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֑ךָ וְלֹ֨א תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֗ךָ שָׂדֵ֜הוּ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ שׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃

V'lo takhmod eyshet reyekha, v'lo titaveh beyt reyakha sadeihu v'avdo v'amato, shoro, v'khamoro, v'khol asher l'reyakha.

And you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor, and you shall not crave the house of your neighbor, his field, or his male slave or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

The first thing to note is that this construction in D'varim is changed from the construction in Exodus 20:14

לֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֑ךָ לֹֽא־תַחְמֹ֞ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֗ךָ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ וְשׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ׃

Lo takhmod beyt reyakha lo takhmod eyshet reyakha v'avdo, v'amato v'shoro v'khamoro v'kol asher l'reyakha

You shall not covet the house of your neighbor, you shall not covet the wife of your neighbor, his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

In Exodus, the order is house, wife, etc. Here in D'varim, the order is wife, house, etc. In addition, the verse begins with a conjunctive vav, making this commandment part of a string beginning with murder and continuing "and not commit adultery...and not steal...and not bear false witness..and not covet. In Exodus, each commandment begins with the simple negative particle "Lo" with no connecting vav. Is this treatment in D’varim the biblical equivalent of a “yadda, yadda, yadda?” A subtle protest or chafing at the restrictions?

Finally, the text in D'varim introduces a second verb into the sentence. In Exodus, the verb "takhmod" תַחְמֹ֖ד based on the root khet-mem-dalet is used twice. Here in D'varim, the verb takhmod is used first (in reference to the wife) and the verb titaveh  תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה based on the root "alef-vav-hey" precedes the remainder of the things one should not "crave" or “desire.”

While scholars disagree on the exact translations of these two verbs, there is some consensus that the alef-vav-hey root form means desire in a "delighting in" sense, whereas the root  khet-mem-dalet  means desire in an unhealthy "inclination" sense. Some scholars equate "alef-vav-hey" with desires and inclinations of the nefesh, that is, they are natural inclinations and desires. "Khet-mem-dalet" is more often associated with selfish, undisciplined, desire - perhaps a more "over the top."

One wonders how this plays into the whole rabbinical construct about how and when men interact with women. The distinct separation (and placing first) of the commandment to not inappropriately desire your neighbor's wife seen oddly juxtaposed with the Exodus construct, in which the house comes first, yet women, slaves, beasts of burden et al are all things in which we must not delight to the point of covetousness. The neighbor's wife is placed in a distinct class.

Coveting, say some of the commentators, invariably leads to action. One must convince oneself that the coveted object is utterly beyond acquisition so that one’s mind will stop considering it. (See Sforno on Exodus 20:14)

In what some may deem a misogynist framework, some commentators argue that no male could not be desirous of a woman, so here the Torah uniquely separates out the commandment to not covet a neighbor’s wife because it assumes all men will find her desirable. It’s the biblical equivalent of “keep it in your pants, buddy.” (See Ibn Ezra on Exodus 20:14)

The general rabbinic spin on this is that desire will ultimately lead to coveting, so that this version of the commandment in Deuteronomy is meant to extend the fence, as it were, so that a lesser level of behavior, i.e. desiring is prohibited lest it lead to coveting. (See the Mekhilta of Rabbi Yishmael on Exodus 20:14)

Desire is wishful thinking. Coveting is “over the top” desire with a hint of envy and an inclination to maliciousness.

While all this is fascinating, what drove me to muse upon this text in 2009, and brings it to mind again here in 2017 is more of a global observation that our society is so strongly structured to encourage not just desire, but actual covetousness, that, for some, the very idea of not coveting may seem anathema, and, at the very least, a difficult, if not impossible commandment to fulfill. We are certainly seeing a full flowering of the ideals of capitalism nigh unto the depths of plutocracy (though I suspect the latter term is more applicable than the first, as I am not entirely sure the present administration represents true ideal capitalism, but rather an unbridled form for little respect for consequences.)

