A Day at the Park

As we made our way home, Jacob turned to me and said, "You're special to me, Dad." 

Say 'hello,' Jacob...

Yitro 5772

The 10 Commandments loom large—over Western Civilization and over the week’s parsha, Yitro, in which they are given.

The tenth:  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor male nor female slave, nor ox nor donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:14).  What, exactly, is coveting?  It is an intense desire for something, one that might even lead to scheming to acquire it.

I am reminded of the difference between envy and jealousy.  Envy is when I admire something that someone else has and want one for myself.  Jealousy is when I desire something someone else has and what THAT ONE for myself.  It is jealousy, then, that leads to coveting.  Coveting can lead to taking away from another.  It therefore represents a breakdown of social order.

In our society, envy and jealousy are often confused; both are denigrated.  But there is something positive to envy—it can inspire us to achieve and acquire.  “It is the character of very few men to honor without envy a friend who has prospered,” Aeschylus wrote (Agamemnon i. 832).  Envy is the desire that propels us forward, into creating for ourselves rather than into taking away from others.  Envy can spark, while jealousy can burn.

B'shalach 5772

When the waters came crashing together, and the Egyptians drowned, and the Israelites were at last completely saved, Moses burst into song:

[Exodus 15:1]  I will sing to YHVH, for He has triumphed gloriously; horse and driver He has hurled into the sea.  [2]  YHVH is my strength and might/He is become my deliverance.  This is my God and I will enshrine Him; the God of my ancestors, and I will exalt Him.  [3]  YHVH, the Warrior—YHVH is His name!

God as a warrior?  Astounding!  We who “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14) have trouble accepting such an aggressive image.  It seems completely at odds with our expectation for a loving, present God.

But there are times when it helps to think of God as a warrior:  focused, determined, targeted, powerful.  Sometimes, we need a warrior for Peace and Justice on our side—a God like the Freedom Riders, able to withstand the onslaught for what is right.  Sometimes, we need a warrior on our side to attack our illness, fighting the “bad guys” inside our bodies and cells—a God like a surgeon, able to cut in order to save.  Sometimes, even lovers of peace need a warrior.

Later in our parsha, God is called a “healer” (15:26).  Perhaps Healers and Warriors have something in common.