There’s a story told about Kurt Vonnegut who met the novelist Joseph Heller at a party hosted by a wealthy hedge fund manager. Vonnegut pointed out that their wealthy host made more money in one day than Heller would ever make from his best selling novel Catch 22. Heller responded, “Yes, but I have something he will never have…
enough.”
It’s a common sentiment that happiness can be acquired or reached, or as the popular phrase puts it, the pursuit of happiness. Judaism, though, has a very different view. We already have happiness, we just need to know how to access it. The key comes from one of the unique aspects of the esrog fruit.
The Gemara explains that one of the reasons the esrog is referred to as a fruit from a beautiful tree is because its branches taste the same as its fruit. The rind, the bark, all have the same taste as the esrog. This teaches us a powerful insight into happiness. Happiness is an inside job. It cannot be pursued, caught or reached.
It is uncovered and discovered. The branch and bark of the esrog containing the taste of the fruit tells us that the barometer of success lies not only in the fruit, but in the branches that lead us to the fruit. It’s when we peel back the layers of the branch, when we look deeper at the road we are navigating, we recognize the taste of the esrog, the feeling of happiness that can be found in each step of the way.
The bumps and grooves of the branch, much like the twists and turns of our life journey, contain moments of joy, contentment, and fulfillment. If we gloss over them in our hurry to reach the fruit, we’re missing out on the uniqueness of the esrog. Our pursuit of happiness propels us past it. If we take a moment to pause, we will discover it exactly where we are. Thomas Merton once said, “Many people spend their lives climbing the ladder of success only to realize once they’ve reached the top that it was facing the wrong wall.”
The esrog would add that too often we obsess with reaching the pinnacle of the ladder and forget that the destination was the ladder itself. Life resembles a cruise ship rather than an Uber ride. The journey isn’t a technical means to get to point B, but is rather a destination to be cherished and celebrated.
Wishing you a wonderful, joyous, and elevated Sukkot.