March 2018

This issue of the SAR PACT newsletter focuses on the impor tance of developing healthy atti tudes towards wealth and the mater ial pleasures in l i fe. Whi le developing such atti tudes is often considered vir tuous, we do not necessar i ly see i t as central to our mission as mitzvah-obser ving Jews - this, for a var iety of r easons. Yet, as we have continued our learning about tikkun hamiddot, the SAR HS school-w ide theme, we continue to discover that a large number of mitzvot are dir ected precisely towards the cultivation of such disposi tions, at least as understood by the Rambam.

In his Shemoneh Perakim, the Rambam teaches that, just as there is bodi ly health and i l lness, so too is there the health and i l lness of the soul or per sonali ty. One of the purposes of the mitzvot is to help cultivate vir tue or the health of the soul; prominently included in such vir tue is developing the proper approach to food, sex and wealth. In Chapter 5, Rambam w r i tes: ?So, his only design in eating, dr inking, cohabiting, sleeping, waking, moving about, and resting should be the preser vation of bodi ly health, whi le, in turn, the r eason for the latter is that the soul and i ts agencies may be in sound and per fect condition, so that he may readi ly acquir e w isdom, and gain moral and intel lectual vi r tues, al l to the end that man may reach the highest goal of his endeavors. Accordingly, man w i l l not dir ect his attention merely to obtain bodi l y en joym ent , choosing of food and dr ink and

the other things of l i fe only the agreeable, but he w i l l seek out the m ost usefu l , being indi f ferent whether i t be agreeable or not.? Bodi ly health makes one avai lable for learning and, thus, for acquir ing w isdom. This, in turn, helps develop the vir tues.

The Rambam tr ies hard to convey to his r eaders that one must develop a proper approach to the enjoyment of the ?good things in l i fe?. Whi le there might not be a precise prohibi tion against excess, having too much of a good thing can be a sign of a lack of spir i tual health - as can the absence of pleasure in one?s l i fe. In taking on this issue, the Rambam reads as though he is w r i ting dir ectly to us. Later in the same chapter he w r i tes:

?He who fol lows this l ine of conduct (the Golden Mean) w i l l not trouble himself w i th adorning his walls w ith golden ornaments, nor w ith decorating his garments w ith golden fr inge, unless i t be for the purpose of enl ivening his soul, and thus r estor ing i t to health, or of banishing sickness from i t, so that i t shall become clear and pure, and thus be in the proper condition to acquir e w isdom. Therefore, our Rabbis of blessed memor y say, (Shabbat 25b) ?It is becoming that a sage should have a pleasant dwell ing, a beauti ful spouse, and domestic comfor t?; for one becomes wear y, and one's mind dulled by continued mental concentration upon di f f icult problems. Thus, just as the body becomes exhausted from hard labor , and then by r est and refr eshment r ecovers, so is i t necessar y for the mind to have relaxation by gazing upon pictures and other beauti ful objects, that i ts wear iness may be dispelled...From this point of view , therefore, the use of pictures and embroider ies for beauti fying the house, the furni ture, and the clothes is not to be considered immoral nor unnecessar y.?

Rambam is pointing to the issue of the homes we bui ld, the extensions we add and the way that we furnish our homes. He is qui te explici t in teaching us how to str ike the balance. We need to enjoy the pleasures of l i fe in order to r emain energized, passionate, vibrant. Excess, however , can be damaging and set us off course. By 1) di l igently focusing on ?the why? - what is our ultimate goal - and 2) being vigi lant about making thoughtful decisions, we can develop a healthy r elationship to money and wealth, one that keeps us spir i tual ly healthy and emotionally posi tive.

It is in that spir i t that we share w ith you this issue of our PACT newsletter. We hope you f ind i t

informative and useful. - Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Principal

PACT LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

VACATION: HAVING FUN ON

REDUCED COSTS

HOW TO CONVERSE WITH

YOUR CHILD ABOUT

FINANCES

YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY

HAPPINESS

CONTENTMENT OR

ASCETICISM

THE VALUES OF MONEY

PACT PARENT POLL

MESSAGE FROM THE PACT TEAM

IN THIS ISSUE

Shar e your PACT

f eedback wit h usPACTFeedback@SARHighSchool.org

RABBI TULLY HARCSZTARK

DR. RIVKA SCHWARTZ

DR. RUSSELL HOFFMAN

DR. MICHELLE HUMI

NURSE RUSSI BOHM

MR. MICHAEL COURTNEY

MS. CARI COHEN

LAYOUT & DESIGN: GILA KOLB

The Last Taboo: Money & Mat er ial ism in our Communit y

2

(continued from p. 1)

