CONTENTMENT | HISTAPKUT | הסתפקות
PHRASE/SLOGAN
Possess but don't be possessed
You already have everything you need
Less is more
Try acquiring less and letting go of unnecessities
What we really want is to want what we already have
Get to know the difference between what you want versus what you need
Want what you have, don't want what you don't have
Dwell on what you have now rather than what you had or want
SOUL TRAIT (MIDDAH) SPECTRUM
ETYMOLOGY
- contentment, frugality
- satisfied
- being in doubt
- simplicity, enoughness
- root - ספק
- to clap (the hands in sorrow)
- to be sufficient, suffice
- supplied, furnished
- made possible, enabled
- satisfied
- was supplied, was given
- had enough
- used
- succeeded
- to doubt
- to join, attach
- later spelling for Biblical Hebrew - שפק
- to strike, clap (the hands)
- to be sufficient, suffice
- abounded
- abundance, plenty
- contentment with little
- frugality
- divestment of materialism or corporeality
- transcending materialism
TORAH
That shall be your fringe; look at it and recall all the commandments of the Eternal and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.
וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם לַחְמְכֶם֙ לָשֹׂ֔בַע וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֥ם לָבֶ֖טַח בְּאַרְצְכֶֽם.
You shall eat your fill of bread and dwell securely in your land.
וַאֲכַלְתֶּ֖ם וְלֹ֥א תִשְׂבָּֽעוּ.
And though you eat, you shall not be satisfied.
MUSSAR
אֵיזֶהוּ עָשִׁיר, הַשָּׂמֵחַ בְּחֶלְקוֹ.
Who is rich? He who rejoices in his lot.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, מַרְבֶּה בָשָׂר, מַרְבֶּה רִמָּה. מַרְבֶּה נְכָסִים, מַרְבֶּה דְאָגָה.
He used to say: The more flesh, the more worms; The more property, the more worry/anxiety.
Human beings avidly pursue worldly pleasures because they have a subconscious urge to still the pangs of spiritual hunger. Everyone has this nameless inner yearning: the longing of the soul for its state of perfection. And indulgence in worldly pleasures is an illusory substitute for this. (Week 20, Day 3)
לֹא יֹאכַל אָדָם עַד שֶׁתִּתְמַלֵּא כְּרֵסוֹ אֶלָּא יִפְחֹת כְּמוֹ רְבִיעַ מִשָּׂבְעָתוֹ.
A person should not eat until their stomach is full, but about one-fourth less than would make them sated.
וַאֲכִילָה גַּסָּה לְגוּף כָּל אָדָם כְּמוֹ סַם הַמָּוֶת. וְהוּא עִקָּר לְכָל הֶחֳלָאִים. וְרֹב הֶחֳלָאִים שֶׁבָּאִים עַל הָאָדָם אֵינָם אֶלָּא אוֹ מִפְּנֵי מַאֲכָלִים רָעִים. אוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא מְמַלֵּא בִּטְנוֹ וְאוֹכֵל אֲכִילָה גַּסָּה אֲפִלּוּ מִמַּאֲכָלִים טוֹבִים. הוּא שֶׁשְּׁלֹמֹה אָמַר בְּחָכְמָתוֹ (משלי כא כג) "שֹׁמֵר פִּיו וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ שֹׁמֵר מִצָּרוֹת נַפְשׁוֹ". כְּלוֹמַר שׁוֹמֵר פִּיו מִלֶּאֱכל מַאֲכָל רַע אוֹ מִלִּשְׂבֹּעַ וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ מִלְּדַבֵּר אֶלָּא בִּצְרָכָיו:
Ravenous eating is as deadly to the body of every man as poison, and is the base of all sickness; for, most diseases which visit man are not possible save either because of bad food, or because he fills up his bowels with overmuch food, even though the food be of good quality. Concerning this Solomon in his wisdom said: "He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles" (Prov. 21.23), meaning, that who so guards his mouth against bad food and ravenous eating, and his tongue from speaking aught but of the things he needs, guards his soul against distresses.
The righteous man eats to his soul's content, But the belly of the wicked is empty.
וְאֵימָא בֵּיצַת בַּר יוֹכָנִי תָּפַסְתָּ מְרוּבֶּה לֹא תָּפַסְתָּ תָּפַסְתָּ מוּעָט תָּפַסְתָּ וְאֵימָא.
If you grasped many, you did not grasp anything; if you grasped few, you grasped something.
