Jealousy in the Torah: Tracing Its Dangers

Jealousy in the Torah Part 2

לֹא תַחְמֹד בֵּית רֵעֶךָ לֹא תַחְמֹד אֵשֶׁת רֵעֶךָ וְעַבְדּוֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ וְשׁוֹרוֹ וַחֲמֹרוֹ וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר לְרֵעֶךָ

Do not covet your fellow’s house. Do not covet your fellow’s wife, or his servant or his maidservant, or his ox or his donkey, or all that belongs to your fellow.

Shemot (Yitro) 20:13 – The last of the Ten Commandments

Jealousy In The Ten Commandments

It’s easy to see why jealousy is included in the Aseret Hadibrot (the Ten Commandments). The commandment against jealousy is placed alongside serious moral sins like stealing, killing, adultery, and lying in court because jealousy often leads to these very actionsⁱ . When a person allows jealousy to take over, it can drive them to act out in harmful ways, often ruining their lives and the lives of those around them. The Nachash Hakadmoni (snake) in Gan Eden was the first to experience and act on his jealousy by attempting to kill Adam HaRishon and marry Chava. His jealousy created a precedent in the world that was not able to be rectified until an extraordinary act of self-worth and knowing one’s essence.

Happiness In His Heart

When Aharon Hakohein went to greet Moshe Rabbeinu on his way to Mitzrayim (Egypt) to redeem the Jews from slavery, the Pasuk saysⁱⁱ “Vere’acha vesamach belibo“, “and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart”. Rashi elaborates and teaches us that while any other person would be expected to feel some resentment and jealousy at their brothers’ high position and power, Aharon was genuinely delighted that his brother Moshe was the chosen messenger of Hashem. As a reward, Aharon was given the kehunah gedolah and merited to wear the choshen, the gemstone-studded breastplate of the Kohein Gadolⁱⁱⁱ.

From Jealousy To Destruction

The parshah of Korach exemplifies the destructive power of jealousy and its ability to drag a person down, even to the death! Soon after Matan Torah, Korach was jealous that he was not appointed Nasi (prince) of Shevet Levi, and confronted Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon Hakohein, accusing them of hogging status and power. As punishment, Korach and his followers, along with their families and children, were swallowed by the earth.

Rashi spells out Korach’s motivation for starting his rebellion against Moshe Rabbeinu: He was jealous that a younger cousin became the prince of his Shevet (tribe)^iv. Despite the fact that Chazal say^v that Korach was a clever and wise person, he lost control of himself over his jealousy and caused terrible destruction.

Jealousy Rots The Bones

The Gemara explains^vi what Shlomo Hamelech, the wisest of all men, says regarding jealousy, that “…envy brings rotting of the bones^vii”. After death and burial, the body decomposes, leaving just the bones intact. A jealous person’s remains, however, will decompose even the skeleton, leaving behind nothing but dust. With Korach, the earth split open, “and they were lost from the congregation^viii” with nothing – not even their bones left as memorial.

One might think that the decomposition of a long-dead skeleton is meaningless, but the truth is that this insight brings us to a clear understanding of the source of jealousy and the tremendous impact it brings. The Hebrew word “etzem” means both ‘bone’ and ‘essence’. Thus, a person’s bones represent his essence. When jealousy consumes a person, he does not want to be himself. He wants to be somebody else. A person who wants another person’s job or house or wife or power or money fundamentally indicates he is not happy with who he is and what he possesses.

One’s Bones And Essence

A jealous person fails to understand that Hashem wants him to have this particular house and this money and this job and these children and this power, etc. Jealousy of someone else represents denial of one’s essence, one’s atzmiut. Therefore the appropriate punishment for a jealous person is for his atzamot, his bones, to rot.

The Maharil Diskin takes this idea a step further with the bones of Yosef^ix. When Yosef Hatzaddik instructed his descendants to promise that “You shall bring up my bones with you [when you leave Mitzrayim]^x,” he was highlighting the fact that his bones would be whole, and not decomposed! Yosef was saying, “My bones will remain intact because despite what the brothers did to me, I never was jealous of them and I never hated them. The proof of this will be that whoever has jealousy suffers the fate that his bones decompose.”

Jealousy is a powerful emotion that can destroy a person’s happiness, relationships, and even their sense of self-worth. The Torah’s commandment against jealousy shows how serious it is, placing it alongside sins like stealing and killing. If we do not keep these evil character traits in check and fix them when we need to, then — Heaven Forbid — we will pay the price later on.

Read Jealousy In The Torah Part 1: Understanding The Mitzvah

Excerpted from Oorah’s Torah Nuggets

Jealousy in the Torah – Sources: