mentalblog.com comments:
the irony - the whole concept of someone elses life flashing before one's eyes is from the Woody Allen stand up routine - his mention of Woody eating catfish is barely a nod let alone an attribution
I'm not sure that I don't understand the reference a little differently than you do. When the writer decribes the "kept" rabbanim "plucking "real-life" examples from the air in a manner that suggests (like Woody Allen eating a mess o' catfish) that somebody else's life is flashing before their eyes" all I think he means is that they are a bit non-plussed and had not imagined in their kollel days that they would ever stoop to such an ignominious level, the level of acting as a tethered performer for amei haaretz.
All in all, I thought the whole article at his site was very tired and very lefty. The fact that there are many things for sale at Costco does not mean anything more than that.
What's with these supposedly more spiritual people, who think you have to be poor and hungry -- and stupid? From where do we get all of this asceticism? From g'dolim who puree all of their meals into a flavorless, textureless, pleasureless mass, to the disparagement of anything material at all.
A mensch is not a disembodied spirit. A mensch is flesh and blood, and was put in this material world, and one of the reasons for that was to enjoy it, properly.
Gandy,
Gandhi ya aint. And that's a shame, because you miss the very essential point that he knew: conspicuous consumption leaves the soul lame.
Ever hear of ta'aneisim? Ever hear what the navi said, about it being as difficult for a wealthy man to get to heaven as for a camel through the head of a pin? (Yeah, I'm joking on the title, but sticking by the point quite seriously.)
Greed, my friend, is not good. In fact, 'nless I'm mistaken, one of the Aseret HaDvarim is Lo Titaveh. Don't desire. And all that this insane consumption does is raise our base-level NEEDS to more and greater demanding hights. It makes of us addicts.
So, yeah. The 'money, money, money, MONEY!' world within which we poor poor Americans live is sad, sad, very sad. And when you think about it, and compare it to how your life was when you were more idealistic (at least for those of us who at least at ONE point, were), you see that keeping up with the Jacobsons hurts like hell. By god, it hurts.
mnuez
(quick clarifier: if your Bar Mitzvah parsha was Yisro and you think I got it wrong WRT the 10 Commandments, y'mighta missed the leining recently)
mnuez,
You seem to be a bit confused. לא תתאוה is not about the 'rich Jacobsons that are consuming too much crap. Rather, it is specifically a warning to 'poor mnuezs (or not poor - doesn't matter)' who are 'hurting' as they are 'keeping up with the Jacobsons'.
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