The Fraud of Happiness & The Happiness Industry;

The Antidote Cocktail of Simcha, Gratitude, Equanimity & Meaning

Examples of The Definitional of Words for Economic & Political Gain

Debate between Dennis Prager and the late Rabbi Meir Kahane:

Pager stated that ‘ger’ (in Torah Hebrew) means resident/stranger as in ‘love the stranger as you were strangers in Egypt’. In modern Hebrew, ‘ger’ has also come to mean convert. The this latter day definition of ‘ger’ was the basis ((wrongly in my opinion) of Meir Kahane’s opinion’s to kick out the ‘ger’ ((gereim)) converts from Israel which is 180 degrees contrary to ger as in ‘love thy stranger as your were strangers’ per Torah). Kahane employed literally ‘cancel culture’ before the politically censoring ‘cancel culture.’ )

Life, Liberty and Property becomes Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness

Originally –Locke’s theory in Two Treatises of Government of ‘life, liberty and property’ was rooted in laws of nature and had a foundation independent of the laws of any particular society. These inalienable rights per Locke were God-given & given and cannot be taken or given away. In addition, Locke’s political society existed for the sake of protecting “property”, which he defined as a person’s “life, liberty, and estate”.. Jefferson replaced “estate” / property with “the pursuit of happiness” which he failed to define or limit. (Probably because per American Bandstand & later Disney, ‘happiness has a good beat, you can dance to it’ even the non-propertied were needed for troops to go against the British?)

The Hebrew ‘Simcha’ which means rejoice, be glad & is an INside state has been ‘revised’ into ‘happiness’ (which is dependent on externals outside in)

Why?

Happiness SELL$$

Simcha Doesn’t

And yet per Rabbi Abraham Heschel…

“America’s problem #1 is the self –profanation of man, the perversion of 18^th century conception of the pursuit of happiness….

Our conception of happiness is based on an oversimplication of man. Happiness is not a synonym for self-satisfaction, complacency, or smugness. Self-satisfaction breeds futility and despair. All that is creative in man stems from a seed of endless discontent (not enoughness –jds). New insight begins when satisfactions comes to an end, when all that has been seen, said, or done looks like a distortion.

The aim is the maintenance and fanning of a discontent with our aspirations and achievements, the maintenance and fanning of a craving that knows no satisfaction (not enoughness therefore more, more, more – jds). Man’s true fulfillment depends upon communion with that which transcends”

Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity,

Rabbi Abraham Heschel, p31-32, 1996

Stipulating Etymologically:

Happy is derived Middle English hap meaning “chance” or “good luck” also within ‘happenstance,’ and ‘perhaps’ (Middle English & Latin per, par “by, through” plus of hap “chance” and happen (Middle English) occur by chance or luck. (Thus, happy – happiness is externally dependent.)

Simcha comes from Hebrew śimḥāh ‘rejoicing.’ The root שמח is related to the Ugaritic shmh – “to be glad, rejoice” and the Akkadian shamahu (samahu) – “to sprout, flourish”. It is therefore related to the root tzamach צמח – “to sprout, spring up, grow”, to blossom” and “to sparkle.”, and the Hebrew. (Accordingly, simcha, in contrast, is an inner state – springing, if anything, INside out.)

Study after study argues that the happiness state is subject to the hedonic treadmill’s adaptation which requiring more and higher dosages for the altered state to continue (be it more order, timing, direction and or imagination) as well as (maybe more importantly) to relative status (better than, more than others).

The Theory of Happiness Per Calvin (of Calvin & Hobbes)

Calvin:

• What do you think is the secret of happiness? Is it money, power, or fame?
• I’d choose money. If you have enough money, you can buy power and fame. That way you’d have it all and be really happy.
• Happiness is being famous for your financial ability to indulge in every kind of excess.

Hobbes:

• I suppose that’s one way to define it.

Calvin

• The part I think I’d like best is crushing people who get in my way.

Other theories of ‘happiness:’

• A feeling when the body chemistry is producing a pleasant sensation in the mind (Scott Adams)
• ‘(A) lasting and justified satisfaction with life as a whole’ Aristotle
• Mischaracterization of ‘flow’ which as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly is where competency meets challenge/ stimulation such that one started their effort at 10 AM and they look up at the clock and it is already 4 PM. Where did the time go?

Then there is the double mint twins of hope (hopeium) and happiness’ disappointment: ‘hope is the absence of happiness’ (Krishnamurti).

Reinforcing this externally derived happiness is phrases like Disney’s ‘happily ever after,’ punctuated & reinforced by those who state that happiness (without definition) is an obligation & imperative (i.e. The lyrics from the from Bye Bye Birdie ‘ Grey skies are gonna clear up; put On A Happy Face.’) (1) (2).

BOTTOM LINE: Happiness Sell$ (23,000 Books on Happiness in the title per Google – Simcha does not sell: there are only 5 books with Simcha in the title or in authorship name) (3)

Simcha is in contrast to ‘happiness.’ A booster shot for the INside out state of Simcha, can be a cocktail of Gratitude, Equanimity, & Meaning (cherry on top optional)

• Gratitude
• Equanimity
• Meaning

Gratitude (& acknowledgment)

Gratitude & acknowledgment can lead to Simcha.

Gratitude creates goodness and happiness

Dennis Prager

Gratitude – thanks, thankfulness, appreciation, indebtedness

Ingratitude – thanklessness, lack of appreciation. (Ellie Schwartz definition: it’s coming to me)

Stipulating to agreement that gratitude can yield goodness (in the sense of worthwhile, useful & valuable within ethical constraints), gratitude increases the probability of simcha — but not enduring happiness.

