[Avodah] being remembered

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Thu, Jul 06, 2017 at 12:15:20PM +0000, Rich, Joel via Avodah wrote:
: R'YBS commented (not so positively) on man's great desire to
: be remembered (think Ozymandias). Question - from where does this
: desire spring? The Gesher Hachayim, IIUC, says it is from the soul's
: knowledge that it is eternal. Any other interpretations (halachic or
: general society)?

>From a recent blog post of mine, The Interpersonal Aspect of Parah Adumah
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/the-interpersonal-aspect-of-parah-adumah>:

   To illustrate how the Yerushalmi works, I enjoy taking a rather extreme
   case -- Berakhos 7:1, 51b:

    1. Rav Huna said: Three who eat, this one by himself, this one by
       himself, and this one by himself, who then mix together should
       bentch with a mezuman.
    2. Rav Chisda said: But this is [only] when they come from three
       [separate] groups [of three people, so that each ate with an
       obligation of zimun, even if from different groups].
    3. According to the logic of Rabbi Zei'ira and his friends: But [the
       only may make a zimun] when they ate together.

    1. Rabbi Yonah [commented] on that which Rab Hunah [was just quoted as
       saying]: If [the kohein] dipped three hyssop sprigs [into the water
       made with the ashes of a parah adumah], this one by itself and this
       one by itself, and mixed them [the hyssops] together, one may
       sprinkle [the person needing taharah] with them.
    2. Rav Chisda said: But this is [only] when they come from three
       [separate] groups [of three sprigs, so that each sprig was dipped
       as part of a group of three, even if different groups].
    3. According to the logic of Rabbi Zei'ira and his friends: But [the
       only may may be used for sprinkling parah adumah water] when they
       were dipped together.

   ...
   But what justifies this comparison? Is it really an expectation that
   all groups of three ought to be alike, regardless of the topic or the
   sort of group?

   In 1973, Ernest Becker wrote a book on philosophy and psychology titled
   "The Denial of Death". To give a thumbnail of his basic thesis, here
   are some snippets from [38]The Becker Foundation's "Theories" page:

     "[T]he basic motivation for human behavior is our biological need to
     control our basic anxiety, to deny the terror of death."
     ...
     The basic premise of The Denial of Death is that human civilization
     is ultimately an elaborate, symbolic defense mechanism against the
     knowledge of mortality. Since human beings have a dualistic nature
     consisting of a physical self and a symbolic self, we can transcend
     the dilemma of mortality through heroism, a concept involving the
     symbolic half.

     Becker describes human pursuit of "immortality projects" (or causa
     sui), in which an we create or become part of something that we feel
     will outlast our time on earth. In doing so, we feel that we become
     heroic and part of something eternal that will never die, compared
     to the physical body that will eventually die. This gives human
     beings the belief that our lives have meaning, purpose, and
     significance in the grand scheme of things.
     Still, for Becker, the only suitable source of meaning is
     transcendent, cosmic energy, divine purpose...

   Becker develops an idea that strikes most of us naturally. A central --
   and perhaps THE central -- piece of our drives to contribute to
   community and to pursue a higher meaning is because these both overcome
   our own death.

   What I give my children outlives me in my children, grandchildren and
   beyond. What I contribute to the Jewish People is eternal because our
   nation is eternal. What I add to the development of humanity from Adam
   to the messiah outlives me in impacting the lives of generations to
   come.

   Fear of death, the need to embark on "immortality projects" can push us
   to expand our souls to beyond our mortal bodies. As Rav Shimon Shkop
   writes:

     The entire "I" of a coarse and lowly person is restricted only to
     his substance and body. Above that one is someone who feels that his
     "I" is a synthesis of body and soul. And above that one is someone
     who can include in his "ani" all of his household and family....
     And there are more levels in this of a person who is whole, who can
     connect his soul to feel that all of the world and worlds are his
     "ani," and he himself is only one small limb in all of creation....
     Then, his self-love helps him love all of the Jewish people and
     [even] all of creation.

   The parah adumah is about overcoming death. A person who witnessed or
   experienced another's death is told to go through a ritual of changing
   tracks...  He not only sees three sprigs from a scrubby bush, but also
   is thinking about joining together and how he can join with others. How
   to turn that conversation around from death and its reminder that we
   are merely physical beings toward death as a drive to go beyond that.

   We should not forget the most cryptic (choq-like) element of the parah
   adumah. ... [I]t requires that someone from the community reach out
   to them, even at their own expense. A true uniting of someone who
   might be thinking about death and man-as-mammal back into being a
   person contributing meaning to a larger community.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Good decisions come from experience;
micha at aishdas.org        Experience comes from bad decisions.
http://www.aishdas.org                - Djoha, from a Sepharadi fable
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