Thanks to Cafe patron David Dansky for this wonderful quotation from the Babylonian Talmud — a quotation that captures very nicely what Adam Smith meant when he wrote in 1776 that “man has almost constant occasion for the help of his brethren”:
Ben Zoma [a Talmudic sage] once saw a crowd on one of the steps of the Temple Mount. He said, Blessed is He that discerneth secrets, and blessed is He who has created all these to serve me. [For] he used to say: What labours Adam had to carry out before he obtained bread to eat! He ploughed, he sowed, he reaped, he bound [the sheaves], he threshed and winnowed and selected the ears, he ground [them], and sifted [the flour], he kneaded and baked, and then at last he ate; whereas I get up, and find all these things done for me. And how many labours Adam had to carry out before he obtained a garment to wear! He had to shear, wash [the wool], comb it, spin it and weave it, and then at last he obtained a garment to wear; whereas I get up and find all these things done for me. All kinds of craftsmen5 come early to the door of my house, and I rise in the morning and find all these before me.
Here’s the link to the longer passage from which the above quotation is taken.
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I’ve nothing that inspired or profound, but:
I’ve always been amazed by the vast multitudes of people who coordinate activities just to bring me real ale and pretzels (from England and New York) at the grocery store.
Well you’ve inspired me to say that I am glad that I don’t have to study the Talmud. Thank you very much.
Sounds like Talmudic sages did pretty well. Did they have the key to the Temple treasury?
Unfortunately the Babylonian Talmud was compiled in the 7th century CE, long after the temple was destroyed. I like this though, because it brings to light the field of study I am in– the politics and economy of the ancient near east. I have been working on several articles lately dealing with the development of the Judean nation in the second century BCE, and I plan write some articles treating their economy as well.
Ben Zoma apparently wrote early in the second century, but you still have a point.We can distinguish a division of labor by statesmen from the division of labor by a market. I’m not sure where Ben Zoma fits in. Maybe there was no Jewish state, per se, in the second century, but religion plays an interesting role in politics.States operate as much on the threat of force as on its direct application, and even a threat of mythical forces can bind subjects to their rulers, if the subjects believe the myths.A tax collector might write the same words, but even if he describes a market dynamic, his plentiful consumption is not a product of the market in my way of thinking.
So Ben Zoma could be praising the market or the state. I’m not sure.