Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Frequently the Torah calls upon us to choose life over death, “^ I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live . . .” (Deut. 30:19).

The themes of life and death are especially poignant illustrations of the Jewish New Year, as we reflect upon our mortality and the moral choices we have made in the course of the past year. Every thought, every word, and every deed has binary consequences. Each act can, as Maimonides explains, redeem the world, or bring about its ruination.

One might wonder: Why would anyone want to choose death over life? Why would anyone prefer cursedness over blessedness? Blessedness and cursedness are not abstractions; they are the products of a lifestyle that people consciously or unconsciously choose.

According to Fromm, two fundamentally orientations compete for the soul of the individual and the world: biophilia and necrophilia. Biophilia denotes the love of life, while necrophilia denotes the love of death.  The love of life is what we experience when observing the beauties of nature; in terms of human behavior, biophilia stresses the importance of treating life with sanctity and dignity.  According to this perspective, life is of infinite value. Love leads to a greater valuation of the people we meet in our lives; whether it is a spouse, a family member who is ailing, or even the stranger who cries out for our generosity and kindness. Fromm felt that human beings must learn to transcend their animalistic evolution by engendering life and resist the impulse to destroy it.

Contrary to popular perceptions, the necrophiliac is not someone who delights in ravishing corpses. Fromm regards necrophilia as a hostility and death force that finds its delight in the devaluation of life; to the necrophiliac, people are objects—a utilitarian means toward a utilitarian end. In a modern society, the worship of technology (especially with respect to the military), the absence of love, and the emergence of the bureaucratic State contribute toward necrophilia as a life-orientation.

Fromm argues that the necrophile’s passion aims to transform that which is alive into something dead, to tear down for the pleasure of seeing an object’s destruction, in obliterating sentient and living structures. Such a person believes that the only way to solve a problem or conflict is through force and violence. Constructive approaches stressing sympathy and co-operative effort.

How does one develop an attitude of biophilia? This all depends upon our upbringing. Living in a life-furthering environment (family and society), develops the biophilous passions of love, tenderness, justice, and the desire to grow things and to further life. Should this impulse be frustrated, resulting in the frustration of our fundamental existential needs, we are likely to develop the character-rooted passions of hate, greed, jealousy, envy, cruelty, narcissism, and destructiveness.

Actions mold character.

When observing the struggles between Palestinians and Israelis, it is not hard to see that the forces of biophilia vs necrophilia exist within each society itself. Radical elements within both communities view violence as a means of achieving their goals—finding delight in the victimization of the Other.

Gaza, for example, poses a very serious problem. Given their propensity toward the worst kinds of violence, Israel is forced to block ships carrying military weapons intended for her destruction. The community of Sedroth endured thousands of missiles shot at their homes and city before Israel finally responded. And despite the criticism the Israeli military received from the Western media, Israel acted with remarkable restraint given the fact that Hamas hid behind human shields.

Like the Nazis of old, today’s radical Islam delights in creating corpses—even if the corpses come from the rank and file of its own society!  Most Americans would be shocked if somebody dedicated a museum to honor the memory of men like Jeffrey Dahmer. Yet,  Gaza maintains museums displaying the body parts of Israelis killed by suicide bombers. Eric Fromm, one of the greatest psychologists and perhaps unsung Jewish thinkers of the 20st century presented one of his most penetrating insights when he described the genocidal mentality that has produced so much suffering in our world.

Haredi Jews, for example, demonstrate a contempt toward others whenever throwing stones at those people who “desecrate” the Sabbath. The violence in Israeli society we have seen with respect to the exhumation of cemeteries reflects the necrophilia of Fromm’s analysis.  Progressive forces within the Palestinian community risk life and limb standing up to the decadent powers that control and micromanage Palestinian society.

I would further add that in recent days, Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira (of Chabad) was arrested for inciting violence against the Palestinian Arabs. Shapira is also a rabbi at the Od Yosef Chai yeshiva. Shapira’s controversial book, “The King’s Torah,” regards the killing of non-Jews who threaten Israel as halachically legal. “It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation,” the book says, adding: “If we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments – because we care about the commandments – there is nothing wrong with the murder. . . It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation.”

The Imams of Gaza certainly endorse the concept, but merely apply it to Jews instead. Once a community turns on the outsider, it is only a matter of time before they turn on their fellow members who differ from the reigning status quo.

As anyone can plainly see, standing up to these retrograde and atavistic forces of fundamentalist leaders requires diligence and persistence; but it is a battle, indeed even a “holy war” that can be won with sobriety, patience, and–most importantly–with determination.