Envy: how the weight of a coat of many colors overturned morality and birthed exile

Source: When resentment turns creative: Nietzsche and Jacob on the power of envy

"The slave revolt in morality begins the moment resentment turns into a creative force and gives birth to values." (Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality)

"A person should never treat one son differently [discriminate] among the sons, for on account of the weight of two selas of fine wool [the coat of many colors] that Jacob gave to Joseph... his brothers became jealous of him, and the matter unfolded, and our ancestors went down to Egypt." (Shabbat 10b)

Explanation: Master morality vs. slave morality: the overturning of values

Nietzsche argues that the strong ground morality in wealth, success, power, and beauty, while seeing whatever opposes this—weakness, humility, obedience—as the inferior morality of slaves. Yet when the weak, unable to win by force, turn envy into a moral value, the entire moral order is inverted: humility and weakness become a new, righteous power, and the "strong" becomes "evil." The Sages identified this very phenomenon in the household of our father Jacob: a slightly finer garment breeds an envy capable of setting an entire history of exile and slavery into motion.

Perspective: Egypt, victimhood, and divine providence: could we have prevented the exile?

The descent into Egypt was a predetermined event, yet divine providence set it in motion through brotherly envy, rather than a vacation gone awry. The descent into Egyptian exile laid bare the jealousy, the lack of fraternity, and the desperate need to unite—something that, to our misfortune, was forged only under bondage, as has happened time and again through sibling rivalry and hatred. A simple sleeved tunic was enough to bring about four hundred years of disaster. We live in an era where victimhood is traded as currency, and that is precisely Nietzsche's groundswell. If I cannot achieve what you have, or at least destroy you, I will make it seem as though my morality is superior to yours. An envious world scorns excellence so as not to offend those left behind.

Going Deeper: Pareto efficiency: when envy destroys shared prosperity

One key concept in game theory is "Pareto efficiency," named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923). Pareto observed that nations and individuals often strive for a fair distribution of resources, refusing any other arrangement—even one that, while perhaps not strictly equal because one party is stronger, would be mutually agreed upon for the prosperity of both sides. Envy refuses to tolerate an advantage held by another; enmity takes root, the weak becomes even weaker until they rebel, and envy shifts to the other side in a vicious cycle.

Culture: Othello and Iago: when envy leads to Shakespearean tragedy

In 1603, Shakespeare wrote the play Othello, drawing from a collection of tales by sixteenth-century Italian writer Giovanni Battista Giraldi. Iago, ensign to the Black Muslim Othello, envies his accomplished master and his beautiful (and white) wife, and plots to deceive Othello into believing that his wife, Desdemona (meaning "ill-fated" in Greek), is unfaithful. The play culminates with Othello suffocating his beloved wife, and upon realizing his fatal mistake, falling on his sword. In the original tale, it should be noted, Othello does not commit suicide; rather, he concludes that an interracial marriage is a recipe for tragedy—a dismal ending that Shakespeare amends. One might suspect that beyond the envy driving Othello and Iago, Giraldi himself, who created the characters, envied them as well.