Perhaps these are socialist or Marxist ideas floating to the surface, yet I cannot help but wonder how much the idea of "not coveting" has been used as a tool to keep the oppressed happy. It's all well and good to not covet when one lives the good life. It's another story when one is struggling. Those without look at those who have, and might not be able to help but wonder if all of those who have got there fairly, and are deserving of what they have. (I have often thought that one of the factors that works against truly practical socialism or even communism in the world is the random and inequitable distribution of the world’s natural resources. Our natural selfishness causes us to hoard what we have and be reluctant to share it with others, even as the reality of their having what we don’t is obvious. A global economy and global sharing is the only logical way to do things, but so many fear it. As unnatural (i.e. man-made/acquired) resources like capital and wealth accumulate in an inequitable distribution, even a capitalist, free-market world is imperiled.

In some ways, I think it is good and important that here in Deuteronomy the Torah reminds us of what it failed to say in Exodus – that desire and coveting and not the same thing, but that both are suspect.

The plutocrats have a problem here. For their system to work, people must desire or crave things. However, if their desire or craving tips over into coveting, that becomes a threat to them. However, I think that many plutocrats have failed to see the problem, blinded by their own greed.

We are bombarded constantly with advertising that is designed to get us to crave, to desire, and yes, even to covet. Might this bombardment be an underlying cause in increasing crime? If so, then there is another argument for teaching people to not covet. Still, how many of the rich get richer by insuring that the poor are taught to be content with what they have? Does desire invariably lead to coveting? On the one hand, it seems that many people are able to feel desirous of something without their desire becoming coveting. Some people do seem to be able to control their impulses. On the other hand…

Allow me a little diversion here. I have a pet peeve. I detest laws that have been enacted in many states which make it a violation to be “going slower in the passing lane” thus leading to people abiding by the speed limit being ticketed for getting in the way of those deliberately and purposefully exceeding the speed limit. I’m still trying to figure out in which universe this idea makes sense. Such laws only empower people to break the law with impunity – it canonizes their desire to ignore the rules. Yes, you can argue that this is merely a matter of community norms. However, isn’t the answer to that to change the laws to match the community norms so that obeying them doesn’t get you in trouble? My point is, that while, to some degree, we are able to control our desires, we are living in a time when, at least in some cases, individual desires are being allowed to trump the community’s laws. (See, it’s just normal word when used in that fashion.) But enough digression.

Certainly coveting things has great potential for causing problems. It can certainly lead to envy and jealousness, and those often lead to other bad things. It can cause people to be very unhappy with their own situations. Is the same true for desiring? Does that inevitably lead to coveting?

Desire, perhaps, can be assuaged not just through self-control, but through some little reward. As the Bard put it:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;

Ironically, however, Shakespeare's solution to his downcast state is to think happily on his love.

Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven’s gate;
       For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
       That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

I've little doubt that mixed in with Shakespeare's love is a bit of desire to delight in the pleasures of his love. Maybe the rabbis were on to something. Yet here, merely the thought of love is enough to assuage feelings of material desire. Is this a clue for how we can all deal with our desires, and how we can prevent them from becoming coveting?

Some rabbis and commentators have suggested that the real lesson in the commandment to not covet (or even desire) is to recognize that what we see of our neighbor's lives might not be the whole story. It's just another way of saying "be careful of what you wish for" and "always look at the big picture." You might desire your neighbors ass, but it may turn out to be lazy, stubborn, prone to illness or becoming lame. Same with his house. Who knows what problems you might be acquiring when you covet and trick someone out of their home so you might possess it?

is there ever a time and place when coveting is the right thing to do? When covetousness is the right way to feel? I'm hard pressed to find one, although can imagine a scenario in which covetousness can spur an oppressed minority to seek their full rights and share. Desire can, in a "positive value of yetzer hara" sort of way, spur one to try harder, be more ambitious, etc. Is coveting the same, or is it a bridge too far?  Is even simple desire entirely the wrong motivation to succeed? I suspect that it is, however, given the values of modern society, I'm afraid that those who seek success without some element of desire are going to find it rough going. Those who seek success through coveting, I fear, are far too often successful these days. (Isn’t a leverage buy out,or an uninvited corporate take-over an example of this? Surely, using real estate for money-laundering is an example of where coveting leads.)

