{"id":303,"date":"2026-10-15T22:23:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T22:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/?p=303"},"modified":"2026-10-15T22:24:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T22:24:14","slug":"pulse-of-the-parsha-noach-5787-fruitarian-famine-and-the-fellow-jew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/?p=303","title":{"rendered":"Pulse of the Parsha \u2013 Noach 5787 | Fruitarian, Famine, and the Fellow Jew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When actor Ashton Kutcher prepared to play the role of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, he went to extreme lengths to inhabit the tech icon\u2019s mind, including adopting Jobs&#8217; famous, strict fruitarian diet, an extreme regimen consisting almost exclusively of raw fruits, nuts, and seeds obtained without harming the plant. However, just days before filming began, Kutcher was hospitalized with severe pancreatic failure, a medical crisis triggered by the intense metabolic strain of eating nothing but raw fruit. In explaining an obscure name that appears in the Torah\u2019s lengthy genealogical passages in Parshas Noach, Midrash Rabbah anticipates the risks of extreme diets. The name of one of <em>Yaktan<\/em>\u2019s sons, <em>Chatzarmaves<\/em>, is based on this son living in a region of abject poverty. According to the Midrash, <em>Chatzarmaves<\/em> is a contraction of <em>chatzir<\/em> (grass) and <em>maves<\/em> (death). Unlike an affluent contemporary fruitarian who voluntarily forgoes more nourishing food, the people in <em>Chatzarmaves\u2019s<\/em> region were so poor that they had nothing to eat besides grass. It was also the only material they could use to make clothing. The resulting malnutrition and exposure to the elements impaired their health to such an extent that they expected to die each day. The fact that his parents or contemporaries called him <em>Chatzarmaves<\/em> in recognition of that scarcity implies that others enjoyed more affluent lifestyles. Evidently, even in the earliest Biblical era, extreme poverty existed alongside greater wealth, and this might be the first recorded instance of such a contrast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Regarding <em>Chatzarmaves<\/em>, the Midrash offers no additional context about the paupers he lived with or his relationship with them, leaving his name ambiguous. Did his sympathizers call him by this name, alluding to the plight of the poor because he suffered the same financial strains and symbolized their struggles? It could be, however, that his critics labeled him with this epithet because, in his area, he remained affluent while the indigent suffered and he failed to support them. Either way, the message is clear: we must live up to our responsibility to help others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 20<sup>th<\/sup> century, new political ideologies claimed that centralized planning or government intervention can eradicate poverty. On the one hand, the Torah appears to disagree. It declares in the Book of Devarim that poverty will always exist: \u201c\u2026for there will never cease to be needy ones in the land.\u201d On the other hand, if it commands us to assist the poor and alleviate their plight, as the same verse continues, \u201cwhich is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kin in your land,\u201d it believes there is a solution. Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch (1808 \u2013 1888) goes so far as to say that, by fulfilling this commandment properly, we can, as a society, fully eradicate poverty, at least in the Land that lives by His Law. Rabbi Hirsch observes that the Torah does not say that poverty will always exist in the Land of Israel, but in \u201cthe land\u201d in general, meaning in the world outside it. In the Jewish land, the Torah commands us to respond to poverty with generosity, especially by lending without interest. \u201cIn your land,\u201d he writes, \u201cin the land of God\u2019s Law\u2026the Law is to help level these natural disparities. Every poor brother is to find a \u201cbrother\u201d in his more affluent kinsman; in this land every poor and needy individual belongs to you\u2026.in a Jewish community that is aware of its duty, individual poverty and misery should be only a passing phase, and with God\u2019s assistance, be changed to a happy existence on Earth, commensurate with the dignity of a human being.\u201d Although his Torah commentary is far from a political platform, Rabbi Hirsch seems to argue that, according to the Torah, government is not responsible for eradicating poverty, but that each person, and each community together, must observe the Torah\u2019s mandate to take responsibility for his fellow Jew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we live aware of those who need our help, and as individuals and as a community we do not outsource our responsibilities to others, we do not let the significance of the unusual name <em>Chatzarmaves<\/em> slip away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When actor Ashton Kutcher prepared to play the role of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, he went to extreme lengths to inhabit the tech icon\u2019s mind, including adopting Jobs&#8217; famous, strict fruitarian diet, an extreme regimen consisting almost exclusively of raw fruits, nuts, and seeds obtained without harming the plant. However, just days before filming began, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,41,40,43],"tags":[140,134,131,137,138,143,142,144,133,135,136,132,141,145,130,139],"class_list":["post-303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-machshava","category-parsha","category-torah-and-culture","tag-ashton-kutcher","tag-book-of-devarim","tag-charity","tag-chatzarmaves","tag-community-responsibility","tag-extreme-diets","tag-fruitarian-diet","tag-jewish-ethics","tag-midrash-rabbah","tag-parshas-noach","tag-poverty","tag-rabbi-samson-rafael-hirsch","tag-steve-jobs","tag-torah-commentary","tag-tzedakah","tag-wealth-disparity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=303"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yiphoenix.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}