DEUT46 Ben Zoma said: ... Who is rich? -- he who is happy with his lot, as it is said: When you eat from the toil of your hands, happy shall you be, and it shall go well with you: (Psalms 128:2) happy in this world; and it shall go well with you in the world-to-come. Pirkei Avot, Perek IV, mishnah 1. … above all, a person can be happy with his lot in life only when he sees himself and his existence as part of some greater plan, when he knows that his task is to further those ultimate values which transcend petty human longings. Those who live only to gratify their own desires may soon belong among the wicked of whom the Talmud says that "even while they live they are ranked as dying." (T.B. Berakoth 18b; Midrash Rabbah, Genesis xxxix 7; Tanhuma, Yithro 1 and B'rachah 7 (ed. Buber 6). For these people, each day that passes is a day that has died, leaving nothing of lasting value behind. Each desire that is fulfilled marks a feeble emotional agitation that has perished. There is no build up or accumulation of anything significant, but only a countdown of many passions and whims that peter off into nothingness upon gratification. The wicked die a little bit each day. By contrast, says the Talmud, the righteous are called living even when they have passed beyond (T.B. ibid. T.J. ii 3; Midrash Rabbah, Ecclesiastes ix 4; Tanhuma, B'rachah ibid.). They go on living beyond the grave; as Scripture tells us [this verse]. One time the righteous person will care for a sick human being in need. The next day he may provide for some orphan. The third day, perhaps he raises funds for a school of Torah. His is not a life of attrition, a wearinGodown day by day; it is a life of building-up. His deeds add up to values and ideals that accumulate and increase in significance. The righteous person is alive each day because he furthers life each day. His presence contributes something lasting to this world, and this justly achieves for him immortality. To know that your life adds up to lasting significance, this indeed breeds happiness. Meeting a religious member of Jewry, you ask, "How are you?" The reply you receive is, baruch ha-shem, "Blessed is the Almighty": I am happy with my lot, thank the Lord. This is the rich man.