Ha’azinu tells a story of a nation created and nurtured by God and brought to a land of plenty:
He set him atop the highlands, to feast on the yield of the earth;
He fed him honey from the crag, and oil from the flinty rock,
Curd of kine and milk of flocks with the best of lambs,
And rams of Bashan, and he-goats with the very finest wheat. (32:13-14)
But once they become wealthy and comfortable they forget God who gave them their good fortune:
Jeshurun [- the people of Israel] grew fat and kicked!
You grew fat and gross and coarse
He forsook the God who made him
And spurned the Rock of his support. (32:15)
Does wealth stimulate religious rejection?
Rabbi Hirsch comments:
[These verses are] the quintessence of the whole of Jewish history. In suffering, the Jewish people have mostly proved themselves splendid. But it has seldom been able to stand good fortune.
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