Judaism and the Pursuit of Happiness: Part 2: Meaning/Purpose

Once, the great Hassidic leader, Zusia, came to his followers. His eyes were red with tears, and his face was pale with fear.
"Zusia, what's the matter? You look frightened!"
"The other day, I had a vision. In it, I learned the question that the angels will one day ask me about my life."
The followers were puzzled. "Zusia, you are pious. You are scholarly and humble. You have helped so many of us. What question about your life could be so terrifying that you would be frightened to answer it?"
Zusia turned his gaze to heaven. "I have learned that the angels will not ask me, 'Why weren't you a Moses, leading your people out of slavery?'"
His followers persisted. "So, what will they ask you?"
"And I have learned," Zusia sighed, "that the angels will not ask me, 'Why weren't you a Joshua, leading your people into the promised land?'"
One of his followers approached Zusia and placed his hands on Zusia's shoulders. Looking him in the eyes, the follower demanded, "But what will they ask you?"
"They will say to me, 'Zusia, there was only one thing that no power of heaven or earth could have prevented you from becoming.' They will say, 'Zusia, why weren't you Zusia?'"
- Haachim Hakedoshim - Rabbi Elimelech and Rabbi Zusia, Machon Zecher Naftali
What might Zusia have done more fully? What would you do if you were really to live according to your values to the fullest extent?

Each lifetime is the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

For some there are more pieces.

For others the puzzle is more difficult to assemble.

Some seem to be born with a nearly completed puzzle.

And so it goes.

Souls going this way and that.

Trying to assemble the myriad parts.

But know this. No one has within themselves

All the pieces to their puzzle.

Like before the days when they used to seal

jigsaw puzzles in cellophane. Insuring that

All the pieces were there.

Everyone carries with them at least one and probably

Many pieces to someone else's puzzle.

Sometimes they know it.

Sometimes they don't.

And when you present your piece

Which is worthless to you,

To another, whether you know it or not,

Whether they know it or not,

You are a messenger from the Most High

Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Honey from the Rock, (Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 1977, #46, pp. 69-70)

May the source of strength, Who blessed the ones before us, help us find the courage to make our lives a blessing, and let us say, Amen. Bless those in need of healing with refuah sheleimah - the renewal of body, the renewal of spirit, and let us say, Amen.

- Debbie Friedman’s (z”l) translation of Misheberach

סידור אשכנז, ימי חול, תפילת שחרית, הכנה לתפילה, אשר יצר א׳

(א) בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם אֲשֶׁר יָצַר אֶת הָאָדָם בְּחָכְמָה וּבָרָא בו נְקָבִים נְקָבִים חֲלוּלִים חֲלוּלִים. גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לִפְנֵי כִסֵּא כְבודֶךָ שֶׁאִם יִפָּתֵחַ אֶחָד מֵהֶם או יִסָּתֵם אֶחָד מֵהֶם אִי אֶפְשַׁר לְהִתְקַיֵּם וְלַעֲמוד לְפָנֶיךָ אֲפִילוּ שָׁעָה אֶחָת: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' רופֵא כָל בָּשר וּמַפְלִיא לַעֲשות:

Siddur Ashkenaz, Weekday, Shacharit, Preparatory Prayers, Asher Yatzar 1

(1) Praised are You, God Creator of the universe, who with wisdom fashioned the human body, creating openings, arteries, glands and organs, marvelous in structure, intricate in design. Should but one of them, by being blocked or opened, fail to function, it would be impossible to exist. Praised are you, God, healer of all flesh who sustains our bodies in wondrous ways.

One of Judaism’s most inspiring legends is Rabbi Akiva.Even though he only began to learn the Aleph-Bet at age 40, he applied himself with such determination that he became the greatest sage of Talmudic times.
During the first century, the Romans tried to obliterate Judaism and passed a laws prohibiting Torah study. In defience, Rabbi Akiva gathered together his disciples and taught them Torah.
The Romans arrested Rabbi Akiva and executed him by brutally tearing the skin off his body with iron forks.
As he was being tortured, Rabbi Akiva joyously recited the Shema - “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”
His students exclaimed: “Rabbi, not only do we give our lives for the sake of God, but we do so in ecstasy?!”

Replied Rabbi Akiva: “All my life, I strove for the level of dedication to sanctify God’s name with my very life. Now that I have the opportunity, I joyously perform it!”

ויקרא י״ט:ב׳

דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

Leviticus 19:2

Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, Adonai your God, am holy.

