Shabbat Nachamu: Va-Et'chanan

Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11 reprinted from ReformJudaism.org

Staying Hungry 

D'VAR TORAH BY: MELANIE ARON

You might think that religion would be most successful in societies where a particular religion is able to establish itself and maintain a monopoly, but history has shown that this is not the case. In free societies, competition among religious groups, such as we have in the United States, seems to lead to much higher levels of religious participation than we see in religious monopolies, for example, in many European countries where there is an established church. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. In sports and in business, being challenged is considered a necessary condition for success. Being too comfortable can cause a team or a business to lose its edge.

Explaining his team's failure, a coach explained: "What it is, is you've got a hungry team here in New Mexico and I've got a satisfied team in Texas Tech right now." Knight said," We've got to get back to being hungry" (Mark Smith, "Knight: Keep 'Em Hungry," Albuquerque Journal, December 31, 2009).

Similarly, a business journal article titled, "Keep 'Em Hungry and Other Strategies," claims that keeping your suppliers insecure takes them out of their comfort zone and encourages initiative. It quotes an executive who states that "if you take them [your vendors] out of that guaranteed revenue position . . . it encourages them to look for new opportunities," CIO: Business Technology Leadership, October 15, 2007, p. 48).

In this week's Torah portion, God seems concerned that coming into the Land and settling comfortably upon it will cause the Israelites to lose their edge, and that the resulting complacency will cause them to turn away from God. "When the Eternal your God brings you into the land that was sworn to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be assigned to you-great and flourishing cities that you did not build, houses full of all good things that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant-and you eat your fill, take heed that you do not forget the Eternal who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage" (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).

Continue reading.