25 Mar PARSHAS PEKUDEI: JEALOUSY

Those who have
jealousy, suffer.
The Reishis Chachmah
writes, “Someone who
has kinah (jealousy) is
‘robbing’ himself. He is
always sad. Everyone
finds sweetness in life,
except for the person who suffers from
jealousy. He cannot enjoy his food if
someone else has something good.”
The Rosh (Orchos Chaim) writes,
“Jealousy is a disease that doesn’t have a
cure.”
The Mesilas Yesharim writes, “There are
people who are so foolish, that when they
see their fellow man has something good,
they become very distressed and upset
about it. Because of their sorrow, they
don’t enjoy anything that they do have…
There are others who aren’t so upset, but
they also have some amount of remorse.
They aren’t calm when they see someone
reach a level that is above them… Most

people are at this level…”
Any degree of jealousy destroys one’s
level of enjoyment in life, as it says
(Mishlei 14:30) “Envy brings rotting of
the bones.” If we could free ourselves
from this illness, we would lead much
happier and more satisfying lives.
Think about the people you are angry at,
the people about whom you are tempted to
speak lashon hara. And now ask yourself,
“Perhaps you are jealous of them?” Is
your anger rooted in jealousy, because you
think they have what should be yours?
The Rebbe of Kotzk zy”a said: Most bad
middos begin later in life, but jealousy

begins when a child is born. One-year-
old children get upset when someone gets

something they don’t have.
Once, chassidim of various courts
were speaking together, each one was
discussing an aspect of the greatness of
his Rebbe. Rebbe Moshe Minder zy”a,
from the esteemed Slonimer chassidim,
was also present. Someone asked him,
“Reb Moshe? Why are you silent? Tell us
something about your Rebbe.”

Reb Moshe Minder replied, “All I can tell
you is that the three middos, kinah, taavah,
and kavod, which the entire world chases
after, my Rebbe runs away from them like
from fire.” If we understood how much we
lose from kinah, how it eats away from our
enjoyment of life, we would also run away
from it as we run away from all matters of
life that harm us.
The Agra D’Kalah (from the Bnei
Yissaschar) zy”a explains that the Aseres
HaDibros are a synopsis of the entire Torah,
and the tenth of the Ten Commandments
(which implies the culmination and the
most important of the Aseres HaDibros)
is lo sachmod, the prohibition of jealousy.
This prohibition, therefore, is the heart
of the entire Torah. He explains that it is
the primary point of the Torah because
the main lesson of the Torah is emunah,
and overcoming jealousy means believing
that each person receives the portion that
is bashert for him. With this emunah, he
won’t be jealous of others.
The Orchos Tzaddikim shows how one
can transgress all of the Aseres HaDibros

due to jealousy. Because due to his
jealousy, he will break into his neighbor’s
home to steal on Shabbos, violating the
Shabbos and the aveirah of lo signov.
When he is rebuked for his theft, he will
kill, transgressing lo sirtzach. His parents
will rebuke him and he will hit them. He
will swear that he didn’t steal, and thus,
transgress lo sisa. When he is caught with
his aveiros, he will leave the Jewish people
because of his embarrassment and become
a goy who worships avodah zarah. So he
can transgress all of the Aseres HaDibros
(and the entire Torah) all because of lo
sachmod, jealousy.