The end of Parshas Achrei Mos contains the section of the parsha that deals with forbidden relationships (arayos). This Torah portion, which is also read during the Mincha service of Yom Kippur, is introduced with the exhortation “Like the deeds of the land of Egypt wherein you have dwelt, you shall not do; and like deeds of the land of Canaan where I am bringing you thereto, you shall not do. You shall not walk in the ways of their practices.” [Vayikra 18:3]
The Jews were going “from the frying pan into the fire” in terms of the moral depravity of the surrounding population. Both the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were known for their despicable and nauseating forms of immorality. G-d, therefore, warned the Jewish people not to mimic the activities or mores of the societies that they had witnessed or would be witnessing. The Torah then lists the different forbidden relationships.
Rav Dovid Feinstein notes an apparent anomaly in the Torah’s language. The Torah does not warn against mimicking the deeds of the Egyptians or the Canaanites. It rather warns against mimicking the deeds of the LAND of Egypt and the LAND of Canaan. Rav Dovid Feinstein deduces that the activities of the people of Egypt and Canaan must have had something to do with the LAND of Egypt and the LAND of Canaan. The land added some facet that enabled the people to be engaged in such moral depravity. What facet did the land add to the moral depravity?
We know from several sources that these two lands were exceptionally fertile and affluent. For thousands of years, Egypt prospered by virtue of the fact that the Nile would overflow every year, flooding its banks, causing the surrounding land to be extremely fertile. Egypt was an extremely prosperous country. We learn from the spies’ visit to the Land of Canaan that the fruits of the land were so huge that it took eight people just to carry back a cluster of grapes [Sotah 34a]. The land of Canaan was blessed with tremendous agricultural success, and that brought affluence to the entire country.
This is why the people were so disgustingly immoral. There is an inverse connection, unfortunately, between prosperity and the level of a nation’s morals. One does not have to be a social scientist to come to the conclusion that Western society in general, and America in particular, is very prosperous and very affluent. But at the same time, we are witness to a society that has lost its moral compass.
We are experiencing a replay of “the actions of the LAND of Egypt.” When things are so abundant, and society has it so well, people tend to lose their moral standing. Unfortunately, we, the inhabitants of such a society, get caught up in this. It has been said that Jews over the centuries have learned to cope with the trials and tribulations (“nisoyonos”) of poverty. But we have not learned to deal with the “nisoyon” of affluence. The morals of society rub off on us. The Torah is hinting at this idea through the unique formulation of its warning concerning the actions of the LAND of Egypt and the LAND of Canaan.
RABBI YISSOCHER FRAND
