Shabbat Sermon: The Moral Dimension of Happiness with Rabbi Wes Gardenswartz

Published: Dec. 12, 2020, 10 p.m.

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It is the Shabbat of Hanukkah, typically a time when we give and receive gifts.  But this Hanukkah takes place in the tenth month of our pandemic. What is the right kind of gift to give in a pandemic?

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In his book Morality, the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks  contrasts the happiness that comes from the market with the happiness that comes from a moral dimension.  When we try to find our happiness in the market, he puts it this way: we spend money we don\\u2019t have, on products we don\\u2019t need, for a happiness that won\\u2019t last.  By contrast, the biblical and rabbinic traditions emphasize a moral dimension.  Happiness is not what you buy or what you own.  Happiness is what you do, living a moral life, being a force for good in the world.

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