- by Yaakov Menken -
"Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his lot."
Imagine a farmer who owns a modest few acres of land. He works through the year, harvests his crop, and knows that he'll be able to feed his family. He's content, because he has all that he needs.
But before he can take advantage of that crop, he knows he has to bring his first fruits. So he saddles his donkey, fills a small bag with loaves of bread and a few clusters of grapes, and heads off for [the city]. After traveling for a while, he reaches the main highway.
[And then things change...] He isn't happy anymore!
He gets to the main road, but needs to wait -- a huge caravan is passing. There is a huge carriage with extraordinarily large and beautiful grapes. The next is piled high with loaves of bread. And in the third sits the owner of the horses, carriages, farmland and crop.The farmer looks at his small bag of first fruits.
Imagine a farmer who owns a modest few acres of land. He works through the year, harvests his crop, and knows that he'll be able to feed his family. He's content, because he has all that he needs.
But before he can take advantage of that crop, he knows he has to bring his first fruits. So he saddles his donkey, fills a small bag with loaves of bread and a few clusters of grapes, and heads off for [the city]. After traveling for a while, he reaches the main highway.
[And then things change...] He isn't happy anymore!
He gets to the main road, but needs to wait -- a huge caravan is passing. There is a huge carriage with extraordinarily large and beautiful grapes. The next is piled high with loaves of bread. And in the third sits the owner of the horses, carriages, farmland and crop.The farmer looks at his small bag of first fruits.
Has anything changed? Only his perception. His satisfaction is replaced by jealousy, because someone else has all that wealth.
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* Source: Yaakov Menken (News from Project Genesis and Torah.org)
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* Source: Yaakov Menken (News from Project Genesis and Torah.org)
