Musar к Авот 4:21

Naturally, he will learn to stay away from evil and do good. We have learned in Avot 4,28 in the name of Rabbi Eleazar Hakappar that "jealousy, the desire for honor, and greed hasten man's exit from this world." We have proof of this in our portion when we see Adam and all his descendants for all generations driven from this world by becoming mortal. The cause was the greed of Eve lusting after the fruit of the tree of knowledge, her need for honor, seeing she desired to be like G–d. This was also prompted by jealousy of G–d's superior status.

But, there are times when it is a good deed to pursue honor, as when he is a righteous and wise man and people hold him cheaply and make fun of him because of his good deeds and because of this his words are disdained and not listened to. Then if it is in his power to compel men to do him honor and listen to his rebukes, it is commendable to pursue honor in order to correct and rebuke the people. Similarly, if people have shamed him publicly he should not forgive them until they have entreated and appeased him. But in most cases he must go away from honor and flee from it. Did not the Sages say: "Jealousy, lust and the pursuit of honor take a man out of this world" (Aboth 4:28). And a man ought not to learn or to do any good thing in order to be honored, but should do the good deed for the sake of the Creator, may He be Blessed, and in the end the honor will come.

On jealousy and lust we learned explicitly: "jealousy, lust, and honor remove a person out of the world" (Avot 4:21).

But since he cannot bear to see himself lower and lesser than his peers, he puts himself squarely under the thickness of the beam. Thus there is no end to all his labor. Therefore, our Teachers, of blessed memory, taught us "jealousy, lust, and honor remove a person from the world" (Avot 4:21), and warned us: "do not seek greatness for yourself, and do not lust for honor" (Avot 6:5).

We have learned in Avot 4,21, in the name of Rabbi Eleazar Hakappor, that the three things which cause man to depart from this world are "jealousy, greed, and the quest for personal glory." Why were these sins singled out by that Rabbi more than any others, many of which carry a mandatory death sentence at the hands of Heaven?

While I am on this subject I shall also deal with the unusual fact that in 24,50, Laban pre-empts his father by speaking up before his father. Rashi comments that it was because of Laban's wickedness that he tried to forestall his father Bethuel. Assuming that Rashi is correct, what advantage did the clever Laban hope to gain by answering first? I have already written that the patriarchs and matriarchs represented the whole of mankind, and that they repaired the spiritual and physical damage inflicted on the universe by Adam (Adam and Eve combined). G–d's whole purpose in the creation of the universe had of course been none other than Adam. We have learned in Avot 4:28 that "jealousy, greed and thirst for honor drive man out of this world," i.e. cause his death. Adam's sin involved elements of all these three negative traits. The serpent was jealous of Adam as Eve's husband and wanted to "marry" Eve himself; hence he tried to seduce Adam. It had thought that Adam would be the first to eat, Eve offering him the first bite, and that thus Adam would become the victim of G–d's warning not to eat from the tree on penalty of death. The serpent would then have been free to mate with Eve. The reward that the serpent held out to Eve (Genesis 3,5-6) was gratification of her greed, "the tree was lovely to look at and good as food." The promise of becoming G–d-like was the additional honour that would result from eating of that tree. Regarding the lives of Abraham and Sarah we find that they practised the very opposite traits. It is natural for a woman to be jealous of another woman's ability to have children when she herself is unable to do so, but Sarah offered Hagar to her husband in order that Abraham should be able to have a child with her instead (Genesis 16,2); she was free of that kind of jealousy. Abraham, who was offered material wealth by the King of Sodom, exclaimed that he would not even accept a shoelace from the booty he himself had captured when he defeated Kedor-Leomer and freed Lot (14,23). Not only did Abraham not display traits of greed, his entire life was filled with acts of generosity towards others. He practiבed humility to the point where he – who had been the recipient of several revelations by G–d – even described himself as being merely "dust and ashes " (18,27).

We have learned in Avot 4,21, that "jealousy, lust, greed, and ego (i.e. the desire for public recognition) drive man from this world." These very negative virtues had driven Adam from the world. There was the jealousy of the serpent of Adam possessing Eve, its pursuit to gratify its lust, and the pursuit of ego, i.e. Adam and Eve wanted to usurp the unique place of G–d in the universe, since they responded to the lure והייתם כאלוקים, "you will be like G–d." Eve had squeezed out a cluster of grapes, ate it, found that they were unripe. This suggests that in this material world one must not pursue honor. Honor will be inherited by the scholars in the world to come. At that time what is written in Isaiah 24,23: "G–d's Presence will be revealed to His elders," will be fulfilled. This is what is meant when the sages describe יין המשומר, "well aged wine," as being part of the reward in store for the righteous in the future. Concerning what happens to the wicked at that time, it is written in Malachi 3,19: "For lo! that day is at hand, burning like a furnace.. All the arrogant and doers of evil shall be straw, etc." It also says in Samuel II 22,9: "smoke rose from His nostrils," i.e. when G–d was angry, and burned those whom He was angry at." Since we have shown that what happens on earth has its counterpart in the heavens, the Torah reports that the season the spies were dispatched was when the grape harvest commences on earth, i.e. a hint that many grapes are not ripe yet. The spies ignored the items mentioned in Avot as destructive. They ate unripe grapes, i.e they were greedy, they were concerned with their own honor and glory, hence they had to suffer what is described in Proverbs 10,26.