Question: Today, many people are asking the question: “Which desires are mine and which are imposed on me by society? Why does society determine what is good for me if I feel inside that it is not good at all, at least for me? How can I resist this society?”

Are you saying that feelings like envy and jealousy are considered positive in Kabbalah?

Answer: Of course. They develop us. Imagine a child who does not look up to adults and does not want to be an adult. Unfortunately, he will remain undeveloped.

Imagine scientists who do not envy each other and do not strive to outdo one another; imagine people who do not compete and do not want to become richer, stronger, bigger, higher, and so on. After all, all this only makes us human and drives progress; otherwise, we would not have climbed down from the trees.

Comment: But, while being raised, we were told all the time: “Being an egoist is bad.”

My Response: No, it is very good.

The term “Kabbalah” comes from the word “to receive.” The more a person wants to receive, the bigger he himself becomes. The whole problem is how he uses this natural quality. If it is given to us by nature, it cannot be bad.

Whether it is good or bad depends on our implementation. Therefore, children should be told: “Be envious only of what is good, and try to become greater than him. You see how well he does, and you do even better. You see how strong he is, and you become even better. You see how he can draw or something else—try it, maybe you can too.”

It is said: “Envy, lust, and honor take a person out of the world.” Either they kill him, so to speak, or, on the contrary, raise him into the spiritual world—that is the thing. These are the strongest natural qualities inherent only in man. It all depends on how we use them: either to the detriment or to the benefit.

There is an anecdote about the Decembrist granddaughter’s view of the revolution. They told her: “We are making a revolution so that there would be no rich.” She answers: “My grandfather also wanted to make a revolution but so that there would be no poor.”

That is, the difference is in the vector, where we are going, what we are heading toward—either good or bad. And the qualities themselves are the tools of our development. They should never be suppressed in a child. On the contrary, let him be envious, let him be jealous, let him be proud; it is all very good.

All in all, they can be called ambitions. Big ambitions lead a person to something big.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Does the Creator exist?” 5/9/11

Related Material:
Jealousy And Envy Are Unique To Man
Envy Is Not A Flaw
“How is envy or jealousy ever good?” (Quora)

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