VACATION: HAVE FUN WITH REDUCED COSTSBy: Mr . Michael Cour tney,Director of College Counseling

HOW TO HAVE A

CONVERSATION

ABOUT FINANCES

BEFORE YOUR CHILD

GOES TO COLLEGE

At SAR High School, we are for tunate to have several vacation weeks over the course of the school year and many more in the summer. Succot and Pesach are popular times to tr avel and December break and Februar y break are two other weeks when many famil ies vacation away from the New York tr i -state area. Whether visi ting warm, exotic locales domestical ly or abroad, or f lying west to ski r esor ts, numerous SAR famil ies take advantage of the time to unw ind and recharge their batter ies. I f fami l ies have the f inancial means to suppor t tr aveling to these destinations, they are, of course welcome to make such ar rangements. The issue ar ises, however , when chi ldren of fami l ies w ithout the r esources to explore such tr avels feel marginalized. Some tr y to join their peers' vacations, other s may stew over staying at home, whi le many recognize that having a week to themselves to decompress is bl issful. The desir e to not only journey to a glamorous location but to post on social media about the break is al lur ing.

In consider ing whether or not to take a vacation, i t is impor tant for fami l ies to discuss f inances w ith their kids in a healthy, productive fashion. Last year , forbes.com published an ar ticle enti tled "Most Amer icans Are Taking Vacations They Can't Afford." (cl ick here) Sadly, 74% of sur vey r espondents claimed to be going into debt in order to f inance a vacation. Whi le parents need not divulge their enti r e bank information to their chi ldren, they can feel fr ee to express that they are saving for more impor tant pr ior i ties, such as an Israel gap year program, col lege tui tion, or even graduate school. Vacations are intended to be oppor tuni ties for fami l ies to r emove themselves from the str esses of dai ly l ives; but taking a tr ip that outstr ips the family?s f inancial means exacerbates the pressures upon returning home.

I think i t is impor tant for fami l ies to r esearch break options for their chi ldren to take advantage of w i thout sleeping away from home. We l ive in a r egion w ith unlimited forms of enter tainment, many on the cheap. Examples include visi ting the Bronx Zoo on Wednesdays (fr ee), r iding the Staten Island Fer r y (about $5 on average), wander ing the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (fr ee on Tuesdays and al l weekdays dur ing the w inter ), pur chasing Broadway theater tickets on the day of the show at TKTS (don?t count on Hamilton, though!), explor ing Riverdale's Wave Hi l l on a Tuesday morning (fr ee from 9am-12pm), journeying by foot or bicycle across the George Washington Br idge, and much, much more. High school students should take the time pr ior to these days off to learn the public tr anspor tation system in order to exper ience such locales. Staying home for a week off from school is not a pr ison sentence for those famil ies unable to go away--i t is a blessing to discover al l that our metropoli tan r egion has to offer w ithout intimidatingly high costs.

By: Car i Cohen, Assistant Director of College Counseling

Talking w ith your chi ldren about money may feel uncomfor table, but i t?s impor tant for parents to share their expectations r ight from the beginning. Ideally, begin talking to your students about money and col lege dur ing junior year. Take the time to have an honest conversation about about what you are w i l l ing to pay for. I f f inances are a strong consideration, as they often are, i t?s a good idea to create a l ist of prospective col leges w ith a combination of schools -- some

(continued on p. 7)

YOU DON'T NEED TO BUY HAPPINESS :YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN FOR FREE

3

By: Dr . Russel l Hof fm an,School Psychologist

Most of us have heard the aphor ism that money can?t buy happiness. Some hear a fundamental tr uism in this saying, interpreting i t as a l i teral admonition not to conflate the pursui t of wealth w ith the pursui t of happiness. And yet, some of us have an intui tive sense that this is an oversimpli f ication. Isn?t i t tr ue that sometimes, in cer tain si tuations, the judicious investment of monetar y r esources can, in fact, al low me to procure some of the things that help me to my happy place? Perhaps this venerable adage fai ls to capture the complex r elationship between mater ial wealth and happiness. The answer , i t turns out, is yes? and no.

