The Predicament of Sameach b’Chelko

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Artwork: Quiet Contemplation, by Magali Villeneuve

The Predicament of Sameach b’Chelko 

Avos 4:1 famously states: “Eizehu ashir? ha’Sameach b’chelko,” which translates to: “Who is wealthy? One who is happy with one’s portion” or “content with one’s lot.” 

The basic predicament with this concept is: How can one be sameach b’chelko and also be driven to engage in self-improvement? 

Consider, for example, one’s Torah learning. An average person might be motivated to learn more Torah in order to improve his knowledge and skills, but if he were truly sameach b’chelko, wouldn’t he be content with his current level of learning and not try to improve? 

Another example: if a person who was sameach b’chelko were presented with an opportunity to give tzedakah, wouldn’t he just say: “Nah, man, I’m good where I’m at right now.” And if he did choose to tzedakah, wouldn’t this indicate that prior to his act of giving, he was not happy with where he was at? 

Similarly, what if a person’s chelek (portion) is really bad? What if they’re in severe debt, or in an abusive relationship, or suffering from morbid obesity? If they endeavor to improve their situation, wouldn’t that imply that they aren’t content with their lot? And if they were content with their lot, how would we explain their drive to improve it? If you asked, “Why change?” would they not say, “because I’m not happy with my current state” or “because I would be happier if things were better”? 

The solution to this predicament is as follows: one’s “chelek” is not limited to one’s actual circumstances, but also includes one’s potentiality as a human being and, by extension, as a Torah-observant Jew. In other words, a life of sameach b’chelko is a life in which one is continually striving to actualize one’s potential in accordance with one’s nature – an objective which the Torah itself is designed to achieve. And if a person did not strive to actualize their potential, then they could not be said to truly be sameach b’chelko, since there is an aspect of their chelek which is not being enjoyed. 

Consider the following simple case: a person is sitting at a table with a delicious meal in front of him. Practically speaking, would it mean to be sameach b’chelko in such a case? Obviously, being sameach b’chelko would involve actualizing the potential for the enjoyment of the food – namely, by eating and deriving pleasure from the meal. And if a person did not partake of the meal, but just sat there, could we really say that such a person is sameach b’chelko? Of course not! The very idea of being sameach b’chelko necessitates actively taking part in enjoying whatever can be enjoyed in one’s chelek. 

Let us apply this to the examples above. In Torah learning a person’s chelek is not just enjoying the Torah knowledge they presently have, but also includes enjoying knowledge they have not yet acquired but is within their grasp. Therefore, to be sameach b’chelko necessarily involves expanding one’s knowledge in accordance with one’s capacity, and striving to acquire intellectual virtues and skills which better equip one to enjoy this knowledge. If one did not strive to actualize their chelek of Torah-learning potential, then they could not be said to be sameach b’chelko. 

In mitzvah observance, a person’s chelek includes not only the mitzvos that one is presently observing at that very moment, but also includes taking advantage of the mitzvah opportunities that present themselves and seeking out even more opportunities. Again, this is no different than being sameach b’chelko in the case of the meal: the only way to do so is to actually partake of the food, and the only way to do that is to seek out an opportunity to obtain the food in the first place. 

As for the case of a person who is in debt, or in a harmful relationship, or in a state of ill bodily health: these are all obstacles which stifle one’s human potential and prevent a person from enjoying the good that Hashem gave them in their chelek. In order to actually rejoice in the portion they were given, they would need to do everything in their ability to extricate themselves from that bad state. 

This view of sameach b’chelko has a number of practical ramifications, but perhaps the most important one is this: in order to be sameach b’chelko, one must constantly be engaged in the pursuit of self-knowledge with the objective of differentiating between realistic potentialities and unrealistic ambitions. For example, in the realm of learning it would be unrealistic to think that one can reach the level of Rebbi Akiva or the Rambam, and to attempt to do so would end in frustration and disappointment. At the same time, each person does have an actual potential that they can reach in their lifetime, and to the extent that they aren’t on that path, they cannot be sameach b’chelko. What is that potential? What developmental pace is realistic? How can one know if one is on the path to self-actualization or the path of fantasy and self-delusion? These are the questions that a person who is sameach b’chelko never stops asking. That inherent uncertainty is also part of one’s chelek. 

Matters are further complicated by fact that each of us has a finite amount of time and resources. To the extent that a person strives to actualize his potential in learning, he detracts from the ability to actualize his potential in tzedakah, and vice versa. It is simple for a seed to actualize its potential as a tree, or a caterpillar as a butterfly; these developmental paths are linear. In contrast, a human being is a multifaceted creature with many potentialities and innumerable paths that life can take. We may have a fixed set of potentialities, but these can be actualized in an infinite number of ways. 

To be sameach b’chelko does not imply self-resignation to a passive life of allowing oneself to be battered about by one’s circumstances, nor does it necessitate a monastic, ascetic, withdrawn existence in retreat from life’s vicissitudes. To be sameach b’chelko is to live a dynamic life of active choices which continually shape one’s path, guided by a constant quest for self-knowledge.