Chassidus explains why. The goal of spiritual growth is not only to know the truth. It is to improve your personality so you can reveal more goodness in the world. Why? Because creation means experiencing yourself as...
Misdirected awe appears differently in every community. In some places, it may attach to money, status, success, politics, or social approval. In religious communities, it can attach to a spiritual leader, land...
It comes after the Messianic era (which may be an era that is for 1 day or 200+ years, depends on when all the Jewish people learn to trust the Creator is good and accept the leadership/teachings of the 'Moses' He...
You may lose trust in yourself, develop unhealthy habits like people-pleasing, or become more numb, afraid, ashamed, or defensive. You may even start feeling like something about you is permanently damaged.
NextSelf shares reflective writing on awareness, spiritual wisdom, boundaries, compassion, trauma healing, and connection with The Creator.
Intimacy means there are two who are not the same, yet become deeply connected. So for intimacy to be real from our side, there has to be some experience of separation.
Maimonides [the Rambam] describes the World to Come as fully spiritual. In the world of souls, you remain the same personality, feeling emotions and relationship, but without physical pleasure or physical suffering...
It is using your mind to develop awe, love, sadness, and joy, and continually improving your personality so you can live through those feelings, and beginning again when you mess up.
Unhealthy sexual fantasies can sometimes be one symptom of deeper survival-mode feelings and beliefs about reality, about what other people mean, what you need to feel safe, what rejection means, and what you believe...
Intimacy requires being able to hold complex feelings. You can love someone and still feel angry at them. Adaptive trauma patterns can make this much harder.
left the Jewish people with generational PTSD. In addition to the trauma every society carries from generations of war, poverty, and survival, which already gives all of humanity a baseline of inherited PTSD. And on...
“I give closeness first, and then I hope this person chooses me.” That matters because not every part of us thinks like an adult. Some parts of the nervous system are more like a two-year-old. They learn from repeated...
Choni Hamagol [known for miracles through prayer]: “Either companionship or death” (Taanis 23a) "Life is not worth living if one’s colleagues do not treat him with the respect to which he is accustomed" - Rashi.
It is also about learning to recognize when I have already eaten enough. For example: “I ate enough protein by 9:00 p.m. I don’t need to keep eating just because I still have the urge to eat.
![If darkness [evil or cruelty]](https://media-rx55g.sevalla.storage/uploads/2026/08/png-002d4b1a__blog-mobile.webp)
[World to Come belief explained in a linked post at the end.] If darkness [selfish desire] were much weaker, human nature itself would have to be different. Why?
Chassidus explains why. The goal of spiritual growth is not only to know the truth. It is to improve your personality so you can reveal more goodness in the world.
taught that the nigun “The Beinoni” should be learned and sung repeatedly because it can train the way a person responds to inner struggle. The nigun carries a feeling of struggle, effort, and return.
That belief often stays hidden. Instead of fully noticing your pain, you explain it away: “Maybe I deserve this.”
The Creator wants our relationship with Him to include belief because belief makes a stronger kind of intimacy possible. Deep intimacy requires trust. Trust means remaining connected even when everything is not fully...
![The Messianic Era [world peace] is not only a reward. It is humanity’s return to a more intimate relationship with the Creator.](https://media-rx55g.sevalla.storage/uploads/2026/08/759224447-4391584171170817-3899672662923730805-n-8f1c7342__blog-mobile.webp)
They are how intimacy with the Creator grows. Rabbi Avira taught that the ministering angels asked the Creator: “How can You show special favor to the Jewish people?
The Shema teaches the mind what to notice so the nervous system can begin to feel awe, pleasure, and love. “Listen, Israel: G-d [The Creator] is our Lord, G-d is one.” According to Chassidus, belief in one Creator...
Moses gives two reasons for G-d's choice of Yisrael: He found them worthy of His love, and because of His oath to their Patriarchs. The reason for His love is not given, but it may be because He knew Yisrael's...
It is fear of building in public. Building in public means other people will see your mistakes. 1. They will see your first version before it is your best version.
Chassidus explains its purpose. Together, they explain why healing has always been humanity's greatest responsibility. Humanity has needed more than 5,000 years to begin learning how to explain that the Creator needs us.
Humility means seeing yourself and other people honestly, then practicing compassionate boundaries that respect both your needs and theirs. People-pleasing means making another person’s emotional comfort your...
It is what kind of cause makes the most sense. Some people believe the source of existence is ultimately blind, without intelligence, free choice, or purpose. Others believe the source of existence is an infinite...
A question I’m often asked is, “What is a soulmate?” My answer is simple: whoever you marry is your soulmate. Chabad Chassidus teaches that even something as small as the color of the clothing you wear is not random...
