I Samuel 15:17 Jewish Thought: Akeidat Yitzchak

When striving to achieve his potential, man must look beyond himself and attempt to act as if he had become a partner in what he is striving for. When king Saul listened to the people and allowed Agag to live, his error was that he was too aware of his own shortcomings and not sufficiently aware of the lofty position he occupied by reason of being king of Israel, G'ds holy nation, (compare Samuel I chapter 15) Concentrating on the Divine, which constitutes part of man's roots, is the antidote to dwelling on one's mortality. The latter is depressing, whereas the former is elevating. G'ds imperative "be holy, for I am holy," means "do not use the fact that you are in a mortal shell as an excuse not to strive for the ultimate you are capable of." This seems to conflict with the view expressed by Akavyah ben Mehallalel in Avot 3,1, who states "look at three things and you will not become a sinner. Your origin, i.e. a smelly drop of semen; your destiny, i.e. a place of dust and worms; the celestial tribunal before which you will have to give an account of your life to the Almighty." Surely, a person who is imbued with that outlook is apt to become rather permissive with himself, telling himself that nothing much can be expected of him seeing he is of such lowly origin and headed for such a miserable destiny. This also seems to be what Job argued when he justified his despair saying: "man, the product of woman, of short lifespan and excess of trouble, anger etc." (Job 14,1) Did not Samuel say to Rav Yehudah (Eyruvin 54 ) "smart one, eat and drink while you can, since the world we will depart from is like a feast." Even though the parable may tell us to seek the permissible pleasures of life while we are still here to enjoy them, it is certainly a public pronouncement totally different from that of Akavyah ben Mehallalel. In fact, since man's sins are rooted in any or all of three types of motivations, "jealousy, sensual desire, quest for honour and glory," the considerations Akavyah asks us to bear in mind, will act as brakes to any of the aforementioned causes of sin. How can a person be haughty, seek glory, when he considers his lowly origin?- How can a person be consumed with desire to gratify the urgings of his flesh, when he knows all too well that he will soon return to dust, and his own flesh will be food for the worms? How can one be greedy and jealous of someone else's possessions, when one knows full well that all these possessions will be left behind? How can one indulge the flesh when one knows one has to render an accounting of how one spent one's time down here? While Akavyah seems to make a good case, superficially, his arguments can be countered nonetheless. If one will turn into dust and worms, what judgment is there to be afraid of? If one's origin is low, so is everyone else's; how could this be a deterrent to sin then? Pride, i.e. being vainglorious, may reflect merely one's achievments, not one's origin! Why does Akavyah describe the fate of the corpse? It would have been simpler to say "we are all headed for death!" Is not the fact that one has to die a sufficient deterrent? In Kohelet 9,10, Solomon has already said "whatever you are able to do, do it with all your might; for there is neither action nor reasoning nor knowledge nor wisdom in she-ol, [the place] that you are going to." Since your body is finite, all that is connected with it comes to an end when your body dies. Akavyah, however, reminds us that we should consider the elevated part of man, not desecrate it or debase it. To this end, the considerations he suggests to keep in mind are very helpful. It is only the body that is lowly, just as it is only the body that turns into dust and worms; the soul, the Divine part of our roots will live on and have to give an accounting of itself. All phenomena in nature share three criteria. A) They are all observed in their present stage of development, evolution. B) They have all undergone some metamorphosis before they reached their present stage. C) They all appear in a certain format. Remembering these three facts, Rabbi Akavyah says will help one avoid sin. 1) Considering that one's raw material is only matter. 2) Considering that all matter is in a constantly changing state, not enduring as such. 3) Considering that one's format is "in the image of G'd." When considering all these factors combined, remembering the Divine part of our format helps to give us the proper perspective on life. Akavyah's warning then is not to let the yetzer hara mislead us into thinking that because our bodies are transient and our origin insignificant, we are not losing anything by enjoying the pleasures of life, but to remember that there is another part of us that transcends the body, and which we may place in jeopardy if we do not act properly. If the body is subject to metamorphosis, how much more so the soul. Death of the body as an end to existence is quite an illogical premise then. Death is merely a transition to another state, not a final disposition, extinction. It is this thought that is the rationale underlying all yirat chet, fear of sin, the knowledge that there is no escaping the consequences of one's actions. When the Mishnah in Ediyot 5,6-7, describes this same Akavyah as a person possessed both of great wisdom and fear of the Lord in the highest degree, it only shows that the author of the statement quoted in Avot, himself lived in accordance with his own philosophy. He is reported to have declined the highest office in order not to compromise what he believed to be the truth. He preferred to be called a fool, rather than appear wicked in the eyes of G'd by recanting publicly something which he believed privately. He who gives people cause to suspect him of wrongdoing, cannot be well liked in the eyes of the Lord. This is what Rabbi Chaninah ben Dotha had referred to in the opening quote from Tractate Avot. People of Akavyah's caliber require wisdom to help them distinguish true integrity. This is the reason that they are granted such wisdom. If, however, people want to employ their wisdom for ulterior personal motives, they are not really in need of such wisdom. Therefore, it will not endure, they will lose it. G'd does not endow people with the talent to deny their fear of G'd. In the words of the psalmist, Rabbi Chaninah's statement is "the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, ensuring good intelligence for those who practice its dictates." (Psalms 111,10.) Those who act in accordance with that wisdom will find that their intellect stands them in good stead. When that psalm continues "his fame will endure forever," this is parallel to the statement in Avot "those whose deeds are more numerous than their theoretical wisdom will enjoy enduring wisdom." Anyone whose fear of the Lord is his priority number one, will try and do more than his wisdom dictates. He will do both what his own wisdom dictates and what his mentors have taught him to do. Those people who invert the process are described by the Rabbis as being like builders who have provided doors, but lack the house to put them in. What good are doors when you do not have a house?