44 | APRIL 4 • 2024
E
xcavating the
history of words
can sometimes be
as revealing as excavating
the ruins of an ancient
city. Take the
English word
“enthusiasm.”
Today we
see this as
something
positive.
One
dictionary
defines it as “a feeling of
energetic interest in a
particular subject or activity
and an eagerness to be
involved in it.” People with
enthusiasm have passion,
zest and excitement, and
this can be contagious. It
is one of the gifts of a great
teacher or leader. People
follow people of passion. If
you want to influence others,
cultivate enthusiasm.
But the word did not
always have a favorable
connotation. Originally,
it referred to someone
possessed by a spirit or
demon. In 17th-century
England, it came to refer to
extreme and revolutionary
Protestant sects, and more
generally to the Puritans who
fought the English Civil War.
It became a synonym for
religious extremism, zealotry
and fanaticism. It was looked
on as irrational, volatile and
dangerous.
David Hume (1711-1776),
the Scottish philosopher,
wrote a fascinating essay on
the subject. He begins by
noting that “the corruption
of the best things produces
the worst,” and that is
especially true of religion.
There are, he says, two ways
in which religion can go
wrong: through superstition
and through enthusiasm.
These are quite different
phenomena.
Superstition is driven by
ignorance and fear. We can
sometimes have irrational
anxieties and terrors, and we
deal with them by resorting
to equally irrational
remedies.
Enthusiasm is the opposite.
It is the result of over-
confidence. The enthusiast,
in a state of high religious
rapture, comes to believe
that he is being inspired by
God himself, and is thus
empowered to disregard
reason and restraint.
Enthusiasm “thinks
itself sufficiently qualified
to approach the Divinity,
without any human
mediator.” The person
in its grip is so full of
what he takes to be holy
rapture that he feels able to
override the rules by which
priestly conduct is normally
governed.
“The fanatic consecrates
himself and bestows on
his own person a sacred
character, much superior to
what forms and ceremonious
institutions can confer
on any other.” Rules and
regulations, thinks the
enthusiast, are for ordinary
people, not for us. We,
inspired by God, know
better. That, said Hume, can
be very dangerous indeed.
We now have a precise
description of the sin for
which Nadav and Avihu,
the two elder sons of Aaron,
died. Clearly, the Torah
regards their death as
highly significant because it
refers to it on no less than
four occasions (Lev. 10:1-
2, 16:1, Num. 3:4, 26:61).
It was a shocking tragedy,
occurring as it did on the
day of the inauguration of
the service of the Mishkan,
a moment that should
have been one of the great
celebrations in Jewish
history.
The Sages themselves were
puzzled by the episode. The
text itself merely says that
“they offered unauthorized
fire [esh zarah] before
the Lord, that He had not
commanded. So, fire came
out from the presence of
the Lord and consumed
them, and they died before
the Lord.”
Evidently, the Sages felt
that there must have been
something else, some further
sin or character flaw, to
justify so dire and drastic a
punishment.
Dangers of
‘Enthusiasm’
Rabbi Lord
Jonathan
Sacks
SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH