To Be or Not to Be

What do you think?

Reflecting on the conflict in Iran, I have to admit that despite my deep conviction that human beings can learn and change, much of the time, I am discouraged and even confounded by the way people seem to learn nothing from history, whether in the area of armed conflict or when it comes to self-serving displays of ego.

This calls to mind the famous Talmudic debate when the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel argued for two and a half years over whether it would have been better had humanity been or not been created in the first place. Shammai argued it would have been better had people not been created, while Hillel argued it was better to have been created.

Ultimately, the sages voted and the conclusion went with Shammai – that it would have been preferable had humanity never been created at all.

The Talmud gives no reason why each side took the positions they did in the debate, why Shammai thought it better had we never been created or why Hillel defended humanity’s existence.

This record of this debate is found in tractate Eruvin on page 13b. I always find it interesting to look at the context in which the rabbis chose to insert a particular piece of teaching, and the story of the debate between Hillel and Shammai about human beings being created comes immediately after this:

Anyone who humbles himself, the Holy Blessed One exalts him, and anyone who exalts himself, the Holy Blessed One humbles him. Anyone who seeks greatness, greatness flees from him, and anyone who flees from greatness, greatness seeks him out. And anyone who forces the moment [expending great effort to achieve a goal], the moment forces him [to fail]. And anyone who yields to the moment, the moment stands by him [and he succeeds].

What’s under discussion here is the human tendency to self-glorify. Even the idea of “forcing the moment” is a display of arrogance. Despite the fact that the moment is not right, the person pursues their will. The universe be damned; I want it now!

If this depiction were to be acted out, it would fit perfectly to the paradigm of the struggle between Moses and the Pharaoh. The king of Egypt fashioned himself a god-king, exalted as the earthly incarnation of the sky god Horus and serving as the absolute political ruler as well as the high priest of the religion. Moshe, on the other hand is the paragon of humility. The Torah names him as “the most humble person on the face of the earth,” and his conduct backs that up. When God offers to destroy the children of Israel and start a new nation from Moses, Moses turns down the offer and says that if that were to happen, he would want to be completely wiped out of the Torah – or “Your book,” as he says.

In fact, this contest between egotistical and humble models of leadership is explicit in the Torah. Just before the plague of locusts is initiated (Exodus 10:3), Moses says to Pharaoh, “How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me?”

Interesting to see the same paradigm showing up in the struggle between Haman and Mordechai that is the political axis of the Purim story. Haman is all about self-interest and power, while Mordechai is the servant of his people.

This archetypal paradigm helps us understand the difference between the view of Shammai and that of Hillel. Almost 2,000 years ago, Shammai assessed the world he was seeing and drew the conclusion that humanity, on balance, was arrogant and self-serving by nature and would always be so, while Hillel saw the good side of humanity as dominant.

Although Hillel and Shammai debated for two and a half years, and even though they resolved the question in a vote for the negative view, they did not call for the destruction of this wayward species. Instead, they showed us how we who bear the burden of ego should conduct ourselves. They said:

Now that the human has been created, one should examine the actions [they have already done]. And some say: One should scrutinize [future] actions.

Yes, said the Sages, arrogant, egotistical and self-interested by nature, but not without the possibility of redemption. All we have to do is examine and learn from the things we have done, and think hard and critically before we take the next step.

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, in his 18^th century classic of the Mussar tradition, Mesillat Yesharim / Path of the Just (3:7) cites this Talmudic dictum and comments: “See how these two terms are two very good and beneficial instructions.”

He goes on: “This is analogous to feeling out a garment to ascertain whether it is good and strong or weak and frayed. So too, one should feel out their deeds to ascertain their nature through an absolutely thorough examination until they are left pure and clean.”

What do we learn? We can’t expect that our leaders will stop erecting monuments to themselves and trumpeting their own egos. So it is; so it has always been.

But what we can and should look for is the sense of conscience and introspection that would show that they are committed to the good of the populace, that they have the capacity to learn from their mistakes, and that they are thinking carefully and with consideration of public needs in plotting their next steps.

The leader who makes a mistake or is caught out in misbehaviour who then doubles down, blames others and takes no responsibility is the Pharaoh in thin disguise. The humble leader is a much rarer species.

And, of course, all the same questions apply to us. How do we act as leaders. How perfected is our own conscience and introspection? Are we ever guilty of “forcing the moment”? How often do we “feel out” our deeds so that we are more purified and cleaner in our actions?

I wonder how you would vote in the debate today…

Position 1: Human beings are by nature so selfish, egotistical and self-interested that it would have been better for all of creation had we never come into existence.

Position 2: Our ability to be humble, to scrutinize our actions past and present, and to cause ourselves to change for the better redeems our negative aspects.

I invite you to share more about your position by submitting a comment to this post.

Vote now!! And may all innocent people be safe.