Reluctance to Strive for More
One of the most difficult things in life is to strive for more. We get used to the way things are and find it threatening to leave our comfort zone, even if we might think we might gain a great deal from doing so.
This reluctance to change afflicts both our physical and our spiritual existence. When it comes to our spiritual existence, we can identify four levels of such resistance. Unlike resistance to physical and psychological growth, resistance to spiritual change and growth can come in the guise of piety—piety that can be summed up by the notion that when you strike out in search of new spiritual ground you might be facing additional risks, which were absent from your initial state. Because of the inherent risks involved with taking on greater religious responsibility, one might be inclined to argue that “less is more,” or to use the sages’ idiom, “If you grasp for much, you capture none”[1] (תָּפַסְתָּ מְרוּבֶּה לֹא תָּפַסְתָּ). But this is, as we shall see, only a false form of piety.
Fear Disguised as Piety
The source of this piety stems in reality from a type of fear, which, in the Torah can be traced back to a famous commentary by Rashi. When Jacob asked Esau to sell him his firstborn rights, Esau replied, “Behold, I am going to die, what use is my firstborn status to me?”[2] Rashi writes,
Esau said: What is the nature of the rights [performed by the firstborn]? Jacob replied, “Many prohibitions and punishments and many acts involving even the punishment of death are associated with it, just as we read in the Mishnah: “The following priests are liable to death: those who carry out their duties after having drunk too much wine and those who officiate long-haired.” He [Esau] replied: “If I am going to die through it, why should I desire it.”
In other words, Esau did not want to act as a firstborn. He abandoned his firstborn rights despite their importance because of his fear that it would be a “headache” to be the one responsible for the family’s sacrifices and the one to officiate at the sacrificial rights. Why place himself in a risky situation, where improper behavior, or an inappropriate attitude could lead to him being punished.
As such, Esau was the first person to say, “enough.” It is enough for me to be the way I am. I do not want to strive for a higher and more responsible spiritual position or state. I am perfectly content with what I have.
The ”I have enough spiritually” attitude is one that the Lubavitcher Rebbe was constantly criticizing. In his mind, when it comes to spirituality, the proper attitude one should assume is that “one who has a hundred wants to have two hundred.”[3] Let us see how this attitude affects us on four different levels. Let us begin by looking at the prospect of rebuilding the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Ignoring Questions Regarding the Temple Mount
There are many present-day Halachic authorities (poskim) who refuse to rule on questions related to rebuilding the Temple. They will not even engage the question of where on the Temple Mount we can erect a synagogue, or even where on the Temple Mount it is permitted for people to enter.
The last of these questions is usually met with a blanket statement that the entire Temple Mount is off-limits because of our impurity. This is of course not true, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe repeatedly requested that the most important and revered poskim of the generation take the time and the effort to make a ruling on this question. This is a question that cannot be resolved merely with archeological evidence. It requires the legal decision of the greatest halachic minds of the generation.
Why is it that to date, the top-tier of poskim in our generation have been unwilling to address this topic? There are several different reasons, but one of them has to do with this sentiment of “I have enough.” This sentiment is not always a conscious one, and at times we find that it is concealed in the poskim’s subconscious.
In effect, it is much easier to ignore the question of rebuilding the Temple. Normative halachic Judaism is a full lifestyle. It fills up our daily routine and presents us with a life of meaning. Why add a new headache to the mix? There are so many difficult details and issues that come up the moment we consider the possibility of visiting the Temple Mount, all the more so if we contemplate the possibility of constructing a synagogue on it, and a figurative migraine is waiting for those who would think about what restarting the daily Temple service would be like.
Souls of Chaos
Who is constantly thinking about these questions? Souls that have a streak of chaos in them. Many times, these are ba’alei teshuvah who have already chosen to turn their lives upside-down and willingly enter the “headache” of a life of religious observance. But these can also be people who have been observant from birth who simply want more and who feel that the headache is worth the reward.
A similar attitude can be found regarding the coming of the Mashiach. There are those who used to joke that if somehow the Mashiach came, their lives as they know it would never be the same, and who wants that headache!?
Why Live in the Land of Israel?
