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Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry, Be Happy
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It's been a while, I grant you, but perhaps you remember Bobby McFerrin's song
Don't Worry, Be Happy? It's a fun, bouncy song which does, indeed, promote being happy. In our world both of those sentiments are a bit difficult and are still related, of course. Would that we could live in a worry-free happy world.
That's a common goal. When asked, "What do you want for your children?" the most typical answer people give? "I want them to be happy." That does, at first, seem a noble goal, but I'm not so sure. My preference is for my children to be good, upstanding, moral people. They should live a life which benefits humanity and makes the world a better place. It would be great if that makes them happy (I hope so) but life is not always happy, even when good things are being done. So being happy, while valued, is not my primary wish for them.
One problem, of course, is defining "happy." Snow and heat both make some people very happy, others less so. Taking time to pursue a hobby, to relax can make us happy, but does it contribute to
tikkun olam
, making the world a better place? Happy, like so many other things, is a bit too elusive to define. Moral and upstanding, on the other hand, are goals which are also elusive, but more likely to have a consensus of what they represent.
At our next Pause Button, March 3, we're going to take a look at
Ashrei,
the most repeated psalm in the liturgy. The liturgist rabbis included it in our siddur
Happy are those who dwell in God's house, whose God is Adonai.
We'll take a closer look at it. Happily.
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rabbidrazen@adath.org
(315) 445 - 0002 x121
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450 Kimber Road
Syracuse, NY 13224
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