“Today, to say ‘Envy among scholars increases wisdom’ — that is already a corruption,” opens the Admor Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto with a pained tone, describing the spirit of the times: destructive competition, a futile chase, a world entirely competing with each other – but not over what is worthy, rather over vanity of vanities.
According to him, the competition that once produced action, wisdom, and development – has in our days become a competition of illusions. “We argue over something that is not true. If we were struggling over matters that have truth in them, fine – maybe I would win, maybe you – but today we argue over illusions, over things that do not exist at all,” he said.
Rabbi Pinto brought a surprising example from his daily routine of receiving people: “Once they asked us – why do the rich spend a long time with the Rabbi, and the poor come out quickly? We told them: because it takes the rich a long time to explain to us that they are poor. And in contrast, the poor immediately say – we are poor. The rich live in the illusion of wealth, but often they themselves are trapped in a feeling of emptiness and lack. They do not know they are poor, and therefore they take much longer.”
According to him, “People live in illusions and are constantly quarreling over illusions that are not real. Instead of seeking the truth, to deepen in spirit and action, the world, according to him, is racing toward a simulated reality that produces frustration, confusion, and inner unrest.”
“True wisdom,” concludes the Admor Rabbi Pinto, “does not come from envy, but from courageous contemplation of the truth.”
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel