Parashat Korah tells us about how Korah and a group of his followers got together and instigated a fight against Moshe Rabbenu. They complained that only Aharon and sons were allowed to serve as kohanim. They complained that they were stuck in the desert and could not go into the Land of Israel. This fight ended with tragedy, as all those who challenged Moshe died.
This is one of several occasions in the desert when Beneh Yisrael complained. They complained about the conditions in the desert, about the manna that Hashem gave them to eat, how they didn’t have any variety, and so on.
At first we can only wonder why they complained so much. Korah was a Levi who had the special job of carrying the aron, the holiest article of the Mishkan. Why would he complain? Hashem literally sent food down from the sky each morning for the people; why would they complain? He provided water from a rock which traveled with them; why would they complain?
Actually, this same question can be asked about us.
Imagine we could travel back in time, to the year 1850, and we could describe to the people what our lives are like. How we have no problem getting food, how science and medicine have developed, how we have heat and air conditioning, and how we live in safety. They would assume that we must be happy all the time, and never complain. And yet, all we do is complain. Why?
The answer sounds peculiar, but it’s so true: the pursuit of happiness makes people unhappy. When our goal is to be happy, then we’ll never be happy.
If we tell ourselves that our goal is to feel happiness, then we are constantly upset and frustrated, because so many things get in the way. We get married to be happy, but then there’s hard work that we need to do to build and maintain a happy marriage. We have kids to be happy, but then there’s hard work to do and difficult challenges to overcome to raise them. We want money to be happy, but we need to work hard and deal with a lot of problems in order to make money.
If we make happiness our goal, we will be upset, because so many things are going to get in the way.
The real goal should be purpose. We are here for a purpose that Hashem placed us here for. And when we live with a purpose, then challenges don’t rattle us. We understand that this precisely our purpose – to deal with our challenges to the best of our ability. If we have children because this is our purpose – to raise children who will serve Hashem – then we will accept the challenges as part of that purpose. We will then have the strength to handle the challenges without getting frustrated.
And when we live with a sense of purpose, realizing that everything Hashem sends our way is part of our purpose, then we feel gratified, knowing that we are fulfilling our purpose – and this is what brings us true happiness.
If Korah had lived in the pursuit of purpose, he would not have started his fight. He would have felt content and gratified fulfilling his purpose. But because he pursued happiness – he saw Moshe and Aharon as getting in his way, and this made him angry.
If Beneh Yisrael had lived in the pursuit of purpose, they would have felt gratified knowing that their journey in the desert was their purpose. But because they pursued happiness – they were dissatisfied with the manna and with the conditions in the desert.
A certain Jewish publication approached a number of well-known Jewish figures and posed the following question: If you could invite any three people who ever lived to your Shabbat table, who would they be?
Most of the responses were great figures from Tanach, like Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabbenu, or David, or famous Rabbis, such as Rashi and the Rambam.
One of the people to whom they posed this question was Rav Dovid Feinstein, one of the most important poskim in America who passed away recently. His answer was astounding. He replied: “Three poor people, so I could help them.”
This is a beautiful and inspiring example of someone who lives for purpose, not for happiness. He preferred to have at his table not famous people, people whom it would be exciting to sit with, but rather people who needed help. Because he lived not for the sake of enjoying, but for the sake of contributing and giving.
This should be our goal – to live lives of purpose, of meaning. And when we live this way, we will experience true happiness, no matter what twists and turns life takes us on.