For the purposes of this discussion, let?s consider happiness as ?subjective well-being.? Subjective well-being is a concept that entai ls a both a r ational and an emotional appraisal of one?s cir cumstances. In other words, i t compr ises not only one?s mood and emotional state, but also one?s thinking about the quali ty, depth and context of that emotional r esponse. Thus, someone who is high in subjective well-being is meaningful ly and deeply happy (as opposed to the more tr ansient and super f icial happiness that comes from w inning ten dollar s from a scratch-off lotter y game or f inding a forgotten ten dollar bi l l in the pocket of fr eshly laundered jeans). As many suspect intui tively, one?s f inancial status does, in fact, cor relate w ith one?s subjective well-being. But, this is tr ue only up to a point. When money makes the di f ference between pover ty and subsistence, the cor relation is strong. When i t means going from a state of vulnerabi l i ty or insecur i ty to stabi l i ty and safety, having more money does

predict having a higher degree of subjective well-being. However , once an individual supasses the threshold of having enough money or mater ial goods to provide for l i fe?s basic necessi ties, the cor relation between money and subjective well-being tapers off .

One concept that helps to explain this plateau in the r elationship between money and subjective well-being is something cal led ?adaptation-level phenomenon.? This concept posi ts that we tend to make judgements about stimuli and si tuations based on our pr ior exper iences w ith them, and that we adapt to exper iential changes. This is why radical ly posi tive events, such as w inning a mi l l ion dollar s or getting mar r ied, w i l l typical ly precipi tate a big spike in happiness that is fol lowed by a r eturn to one?s baseline level of happiness - because we adapt to the new norm.

Another factor that helps explain the r elationship between money and subjective well-being is our emotional ignorance when i t comes to happiness. For a sentient, self-aware species w ith the capaci ty to think abstr actly and to anticipate future events, we tend to be qui te

incompetent at predicting what w i l l make us happy. Given the choice between money and time, most people predict that having more money w i l l increase their happiness more than having more fr ee time, but the opposi te is actually tr ue. Counter intui tively, on a national level as per capi ta income increases, average subjective well-being holds steady. Even more counter intui tively, there is no signi f icant di f ference in the long-term impact of r adical ly posi tive or negative events on subjective well-being. One year after the event, there is l i ttle di f ference between the subjective well-being r epor ted by (a) lotter y w inners and (b) people who have suffered a l i fe-alter ing injur y. Psychologist Dan Gi lber t (author of Stumbling On Happiness) has conducted extensive, elegantly designed research to explore how we think about and exper ience happiness. Gi lber t found that people tend to value the happiness that comes from posi tive l i fe events - what he r efer s to as ?found? happiness (and I would include ?bought? happiness in this categor y) - more than the happiness that we create for our selves, often in the wake of adversi ty or challenge. People tend to dismiss this ?synthesized? happiness as a r ationalization, an attempt to just make lemonade out of l i fe?s lemons. However , Gi lber t?s r esearch shows that synthesized happiness is just as substantial and lasting (i f not more so) as found/bought happiness. So perhaps we need a paradigm shi f t. Instead of wor r ying about whether or not money can buy happiness, perhaps we should simply r eal ize that we can synthesize our ow n happiness for fr ee.

4

Summer t ime,

family t ime.By: Dr . Rivka Schwar tz,

Associate Principal

(continued on p. 8)

"[I f ] you eat the fr ui ts of your labor , you w i l l be happy and you w i l l prosper." - Tehi l l im 128

Jew ish tr adi tion's r elationship w ith mater ial ism and accumulation of wealth has always been complicated. As ear thly beings who contain an element of the divine essence (tzelem Elokim), the str uggle to balance indulgence in mater ial pleasures on the one hand and engagement in and sur render to purely spir i tual pur sui ts on the other have been at the ver y fabr ic of human existence since the daw n of creation.

Providing a bi t of guidance in navigating this di f f icult challenge, Ben Zoma teaches (Avot 4:1), "Who is w ise? The one who is happy w ith their lot." In this much celebrated comment, Ben Zoma focuses on one's atti tude towards what they have accumulated. The tr uly wealthy is not the person who has amassed great wealth,

but one who is happy w ith what they have. The accumulation of wealth is not per se frow ned upon, so long as care is taken to r emain humble, content and happy w ith one's lot, whatever that may be.

