The Rolling Stones Were Not the Only Ones Who Couldn’t Get No Satisfaction

With Purim approaching I thought perhaps a little Torah on happiness might be appropriate:  The Talmud in Hulin (139) informs us that Haman is alluded to within the story of Adam and Eve.  Where? you ask.  According to Rav Matna, it is when God challenges Adam after he disobeys God and eats from the Tree of Knowledge.  In the language of the Torah, “Ha’min ha’etz asher …” or in English, “Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”  The first word of that question is “Ha’min” – which just so happens to be composed of the exact same letters as Haman.

What should we learn from this connection?

Perhaps if we consider Haman’s perpetual state of dissatisfaction we can begin to offer a possible suggestion.  Haman, after all, is the one individual you would think would be quite happy.  As second in command of the nation, he had wealth, power and everything else one could possibly want … except for the respect of one particular Jew, Mordechai.  And that drove him nuts.  And thus, rather than enjoying all that he had, he was only capable of focusing on that which he did not have.  As Haman himself said, “But all this is worth nothing to me” (Ester 5:13). 

That, of course, was his downfall.

And that, of course, is also at play in Adam’s downfall.  God offers him every fruit in the Garden of Eden – literally, the Garden of Eden! – and yet he becomes consumed by the one item he is not permitted to consume.  Again, a lack of satisfaction leads to a great sin.

The way we repair the sin of Haman – and Adam for that matter – should therefore be fairly clear.  We must rejoice in what we have.  Be satisfied by our good fortune, not obsessed with our failures.  Focused on our blessings, oblivious to our lackings.

When Adar enters  we are commanded to increase our happiness.  That does not necessarily require us to increase those things that usually help us to be happy – feasting, drinking, celebrating – but it does require a perspective of ‘growing’ our appreciation of what we already have.