The Good Life - Jeremy Gimpel: The Land of Israel Fellowship

The Good Life so let's talk about that philosophers throughout history have all talked about what is the good life and so one of the most beautiful in my mind when we talk about you know there's like a judeo uh tradition there's a Christian tradition there's a Greek tradition and then somehow it's like Western Civilization is sort of the fusion of the biblical tradition and the Greek tradition and that's really what's created western civilization in western civilization up until now is the greatest civilization that we've come up with so far and so let's go back to the basics Aristotle remarkably aligned with the Bible on this issue says that a good life can be summed up with one word and he calls it eudaimonia that's the ultimate and eudaimonia is usually translated as happiness if you type it into Google if you read it it's happiness like the ultimate good life is if a person is Happy great that's the ultimate you just to be happy but that's not what Aristotle said actually that's really far from what he was aiming at you dymonia is Greek for Diamond means soul and you means good so you dimonia is a state where you are being a good soul to live according to Virtue the idea that a good happy healthy happy life is inextricably connected to a moral life that's actually what the founding fathers of America meant in the United States Declaration of Independence when they said life liberty and the pursuit of happiness that's the happiness they were talking about happiness from living a good worthy meaningful Noble life and that is 100 in line with the Bible look at what the book of Psalms says the very first verse Psalm verse 1 chapter 1 happy is the man that walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of Sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his Delight is in the law of the lord it's like who is the happy man he's the one that stayed away from the wicked he's the one that's living a good life he's like following God's ways and just in case chapter 106 verse 3 really says it beautifully happy are those who uphold Justice who practice righteousness at all times so of course King David existed you know well before Aristotle but he's giving us the keys here it's like you want actual happiness live uphold Justice live with righteousness and you'll see that she'll be better you'll be happier you'll be stronger your life will be blessed you'll it'll just make you flourish excellent and then you look at the world today and you're like hmm well 21st century 2023 we're better off better informed healthier and Freer than any previous generation but the life satisfaction of young men has absolutely plummeted Richard Wilkinson wrote a book called the spirit level and I'm only quoting this because Rabbi Jonathan sacks quoted him so I learned this from Rabbi Jonathan sex but here's the quote it is a remarkable Paradox that at the Pinnacle of human material and Technical achievement we find ourselves anxiety-ridden prone to depression worried about how others see us unsure of our friendship driven to consume and with little or no community life it's like depressing it's like how did that happen what's going on here we're in the I mean because the most money the ever world I mean you go to a hotel a simple hotel in Israel you eat like kings didn't eat the way that hotels in Israel give you food a hunt 200 years ago Kings did not eat the diversity the amount what we are living in the most unbelievable time and why is everyone upset what's going on what's Happening Here and I think what happened is that instead of living a little bit like the founding fathers of America that defined that happiness that was connected to you know Liberty and freedom and nobility and character it became a life of pursuit of life liberty and pleasure and in philosophic terms it went from a eudymonic happiness to a hedonic happiness to a happiness that is just based on physical pleasure and in modern culture today Western secular civilization Hedonism prevails it's like why did that happen it's like maybe it was better for the economy maybe it's an easier path in the immediate and people can't see far enough down the road maybe it's an easier selves like tell people the ultimate in life is to buy more stuff and die with more toys and so now in secular civilizations like the race is on who has the newest phone who has the newest car who has the most stuff a former director of General Motors research lab said like this advertising is the organized creation of dissatisfaction and I thought that's just a great summary of advertisements and the advertising industry let's make people feel unsatisfied and always wanting more in that way we'll make more sales and that's really the heart of the advertising industry and so hedonic happiness is achieved through kind of experiences of pleasure Comfort maximize pleasure minimize pain that's that's where you're going to find happiness and Rabbi sax says it's like a new culture a new religion has been built around this false idea you get retail therapy you're not feeling good go out and buy stuff you'll feel better salvation by shopping that needs to be a bumper sticker it's like that's what the world is at right now and so um you know what that looks like someone sent me this Meme and I can't help but share but I'm like a society that's built around that this is what the health czars around the world look like in the most secular countries in the world you have the Democrats in America right now Belgium Britain Canada those are the people that are giving Public Health advice to their countries that's what that Society is going to look like and so what kind of leadership you're gonna end up spending money that you don't have on things that you don't need for a happiness that won't last and you're gonna end up unhealthy and so what's going on here it's like if you want to try to fulfill that happiness you're going to need constant stimulation you know it's like a momentary feeling of pleasurable sensation it's like getting what you want it's only temporary satisfies that desire almost immediately you're going to want to find a new thing to desire but what we're talking about what the ultimate goal is is to live a joyful life what does that look like it's like in order to live a joyful life you have to view yourself over time that's why all of the Torah is based around a calendar based around a year based around a week it allows us to stop see ourselves in time look back in time what was good what was bad look forward in time how do I want to be better how do I want my life to look that's how I'll build a joyful life this is a story it's a true story my son Akiva came up to me this is when he was 15 years old and he's like Abba do you know what I started doing I started asking myself what would my 25 year old self tell me to do now I'm 15. what would make him happy with my decisions now would he tell me to go play video games no he would tell me to go work out he would tell me to get good grades so that when I'm 25 I'm going to be in a much better position I'm like wow 15 years old how did you learn that that is a brilliant that's exactly how to live a joyful life it's to see ourselves over an expansive time and that's why Torah prayer is not so much about trying to change God but changing ourselves to align ourselves with what God has in store for us in our life