{"id":79915,"date":"2020-09-13T16:39:07","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T13:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79915"},"modified":"2020-09-13T16:39:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-13T13:39:07","slug":"how-to-be-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-to-be-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"79915","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":79817,"related_cahpter":"568","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"It\u2019s not complicated...\r\n\r\n","content":"

The opening words of Psalm 1- <\/span>ashrei ha-ish<\/span><\/em> – announce its concern very clearly. It wants to tell us how to be happy in life, to attain a deep sense of contentment, fulfillment and satisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a starting point, it tells us that who we spend our time with matters. It suggests that surrounding ourselves with those who are energized, committed and thoughtful is essential to our flourishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alongside this, as verse 2 tells us, we should immerse ourselves in wisdom and ensure we have time for thoughtful contemplation. The verse emphasizes \u201cthe teaching (<\/span>torah<\/span><\/em>) of the LORD\u201d and I believe that \u2018Torah\u2019 in this context refers to Torah in the very broadest sense, as an investigation into how to lead a decent, just and worthwhile life. I also read the author as assuming that \u2018the LORD,\u2019 the sense of the Divine being invoked, is fundamentally aligned with a life of virtue, generosity and love. It is connected to fulfilling relationships and a rich sense of community.<\/span><\/p>\n

Torah is not limited to specific texts, nor does God hinge upon particularities of nation or ritual. There is, rather, a broad bringing together of happiness, community, wisdom, Torah and God. Seeing all of these concepts as interdependent is central to the vision of this Psalmist. Someone who does not see them as linked may struggle with this message, but the author is not engaging with them at this point.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third verse rejects the notion that contentment or satisfaction are in any way linked with stasis or stagnation. Rather, the happy individual is compared to a well-nourished tree, \u2018planted by streams of water.\u2019 It is thus constantly fed by both water and sun, comfortable with its dependence as it continuously renews its energy. The human steeped in community, wisdom and contemplation recharges themselves in a similar way.<\/span><\/p>\n

The metaphor continues: \u201c[the tree] brings forth its fruit in its season; its life also shall not wither; and in whatever he does he shall prosper.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Such a person will be constantly growing, maintaining a healthy balance between generative creativity and steady reliability. Like the tree, they will have strong roots, a firm sense of being grounded. They will not be easily overcome with fear or anxiety, and will hold fast to their self knowledge even when life becomes difficult.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In sum, the psalm is reminding us that at the deepest level things are really quite simple.\u00a0 Surround yourselves with good people, engage with\u00a0 wisdom and take time to think. If you can manage that, everything else will probably take care of itself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79916,"id":79916,"title":"ps1-smiley","filename":"ps1-smiley.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-to-be-happy\/ps1-smiley\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps1-smiley","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79915,"date":"2020-09-13 13:38:55","modified":"2020-09-13 13:39:06","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":6000,"height":2137,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-300x107.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":107,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-768x274.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":274,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1024x365.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":365,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":547,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":729,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1200x427.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":427,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1179x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1179,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"How To Be Happy","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"It\u2019s not complicated...","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":79916,"id":79916,"title":"ps1-smiley","filename":"ps1-smiley.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/how-to-be-happy\/ps1-smiley\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ps1-smiley","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79915,"date":"2020-09-13 13:38:55","modified":"2020-09-13 13:39:06","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":6000,"height":2137,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-300x107.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":107,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-768x274.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":274,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1024x365.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":365,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":547,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":729,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1200x427.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":427,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps1-smiley-1179x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1179,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79915"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79917,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79915\/revisions\/79917"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}