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elf-destructive 
behavior has 
manifested itself 
throughout history, and the 
temptation to fall into its trap 
is part of the human condition. 
The Gemara 
(Sotah 9a and 
b) documents 
various examples 
of this self-
destructive 
behavior. The 
Gemara begins 
with a general 
discussion on adultery, and 
it’s a fitting place to start. A 
person who commits adultery 
destroys everything that they 
have; their marriage, their 
children, their name.
The Gemara goes on to cite 
specific people from Jewish 
history who had the world 
at their feet and then threw 
it all away. One is Avshalom, 

King David’s son, who staged 
a coup against his own father 
in a mad pursuit of power. 
Avshalom had everything — 
he was a prince, he had the 
blessings of being part of the 
royal Davidian House, and he 
was a person of great charisma 
and talent. And yet, in the end, 
he was killed in battle as King 
David and his troops regained 
control of the country. In 
pursuit of something which 
was beyond him — beyond the 
ethical principles which the 
Torah requires us to live by — 
he lost everything.
Another example quoted by 
the Gemara is that of Haman. 
Haman was the Prime Minister 
to King Achashveirosh, who 
presided over one of the 
largest empires in human 
history. Haman had power, he 
had wealth, he had fame and 
recognition. In fact, wherever 

he went, people bowed down 
before him. There was only 
one exception. Mordechai 
alone refused to bend the 
knee — and it drove Haman 
crazy. “
And all of this is 
worth nothing as long as I see 
Mordechai the Jew just sitting 
there at the palace gate,” he 
says at one point. In the end, 
his obsession with Mordechai 
leads directly to his downfall, 
and he and his sons are hung 
on the gallows by the king.
A classic Chumash example 
of power driving a person 
to distraction is the case 
of Korach, the protagonist 
and title character from this 
week’s parshah. Korach was a 
man of great renown among 
the Jewish people. He had 
wealth, power and exceptional 
intellectual abilities, but this 
wasn’t enough. As the first 
cousin of Moses and Aaron, 

Korach wanted the priesthood, 
which had been given to 
Aaron, and in pursuit of 
that he mounted a rebellion, 
marshaling more than 250 
tribal leaders against Moses. In 
the end, he and his followers 
were literally swallowed by the 
earth.
Besides having fame and 
fortune, there’s one thing 
tying all of these characters 
together — in each case, they 
lacked something, and in 
each case, their downfall was 
brought about by a misguided, 
obsessive pursuit of that thing. 
And that is why, we are all 
susceptible to self-destructive 
behavior. We all have certain 
blessings and lack certain 
others. We all face the risk of 
pursuing the things we lack 
with such blind ambition 
that it causes us to lose the 
blessings we do have.
Even if we don’t actually lose 
those blessings, we can cause 
ourselves pain and anguish 
in a more subtle way — an 
unquenchable desire for the 
things that we don’t have can 
prevent us from enjoying and 
appreciating the things we do 
have. Rav Yosef Yehuda Leib 
Bloch explains that human 
beings are naturally drawn 
to whatever it is we lack, and 
that can begin to occupy all of 
our focus and attention — to 
the point where we lose our 
emotional attachment to the 
blessings we have and drain 
the joy from our lives.
How do we avoid falling into 
this trap of self-destruction 
and anguish? How do we 
prevent our lives from 
being destroyed, either in 
actual terms or through the 
emotional dissatisfaction that 
comes with obsessing over the 
things we do not have?
The key lies in a profound 
statement of our Sages in Pirkei 

54 | JUNE 30 • 2022 

BOB MAY/FLICKR

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

Rabbi 
Warren 
Goldstein

How to Avoid 
Life’s Pitfalls

