[Avodah] ha-sameach be-chelko

[Simon Montagu]

On 9/17/07, Eli Turkel <eliturkel at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have a question about what the phrase ha-sameach be-chelko means?
> Simple pshat would indicate that one does not strive to be better/richer
> but is happy with where he is
>

I think you are creating a false dichotomy here. Simple pshat is that one
can be rich by being happy where one is, period. One may also strive to have
more, with the intention of being happy there too. The mistake to avoid is
to say "I could be happy if I only had $x", since if I fall into that
mentality, when I have $x I will say "I could be happy if I only had $y". (I
was going to add "IMHO" to the last sentence until I remembered that Shlomo
Hamelech said the same thing in Kohelet 5:9 "hao'ehev kesef lo yisba`
kesef")

I believe that the same goes for the spiritual interpretation. As you say,
one should always work on getting better, but this doesn't contradict being
happy at whatever level one has reached.

On the linguistic level, I suppose what I am saying here is that  "sameach
bechelko" doesn't mean "happy with, one's chelek" in the sense of not
wanting to improve one's position or to have an easier time finding tuition
fees, but "happy, with one's chelek", and I think this fits better the
Mishna's proof text from Tehillim "Yegia` kapeicha ki tochel, ashreicha
vetov lakh".

Ketiva vehhatima tova!
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