NUM199 Wanting versus Needing. Most of us could get by very well with less than we have and certainly less than we seek. Not only would we get by, we would actually be freed to give our time and energy to things that really do matter in this life. … A need is different from a desire. A need really is essential. A desire, on the other hand, is backed by an emotional force that turns it into a virtual demand: I have to have it. And it is our desires (The Mussar masters call desires ta'ava in Hebrew. They write much on the subject.) that create trouble for us. Desires can commandeer our lives on behalf of their fulfillment. And when they go unrealized, they deliver up anxiety, anger, frustration, and unethical behavior that we want to avoid. No one disputes that we need to satisfy our basic needs for reasonable comfort and safety. But the sages felt it so important to warn us against a life enslaved to gratification that they embedded their warning right in the daily recitation of the Sh'ma, the central affirmation of Jewish faith. The blessing cautions: "Don't stray after your heart or your eyes" (V'lo taturu acharay l'vavchem v'acharay aynaychem) [this verse]. The rabbis who set the prayers to melody made sure we understood that they were warning us about the allure of the world by accompanying this phrase with notes that rise and fall in a beckoning way.