Born to Kvetch: In Praise of Discontent
Whereas for Freud discontent is the sad lot of our psychic existence, for Judaism it is a religious obligation.
By Paul Mendes-Flohr
Sigmund Freud held that religion is a palliative, akin to “intoxicating substances” that numb us to our fundamental misery. In this vein, he cites Goethe: “He who possesses science and art also has religion; but he who possesses neither of those two, let him have religion.” Yet art and science, “the two highest achievements of mankind,” are, in the end, also but illusory palliatives. Despite the satisfaction the creative act–be it that of the artist, musician, dancer, or scholar–may provide, it “creates no impenetrable armor” against the slings and arrows of a life’s uncertain fortunes, as Freud admits. Neither religion, science nor art can help extricate us from our malaise.
An individual of biblical faith would concur that earthly well-being is, indeed, elusive, fragile and uncertain. She would also note that the Bible enjoins us not to seek false, ultimately idolatrous satisfaction with oneself and worldly attainments. On the contrary.
Biblical faith encourages, nay, commands, us to a “sacred discontent.” From the perspective of God’s transcendent or sacred reality and uncompromising absolutes of goodness, justice and compassion, we are religiously obliged–commanded, according to Biblical tradition–to examine ourselves to the innermost precincts of our soul, to scrutinize our conduct, and to censure our sins and conceits and those of our society.
To be sure, we are to rejoice in the works of Creation–Nature, Family, Friendship, and Love in all its various and glorious manifestations–but always to behold them as a blessing, as a divine and, thus, a conditional gift. We are thus to affirm life, but life under the signature of Creation and our co-responsibility with the Creator to ensure its holiness.
This responsibility demands not only an a priori discontent with ourselves, but also with civilization, the social and political order. The biblical prophets exemplify the sacred discontent with civilization. Although the prophet is often dismissed as a kvetch–an incorrigible complainer–there is a fundamental, one may even say, ontological, difference between a kvetch and a prophet. The kvetch bemoans his or her individual woe; the prophet identifies with the woe of others. The prophet’s rebuke moves along two vectors. In chastising the children of Israel, it calls them to contrition; and, at the same time, it draws their attention to the suffering and needs of others.
The prophet’s discontent is not personal, but social and political. His discontent expresses an impersonal, ego-free concern for the moral and religious rectitude–which are, in fact, homologous, and thus one–of his society. His cause is justice and compassion; his concern is the Other. But as an emblem of true piety, the prophet does not stand apart from ordinary men and women. Rather, he is–as presented in biblical traditions–what the philosopher Max Schiller called a Vorbild, one who projects a picture (Bild) before (Vor) us in which we are to behold the values and attitudes that are to determine our personal ethos and the responsibility we are to assume for the Other.
Biblical faith thus does not understand itself as a palliative meant to soften the inexorable pain and anguish of life. Whereas for Freud discontent is the sad lot of our psychic existence, for a person of biblical faith, it is a religious obligation. One may say that Freud’s discontent is pathological, biblical discontent, ethical and axiological.
This essay is adapted from a portion of Paul Mendes-Flohr’s latest book, Cultural Disjunctions, previously published by The University of Chicago Press.
Paul Mendes-Flohr
Founder of the Global Lehrhaus and Professor Emeritus at The University of Chicago Divinity School and The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Paul Mendes-Flohr, PhD. currently resides in Jerusalem. In 2019, Mendes-Flohr published Martin Buber: A Life of Faith and Dissent. The German translation appeared in 2022 and in Hebrew in 2023. His most recent work, Cultural Disjunctions: Post-Traditional Jewish Identities, was published in 2021.