The only happy people I know are people I don’t know well

Helen Telushkin, mother of author & Rabbi Joseph Telushkin

Gratitude coupled with equanimity & meaning increases simcha. Gratitude yields fertile ground for equanimity (‘menuchat ha’nefesh’)- calmness of the soul) to flourish. Equanimity doesn’t end one’s struggles and tests but allows one to handle life with a certain calmness yet without being numb or anesthetized to the inevitable ups and downs.

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SIDEBAR: INGRATITUDE – with a passive aggressive or the coercive chaser

On the other hand, ingratitude yields neither simcha nor equanimity. Ingratitude is a waterfall cascading sequentially:

• to resentment which escalates to
• playing the victim cascading to
• self justifying oppressing. (The so called oppressed become the vindicated oppressors)
• entitlement and demands for new ‘rights’ and acts of ends justifying the means and ends regardless of ethics or morality

That was then, this is now

What did you do for me today?

In the Torah portion, Beha‘alotcha, a lack of gratitude is on display. The Jewish nation had been redeemed from slavery of Egypt. Despite seeing many miracles (the 10 plagues, the parting of the Sea, the receiving of the Torah at Sinai…) in this Torah portion, the Israelites chose to complain of the loss of an idealistic (delusional) existence in Egypt (the fleshpots of Egypt). Regardless of being freed from slavery, miracles performed, complaints, bitching and bortzing satisfied– nothing was enough. Bortz number 1 was satisfied and bortz #2 was promoted.

As such The Torah’s Book of Numbers – as Prager put it – should be retitled The Book of Complaints

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Equanimity

Alan Morinis of the Mussar Institute is intellectually forthright stating, “the Jewish tradition doesn’t really advocate what we would call happiness. Joy is what Jewish tradition is about.” (Again, in the Mussar tradition, a desired trait (middot meaning measure) is ‘equanimity’ rising above the good and the bad’ rather than so called happiness.) This equanimity can contribute to the inner state simcha and contentment.

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SIDE BAR: This Too Shall Pass

“One day King Solomon decided to humble Benaiah ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, “Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for the Sukkot festival, which gives you six months to find it.”

“If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty,” replied Benaiah, “I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?”

“It has special powers,” answered the king. “If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.” Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister some added humility.

Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the day before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of the poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. “Have you by any chance heard of a special ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?” asked Benaiah.

He watched the elderly man take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile.

That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. “Well, my friend,” said King Solomon, “have you found what I sent you after?” All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled.

To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, “Here it is, your majesty!” As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: Gimel, Zayin, Yud, which begin the words “Gam zeh ya’avor – This too shall pass.”

At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.”

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Equanimity – rise above good and the bad – as this too shall pass.

Meaning: The Glue

Man has a will to meaning

Viktor Frankel

A man complains to his Rabbi about the harshness, injustice, hostilities, struggles, corruption in this world. The Rabbi replies, ‘this world is not for peace and tranquility, there will be plenty of peace and tranquility in the world to come

Not satisfied with the Rabbi’s answer, the man appeals to God saying, ‘this world is difficult, unfair, harsh, corrupt, injustice, can’t you send someone, Hashem?’

Hashem responded, ‘I sent you.’

Gratitude, equanimity, and simcha ‘blossom’ when there is ‘why’ – meaning IN one’s life to matter INside out – that aligns one’s means and his/her meaning.

Difficulty, corruption, harshness, deceit, injustice will still be there – after all, there are no heroes without villains, adversaries and tests. (And not the Hebrew for test is nes – which also means ‘miracle.’)

And when there is the why there is persistence and endurance which enables the how — despite, although, anyway, even if….. as my gran mal seizure dog of blessed memory Simcha (yes, Simcha) taught me ‘when you must, you can; and when you can you must.’

Meaning INside out – is fuel.

Meaning: The One Thing! & Judaism On Purpose™

Former Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn once stated, “any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a good carpenter to build one.’ Thus, Judaism On Purpose™ has been “initiated’ to:

Re-ignite individualized meaning IN one life to matter INside out

through Judaic connection — again

In City Slickers, Mitch (Billy Crystal) and his friends Ed (Daniel Stern- The Voice In Wonder Years) and Phil (Bruno Kirby) are having mid-life crisis’s. To shake the cobwebs of ennui, what next, and the ‘something’s wrong I just can’t put my finger on it, but it’s wrong,’ they go on a two week wild west driving cattle holiday. There Mitch meets Curly (Jack Palance) who asks him a question:

 Curly : Do you know what the secret of life is?

[holds up one finger] 

Curly : This.

Mitch : Your finger?

Curly : One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and the rest don’t mean sh*t.

Mitch : But, what is the “one thing?”

Curly : [smiles] That’s what *you* have to find out.

The One Thing?

Meaning In One’s Life – INside out – which can build many ‘a barn’ even though there are not many Jewish carpenters anymore.

For more information about Judaism On Purpose™ contact this ‘instigator.’(4)

Conclusion

• Happiness Sell$ (23,000 Books on Happiness in the title line per Google – but only 5 books with Simcha in the title or authorship (3)
• But…it is Simcha, Gratitude, Equanimity & Meaning that can endure

CHEWish On This©

With Simcha

1. In Dennis Prager’s book, Happiness Is A Serious Problem he states ‘there is no good definition of happiness.’ This statement is akin to the classic one about pornography, ‘I’ll know it when I see it.’ It begs the question of definition.
2. Responding to the question at a YPO (Young President’s Organization) meeting as to ‘what is the purpose of life according to your religion,’ Dennis Prager responded, ‘God created us to be happy.’
3. ‘The five books in title ‘Simcha’ and or authorship were by Rabbi Simcha Elberg
4. “Jimmy, you’re a little instigator,’ my mother Rhea Schwartz said. She also, given my being an instigator was upset I didn’t become a lawyer.