Musar su Proverbi 14:30

There are those whose folly has grown so great that if he sees some good by his fellow, he will rot inside. He worries and suffers so much that even the good things he has do not give him any enjoyment due to the pain of what he sees in his fellow's hands. This is what the wise man said: "jealousy is the rot of the bones"(Mishlei 14:30).

Therefore, it is good for a man not to wear conspicuous or expensive garments — neither he nor his wife nor his children, and so should it be with food and other matters so that others will not envy him. Let that man who has been blessed bountifully by the Creator see to it that others get some enjoyment from his possessions whether they be rich or whether they be poor. Let him conduct himself with his companions gently and deal kindly with them. We have already dwelt at length about this matter — the matter of a man being loved by his fellow creatures — if he is loved by everyone, then they will not envy him, and they will not covet anything that belongs to him. However, it is fitting for a man, that he should attempt to excel in good qualities, so that others may envy him and long to do as he does. And he who is careful not to envy others, — his body will not wither, and no worms will rule over him. As it is written : "But envy is the rottenness of the bones" (Prov. 14:30), "Any man who has envy in his heart, his bones rot; every man who has not envy in his heart, his bones do not rot" (Shabbath 152b).

We know from Proverbs 14,30, "envy is iike rottenness of the bones," that ordinarily, jealousy is a natural cause of death. Greed, lust, cause man's death, while he remains unsated, since "man dies while half his desires remain unfulfilled" (Kohelet Rabbah 1,34). We also have the statement of our sages that "he who chases after glory and honour, glory and honour flee from him" (Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah 3,1). On this the sages comment that he dies one hundred deaths from jealousy and not just one. Rashi explains the Mishnah in Avot by Rabbi Elazar Hakappor as applying to Adam; it was these negative virtues that caused him to become mortal. He describes the angels who had to serve him delicacies in גן עדן as becoming jealous of his status, his כבוד, honor. He cites Adam's greed to eat from the tree of knowledge as contributing to his death. The honour he enjoyed in Gan Eden caused him to be expelled. He quotes other opinions that apply this Mishnah to the jealousy displayed by Korach versus Moses and Aaron. Actually we have to view these three evils as the root causes of all impurities, i.e. טומאות, which include all negative virtues. When these three characteristics are used positively, they in turn are the root causes of all positive virtues. Concerning this fact, Ben Zoma asks at the beginning of that chapter in Avot "Who is a wise man? He who is willing to learn from any person. Who is a hero? He who is able to restrain his passions. Who is wealthy? He who is satisfied with his lot." "Heroism" is an aspect of "jealousy," as we know from Jeremiah 46,12, גבור בגבור כמותן, "for hero encounters a hero of similar stature" [the competitive element is the jealousy]. We also have Rashi's comment on Numbers 25,11, בקנאו את קנאתי בתוכם, "when he displayed jealousy on My behalf," that this "jealousy" displayed by Pinchas was the retribution G–d was entitled to exact from Zimri, i.e. it was נקמה. We know that קנאת סופרים, a competitive spirit between scholars is laudable, since it means that a person battles his evil urge, trying to excel in good deeds and character traits. This is the most important battle a person has to fight in his life. We have the story of the philosopher who encountered soldiers returning from a great conquest. He told them: "you did win a minor battle, but you have failed to win the major battle, namely man's battle with his evil urge." The reason it is called "the great battle," is that it is a never-ending battle. Concerning that battle, Ben Zoma said that the true hero is he who vanquishes his evil urge. The statement "who is wealthy, he who is satisfied with his lot," is the exact opposite of the negative virtue of תאוה, greed, i.e. never being satisfied. This is why the rabbis said that a person who is afflicted with the disease of being greedy dies before he has achieved even half of what he had hoped for. Lastly Ben Zoma described the חכם, wise person, as someone who is willing to learn from anybody else. The true meaning of honour is to be considered a wise man, as we know from Proverbs 3,35: "The wise shall inherit honour." When a person does not chase after glory it is liable to pursue him. Rabbi Yossi is on record as saying: "I have learned a great deal from my teachers; I have learned even more from my friends; but most of all have I learned from my students" (Taanit 7).

The Tziyoni elaborates on the theme further. Here is part of his commentary: When our sages are on record that our patriarch Jacob did not die, they understood that his צורה form, body, was clothed in a manner similar to original Adam before his sin. Jacob spends his time roving around in this world trying to be helpful to his people. The meaning of this whole aggadic statement is that the souls of the other righteous people are bundled up in a domain of eternal life without donning any kind of "garment" which would make them perceivable in our world, except on rare occasions, some of which are mentioned in the Talmud. When the spirits of such departed צדיקים make their occasional appearance in this world, having donned some kind of "clothing" to make them visible, this is in order that they may perform certain tasks assigned to them. One such example is reported in Shabbat 152b. Some people were digging in the soil belonging to Rabbi Nachman. In the course of their digging they disturbed the grave of Rabbi Achai bar Yoshiah who expressed his anger vociferously. The diggers reported this to Rabbi Nachman. Rabbi Nachman went to the spot and inquired who it was that had expressed this complaint. When he was told by Rabbai Achai that it was he himself, Rabbi Nachman quoted a statement by Rabbi Mori that the righteous return to dust in their graves, so how was it that Rabbi Achai was able to protest from the grave? Rabbi Achai answered: "who is this Mori whom I have never heard of? Rabbi Nachman then quoted a verse from Kohelet 12,7 stating that just as the body returns to dust, the spirit of the righteous returns to G–d. Rabbi Achai countered that whoever had taught Rabbi Nachman Kohelet had evidently failed to teach him Proverbs 14,30: ורקב עצמות קנאה, "only those who have jealousy in their hearts are subject to their flesh rotting away." The Talmud reports other strange phenomena of this kind upon which we will not elaborate. Jacob was able to don "garments" at will just as the prophet Elijah of whom hundreds of appearances in our world have been reported. Whenever the Jewish people are in dire straits Jacob "dons” garments and prays for them. This is what Rabbi Yochanan had in mind when he said in Taanit 5b that he bases himself on scripture (Jeremiah 30,10) "and you My servant Jacob, do not fear Israel; I will deliver you from afar, and your descendants from their land of captivity, and Jacob shall again have calm, etc." In this verse Jacob and his descendants are clearly both referred to as being alive.