“In a deeper sense, they exiled themselves.” - Zohar They did not yet know how to live in relationship with a Being whose giving was more vulnerable than theirs. The Creator gave them existence, life, pleasure...
It is believing you are treasured, that your life has meaning, and that your choices matter. That belief is strengthened every time you notice yourself choosing honesty, responsibility, kindness, courage, or healthy...
The universe is full of wisdom, patterns, order, life, and consciousness. So it is hard to believe the source of all of that is blind and unaware, like a rock. This belief is also emotionally healthier.
Hate is personal, it treats the person’s existence as the problem. Anger says, “Something happened that hurt me, crossed a boundary, or needs to change.” Hate goes further.
A person can know, “This is painful,” “This is tragic,” or “This should make me sad,” but the sadness itself is not felt. Instead, they may experience the situation as humorous, even in a dark way, or they may only...
Sometimes it sounds like, “Everyone who challenges me is jealous.” Trauma-adaptive fight mode does not always sound like rage. Sometimes it sounds like certainty.
It is how you relate to yourself when no one else is there. Solitude is being with yourself by choice, not by fear or shame. Loneliness often comes from relating to yourself through fear, shame, or the feeling that you...
It takes effort to notice your thoughts, your shame, your fear, your body, your choices, and the way you react to other people. That effort can feel draining because you are no longer living only on autopilot. You are...
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 means returning to relationship with the Creator, until life itself becomes a conversation with Him (you can even begin with saying you’re angry at Him). The Alter Rebbe explains that a relationship with the Creator...
It is not mainly a book about explaining mystical ideas. The Tanya explains the ideas a person should think about again and again so they can develop deep awe and love for the Creator throughout the day. The author of...
not because they are more important than others. Chabad Chassidus, with more than 150,000 published pages of teachings (also lots of unpublished pages), explains patterns that help us understand the infinite Creator...
, helps a person notice the healthy patterns in Torah, creation, emotions, and relationships. As those patterns become clearer, faith becomes daas — a felt knowing of the Creator that leads to trust. Over 70,000 pages...
analysis, and repeatedly noticing patterns that reinforce trust through honesty, responsibility, boundaries, repair, and mutual respect. Those patterns reinforce beliefs like, "Conflict can deepen a relationship," "I...
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...
, from others, and from themselves. But the soul is always pure, and the soul does not want distance. The soul wants relationship, repair, and the courage to stay present. It adds something deeper to the personality...
they first have to learn how to love the people closest to them, beginning with their own children. I read a bunch of parenting books, I think this one gives very clear direction, it explains how to have any type of...
The Creator did not make a world where relationship only happens in light (goodness), clarity, pleasure, and success. He made a world where even confusion, shame, loneliness, fear, failure, and pain can become places...
From the beginning, the Creator gave Adam and Eve instructions for how to live in relationship with Him, with each other, and with the Oneness behind creation. But when a person lacks emotional awareness, instructions...
"The ego does not always tell a person to stop learning Torah. Sometimes it encourages the student to restrict his studies to abstract Talmudic subjects and to avoid those books that would inspire change [in...
can keep giving chances because it is not swallowed by the emotion of the moment; it stands high enough to see the person, the failure, the purpose, and the future. Malchus means connecting through distance: 'I feel...
Halacha means [Oral] Torah law: the Creator's instructions for turning faith, love, awe, wisdom, and responsibility into actions that reveal Oneness. Torah law (from the Hebrew Bible) is based on a belief that the...
, "What should a person do to become wise in Torah?" he replied, "He should spend more time studying in a yeshiva, and less time engaged in business", "He must also plead for mercy from Him to Whom wisdom belongs –...