Two chapter s later however , Pir kei Avot str ikes a di f ferent chord: "This is the way of Torah: Eat bread w ith salt, dr ink water by measure, sleep on the ground, l ive a l i fe of hardship, and toi l in Torah. (6:4)"

According to this berai ta, a l i fe of asceticism and shunning al l physical pleasures appears to be the desir ed path for one

By: Rabbi Ak iva Block , Judaic Studies Teacher

CONTENTMENT OR ASCETICISM?

PIRKEI AVOT ON MATERIALISM

& THE ACCUMULATION OF

WEALTH

(continued from p. 5)

5

By: Ms. Leah Si l ver a, Coordinator, Student Support Program

t he val ues of moneyYears ago, I was in the play area outside my apar tment bui lding on a Shabbat afternoon along w ith many other parents and kids. Some kids (my ow n among them) decided to cl imb up on the roofs of the Li ttle Tikes plastic playhouses, and most of the parents (myself among them) did nothing to stop them. One chi ld wanted to cl imb up, and her mother said no. When she protested that so many other kids were doing i t, her mother r esponded ?Different chi ldren have di f ferent Imas.?

I have quoted that l ine many times to my ow n chi ldren over my subsequent years of chi ld r ear ing. The fr ank acknow ledgment that di f ferent fami l ies function di f ferently, that we can consciously make di f ferent choices than others around us (w ithout disparaging their s), and that we can expect our chi ldren to honor our fami ly values and choices--that is a ver y impor tant tool in our parenting toolki t.

When i t comes to money and f inances, i f we do not provide our chi ldren w ith al l of the luxur ies that some of their fr iends have--four years of pr ivate col lege, Pesach here, w inter break there--we often think of i t as a predicament we f ind ourselves in, as beyond our control. We can?t afford i t; we don?t have the money. But w ithout denying the challenging r eali ties of Modern Or thodox family f inances, i t?s tr ue that these aren?t just things that happen to us; they?re also choices that we make. I f I pr ior i tize paying for my chi ldren?s education, or saving for a year in Israel, over a ski vacation, and I ar ticulate i t that way to my chi ldren, then we aren?t just victims of ci r cumstance. Instead, we are making choices and modeling values for our chi ldren and famil ies. And that gives

us, and them, agency, control, and ultimately, pr ide.

We can practice saying to our kids, ?In our fami ly, we choose to? ? ?In our fami ly, we?ve decided to? ? As our kids get older , we can invi te them into the conversation. What are the r esources we have to expend, and what choices can we make about how to spend them? And what values are we l iving out as a fami ly--in how we make our money, in how we spend our money--that we can be proud of?

This way of fr aming choices about al locating r esources applies from the biggest, most expensive choices we make--col lege, vacations--to the small, day-to-day ones. I f your kid?s fr iends have a ver y expensive Car los and Gabby?s lunch habit, tel l ing your chi ld he has a f ixed lunch budget ever y week that he can decide how to al locate lets him have control (and have lunch w ith his fr iends at least some of the time) w ithout leaving you on the hook for a teenage boy?s bottomless stomach. I t also communicates that an unlimited eat-out-lunch budget is not your fami ly?s choice, or value. Decisions about what your daughter should do in the summer , and whether and how much she should contr ibute to i t, r elay the same message.

The f inancial demands of l iving in our community are considerable, and many parents feel additionally challenged by having to explain to their chi ldren why they aren?t doing or getting ever ything that their fr iends seem to be. But we can fr ame these as choices or decisions that we have made, r ather than solely as cir cumstances that have been thrust upon us, and we can use them to express our fami ly values to our chi ldren.

By: Dr . Rivka Schwar tz, Associate Principal

PACT

PARENT

POLL

6

We asked a few SAR par ents to shar e the m essages about m ater ial weal th that they t r y to convey to thei r ch i l dr en and her e i s what they had to say:

Par ent 1We have str ived to convey to our chi ldren a number of messages:

- Tzni?ut is not just about how women dress, r ather i t includes al l our l i festyle choices: men?s clothing, homes, car s, vacations...- Always r emember that some of your fr iends? famil ies cannot make

Par ent 2Recognizing that we l ive in a mater ial istic society, i t is an ongoing process to keep our pr ior i ties in focus. We tr y our best to:

1. Be mindful of the way we talk about mater ial goods, whether our s or someone else?s, and the value they hold for us.

2. Involve our chi ldren in discussions of how we pr ior i tize spending.

3. Teach our chi ldren the value of money by giving them a budget (e.g., $25 a week for lunch) that they can supplement w ith their ow n earnings.

