Subjective Materialism and Self-Delusion

Some of our religious commitments require introspection in order to know whether we have violated Torah norms and ideals - and then further introspection to discover whether we're fooling ourselves

Close to two weeks ago, I released a podcast with Rabbi Jeremy Wieder that addressed the issue of hedonism, materialism, and conspicuous consumption. Part of the conversation surrounding this episode is how to define “materialism” in the first place; after all, as Rabbi Wieder said on the podcast, almost any person with a home in the Western world today is living a quality of life that would have been unthinkable in the 19th century. Indeed, if someone could show a person from 1983 the phones in each of our pockets while explaining what they can do, that individual from 40 years ago would presumably guess that they cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some luxuries that we take for granted, if transplanted into the past, would be seen as the likely possessions of the uber-rich alone - yet few would argue that having a smartphone is an example of hedonistic excess. Being materialistic is a violation of the Torah - but knowing where to draw the line is somewhat subjective.

The idea that materialism is subjective may be indicated in Parashat Shoftim. In Devarim 17:16-17, Moshe Rabbeinu lists three prohibitions that apply to a future Israelite king: he must not possess a large number of horses, he cannot marry a large number of wives, and he cannot amass a large amount of money. (Naturally, the prohibitions regarding horses and capital only refer to his personal possessions; there is nothing wrong with having many horses in the king’s army, or retaining significant sums of money in the national treasury.)

Interestingly, when the Sefer HaChinuch relates the consequences of disregarding these laws, he states that the king who amasses too many horses – defined as having even a single horse which has no purpose other than to trot before the king – is punished with lashes. Similarly, a king who marries more than eighteen wives is expected to divorce all those beyond this number, and is also punished with lashes. In the case of acquiring too much money, however, the Sefer HaChinuch does not mention lashes at all, despite the fact that the Rambam himself makes no such distinction, and prescribes lashes for this infraction, as well. The Sefer HaChinuch’s own formulation is that in this case, “his punishment is very great, for the entire people are dependent upon him; accordingly, he must give all his attention to the welfare of his nation, and not to his personal honor and the satisfaction of his personal desires.” Why does the Sefer HaChinuch omit the punishment of lashes? What, in his view, distinguishes the king’s accumulation of riches from the other two prohibitions? Moreover, why does he include the additional lines regarding the king’s giving his attention to the welfare of the nation, when this statement is lacking from the Chinuch’s discussion of the punishment for the other two prohibitions?

The Minchat Chinuch, while not addressing this question directly, alludes to an answer by explaining that we do not know the amount which is considered too much money, and consequently deserving of punishment. Moreover, even if that amount were known, it is difficult – if not impossible – to know if the king has violated the prohibition, given that it is dependent upon his motivation. While the amassing of too many horses can be seen through the use of an extra horse to run before the king’s chariot, there is no such easy method to determine why the king has acquired his fortune. Perhaps he plans to use it for the betterment of the people, in which case he has done nothing wrong. This ambiguity makes the determination of wrongdoing almost impossible, and impedes the practical implementation of the punishment.

Halacha, our system of divine law, has provided every individual Jew with a means to determine right and wrong. Every act a Jewish person performs can be analyzed using Halachic formulae to assess its religious value. Nevertheless, there always remain numerous activities which can only be judged based on the internal motivation of the individual. Halacha asserts that the unending acquisition of money is inappropriate for a king, but only the king himself knows when he has violated this norm. This analysis of the heart, the dispassionate judgment of one’s own motivations, is one of the most difficult activities for any individual to perform, for every person naturally tends to justify his own actions. Perhaps this is why the Sefer HaChinuch adds the unexpected lines, “for the entire people are dependent upon him – he must give all his attention to the welfare of his nation, and not to his personal honor and the satisfaction of his personal desires.” When there is a clear-cut prohibition, there is no great difficulty in determining if it has been violated. When the prohibition’s violation depends upon the private judgment of the individual involved, however, that individual will rarely be honest enough with himself to render an appropriate verdict. The Chinuch reminds the king of what his true motivations should be. By doing this, he enables the king to analyze his own acquisition of money according to the formula he presents: does he truly have the nation in mind? Is he authentically looking out for the people rather than himself? Is his collection of capital meant to further the welfare of his subjects, or simply to enrich his own family? When one must judge one’s own motivation, that individual will likely succeed only if he is given an external means of determining what is appropriate and what is not, for the development of true self-awareness and authentic self-evaluation are among the most difficult activities possible for a human being.

Lest someone assume that this prohibition has no bearing on anyone but a king, the Mishnah in Masechet Avot demonstrates otherwise:

“Rabbi Eleazar HaKappar says: Jealousy, lust, and honor remove a person from the world.” (Avot 4:21)

It should be immediately clear that jealousy is the negative character trait that leads to the desire for riches, lust is the quality that would lead a man to marry too many wives, and honor is associated with the king’s extra horse which trots before the king for no purpose other than to indicate His Majesty’s greatness.  While perhaps only a king is prohibited from acquiring too many wives, horses, and riches, all people are enjoined to avoid these behaviors, and to regard them as spiritually deadly. How much is too much? The answer depends on the motivation; and if the motivation is jealousy, lust, or the drive for honor, the person in question can be sure that he has crossed that not-so-fine line. And even after a person has engaged in self-evaluation, he still needs to judge his own judgment, making sure that he’s not merely deluding himself, thereby enabling him to continue his hedonistic lifestyle without suffering from deserved pangs of conscience.

This is the challenge facing every one of us as we begin to look toward the Yamim Nora’im. The month of Elul, which begins on Thursday night, is a month dedicated to authentic introspection. The shofar is blown every day at the end of Shacharit to help facilitate the weighty task before us – to help us begin, in the words of the Rambam, to “investigate [our] actions.” The shofar not only tells us to improve our deeds, but also directs us to look inwardly, and to determine that which truly drives us, thereby enabling us to improve our deepest motivations from which all actions naturally flow. As the king sees his own acquisition of money through a cloudy, self- justifying prism, most people typically judge their motivations as being pure and unblemished. Elul gives us a month-long opportunity before the Day of Judgment to break through our denial, and to try to see the genuine driving forces behind everything we do. Through an honest reckoning, and by recognizing those aspects of our character which need improvement, we can eliminate the dross, expel that which needs discarding, and prepare to enter Rosh Hashanah in a true state of righteousness.