Living lavishly, we then make our bellies our gods, our clothing our Torah, and the condition of our fine homes our morals. In our errors we plunge to the depths of foolishness and become content with laziness and laden with desires. (Week 20, Day 6)
A poor person with his stale bread can be as much of a hedonist as a wealthy person with his feast. (Week 46, Day 1)
A visitor to the apartment of the Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (1838-1933), was struck by its sparseness. “Where is your furniture?” the man asked. “Where is yours?” replied the Chofetz Chaim. “Oh, I am only passing through,” said the man. To which the Chofetz Chaim replied, “I also am just passing through. (Week 46, Day 5)
It is contentment without complacency. The paradox of histapkut is that when we give up things, we feel greater joy rather than increased yearning. . . . This kind of satisfaction does not depend on accumulating objects or accolades. (B'Chukotai: Histapkut—Simplicity: Recognizing Our Blessings)
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. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
Nowhere in my experience has this been clearer than in the observance of Shabbat. It’s not something I grew up with, but in recent years as I have taken on more Jewish practice, on the Sabbath I have denied myself television, radio, video, computer, car travel, and many other aspects of everyday life. If you think that giving up these activities has impoverished my life, you’d be wrong. Six days in the week is ample time to accomplish everything I need to do for my daily life. And on the seventh, the absence of these more mundane activities opens a space into which other, more meaningful activities flow. I read, review the texts I studied that week, pray, meditate, walk, visit friends, rest, and study. I engage in more delicate and tender activities that have a hard time competing with the computer and the car on the other days of the week. But on Shabbat, the competition is rendered silent, and the spirit has its way. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
Though living a simpler life might seem at first glance to be a sacrifice, from a soul-perspective, it is nothing less than true liberation. It is the most practical thing you can do to extricate your life from the concerns of the material to devote to the spiritual. Simplicity brings you freedom: freedom from the bondage to possessions, freedom from insatiable desires, freedom from dwelling on the past and from making demands on the future. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
When you move yourself away from a life driven by desire for acquisition, and cultivate contentment with what you have, you will inevitably find yourself living in the present. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
Who seeks more than he needs, hinders himself from enjoying what he has. Seek what you need and give up what you need not. For in giving up what you don’t need, you’ll learn what you really do need. (Week 20, Day 2)
Ultimately, simplicity is about trusting God. All the worry, striving, desire, regret, and clinging that you pour into your possessions—those you have, those you lost, or those you aspire to—reflect your disbelief that you will be provided with just the right materials you need to fulfill your soul-mission in life. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
The highest level of simplification that the Vilna Ga’on identifies is the feeling that you have everything. (Chp. 14: Simplicity)
Furthermore, at first they would uncover the faces of the wealthy who passed away and cover the faces of the poor, because their faces were blackened by famine. And the poor were embarrassed because they were buried in a different manner. The Sages instituted that everyone’s face should be covered, due to the honor of the poor.
לֹא יְהֵא בַּעַל חֵמָה נוֹחַ לִכְעֹס וְלֹא כְּמֵת שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַרְגִּישׁ אֶלָּא בֵּינוֹנִי. לֹא יִכְעֹס אֶלָּא עַל דָּבָר גָּדוֹל שֶׁרָאוּי לִכְעֹס עָלָיו כְּדֵי שֶׁלֹּא יֵעָשֶׂה כַּיּוֹצֵא בּוֹ פַּעַם אַחֶרֶת. וְכֵן לֹא יִתְאַוֶּה אֶלָּא לִדְבָרִים שֶׁהַגּוּף צָרִיךְ לָהֶן וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לִהְיוֹת בְּזוּלָתָן כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (משלי יג כה) "צַדִּיק אֹכֵל לְשֹׂבַע נַפְשׁוֹ". וְכֵן לֹא יִהְיֶה עָמֵל בְּעִסְקוֹ אֶלָּא לְהַשִּׂיג דָּבָר שֶׁצָּרִיךְ לוֹ לְחַיֵּי שָׁעָה כָּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהילים לז טז) "טוֹב מְעַט לַצַּדִּיק". וְלֹא יִקְפֹּץ יָדוֹ בְּיוֹתֵר. וְלֹא יְפַזֵּר מָמוֹנוֹ אֶלָּא נוֹתֵן צְדָקָה כְּפִי מִסַּת יָדוֹ וּמַלְוֶה כָּרָאוּי לְמִי שֶׁצָּרִיךְ. וְלֹא יְהֵא מְהוֹלֵל וְשׂוֹחֵק וְלֹא עָצֵב וְאוֹנֵן אֶלָּא שָׂמֵחַ כָּל יָמָיו בְּנַחַת בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת. וְכֵן שְׁאָר דֵּעוֹתָיו. וְדֶרֶךְ זוֹ הִיא דֶּרֶךְ הַחֲכָמִים. כָּל אָדָם שֶׁדֵּעוֹתָיו דֵּעוֹת (בֵּינוֹנִית) [בֵּינוֹנִיּוֹת] מְמֻצָּעוֹת נִקְרָא חָכָם:
He should not be an excitable person, easily angered; nor like the dead without feelings, but adopt a middle-course, not to become indignant, save only at something big which is worthy enough to be angry at, so that the like should not be done another time. Likewise shall he not crave for aught save the things which the body requires, and without which it is impossible to be, as the subject is spoken of: "The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul" (Pro. 13.25). Likewise shall he not continue to fatigue himself in his affairs, save to acquire what is necessary for him to live on for the time being as the subject is mentioned, saying: "A little that a righteous man hath is better" (Ps. 37.16). He should not be too close-fisted, nor yet squander his money, but give Z'dakah within the means of his hand, and lend accordingly to the needy. He should not be too optomistic and playful, nor too pessimistic and mournful, but spend all of his days in good cheer and with a pleasant countenance. So should he measure all the rest of his tendencies. And this path is the path of the wise men. Every man whose tendencies are mean tendencies of the middle-course, is called wise.