Hebraic-Perspective-to-Happiness
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Please do NOT visit this site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Re Tanakh versions:
Throughout
this site I may use any of three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the
JPS-1917 is my preferred version!
Colour coded
details of our beloved TaNaKh:
1. Torah =
History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical
books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot,
or Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes,
and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history of Ezra, Nehemiah, and
Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations
or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God), having been corrected like it once was pre
the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem, which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy
4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Please
Note: All verses
are from the JPS-1917 version of the Tanakh.
As we all
should know happiness can take many forms. There is the happiness of one who is
completely at peace with the world, as well as the happiness of those who
challenges and changes the world. There is the happiness of Mozart, as sweet
and natural as a spring breeze, and there is the happiness of the late
Beethoven string quartets, carved from the rock by struggle and pain. OK, so I
do take after my late father Sir Eugene Goossens, may he rest in peace, and I do
love music!
The Hebrew
language conveys something in a graphic and a curious way. One of the key words
for happiness in our Tanakh is ‘Ashrei’,
a plural and construct form of the noun, literally meaning “the happiness’s
of…” as if to say that happiness is not a single thing, be it is a ‘feeling’,
an ‘emotion’, a ‘state of mind’, or even a judgment upon a life as a whole. It
is many things, the sum of which is greater than the parts.
There is no
single exclusive view with in Hebraism as to the nature and form of happiness, though
there are many profound meditations on it. Hebraism is not a ‘dogma’ or
‘doctrine’.
Not one
tradition can claim a monopoly of wisdom on the subject of happiness. We deal
here with genuine incommensurables: the irreducible multiplicity of ways of human
flourishing. Hebraism does not see itself as the only path to wisdom. It has
however one feature worth noting: that somehow we Hebrews found happiness in
the midst of some of the worst suffering ever endured by a people. There are
three moments stand’s out in my mind.
The first
was the ‘Babylonian exile’. Psalm 137 has preserved the pain and feelings of
devastation by the exiles:
עַל נַהֲרוֹת, בָּבֶל-שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ, גַּם-בָּכִינוּ: בְּזָכְרֵנוּ, אֶת-צִיּוֹן
“By the waters of
אֵיךְ-נָשִׁיר אֶת-שִׁיר-יְהוָה עַל, אַדְמַת נֵכָר
“How can we sing יְהוָה - the LORD’s song in a strange land?”. Psalm 137:4.
Yet, famously, the prophet Jeremiah sent a letter to the exiles:
Next we read Jeremiah 29:5-7.
בְּנוּ
בָתִּים,
וְשֵׁבוּ;
וְנִטְעוּ
גַנּוֹת,
וְאִכְלוּ
אֶת-פִּרְיָן
קְחוּ
נָשִׁים,
וְהוֹלִידוּ
בָּנִים
וּבָנוֹת,
וּקְחוּ
לִבְנֵיכֶם
נָשִׁים
וְאֶת-בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם
תְּנוּ
לַאֲנָשִׁים,
וְתֵלַדְנָה
בָּנִים
וּבָנוֹת;
וּרְבוּ-שָׁם,
וְאַל-תִּמְעָטוּ
וְדִרְשׁוּ אֶת-שְׁלוֹם הָעִיר, אֲשֶׁר הִגְלֵיתִי אֶתְכֶם שָׁמָּה, וְהִתְפַּלְלוּ בַעֲדָהּ, אֶל-יְהוָה: כִּי בִשְׁלוֹמָהּ, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם שָׁלוֹם
“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce . . . Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to יְהוָה - the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper”.
He told them,
in effect, not to mourn. Without minimising the trauma of exile, the loss of
home and the destruction of the
The second,
more than a century later, took place when Ezra and Nehemiah summoned the
people to the Water Gate in the rebuilt
Nehemiah said.
וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם לְכוּ אִכְלוּ מַשְׁמַנִּים וּשְׁתוּ מַמְתַקִּים, וְשִׁלְחוּ מָנוֹת לְאֵין נָכוֹן לוֹ-כִּי-קָדוֹשׁ הַיּוֹם, לַאֲדֹנֵינוּ; וְאַל-תֵּעָצֵבוּ, כִּי-חֶדְוַת יְהוָה הִיא מָעֻזְּכֶם
“Then he said unto them: 'Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye grieved; for the joy of יְהוָה - the LORD is your strength”. Nehemiah 8:10.
There is no
doubt that it takes moral courage to grieve; but it takes religious courage to
rejoice. That, I think is what Jeremiah and Nehemiah were really saying.
There is a
story that was told to me by a very dear friend of mine in the
If happiness
is the refusal to be defeated by tragedy, as we have learned that our Hebrew
faith is part of its history.
Happiness as Blessedness:
There are,
however, two key terms in the Tanakh that belong within the same conceptual
territory as happiness. One, already mentioned, is ‘ashrei’,
literally “the happiness’s of.” The other is ‘simchah’,
“joy”.
‘Ashrei’ means roughly, ‘happiness’ as ‘blessedness’. This is the state of one
who has lived in accordance in the will of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, a person who is ‘good’ and ‘does good’, and ‘lovingly honours אֱלֹהִים - Elohim and his fellow creatures’, who has been blessed in life and who, living
among the righteous, is held in high regard. This is the happiness of balance
and virtue, of justice and compassion, of living well and faring well. The book
of Psalms begins with the portrait of such a life:
Read Psalm 1,
which is so precious!
“1 Happy is the man
that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor
stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his
delight is in the law of יְהוָה - the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and
night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf doth
not wither; and in whatsoever
he doeth he shall prosper!”
“4 Not so the wicked; but they are
like the chaff which the wind driveth away. 5 Therefore the wicked shall
not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD regarded
the way of the righteous; but the way of the wicked
shall perish”.
As you can
see, verses 1 to 3 are all about a ‘righteous person, whilst the next verses 4
to 6 are about a wicked person!
I pray that you will wish to live within verses 1 to 3, or why would anyone live in the hideous verses 4 to 6. Think about it and choose the life you want?
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located
down the page!
This site was
originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and
wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or
three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him,
blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with
hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following through a number of
our prophets...
“The More Torah,
the More Life”,
For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... “Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom =
Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD
of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat,
as well as the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and continue saying your
daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and
regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before
food and drinks, etc!
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
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