Civic Jealousy
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.Last lines of the American Declaration of Independence, 1776
Parshat Pinchas begins with the aftermath of the previous week’s story.
“Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his jealousy for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My jealousy.” (Bamidbar 25:11)
Aaron, the first priest of a newly created hereditary line, has already died. Elazar, his eldest son, has stepped into leadership. But as with all hereditary roles, there is a question of fitness for the role even for those born into it. Pinchas, Aaron’s grandson, proves himself (in last week’s parashah) by seeing a threat to the community and stopping it. Our parashah begins with an affirmation of Pinchas as a proper future leader and successor to Aaron and Elazar.
Many of us squirm with discomfort at the violence and potential xenophobia you can read into the story of how the Midianites seduce the Israelites sexually and theologically, prompting retaliatory violence spearheaded (literally) by Pinchas. We sometimes read Pinchas’s jealousy / passion / zealotry as a dangerous and destabilizing and - crucially - unnecessary force.
On this 4th of July weekend, though, I was struck by the use of the word “jealous” in George Washington’s farewell speech as he prepared to step aside from the presidency (a radical act of its own).
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.
Washington helped create a newly independent country, one which was founded in part on the desire to be free of (newly) foreign influence. Jealousy, when used to protect what is most dear, has its merits. A country of people mutually pledged to each other has no room, in Washington’s view, for the distortions of foreign interests. In this, he and Pinchas had much in common.
He continued with a warning:
But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
Impartial jealousy! What an odd phrase. But I think what he means is that you have to remember that the most important civic relationships are among a place’s citizens and residents. There are other important ties we hold - perhaps as dual citizens, through shared ethnicities or religious practice, as fellow ideologues no matter the nationality. But the foundation of the American promise is that we mutually pledge to each other our lives. Without a jealous attention to maintaining our relationships with each other as Americans (and even across significant difference), our sense of a shared country falls apart…
Furthermore, we must be careful of our own suspicions and hatred. Anytime we feel passionatelypartial, which is another way of saying jealous or zealous or Pinchas-like, there’s a clue that we might be missing something in the larger picture, that we might be out of balance or out of proportion with reality and the well-being of our community of belonging.
How should we practice jealousy as a civic virtue? How can we utilize its unique capacity for vigilance in service of something that really matters to us, without spiraling out into vengeful fantasies and actual violence? And how can we channel the surges of political emotion into genuine care for each other?
Shabbat shalom!
Rabbi Jay LeVine
