Why is it that no matter how much we have we always want more? Why do we so easily tire of our possessions? Why do we feel the need to constantly acquire something new something bigger and better? The next acquisition will make us feel satisfied we tell ourselves. The next purchase will be the one to do for us what all previous purchases did not.

And while the next purchase might indeed give us some measure of pleasure we soon tire of the old and once again desire the new.

And so the cycle continues.

As we know everything in the physical world has a parallel in the spiritual world.

A person’s natural instinct for wanting more parallels his neshamah’s yearning for more spirituality. Perhaps Hashem implanted this character trait within us so that we can sublimate it and utilize it in our avodas Hashem.

Using Our Whole Heart

We say in Shema every day: “Ve’ahavta es Hashem Elokecha bechal levavecha — You shall love Hashem your G-d with your whole heart” (Devarim 6:5). Rashi comments that the word levavecha is used with two beises (rather than the word libcha with one beis) to teach us that we should love Hashem with the two inclinations in our heart — the yetzer hatov and the yetzer hara. Even our negative inclinations can be utilized in the service of Hashem.

The Chafetz Chaim gives a mashal of a king who wanted to have a beautiful new crown made for him. He imported a very large diamond to be used as the centerpiece for the crown. But when the diamond arrived the king saw it had a large deep scratch. He called together his most talented artisans and asked them to use their creativity and talent to design a crown using the flawed diamond.

Each of the artisans designed the crown in a way that would effectively conceal at least part of the scratch. One of the artisans however realized that it would be impossible to conceal the scratch completely. He therefore engraved the king’s seal on the diamond using the large deep scratch as part of the design.

This artisan’s work pleased the king more than that of the others. The flaw was no longer a flaw; it now enhanced the beauty of the crown.

The words bechol levavecha teach us that the flaws in our character need not remain flaws. When used properly they can be elevated. Instead of detracting from our avodas Hashem they can actually enhance it.

Striving Higher

The feeling of dissatisfaction we have and the longing to acquire more can be elevated by channeling these emotions to a feeling of dissatisfaction with our spiritual status quo and a striving for a greater level in our avodas Hashem.

The Torah describes Yaakov Avinu as yosheiv ohalim one who sits in the tents of Torah (Bereishis 25:27). Targum Yonasan ben Uziel translates yosheiv ohalim as “tava ulpan” one who desires learning. This strong desire was the root of Yaakov Avinu’s ultimate greatness. Cultivating a strong desire to learn and grow in our ruchniyus can be the key to our own greatness as well.

The proper approach to our yearnings for more can be summarized in the words “bashamayim mima’al v’al ha’aretz mitachas — in the heavens above and on the earth below” (Devarim 4:39). Regarding matters relating to the heavens i.e. the spiritual realm we should look above us; we should look at people who are greater than us and desire to emulate them. However regarding matters relating to the earth i.e. the material realm we should look below us; we should look at people who have less than us and be grateful that we possess more.

Sadly most of us do the opposite. When it comes to the spiritual we compare ourselves to people who are “lower” than we are and feel satisfied with our own level. When it comes to the material we look at those who have more than us and yearn to acquire what

they have.

Feeding Our Desires

The Torah tells us “Az yavdil Moshe …” (Devarim 4:41) — Moshe Rabbeinu separated three cities in Ever HaYarden as cities of refuge for those who accidentally murder a fellow Jew. Why did Moshe Rabbeinu go to the trouble of dedicating these cities? After all they wouldn’t be used until after his death when the Jews conquered Eretz Yisrael and dedicated additional three cities in the mainland as cities of refuge.

The Gemara (Makkos 10a) comments with the pasuk “Ohev kesef lo yisba kesef — He who loves money will not be satisfied with [any amount of] money” (Koheles 5:9). This Gemara can be understood as telling us that while most people aren’t satisfied with the money they have Moshe was not satisfied with the mitzvos that he had. Moshe Rabbeinu turned his desire for money into a desire for mitzvos. Because of his zeal to do more mitzvos Moshe dedicated the cities of refuge even though they weren’t needed yet.

According to Rabbi Avigdor Miller ztz”l the Gemara can be understood on a deeper level as revealing to us the root of a person’s insatiable desire for money.

It is not that the natural desire of a person is for money. On the contrary the natural desire of the neshamah is for mitzvos. A person’s unrelenting drive for more gashmiyus is in actuality a corruption of the neshamah’s desire for more ruchniyus.

Most people do not identify their feeling of yearning as the neshamah’s yearning for more mitzvos and they pursue wealth. Moshe Rabbeinu however tapped into the true yearning of his neshamah and he pursued mitzvos.

Shlomo HaMelech writes “Vegam hanefesh lo semalei — And also the soul will not be satisfied” (Koheles 6:7). Ramchal in Mesilas Yesharim explains the reason for this by quoting a mashal from Midrash Koheles about a princess who married a commoner. Whatever the commoner brought for the princess was meaningless to her royal persona. Similarly the Midrash explains even if a person provides the neshamah with all the physical pleasures of this world it will mean nothing to the neshamah since the

neshamah comes from the spiritual world.

Achieving Inner Peace

We feel a nagging feeling of dissatisfaction and unfortunately don’t recognize the feeling for what it truly is — the longing of the neshamah to connect to Hashem. We try to drown our discontent by providing the guf the body with more in the physical realm — more money more food more clothing a more successful career.

The problem is that while all of the above can indeed satisfy the body it can never satisfy the neshamah. And since the source of the discontent is in actuality the neshamah and not the guf none of the above will help for the long term. As Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski so aptly states you cannot cure a Vitamin C deficiency with Vitamins A B D or E. As long as we interpret our “spiritual deficiency syndrome” as a feeling of unhappiness caused by a deficiency of material wealth we will be stuck in the cycle of acquisitions dissatisfaction more acquisitions and more dissatisfaction.

The sooner we recognize the true source of our discontent the sooner we can stop our fruitless pursuit of the material and devote ourselves instead to providing our neshamah with the deeper levels of ruchnius and the real connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu that it craves. Only then will we assuage our feelings of discontent and achieve the inner peace we long for.