4. Be creative. Our kids have learned that i t is possible to be fashionable by looking for sales and bargains and accepting (select and approved!) hand-me-dow ns.

5. Foster a healthy self-esteem so our kids don?t feel defined by mater ial i tems.

Par ent 3Reb Chaim Br isker (1953-1918) hated money. I f he ever had any, he would immediately give i t to a poor per son. At some point, people in Br isk began to give money dir ectly to his w ife so that the family would have

something to l ive on. Our chi ldren, and we, have heard Reb Chaim, the founder of the modern Talmud learning, ci ted countless times in sermons and in classes. I am confident that they have never heard about this core aspect of his ethos in shul, and doubt that they have in school ei ther.

As ci tizens in Amer ica in the ear ly 21st centur y, our chi ldren are members of society where unfettered consumption is the norm, where bi l l ionair es are l ionized and where any str uctural form of wealth distr ibution is often der ided. The Modern Or thodox community has adopted aggressive, ostentatious

the same choices ? be modest and sensi tive!- Being blessed w ith substantial r esources comes w ith r esponsibi l i t ies: to help individuals and

famil ies in need; to suppor t and par ticipate in communal insti tutions which establish a safety net. The level of giving must be commensurate w ith our overal l l i festyle.

- Fr ivolous waste is never OK. Ever y wasted dollar could have gone to tzedakah.

Perhaps the hardest par t is that chi ldren are ver y perceptive. They pick up on what we do even more than what we say, so we are constantly challenged to model good behavior. As we grow older and/or more successful, this feels harder to achieve.

Str iking the r ight balance feels l ike a never -ending battle.

consumption ver y enthusiastical ly, w i th a constant whir l of lavish simchas and tr emendous kavod given to r ich people, even those whose wealth was obtained via means that involved enormous chi l lul hashem. Our chi ldren see vir tual ly no questioning by r el igious author i ty f igures of whether this is what God, or Yiddishkeit, wants from us.

We have tr ied to shape our kids? atti tudes towards wealth and spending through a var iety of effor ts. We made a conscious choice to l ive in a community and be members of a shul that is r elatively mixed socio-economically, where Talmidei Chachamim are the pr imar y r ecipients of kavod and where one?s chi ld becoming a Jew ish educator is an admirable aspir ation r ather than a source of disappointment. We tr y not to lead l ives where Olam Hazeh is our constant, sole, focus. We urge our chi ldren to think about inequali ty and be considerate of fr iends who do not have the advantages that they do ? for instance, who have to make col lege decisions based on economic considerations. We tr y to expose them to a w ide ar ray of role models. Sti l l , we recognize that many of our effor ts w i l l seem laughable to most ? should we get a gold star for f lying coach rather than business class when we take a vacation that our grandparents could never have conceived of? We also know that, unfor tunately, through many of the actions and activi ties in our dai ly l i fe, we are sending our kids decidedly mixed messages about wealth.

7

that are high in cost but might offer aid, and others that are affordable even w ithout aid. Choosing a school that?s far away w i l l obviously r equir e an extr a tr avel expenses, and may not be r easonable for your fami ly. SUNY and CUNY schools often have strong Jew ish l i fe w ith exceptional value close by. Thankful ly, we l ive in a geographic area w ith many wonder ful options for col lege, and we don?t have to sacr i f ice our r el igious values to have a meaningful col lege exper ience. But how do you star t the conversation?

Talking honestly about f inances and your values is an impor tant f i r st step in creating a r easonable col lege l ist, and should be par t of ever y junior col lege meeting. Be honest about what you can afford. I f you feel that the expense of tr aveling far away is too much, then let your chi ld know that up front. Deciding how to prepare for standardized tests should also be thoughtful. Test prep can be expensive, par ticular ly i f you decide to work w ith a pr ivate tutor each week. Does the student work well in a group setting? SAR offer s a group class for test prep, which is less

expensive than working w ith a pr ivate tutor. There are also fr ee test prep options online, such as kahnacademy.org. Have an honest discussion w ith your chi ld about what type of test prep makes the most sense for your fami ly.

