Adapted from: Living with Miracles by Rabbi Binyomin Pruzansky

Everyone knows that money can’t buy happiness, but sometimes we can’t stop ourselves from feeling that it can. We live in a physical world where money is a vital necessity, but true happiness is an internal feeling of contentment. We need inner strength to realize that, as Pirkei Avos tells us, the rich person is one who is happy with his lot. The following story related by Rabbi Eytan Feiner portrays this strength.

Rabbi Lipa Yisraelson, a grandson of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, lived in Bnei Brak, in the same apartment building as Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman, the gadol hador. One day, Reb Lipa met Rav Aharon Leib in the hallway, and Rav Aharon Leib asked him to come into his apartment. When they entered, Rav Aharon Leib led him into his small kitchen.

“Look, I’m so fortunate,” said Rav Aharon Leib. “I have a refrigerator.” Opening the refrigerator door, he said, “Look at all this food. I’m not hungry. I have all the food I need, even for tomorrow. I’m so lucky. Look, I have a fork and a spoon and a knife and a cup and a plate. I have everything I need to eat.”

Then he led Reb Lipa into his study. Pointing to his sefarim shrank he said, “I have so many sefarim to learn from. More than I could ever imagine owning.”

Reb Lipa didn’t know what Rav Aharon Leib was trying to tell him. Why, he wondered, was the rosh yeshivah proudly showing him around his modest home?

The tour continued. Rav Aharon Leib led Reb Lipa into his bedroom and told him, “Look at these comfortable beds.” In reality, they were the beds he had acquired sixty years earlier when he got married. They were old and rickety, covered with thin mattresses that could hardly have been described as comfortable.

Next, Rav Aharon Leib showed Reb Lipa the chair on which he sat when he learned Torah. It had no upholstery and no back, but Rav Aharon Leib praised his comfortable chair and the table on which he learned. “I have it all!” he proclaimed with a bright smile.

At last, Rav Aharon Leib disclosed his reason for sharing all his “treasures” with Reb Lipa. “I called you in because I know you are going to America soon,” he explained. “I’m sure you’re going to meet many wealthy people there. I want you to look at the wealthy people around you, and if you find someone who is happier than me, then come to me afterward and I will give you $1 million. It’s no risk for me, because I truly believe I am the happiest person in the world.”

When Reb Lipa returned to Eretz Yisrael after his stay in America, he came to Rav Aharon Leib and told him, “The Rosh Yeshivah was right. I met many wealthy people, but I didn’t find anyone happier than the Rosh Yeshivah.”

Sometime later, Reb Lipa met Rabbi Uri Zohar and related the story. “What do you mean?” Rabbi Zohar countered. “I’m happier than Rav Shteinman.”

Rabbi Zohar lived in a simple apartment that was far from the luxurious surroundings he had enjoyed when he was a popular Israeli entertainer. He had given up everything from his past life to learn and teach Torah in utter simplicity.

“Please tell the rosh yeshivah that he owes you $1 million because I am happier than he is. I am also living in a tiny apartment with peeling paint and very little furniture, but I’m the happiest person in the world because I have everything I need. And I have one up on Rav Aharon Leib because I am a baal teshuvah, and Chazal say that a baal teshuvah is on a higher madreigah than a talmid chacham.”

But then Rabbi Zohar rethought the statement. “I take it back,” he said. “The rosh yeshivah doesn’t owe you $1 million because he has something much greater than I have. He has all of Torah in his mind and that is the greatest madreigah a person can reach. So, he must be happier than I am.”

Regardless of who won the “happiness contest,” Reb Lipa acquired a priceless life lesson: A person can have next to nothing in material belongings, and yet, he can feel like the richest man in the world.

When we recognize and value all the gifts Hashem has given us, we discover that we are all millionaires.