Looking to Find Real Happiness

Parshat Vayikra

 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 

To state the obvious, we don't bring korbanot (sacrificial offerings) without a Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Maybe, in a media driven society, this is a good thing.

 

But the Torah views the bringing of korbanot as an important ingredient in one's lifelong goal of getting close to God.

 

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains (Vayikra 1:2) that the word "Korban" comes from the word "Karev," which literally means to draw closer. The purpose of korbanot is therefore a positive attainment, a realization of a more noble existence, and should not be viewed as animal rights people might view it – as destruction, annihilation or loss.

 

More importantly, the Korban was meant to serve the needs of the one bringing it, as opposed to the One receiving it.

 

The verse in Tehillim 73:28 says "For me, God's nearness is good for me; I have placed my refuge in the Lord God." Other elements of this chapter serve to indicate what a person is like if he does not seek out God or attempt to have a closer relationship with Him. Hirsch write, "In God's sanctuary a man will understand that closeness to God is the sole criterion for shaping his outlook on life and for evaluating true happiness, as it says (Tehillim 73:17), 'Until I came to the sanctuaries of God, and I understood their end.'"

 

What does it take to get close to God? According to Hirsch, one might consider the following bullet points as to what one might realize through being present in the courtyard of the temple:

• God nearness is achieved through total dedication to the illuminating, purifying, life-giving fire of the Torah.
• The measure of one's happiness is determined by the measure of one's closeness to God and the rule of His law.
• Body and spirit yearn for the living God and learn to know Him (73:26).
• Distancing from God brings ruin (73:27).

"Happiness" loses its appeal if found far from God, while in God's nearness suffering is sweetened and transformed into good. As 73:1 begins the chapter, "Truly God is good to Israel, to the pure of heart."

 

This past weekend, Catherine Rampell published an article in the New York Times entitled, "Discovered: The Happiest Man in America."

 

She describes the summary reached by a Gallup poll as to what are the most common criteria of people who claim to be most happy. Turns out, the happiest person is a man.

 

To quote Rampell, "Gallup’s answer: he’s a tall, Asian-American, observant Jew who is at least 65 and married, has children, lives in Hawaii, runs his own business and has a household income of more than $120,000 a year. A few phone calls later and ..."

 

You guessed it. There is a man living in Honolulu who apparently fits this description (who has apparently been getting much media attention). God bless those tall, Asian-American, observant Jews.

 

I would venture a bet that most of those reading this do not exactly fit this description. And yet, is it not compelling that in a country filled predominantly with Christians, and on the other hand, at least the way the media tilts things, non-observing secular individuals, that the happiest person's religious conviction, out of over a million surveyed (one thousand people a day for three years), is an "observant Jew?"

 

Even without bringing korbanot!

 

Truth be told, we sacrifice a lot for our faith, for our dedication, for the sake of our children. We do it on account of our dedication to God, and our eternal effort to get close to Him.

 

So we can't eat in every restaurant, and our tuition rates are higher (maybe the over 65 year-old is happier because he is finished paying tuition!), and people look at us funny when we leave work early on Friday or take off random days in September for a non-ending string of holidays, and schools are petitioned to accommodate the schedules of observant Jews who can't take exams on Saturday or some holiday that falls out in April or May. And we can all go on and on

 

This is our life. We embrace it, we love it, we seek that relationship with God. With God's help we'll use the elements of Gallup's poll that we already have to achieve true happiness. And, maybe one day, we'll at least visit Honolulu.