In the musical based on the movie "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" there is a song in which the ambitious younger con-man sings of his desire for "Great Big Stuff." This desire spurs him into participating in a complicated high-class scam (i.e. he covets,) though in the end, he and his older, more experienced partner turn out to have been scammed by their own mark, who turns out to be an even better con-artist. Still, the older con-artist sings how it was still a blast for them, and doesn't seem to put out by this reversal of (potential) fortune. In the end, all three decide to work together. Proving that crime does pay? One way of looking at the story is that the younger con-artist perhaps comes to learn that it isn't the "stuff" at all, but the thrill of the game? A subtle anti-coveting lesson or not?

I desire. We all desire. I will reluctantly admit to coveting at least at some times in my life. I suspect most of us tip over the line from desire to coveting once in a  while. I do think I can say that, at this point in my life, I don't covet all that often or all that much, and even desire wanes at times (no, get your head out of the gutter, that’s not what I meant.) Is it because I have taken the commandment to heart, or because I have learned from experience that coveting is a waste? I suspect the latter. Would my life be even better now if, from the very start, I had taken the commandment to not covet into my heart? I wish I could say for certain that this is so, but I'm still not certain.

In our world today, I see far too much desire that has tipped over into coveting. It concerns me deeply. How and where can we find the balance to both have desires (which can be a useful thing) and control them, and most especially, to keep them from becoming coveting?

I’d like to add this wonderful quote from A.J. Heschel’s “The Sabbath”

Nothing is as hard to suppress as the will to be a slave to one’s own pettiness. Gallantly, ceaselessly, quietly, man must fight for inner liberty. Inner liberty depends upon being exempt from domination of things as well as from domination of people. There are many who have acquired a high degree of political and social liberty, but only very few are not enslaved to things. This is our constant problem—how to live with people and remain free, how to live with things and remain independent.  In a moment of eternity, while the taste of redemption was still fresh to the former slaves, the people of Israel were given the Ten Words, the Ten Commandments. In its beginning and end, the Decalogue deals with the liberty of man. The first Word—I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage— reminds him that his outer liberty was given to him by God, and the tenth Word— Thou shalt not covet!—reminds him that he himself must achieve his inner liberty.

So what are "lo takhmod" and "lo titaveh" really about? Something to ponder this Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom,

Adrian

©2017 (portions ©2009) by Adrian A. Durlester

Other musings on this parasha

Va'etkhanan 5774 - Sometimes A Cigar... (Revised from 5764)
Va'etkhanan 5773-The Promise (Redux & Revised 5759ff)
Va'etkhanan 5772 - Redux & Revised 5758 - The Promise
Va'etkhanan/Shabbat Nakhamu 5771 - Comfort
Va'etkhanan 5769-This Man's Art, That Man's Scope
Va'etchanan 5764--Sometimes A Cigar...
Va'etchanan 5758-63-66-67-The promise

Musings on D’varim

D'varim 5775 - Kumu V'Ivru (Revised 5760)
D'varim/Hazon 5774 - Refractory Recalcitrant Recidivists (Redux 5766)
D'varim 5773 - The Pea in Og's Bed
D'varim 5772 - Revised 5762 - L'chu v'niva'ch'chah and the Twelve Steps
D'varim 5769-Torah of Confusion
D'varim-Shabbat Hazon 5771/5766  - Refractory Recalcitrant Recidivists
D'varim 5764--Eleven Days
D'varim 5763--Remembering to Forget or Forgetting to Remember?
D'varim 5762-L'chu v'niva'ch'chah and the Twelve Steps
D'varim 5759-Owning Up
D'varim 5760-1-Kumu v'Ivru