Yosef is a sweet baby. He has round, chubby cheeks, a small dimple on his left cheek, a tuft of hair on his head that forms the shape of a shaking sheep, and his eyes are like the eyes of a bee.
""Spono," as his father calls him, or "mob" as his mother insists, will reluctantly serve here as a classic answer to the question: "Who is happy?".
Yosef's father, Rabbi Menachem, was a decent man with a good figure and a strong body, with a broad frame and a belly that went before him. He, like his son, would also participate in proving the essence of happiness.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
At seven in the evening, they are both hungry, very hungry. His 'spoon' is already getting ready for the night's sleep and his stomach demands his daily dose of formula milk. And the father, who has just returned from the Beit Midrash after hours of study and in-depth study, must put a hearty meal in his mouth. Hunger is definitely bothering them both equally.
The compassionate mother, serving as both mother and wife, quickly maneuvers between the two masters.
In one hand she shakes a bottle of 180-mg milk intended for her mob, and with the other she arranges a hearty meal for the father of the family: a double portion of rice, steamed potatoes, oven-roasted chicken, and fried meatballs. A true woman of valor.
The father sits down and begins the task of eating, the son lies in his bed and eagerly devours his meal. The silence that has formed in the house is amazing. From time to time, 'palm conversations' are heard between the fork and the porcelain plate under the auspices of Rabbi Menachem, and between Yosef's sucking lips and the nipple of the bottle.
The milk formula has been fully transferred with all its contents to the child's intestines, and the father's dinner, too, is placed in his stomach, between the large intestine and its small intestine.
Now, both the father and his baby son are "seventy.".
Can anyone stand up and claim that any of the defendants is now more 'satisfied' than their fellow?
Is it even possible to divide between the degrees of satiety?
Of course not. The father and son ate their portion to the limit of standard capacity, from now on both together and each separately, under the same degree of satiety. The hunger passed and disappeared.
But how is this possible? How is it possible for two people to reach the same level of satiety from two different foods?
The answer, of course, is simple: the father's stomach is many times larger than that of an average baby. Therefore, it is only natural that his needs are greater and the path to satiety is longer, and requires much different food than a simple bottle of milk. The baby's stomach is smaller, and one hundred and eighty milliliters of nutritious milk are enough to satisfy the feeling of hunger and satisfy him.
Simple. Right?
Wait, this is all just a parable.
•
What is happiness?
The great philosophers of all times have troubled themselves to the point of thinking, in an attempt to understand what happiness is. Our moral sages found the definition: Happiness is perfection (the writings of Rabbi Dessler and others).
Very simply: "Blessed is the man" – "The man is perfect." Even in the simple connection between the word 'happiness' and 'wealth', the definition of perfection is given. 'Rich' in Aramaic is 'atir' – atir is "full." Like: "atir fat" – for example.
Satiety, then, is a type of happiness. Satiety is also a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction.
From now on, when we come to talk about the essence of happiness and the way to achieve it, the formula is simple, very simple. The larger a person's 'mental stomach', the longer the path to satiety.
Example? Please:
Rabbi Menachem HaVrach, the one from the parable, would certainly be happy if he received a holiday scholarship in advance of the kollel in the amount of two thousand shekels. This amount is above and beyond his expectations, and as a bonus, it certainly evokes warm feelings of happiness.
And Bill Gates? He'll probably be happy too, you know, two thousand shekels is something, but does his joy and happiness stand on the same scale as the joy of the child? Of course not, not even close.
'Rabbi Menachem's 'material stomach' is so narrow compared to Gates's, much more so than the ratio between his dinner and his spoon.
•
Being content with little, therefore, is not a way of coping with what is. On the contrary, this path is the only method by which it is possible to reduce the material digestive system and thus reach a full level of happiness even with very little material food.
For comparison: If we were to use a barometer to measure the happiness of someone who is content with little when they are satisfied, and simultaneously measure the happiness of Mr. Gates when his company's shares rise and his fortune doubles, would the barometer give a higher score to Bill Gates?
Absolutely not! The happiness will be completely mutual. The feeling of satisfaction and perfection is equal for both of them to exactly the same degree.
Unfortunately for Gates, his weekly commute costs a fortune.
