Rabbi Yigal Cohen – Seeing the Glass Half Full

King Solomon, may peace be upon him, already declared the fate of a person who craves money stating (Ecclesiastes 5:9) "He who loves money shall not be satisfied with money", even if he is given all the money in the world, he will still feel hunger for more, as said by King Solomon, who was very wealthy.

Dear readers!

Anyone who stops and considers this verse will understand that there is no end to monetary desires, and if we do not overcome this craving, there is no way in the world we will ever feel satisfied with the wealth bestowed upon us by Hashem.

Our sages also wrote (Ecclesiastes Rabbah Section 1, Letter 32) "No one dies with even half his desire in hand." Their intent is that if a person passes away with a million dollars in their bank account, it is likely their desire was for more than two million, and they achieved less than half. It turns out that the greater one's desire, the larger the lack they feel, as the amount of the missing half increases.

The sages further added and said "He who has one hundred desires two hundred," The richer a person is, the greater their lack, according to their holy words, a person with one hundred thousand wants two hundred thousand, so their lack is one hundred thousand, whereas someone with just fifty wants another fifty, and their lack is only fifty.

A person with a lust for women, constantly craving more, any intelligent person understands that such a person will feel lack all their days, and even if permitted by a rabbi to marry four women as in Talmudic times, they will not achieve joy, because after a few months, their desire will swell again, and they will crave endlessly, and surely joy will not reside in their home. In contrast, one who is content with little and does not covet what isn’t theirs, and rejoices with their portion, when they marry their wife, they will feel they received much more than they deserve, and will feel immense satisfaction from the wife in their home.

The craving for honor extinguishes all joy from a person’s heart, the desire for honor is the root of sadness, as there is no end to the honor they wish to receive, and they will never receive the honor they think they deserve, thus all their days they will feel insufficiently appreciated by everyone around them, including their spouse, whom they will feel never respects them as deserved, and even their children they will feel likewise, and in their workplace, they will chase after honor.

Our sages have already decreed the fate of one who chases after honor, "honor flees from him" (Eruvin 13), and he shall never attain it.

The Half-Empty Glass

Imagine dear readers, a person lying down at night in bed, contemplating the day and recalling that at the synagogue they were not given a place of honor, at the grocery the vendor was not impressed by their dignified appearance, and upon arriving at work, or the Kollel where they study, no one raised their head in awe at their presence, this continued until they reached home and lay in bed, how much sadness will fill the heart of the poor man craving honor.

This is how a person who craves to see the great world, spends the day thinking "how beautiful New York is, how nice it would be to see Thailand, and how fun it will be to shop in England..." However, until they amass the funds for their dream trip, they are forced to live in a crowded (and warm) neighborhood in Bnei Brak, surely they will feel dissatisfaction with the city they live in, and upon seeing a garbage bin on the street, they will feel unfortunate, having to suffer and see such things.

In contrast, a Jew born in a transit camp in one of the development towns, accustomed to bumpy roads, poor transportation, and frequently collapsed shacks, with the only store they know being the neighborhood grocery, tossing garbage on the neighbor's roof was normal practice, once Hashem expands his boundaries, and he moves to the holy city of Bnei Brak, he will walk around in amazement and say - "how many study halls are here, how many Torah scholars, how many interesting stores, the roads are simply perfect, and the garbage bins are nice and convenient." His lips will not cease to praise and thank Hashem for the great gift he received - to live in Bnei Brak.

A scholar who feels unsatisfied with his studies and finds no joy in studying the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch, when fulfilling the Creator's commandments, does not feel special joy, should examine himself well, maybe he wants to be the greatest of the generation in Torah knowledge and mitzvah observance, and wants to be perfect in everything, and of course, that the whole world knows this about him, perhaps it’s because he read many stories of righteous people, and thought in his heart that he too could reach their heights, thus extinguishing all joy from his heart.

With every page of Talmud he finishes, he will feel: "how much have I learned compared to the Chofetz Chaim, may peace be upon him?"

And if he managed to understand a section in the Shulchan Aruch, he will say in his heart "Rabbi Ovadia of blessed memory knew all the sections in the Shulchan Aruch?"

And even if he fulfills a rare mitzvah like redeeming captives or sending away the mother bird, he will feel in his heart "I still haven’t reached the amount of mitzvot that Baba Sali, may peace be upon him, performed!"

And thus, with his own hands, he removes joy from his heart and instead sadly installs despair.

The book 'Yagel Libi B'Yeshuatecha' is available at select stores and at Hidabroot Shops