A colossal struggle is raging between the forces who seek a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources, championing equality and a right to personal choices unshackled to absolute standards of morality — socialists, and their antagonists, who believe in a system of robust competition and personal financial success, often leading to income inequality and stratification of socioeconomic classes — capitalists.  

This divide has become more acute as a result of the erosion of capitalism’s gains due to the debilitating consequences on global markets and the disruption of the many comforts of life we have taken for granted, that our current worldwide pandemic has induced. 

The more things change the more they stay the same. 

The antediluvian world was one defined as ‘the family of man’, individuals striving collectively to meet their needs, in contrast to the postdiluvian ‘world of nations’ that developed, each exerting their power in controlling their individual states. 

Despite sinking to carnal depravity and idolatry, the antediluvian society was taken to task in particular for their ‘filling the earth with חמס — crime’. This more specifically refers to robbery, not in its classical form but in a more subtle way. 

The Midrash describes the nature of their corruption.  

Said R. Chanina: “Violence refers to what is worth a perutah; robbery refers to what is of less value than a perutah. And this is what the people of the age of the Flood used to do: When a man brought out a basket full of lupines, one would come and seize less than a perutah’s worth and then everyone would come and seize less than a perutah’s worth, so that he had no redress at law... (בר"ר לא ה) 

Was the utilizing of a childish legal loophole in stealing less than a perutah more pernicious than their excessive promiscuity and idol worship? 

Perhaps what the Midrash is seeking to convey in this little story was the political philosophy they espoused.  They demanded a redistribution of the well-earned wealth of the industrious and ambitious industrialists, in their socialist claim on behalf of the greater family of man, to be equally entitled to those assets.  

With their worldview of an inherent entitlement, regardless of effort or participation, demanding a right to the greater pie for the benefit of others, the descent to blurring the boundaries of moral right and wrong is a natural consequence. 

The illustration of ‘less than a perutah’ seeks to emphasize the notion that one may tax the wealthy for the benefit of the unfortunate since at the end of the day it is an inconsequential share of their greater wealth, and thus society’s right to claim.  

A belief that accentuates entitlement rather that duty and effort, will eventually claim rights to personal preferences even when they go against standard notions of morality; aborting children for personal convenience without thought to the right of the child; releasing criminals without any concern for their victims.   

Those who wallow in ‘inherent rights’ begin to formulate their own limited and selfish notion of morality, becoming so absorbed in their wants and desires, they are incapable of adhering to a system of absolute and confining ‘values’ ordained by a Higher Power. 

Indeed, it begins with a corrupted sense of entitlement that quickly evolves into a philosophy of self-indulgence and faithlessness in G-d.  

The result is to be left with a world of anarchy and chaos that needs to be restarted anew.  

One of the illustrious disciples of the holy Baal Shem Tov, Rav Chaim of Krasna, notes that this very verse that describes how,  כי מלאה— for it is filled, הארץ חמס — the earth with crime, has embedded within the first letters of these words, the word חכמה — wisdom, implying this was not simply a devious gimmick but an actual philosophy on life. 

The great Netziv, in his remarkable Ha’amek Davar, reveals where the seeds of healthy capitalism began in the postdiluvian world.  

Surprisingly, the famed despot Nimrod, started off his career as a ‘hero’. 

The Netziv interprets the verse that describes him as a, גבור בארץ — mighty man on earth, as referring to his healthy ambition in building an empire, exerting his power and influence in funding police, bringing much needed law and order to society. He adds that the very next verse that depicts Nimrod as a ‘mighty hunter before G-d’ is meant to be taken literally in extolling his having served G-d’s mission and will in restoring order to a chaotic world. Certainly, he states, Nimrod transformed, to his discredit, from being a capitalist into a veritable fascist, nevertheless an element of good was instilled in the world.   

Parenthetically I might add, Rashi interprets the appellation of ‘mighty hunter’ as describing Nimrod as one who ‘ensnared people’s minds with his speech’ — the world’s first politician! 

Though these are global struggles, we each battle these two competing forces in our own personal lives. 

Are we frustrated with our diminished opportunities and comforts; resentful we are not receiving our due? Or do we pursue our ambitions, seeing every challenge as a privilege to serve and be dutiful in fulfilling G-d’s will despite our discomfit, devoting our talents to helping others and our community, in maintaining what we have and enthusing it with our presence, efforts and participation? 

Reb Chaim of Krasna points to another verse, חילו מפניו — tremble before Him, כל הארץ — everyone on earth. (תהלים צו ט) 

Here too, חכמה— wisdom, is indicated. A philosophy that is our credo, the one that assures us vitality no matter the circumstances we face. 

If His will is primary in all the choices we make, we are confident that we will prevail and thrive. 

I recently read a touching account by a daughter who reminisced about her parents visit with her family in the holy city of Jerusalem years ago. As they were sitting, one glorious Jerusalem night, joyously in the Sukkah, the weather abruptly changed. Winds arose and drops of rain began to fall. As the velocity of the wind noisily picked up, blowing off the top of the Sukkah, her mother a survivor, shared how similar this was to the sudden bombings she experienced in her youth. The younger children began to cry, and the mother instructed her older boys to remove them away from her father, also a survivor, who couldn’t stand hearing children crying as it reminded him of the crying children who were ripped away from their mothers and sent to their deaths, in the camps. As chaos engulfed them, the power went out. They sought to bring in whatever they could in the dark and try to find a Shabbos Goy to flip their food laden refrigerator back to life.  

From the side of her eye she noticed her father calmly sitting on the couch amidst the pandemonium, singing a song to himself. 

“Ich hab gevolt zitzen in de Sukkah in Yerushalayim un der Eibershter hat nisht gevolt.” I was planning to sit in the Sukkah in Jerusalem, but my Creator does not will that. 

In her own words: This is how a man ravaged by G-d and His demonic messenger Hitler, resigns himself to his fate. This is how a 14-year-old child whose parents are brutally ripped away from him in Auschwitz remains a believing, practicing Jew. This is how a traumatized child became the loving man who resurrected a new life for himself and by himself, alongside his G-d, built a new family. (The Maestro, Norma L. Noiman, Mishpacha, Family Magazine, 9/29/20) 

We all would have written a vastly different script for our lives over the last nine months, uber der Eibershter hat nisht gevolt — but the Creator did not will that. 

We can all be true heroes. Tremble before G-d, pick yourself up by the bootstraps and rise to the occasion. It is difficult, but that is our mission, that is His will. Be a hero! 

באהבה, 

צבי יהודה טייכמאן