תרבות הצריכה - מקין ועד קניין

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a son, and called his name Seth: ‘for God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.’ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

And the first came forth ruddy, all over like a hairy mantle; and they called his name Esau. And after that came forth his brother, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was threescore years old when she bore them. And the boys grew; and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison; and Rebekah loved Jacob. And Jacob sod pottage; and Esau came in from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob: ‘Let me swallow, I pray thee, some of this red, red pottage; for I am faint.’ Therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said: ‘Sell me first thy birth right.’ And Esau said: ‘Behold, I am at the point to die; and what profit shall the birthright do to me?’ And Jacob said: ‘Swear to me first’; and he swore unto him; and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. And Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.

And Esau said: ‘I have enough; my brother, let that which thou hast be thine.’

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

The words of Koheleth, king in Jerusalem. Midrash: This is to say that this the writing is done with "ruach hakodesh" (divine inspiration) by the hand of King Solomon (Mishlei 22:29). You see [that the work of] a man [who is] adept at his trade will endure [when it is done] in front of kings. It happened that Rebbe Chanina ben Dosa saw people in his city taking up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem. He said, "Everyone is bringing up vow-offerings and free-will offerings to Jerusalem, and I don't have a thing to bring up." What did he do? He went to the walkway of his city and saw one stone and chipped it, chiseled it, and polished it and said: "Now I have something to bring up to Jerusalem." He sought to hire workers. Five men passed by him. He said to them "Will you take this stone for me up to Jerusalem?" They said to him, "Give us 5 Selayim [currency] and we will bring it up to Jerusalem." He sought it for them but he could not find a single thing... ... [R’ Yehoshua ben Qorchah asks], “Who was created for the sake of whom / mi nivra’ bish’vil mi? Was earth/arets created for the sake of a (human) generation, or a generation created for the sake of the arets?” ... R’ B’rakhyah said in the name of R’ Shimon ben Lakish: Whatever the Holy One created in the human, He created in the earth as a model for him / l’dugma lo. A person/adam has a head and so does the earth, as it is said, “and the head of the dirt/ `afar of the world/teivel” [Pr 8:26]. A person has eyes and so does the earth, as it is said, “And they will cover the eye of the earth” [Ex 10:5] (8) "All the streams flow to the sea" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- All of Israel only ever gather together in Jerusalem, and they go up at the time of the festivals each and every year."Yet the sea is never full" (Ecclesiastes 1) -- Yet Jerusalem is never filled. As it was taught "They stand crowded, [yet] they bow spaciously". Rav Shmuel Bar Chova said in the name of Rav Acha who said, "Four cubits space between each and every one of them, and one cubit on each side, so that no one would hear the prayer of his friend and come to err"."To the place the streams flow [there they shall return again]" -- To the place Israel gathers in this world, there they shall gather in the world to come, in the time to come, as it is said (Isaiah 27) "And it shall be in that day, that a great horn shall be blown; and they shall come, those that were lost in the land of Assyria and those that were dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they shall worship G-d at the holy mountain in Jerusalem" …R’ Berachia said in the name of R’ Yitzchak the last redeemer will be just as the first. Just as it says of the first redeemer “So Moses took his wife and his sons, mounted them upon the donkey…” (Shemot 4:20) so too the last redeemer, as it says “…humble, and riding a donkey…” (Zechariah 9:9) Just as the first redeemer brought down the manna, as it says “Behold! I am going to rain down for you bread from heaven…” (Shemot 16:4) so too the last redeemer will bring down manna, as it says “May there be an abundance of grain in the land…” (Tehillim 72:16) Just as the first redeemer brought up the well, so too the last redeemer will bring up the water, as it says “…and a spring will issue from the house of the Lord and will water the valley of Shittim…” (Yoel 4:18)