Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from the Road Runner

Rabbi Lazer Brody has been known to pepper his blog's musings and advice to people in difficulty with Garfield posters et. al. as a way of making his points to a general audience. Recently, he posted a piece called "The Lessons of Roadrunner," which explains what we can learn from watching Wile E. Coyote.

Wherever you find a learning experience, there is thy guru. As my opening post for the 2004 High Holidays, I asked for and received permission to add my own riff on the Rabbi's Road Runner Spiritual Philosophy. It's an ecumenical post, combining Chuck Jones' rules for the Road Runner with Jewish ideas and stories to make its points. So, what can you learn from Wile E. Coyote as the Jewish New Year begins?

1. Road Runner symbolizes yetzer tov, the inclination toward goodness in every human being, while the Coyote symbolizes the yetzer ha-ra.

Yetzer ha-ra literally means "evil inclination or desire," but some translations define it as "animal instinct or impulse" instead. I will use the hebrew term plain or refer to "coyote mind," in order to avoid entanglement in the semantics.

Note the duality here, and the centrality of choice. Judaism does not believe in the Christian doctrine of original sin.

2. The Road Runner's only two weapons are his speed and his "Beep-beep". He never confronts Wile E. Coyote directly.

Confronting the coyote mind head-on only locks us into internal conflict on a battleground favourable to our yetzer ha-ra. If you want to begin freeing yourself from your coyote mind, you must take a different path entirely and draw yourself toward the divine presence instead. Then it will simply fill your life until there is no room for yetzer ha-ra. Still, beware; when more obvious forms of the yetzer ha-ra are crowded out, more subtle forms will take their place. One breakthrough is not the end.

Road Runner's speed is an allusion to his immense attraction to goodness and to the service of Ha'shem; for Jews, his expression of joy and triumph in his double beep can symbolize the joy of prayer and the voice of Torah learning as expressions of that service.

For most of us, task #1 is actually becoming a Road Runner who is drawn toward goodness this way, instead of putting our coyote mind in charge and chasing after temporary satisfactions. The story of Rabbi Pinchas in Gates of Repentance, the High Holidays prayer book of Reform Judaism, illustrates this:

"The disciples of Rabbi Pinchas were talking with animation when their master entered the House of Study. Upon his arrival, they fell silent. He asked them: What were you talking about? They replied: We were discussing our feat that the evil inclination will pursue us. He replied: You need not worry. You have not yet reached so high a plane. For the time being, you are still pursuing it."

It's not easy to become a Road Runner.

3. No outside force ever harms the Coyote other than his own ineptitude.

On one level, Wile E. Coyote always succeeds in assembling these fantastic and complicated devices. They look so impressive. Yet these successes are always very temporary, and they usually backfire when it counts the most. A life ruled by the yetzer ha-ra is empty - and when it counts the most, its achievements are finally shown to be empty and harmful.

Because the yetzer ha-ra is not aligned with the divine presence, it cannot succeed in a universe ruled to its most subtle and invisible foundations by the expression (a.k.a. "laws" to our limited human minds) of that presence. Despite the Rube Goldberg complexity of its attempts, the coyote-mind is defeated by its inherent disharmony; it is inevitably its own worst enemy.

Evil must ultimately turn upon itself. The yetzer ha-ra must inevitably harm the one who follows it.

4. The Coyote could stop persecuting Road Runner at any time if he were not a fanatic (Repeat: "A fanatic is one who redoubles his effort when he has forgotten his aim." - George Santayana).

The evil inclination tries to prevent the good inclination from getting close to Ha'shem. Ultimately, the person him or herself suffers. This is not a reasonable course of action, but the yetzer ha-ra does not stem from reason (though it may wear reason's cloak when convenient). That is why it cannot be defeated by reason alone.

5. Road Runner must stay on the road - because that's what he is, a Road Runner.

The road is the path of alignment with the divine presence. It seems to give those who follow it much less freedom of movement; after all, Wile E. Coyote can go anywhere. Yet the seemingly simple but aligned approach of the Road Runner succeeds in the ways that matter most, and so will those who keep to the path of righteousness and closeness to Ha'shem.

It isn't always easy to see this path – the Road Runner often runs over invisible paths that span great chasms, or into painted roads that are only real for him. Jewish teachings, religious traditions, and the light of torah and prayer are all designed to help us see through illusions and recognize the true path when we come to it.

For humans, too, can lose their names. Judaism says that to stray from the path of righteousness is to cast off the lofty identity of a person created in G-d's own image. These risks increase as one gains speed on the path of righteousness, just as physical risk of losing control increases with speed on the highway. Judaism's concern with hillul ha'shem via poor conduct by the outwardly religious is a recognition of that truth. From the Talmud, via Gates of Repentence:

"What do you call 'profaning God's name?' Rav said: In my case, since I am reputed to live strictly under the discipline of Torah, it would be failing to pay the butcher promptly."

6. All action must be confined to the natural environment of the two characters -the southwest American desert.

This world is like a desert, and it can be harsh - but that harshness is what gives us our unique opportunity to make spiritual gain and to perfect our souls. If this religious doctrine offends you, see Harlan Ellison's short story "Pain God" for a non-religious perspective.

We can see this principle at work in the real world, too. Lance Armstrong endured great obstacles and great suffering on his way to winning the Tour De France an unprecedented 6 times in a row. He became a champion "Road Runner" on his bicycle because he used those challenges as fuel in his quest for perfection. It's the same for those who would reach great spiritual heights.

If life's challenges seem like more than you can bear, it may be a huge spiritual opportunity in disguise. In Richard Bach's fictional story Illusions, The Messiah's Handbook contains this little gem:

"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."

Whatever happens, remember that Ha'shem loves you always and believes in your ability to be a champion. So, I might add, does Rabbi Brody.

N.B. Judaism's High Holidays, the most important holidays of the year, begin tonight. Happy holidays, Rabbi. May the New Year give you the wisdom and insight to guide all of the people who read your blog and seek your counsel, that you may rise in spiritual achievement and truly fulfil your old IDF nickname in the service of Ha'shem. As the old song goes:

"...this is it, we'll hit the heights.
And oh, what heights we'll hit!
On with the show, this is it!!!"

Beep, beep!

UPDATE: Perhaps Yeshiva students should be assigned Looney Tunes cartoons as a gloriously funny reminder to help them perfect their souls. See also Rabbi Brody's piece on Yosemite Sam and 'spiritual vigilantes.'