Some famil ies believe they won?t quali fy for f inancial aid. Rober t Fr iedman, Dir ector of Student Finance at Yeshiva Univer si ty, r ecommends f i l l ing out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA.gov) for your f i r st chi ld to get an idea of what you might quali fy for. Parents can also uti l ize the Net Pr ice Calculator , avai lable on the f inancial aid page of ever y school, to see i f you w i l l quali fy for need-based aid. The FAFSA allows you to calculate based on pr ior pr ior tax information, making i t easier to anticipate what you may quali fy for.

Strong grades and scores can lead to mer i t aid at some schools; however , the awards are often unclear unti l the end of the student?s senior year. Univer si ty of Mar yland at College Park, for example, has in the past awarded strong students up to $5,000

each year , enticing students to attend. Remember to r ead the f ine pr int -- these mer i t scholar ships often stipulate a minimum GPA for each semester to maintain the scholar ship. I f your GPA dips below the r equir ed minimum GPA, you may temporar i ly lose the scholar ship unti l your GPA r ises to the number stipulated in the agreement.

Once in col lege, students may have a lot to learn about managing money. Whi le some have work exper ience, many have never had to l ive on a budget. Natural ly, students r ely on their parents to learn how to manage money. Taking the time to talk honestly makes a lot of sense, and can help students learn how to manage a budget. Credi t card debt is a big problem for today?s col lege students. With easy access to multiple credi t cards, too many students f ind themselves in trouble. I t?s impor tant for parents to teach their chi ldren how to spend responsibly. Taking the time to discuss these impor tant issues can help to successful ly launch our chi ldren into their next exci ting stage of l i fe.

HOW TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT FINANCES BEFORE YOUR CHILD GOES TO COLLEGE

(continued from p. 2)

(continued from p. 5)

(continued from p. 4)

It 's not just what you learn. It 's who you becom e.

SAR High School 503 West 259 Street, Riverdale, NY 10471

718.548.2727 www.sarhighschool.org

who w ishes to l ive a l i fe of Torah.

So which is i t? A l i fe confined to the bare essentials, or of simply approaching our amassed wealth w ith contentment and humil i ty? A closer look at these two texts may reveal that, surpr isingly, the answer is both. For far more fascinating than these divergent views themselves is that both of these diametr ical ly opposi te teachings are der ived from the same source: The ver se in Tehi l l im ci ted above. "'?? ??? ???? ??' - ?? ??? ????? ???, ???? ?? ????? ???" "You w i l l be happy and prosper - happy in this wor ld, and prosper in the next wor ld."

Perhaps these seemingly opposi te approaches to mater ial wealth being anchored in the same pasuk is the mishnah's way of show ing that in r eal i ty they are two sides of the same coin, together instr uctive of how we should approach our accumulation of wealth and mater ial pur sui ts. Whi le extol l ing the vir tues of being happy w ith what we have, of being personally satisf ied and content, not greedy and insatiable, Avot also r eminds us that there is value to l iving a l i fe of modesty and simplici ty, r egardless of our atti tude. We need not spend ever y dollar of discretionar y income we have, just because we can. And conversely, whi le there may be vir tue in a l i fe of simplici ty and pursuing only the bare necessi ties, to such an extent i t can even be refer red to as the "way of the Torah," that simplici ty can never be at the expense of contentment and personal happiness. Indeed, Ben Zoma's ver y asser tion that a l i fe of wealth, r egardless of how i t is defined, is something wor th pursuing, in i tself is novel.

Educating our chi ldren and imbuing them w ith Jew ish values is always hard, but appears par ticular ly daunting on the issue of mater ial ism; Young people, on the whole, have never had i t so good. Pir kei Avot provides an impor tant f i r st step. Those conversations begin w ith an understanding that mater ial ism poses challenges to an individual 's character as well as their r elationship to the community, Only when balancing these two apparent extr emes, abstaining from both unconditional hardship as well as mere personal satisfaction and contentment, only when we are w i l l ing to tr eat our mater ial l ives looking inward as well as outward, can we unlock the key to the door that leads from this wor ld to the next.

CONTENTMENT OR ASCETICISM?