Perhaps more than any other issue, the “I have enough” attitude steers the way that many Jews living outside the Land of Israel view moving to the Holy Land. Indeed, among the early authorities, the Rishonim, there are opinions that only someone who has the presence of mind to properly appreciate that the Land of Israel is the King’s palace, so to speak, it is God’s private chambers, only such a person should live in the Holy Land. So, there is a real expectation that those of us who live in the Land of Israel should live up to a certain standard of fear of God and seriousness in keeping the mitzvot.
But for all the difficulty in living up to this standard, the attitude that living as a Jew outside the Land of Israel is another form of the “I have enough” syndrome.
Why Be a Jew?
If we’ve come this far, then let us consider one more aspect of this syndrome. If a person was born a non-Jew, the “I have enough” syndrome can make him or her deliberate: Why convert to Judaism. If I convert, I will be liable for 613 commandments. Why should I place myself in such a position? I have enough by being a God-fearing non-Jew. I don’t worship false gods, I don’t commit murder, etc. This is just fine for me. Why risk my wellbeing by becoming obligated with 613 commandments, which who knows if I will be able to uphold properly.
Committing to the seven Noachide laws is plenty. I can be a pious non-Jew; according to many opinions, I will even have a portion in the World-to-Come this way.
The sages relate that Ruth, the most famous convert and the great-grandmother of King David became a convert once she took upon herself the responsibility of even those commandments, the punishment for which can be capital. She did this when she said to Naomi, “Where you die, I will die and there I will be buried.”[4] It is far more comfortable to remain a Noachide. Noach’s name even means “comfort.”
Why Be Born?
Finally, there is one more level of “I have enough.” The sages say that it is more comfortable for a man not to have been created than to have been created.”[5] It is much better for the soul to remain outside this world. Life in this world is full of challenges and difficulties and regardless of whether one is born a Jew or a non-Jew, life can lead one to many spiritual pitfalls. Why risk it all? The “I have enough” syndrome would have the soul remain unborn and outside the world.
Four Blemishes in Havayah
In all we have seen four different manifestations of the “I have enough” sentiment, which are easily seen to correspond to the four letters of God’s essential Name, Havayah.
The unwillingness to engage with the laws and rituals of the Temple, with the laws governing purity and impurity and with the laws governing the sacred rites, this manifestation of “I have enough”—”I am perfectly comfortable without this headache”—corresponds to the yud of Havayah. The yud is wisdom and corresponds with holiness. The Temple itself is where God’s omnipresent Presence (the Shechinah) is openly revealed.
An unwillingness to take the leap of living in the Land of Israel—the King’s palace—represents a blemish of the first hei in Havayah. The Holy Temple in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel as a whole go together, just as the yud and hei in Havayah are like two companions that never part. The relationship between the two is described in the Zohar as “a point in a chamber,” with the point being the Temple—the most sacred point—inside the chamber, or the Land of Israel.
Preferring to play it “safe” and remain a non-Jew without converting to Judaism blemishes the vav of Havayah, which represents the seven emotive faculties of the heart, which also correspond to the seven Canaanite nations, the root of all non-Jews.
Finally, the soul that fears being created in a body and facing the difficulties of life blemishes the final hei of Havayah. How so? The sages relate that before God created the world he consulted with the souls and asked them if He should create them or not? The souls answered that He should. Why did they volunteer to be created if it is better to remain without a body?
The answer is that the souls knew that without a people, there is no king! Thus, they understood that if they would not be willing to be created into physical bodies, God would not be crowned as King. There is a lot of risk in becoming corporeal, but the risk is worth it to crown God. So either I will risk life, or You, God, will not be King.
| letter of Havayah | “I Have Enough” even without | Rectification | |
| yud | Building the Temple | Poskim must rule on these issues | י |
| hei | Living in the Land of Israel | Living a Torah-observant life in the Land of Israel | ה |
| vav | Converting to Judaism | Take Ruth as an Example of Self-Sacrifice | ו |
| hei | Being Born | Only if I am born and serve God can He be King | ה |
[1]. Yoma 80a.
[2]. Genesis 25:29.
[3]. Kohelet Rabbah 1:34.
[4]. Ruth 1:17.
[5]. Eiruvin 13b.
