SPORTS INSIGHTS
Going
for glory
THE DESIRE FOR HONOUR SHAPES MUCH OF THE
way we live our lives. Here’s what Rabbi
Moshe Chaim Luzzato, in his 18th century classic, The Path of the Just, has to say
about this: “The desire for honour is what
grips a person’s heart more than all the
earthly wants and desires. If not for this,
a person would be content to eat whatever is at hand, to wear whatever would cover his nakedness and to dwell in a house
that would protect him from the elements... However, because he cannot see
himself humiliated and lowered before his
peers, he enters this fray, with no end in
sight to all his labour.”
Rabbi Luzzato goes on to explain that
many great people met their demise because of a preoccupation with their own
honour: Korach initiated a rebellion
against Moshe after Elitzafan ben Uziel
was appointed as Nasi (leader of their
tribe) – a position that Korach felt was
due to him. Another tragic example: the
10 spies returned with a negative report
about the land of Israel. They too succumbed to the lure of honour, as they understood that entry into the Promised
Land would give rise to a new dispensation with other leaders taking their place.
Reluctant to let go of their positions of
prominence, they chose to plunge the
newly-formed nation into despair with a
negative report.
Much of the obsession in the world of
sport about winning is rooted in this drive
for honour. Even though there are staggering amounts of money involved in the
world of professional sport, and the monetary incentives for these players to win are
30 JEWISH LIFE
ISSUE 72
extremely powerful, the desire for honour
is even greater. Rabbi Luzzato writes:
“Worse than the desire for material possessions is the desire for honour. A person
would be able to overcome his desire for
money and other enjoyments were it not
for the pressure exerted upon him by the
desire for honour, for he cannot endure
seeing himself inferior to his peers.”