We all Love a Happy Ending

Everyone loves a good, heartwarming story with a happy ending: “and they lived happily ever after...” But why, might you ask?  

The desire for a happy ending stems from our own lives, which are more like the middle of the story. Most of the time, we don’t know how everything is going to turn out, and we certainly don’t know that it will necessarily turn out for the best. 

Too many times we are mired in stories that have cynical endings. The neat and clean ending that we want to the story is replaced with something that is difficult to smile about. 

Why do we feel that life is bitter? Why must we place on each other the burden of seeing life as a dark journey with no light at the end? 

The Light at the End of the Tunnel 

The Torah is full of happy endings. Rabbi Elazar teaches in the Ethics of the Fathers (2:14), Know before whom you toil, and who is your employer who will repay you the reward of your labors.  

That is Hashem promising each and every one of us an ultimate happy ending if we work at it.  

This is also one of the basic principles of emuna: Everything that happens is from Hashem. Because it comes from Hashem, it is intrinsically good and is for our own benefit, even and especially when we don’t understand how. A life of emuna demands happy endings to every story in your life. Believing that everything will end well is not an option, but a Divine Commandment. Rabbi Arush promises that anyone who says thank you for something that seems bad, will see with their own eyes how it turns out for the best! Rabbi Arush’s book Say Thank You and See Miracles is dedicated solely to such stories, and tens of stories continue to stream in every week. 

Happy Endings throughout Time 

Adam got a happy ending. He repented for his sin and gave birth to Seth who produced righteous offspring all the way to Avraham, continuing to this very day. Avraham had a happy ending, giving birth to Yitzhak, and seeing Yaakov grow up.  

Yaakov had a grueling life. He had to contend with Esau who wanted to kill him. He had to stave off Lavan who tried to rob him blind. He had to contend with working 7 years only to be “tricked” into working another 7 years. Then he had to once again confront Esau, go through the tragedy of Deena, lose his beloved wife Rachel, and then bear the loss of his beloved son Josef.  

After 22 years of mourning over Josef, he is reunited. His son is not only alive, but he is the ruler of the largest empire on earth. Can you imagine the moment a somber Jacob, longing for his lost son for 22 years, finally sees him? That is a happy ending.  

The Ultimate Happy Ending 

Our ending will also be a happy one. Mashiach will come. He will unite the Jewish People and guard us in our Land, unhindered by the nations of the world. 

Hashem will be King over all the world and His Name will be One. We will be focused on serving Him and basking in His great Light. All of the greatest Jews who lived throughout the generations will be our next–door neighbors.  

Imagine having a billion dollars in your bank account. Imagine eating a sirloin steak followed by a pint of dark chocolate non-dairy ice cream and being told that you didn’t gain an ounce. Imagine being healthy, happy, and with the people you love most in your life.  

That’s how basking in Hashem’s great Light will feel when we experience the final chapter of the story of the Jewish People.  

You don’t want to miss it. The ending makes it worth the read.