In this week’s parsha, we have the very famous tochacha, the negative results that will happen if we do not fulfill the commandments. In the middle of the tochacha, we have a hint to why all of these negative results will occur. In chapter 28, verse 47, it states: “Since you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with joy and a good heart with everything you have”. Rashi comments and says while you had everything good.

Out of all of the generations, this generation probably is the one that has the most wealth. We have fancy homes with indoor plumbing and electricity. We have cars that bring us from point A to point B in a matter of minutes. If the car is too slow, we can jump on an airplane and travel from America to Eretz Yisrael in less than one day. We have so many good things.

It’s not only in secular matters. The Torah that is available in our generation is astounding. We have Feldheim and Art Scroll that have hundreds of books in English. We have an English chumash with Rashi, English Gemara, English Mishna Brurah, English commentaries. We have so much. We have Torah tapes, CDs, and MP3s. We even have excellent Torah sites on the internet like www.chesedclub.com (which is one of my personal favorite sites). We have it all.

But, unfortunately, we are not happy. I was recently on vacation and went to a beautiful city that is full of Torah and has beautiful homes. I was amazed though that no one smiled. We have everything, but why aren’t we happy.

I think the answer might be because we are focusing on what we don’t have instead of focusing on what we do have. We are sad because we only have a house with 2000 square feet and a pool instead of a 3000 square foot house. We are sad because we are driving a Chevy instead of a Lexus.

Therefore, I would like to offer an idea that I once heard on a lecture from Rav Noach Weinberg from Aish HaTorah in Yerushaliyim. He said every night before you go to bed, find one thing to be thankful about and write it down. Only write one thing (because if you write a lot tonight, tomorrow night you won’t write anything). Think about something that you are thankful for. By doing this, we will eventually realize all of the great things we have in this world and be happy with what we have. Then, hopefully, we can turn these negative consequences into joyous brachos full of happiness.

Good Shabbos!

-yes

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