ישעיהו נ״ח:ו׳-ח׳

(ו) הֲל֣וֹא זֶה֮ צ֣וֹם אֶבְחָרֵהוּ֒ פַּתֵּ֙חַ֙ חַרְצֻבּ֣וֹת רֶ֔שַׁע הַתֵּ֖ר אֲגֻדּ֣וֹת מוֹטָ֑ה וְשַׁלַּ֤ח רְצוּצִים֙ חָפְשִׁ֔ים וְכָל־מוֹטָ֖ה תְּנַתֵּֽקוּ׃ (ז) הֲל֨וֹא פָרֹ֤ס לָֽרָעֵב֙ לַחְמֶ֔ךָ וַעֲנִיִּ֥ים מְרוּדִ֖ים תָּ֣בִיא בָ֑יִת כִּֽי־תִרְאֶ֤ה עָרֹם֙ וְכִסִּית֔וֹ וּמִבְּשָׂרְךָ֖ לֹ֥א תִתְעַלָּֽם׃ (ח) אָ֣ז יִבָּקַ֤ע כַּשַּׁ֙חַר֙ אוֹרֶ֔ךָ וַאֲרֻכָתְךָ֖ מְהֵרָ֣ה תִצְמָ֑ח וְהָלַ֤ךְ לְפָנֶ֙יךָ֙ צִדְקֶ֔ךָ כְּב֥וֹד יְהוָ֖ה יַאַסְפֶֽךָ׃

Isaiah 58:6-8

(6) Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the fetters of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? (7) Is it not to deal your bread to the hungry, And that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover the person, And that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? (8) Then shall your light break forth as the morning, And your healing shall spring forth speedily; And your righteousness shall go before you, The glory of God shall be your reward.

מיכה ו׳:ח׳

(ח) הִגִּ֥יד לְךָ֛ אָדָ֖ם מַה־טּ֑וֹב וּמָֽה־יְהוָ֞ה דּוֹרֵ֣שׁ מִמְּךָ֗ כִּ֣י אִם־עֲשׂ֤וֹת מִשְׁפָּט֙ וְאַ֣הֲבַת חֶ֔סֶד וְהַצְנֵ֥עַ לֶ֖כֶת עִם־אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ׃

Micah 6:8

(8) It has been told to you, O human, what is good, And what God does require of you: Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

The Torah commands us to emulate God’s actions. About God it is written, “And you give life to every living creature” (Nechemiah 9:6). We have a mandate to emulate God's ways. We can do that by attempting to use our words to inject life into everyone whom we encounter.
-- Rabbi Yisroel Besser, Reb Shlomo: The life and legacy of rabbi shlomo freifeld, p. 85 –

True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.
- Brene Brown, Braving the Wilderness, p. 40

משנה אבות א׳:י״ד

הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי:

Pirkei Avot 1:14

Hillel would say, "If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?"

“Life is a task”, Frankl used to say, and added, “The religious man differs from the apparently irreligious man only by experiencing his existence not simply as a task, but as a mission.” He or she is aware of being summoned, called, by a Source. “For thousands of years that source has been called God.”
Viktor Frankl, The Doctor and the Soul: from Psychotherapy to Logotherapy, New York: A.A. Knopf, 1965, 13.
A. How does Frankl understand the difference between living life as a 'task' and living life as a 'mission?'
B. Do you approach your own life as a 'mission?' If not, what other word would you use to describe your approach to living your life?
C. Is there a source or inspiration that guides you in how you try to live your life?

For this reason, the first human being was created alone to teach that whoever destroys a single life is as though one had destroyed an entire universe, and whoever saves a single life is as if one had saved an entire universe. Furthermore [the first human being was created alone] for the sake of peace among peoples, so that no one could say to another, “My ancestor was greater than yours.” And so that nations would not say that there are many celestial beings but rather will proclaim the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be God, for when a human being strikes many coins from one mold, they all resemble one another, but the supreme Sovereign of sovereigns, the Holy One, blessed be God, fashioned every human being in the stamp of the first person, and yet not one of them resembles another. For this reason, every human being is obligated to say, “For my sake, the world was created.”
[AJWS translation]
Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:22 (also Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 37a, Mishna Sanhedrin 4:5, Psikta Zutra Bereshit 1)
What changes might we make to our daily behaviors if we kept this thinking present in our minds?

The deepest wisdom human can attain is to know that one’s destiny is to aid, to serve.

- Abraham Joshua Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, p. 378

A. Do you agree with Heschel? Is serving your destiny? Is it every person’s destiny?

B. If this is our destiny, how can we best serve?

C. Certain people are in better positions to provide certain kinds of aid and service than others. Does this at all contradict Heschel’s premise?

Happiness is the ability to say: I lived for certain values and acted on them...To know that you made a difference, that in this all-too-brief span of years you lifted someone's spirits, relieved someone's poverty or loneliness, or brought a moment of grace or justice to the world that would not have happened had it not been for you: these are as close as we get to the meaningfulness of a life, and they are matters of everyday rather than heroic virtue.
- Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World, p. 7
A. Do you know anyone who lives in this way?
B. Have you ever felt this in your own life? When?