Jewish History

Jewish History Blog

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

I have always been struck by Thomas Jefferson’s phrase “the pursuit of happiness” as it appears in the Declaration of Independence. In that document, he proclaimed that life and liberty are the basic and inalienable entitlements – absolute and automatic – of all human beings having been created equal by God. But he apparently held that happiness is not such a given and automatic state of entitlement. He only proclaimed that the new country would strive to guarantee for its citizens merely the right to pursue happiness.

There is no outside power, governmental or otherwise, that can truly promise and achieve happiness for human beings. Happiness is a spiritual emotion, a character trait of the soul and not of the body. In the realm of spirit, there are no outside forces that can aid an individual in his or her quest for spiritual fulfillment. We can only pursue happiness; there is no promise or guarantee that we will ever truly achieve it.

Many of the problems that now afflict human society stem from the confusion of physical comfort with happiness. No one willingly preaches illness and poverty as a way of life. The idea of bodily self-mortification passed from the scene in Europe in the late Middle Ages (though it still resonates within certain Catholic orders even today.) It is a fact of life that good health and a modicum of comfortable living are necessary in order to help generate a feeling of inner happiness. click here to read more