                    The Pursuit of Happiness
                        January 17, 1992
                     by Gary M. Cooperberg

       In the January 10, 1992 issue of the Jewish Press there appeared an article by Sam
Domb entitled, "The Jew in America".  While Mr. Domb did make some very accurate
assessments of how the lack of true Jewish leadership is adversely affecting Jewish life in
America, his conclusion, from a strictly Jewish standpoint is, to say the least, disappointing.
       The pursuit of happiness, guaranteed by the declaration of independence, is not a
Jewish value.  For a Jew, the pursuit of mitzvot results in happiness.  Any other pursuit will
just cause us pain.
       As a Jew who was born and raised in the United States, I am well aware of the lofty
ideals which made that country unique in the history of nations.  The concept of a country
being ruled by its citizens and allowing for religious and political freedom for all was, indeed, a
noble experiment.  For two hundred years the United States had been the hope and standard
for freedom, justice and equality of men for the entire world.
       Democracy, as opposed to monarchy, was a bright star in the darkness of human
oppression.  But, even in democracy, there are flaws.  To be human is to be fallible.  To put
governmental authority into the hands of, even democratically elected, human beings,
necessitates the unavoidable element of human failure.  Despite the fact that democratic
America may well have been the best system under which a Jew could live in the Exile, it is a
Jewish imperative to remember that it too is the Exile.
       If a Jew today recognizes the dangers and flaws in the United States system of
government, how is it that he prefers to try and change America to make it better for him to
continue to live in the cursed Exile?  Why does he refuse to see that his Creator has brought
about these conditions in preparation for the ongoing process of Jewish Redemption?  






       My dear fellow Jew, if, indeed, you recognize that things are worse for Jews now in
America and all over the world, rather than trying to prolong the Exile, devote all of your
efforts to participate in Jewish Redemption.  The G-d of Israel has given us back the Land He
promised to our Fathers.  There is a very real Jewish homeland, ruled by Jews, to which every
Jew can return and help to build and make strong.  If you recognize the need to tackle a
system and make it better, why do it for goyim who will only turn on you, when, instead, you
can do it for your own people and your only country, Israel?
       My dear Mr. Domb, you have entirely missed the point which you came so close to
making.  "The responsibility of this dangerous situation lies in our own hands. . . The
individual Jew who often finds himself in social and intellectual limbo becomes so, because he
really does not know what being a Jew means to himself and the world he lives in."
       Do you honestly believe that being a Jew means running after "happiness" in
America?  From where do you derive such an absurd conclusion?  Being a Jew means being a
light unto the nations.  The only effective way we can fulfill that role is to return to our
homeland and live by G-d's Law there.  By so doing we will be the living example of how Man
was meant to conduct his life and thus bring blessing, and yes, even happiness, to all the
nations of the world.