by Rabbi Yisrael Rutman

The Torah admonition, “Do not put a stumbling block before the blind” is broadly interpreted by the Jewish sages to mean that one should not give bad advice to someone who is ignorant, or “blind” in a matter, lest he “stumble” and suffer harm. In American lore, the classic case is selling the Brooklyn Bridge to a just-off-the-boat immigrant. That example (it’s not clear it ever actually happened) can now be updated to the hugely successful business of persuading someone to sign on for a mortgage beyond his financial means.

Rabbi Carmi Wisemon suggests another contemporary application of the same Torah admonition: “Creating a situation or an emotional state which will lead a person to harm him/her and others and/or lose control of their…decision-making abilities.” Rabbi Wisemon is referring to advertising. As he explains in an essay in the series he edits on The Environment in Jewish Thought and Law, economic development in the United States demanded a transformation of the “spiritual and intellectual values of the people, from an emphasis on values such as thrift, modesty and moderation, towards a value system that encouraged spending and ostentatious display…The strategy of Consumerism—the creation of a public mindset that encourages over-consumption beyond man’s actual needs. Consumerism equates personal happiness with purchasing and consumption of material possessions. The businesses and governments, who stood to gain from increased trade, essentially tripped “blind” people into believing that happiness could be achieved through endless consumption.”

The adage that money does not buy happiness has been scientifically verified in recent years. Several studies show that once people are able to meet their basic needs there is little correlation between money and happiness. (The observable fact that money does not grow on trees will presumably not require a formal investigation to confirm it.)

The earth suffers too. As Christopher Flavin, of Worldwatch Institute, a research group in Washington, D.C., put it, “As we enter a new century, this unprecedented consumer appetite is undermining the natural systems we all depend on.” Worldwatch issued a report which, in the words of National Geographic, “addresses the devastating toll on the Earth’s water supplies, natural resources, and ecosystems exacted by a plethora of disposable cameras, plastic garbage bags, and other cheaply made goods with built in product-obsolescence, and cheaply made manufactured goods that lead to a “throw away” mentality.”

Consumerism, especially when it takes the form of conspicuous consumption, carries with it a special risk for the Jewish consumer. In the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy 2:3), the Torah commentator Kli Yakar explains that an ostentatious lifestyle arouses the jealousy of the gentile world. The descendants of Esau, albeit subconsciously, perceive in Jewish success and showing off a violation of the ancient bargain struck between Esau and Jacob, whereby the former would have entitlement to the material goods of this world, and the latter would inherit the spiritual goods, in the next world. The sight of Jews boisterously enjoying the pleasures of this world is infuriating to them, and a spur to anti-Semitism. Therefore, if we are blessed with success, it’s in our interest to enjoy it quietly.

Now, one might ask, if you can’t ride around in your new Lexus, or flash your diamond-encrusted Rolex, what good is all that money? For that reason, it’s necessary to cultivate our appreciation of Jacob’s inheritance, of what spirituality has to offer, so that we not be blinded by a consumer mentality that threatens to destroy us all.

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