I’d like to share a recent success.

I was in a room full of men praying Mincha (afternoon service) when I saw a child of about five come before his father with an urgent need to speak.  I had finished my private prayer, but his father hadn’t and was – eyes closed - quietly talking to God.  The boy stood there, fidgety but quiet, eyes fixated with anticipation on his father.  

Two minutes later the father finished his private prayer, the son rushed to whisper in his ear, the father nodded, and the boy ran out excitedly.  A minute later he returned with a soda.  Mincha then finished and as the two were about to leave I initiated the following conversation.

“Is that your son?” I asked.  The two of them looked at me.
“Yes,” he said.
“I must tell you - what incredible self-restraint he has!  I watched what happened.  He wanted to speak to you but he saw you were praying and he held himself.  What strength!”
The father and the boy smiled.

How would I define that success?  I let my soul draw my body close in pursuit of good. 

To elaborate, here’s a brief look at the “parts” that make up a human being and how they interact:  a) guf/body, b) nefesh/life force, c) ruach/seat of choice, d) neshama/Divine soul, e) yetzer hara/death wish.  

The body is our physical aspect with its material pleasures.  The nefesh/life force is the seat of our emotional drives such as greed, ambition, excitement, jealousy, etc.  The Divine soul is a spark of God that resides within us and just wants eternal connection with its Source.  The death wish presents a worldview in which connection with God is impossible; our only succor is the pleasure of now, no matter its self destructiveness.   Where will the body and nefesh turn for guidance?

Ideally, the neshama, with the help of the ruach, serves as a loving parent to the body and nefesh.  It showers the body and nefesh with affection, invites them to join its pursuit of meaning, attends to their physical and emotional needs, while also tolerating their limits and comforting their pains and frustrations.  The body and nefesh are not capable on their own of seeing and wanting the lofty pleasures of healthy spirituality, but they definitely can enjoy connection with the soul and can be elevated over time.  If the affection and pleasure of that connection with soul is consistent, the body and nefesh will endure discomfort, resist the allure of the death wish, and over a lifetime become more merged with spirit.  In the absence of that connection, body and nefesh will become vulnerable, alone, and more prone to the destructive lures of the death wish, thereby marginalizing and even exiling the soul from our consciousness.  Which connection is formed will define the difference between self-love and self-loathing.
 
When the idea to speak to the father first bubbled up, I could sense the enticements of the death wish: “It’s a lovely idea, but who are you to make public statements – some world renowned expert? Maybe they’ll think you’re weird.  Maybe they’re in a hurry.  Maybe it will just be awkward.”  The death wish knows how to appeal to the body’s desire for physical comfort and the nefesh’s aversion to embarrassment.  

Then I heard an alternative voice: “A parent needs encouragement.  A kid needs encouragement.  Your Creator will have nachas – come with me!”  

​I have tremendous gratitude to filmmaker and educator Rabbi Yoel Gold for telling a story that emblazoned on my heart one of the keys of Elul, Ani l’dodi v’dodi li: I wil step toward God because I  know You are stepping toward me.
 
Here’s a recap of the short video (see it above) and my takeaway for Elul.
 
Chaim Ginz is a scribe in Bnei Brak who had lost a young daughter to illness.  After the Lag B’Omer tragedy of 2021, he was moved to visit the mourning families.  Perhaps, he thought, my experience of loss could strengthen others.
 
He visited the Zekbach family whose 24 year old Menachem died in Meron.  At the Shiva house, the family gave out Blessing After a Meal pamphlets because Menachem had from a young age been a tireless advocate for reciting those blessings carefully, from a written text, rather than by heart.  Chaim Ginz was moved.  For the elevation of Menachem’s soul, he accepted this upon himself.
 
About a month later, Chaim finished a writing project and was looking for additional work.  The writing  samples he brought to others were met with a lukewarm response:  “They’re nice but they don’t stand out.”  He felt discouraged.
 
Alone one day at a workspace for scribes, he finished his meal and was about to recite his blessings by heart when he remembered Menachem Zekbach, obm.  He looked around the workspace for a printed blessing.  He couldn’t find.  He looked again.  And again.  After 10 minutes of searching he finally found a peculiar pamphlet: it was an entire text of the Blessing After a Meal written in an exquisite version of the font that scribes write in.  He said his blessings from the pamphlet and thought: maybe this sample is the inspiration that will improve my work.
 
He spent three hours carefully writing in scribe style the text of the Blessing After a Meal, inspired by text he’d just used.  Five minutes after finishing, he got a call from a fellow scribe. 
 
“I was offered to write a Sefer Torah and I’m too busy.  Do you want the job?  If so, bring me a sample of your writing.”
 
Chaim brought the newly inspired parchment he’d just written to the address his friend gave him.  A half hour later he got another call.  “They love your work.  You’re hired.”
 
“Who’s commissioning this sefer Torah?” asked Chaim.
 
“A very special Jew in Brooklyn is dedicating a Torah to each of those lost at Meron.”
 
“Which family will I write for?” asked Chaim.
 
“You’re writing for the Zekbachs.”
 
Here’s the Elul message I feel emblazoned on my heart from this story.  Elul is the Jewish name of the month that precedes Rosh Hashana.  It’s a month of preparation before the awesome days of Jewish New Year and Yom Kippur. 
 
It’s also an acronym for a verse from Song of Songs in which the Jewish people say to God: “I am to my Beloved, and my Beloved is to me.”  This signifies the step a Jew takes to initiate a relationship with God, and the promise that God will show him His desire for relationship in turn.  God’s blessing is everywhere in our lives.  When we show our desire to connect, that blessing will become even more obvious.
 
At so many points, Chaim Ginz took a step toward God.
He initiated sharing his experience of loss with mourning families.
He accepted to bless from a written text as a merit to Menachem Zekbach, obm.
He stood firm in that commitment despite both inconvenience and his discouraged state of mind.
He acted on his inspiration to improve his writing – for three hours.
And then he was gifted from Above with the opportunity to further elevate the soul of Menachem Zekbach while simultaneously elevating his career.
 
We are regularly hearing the whispers of our heart to act.  Often those whispers are invites from God.  What better time than Elul to step toward the invitation?

I was speaking with someone recently who for many years kept Shabbat, kosher, and many other mitzvos.  At one point years ago he stopped.  As we were speaking, it occurred to me that she viewed himself as irreligious.  

“You know, you keep a lot of commandments,” I said.
He rolled her eyes.  
“Please,” he said.  “Like which?”
I thought for a moment.
“You believe in God.  You avoid gossip.  You avoid embarrassing others.  You make effort to honor your parents.”
“Ok, that’s true,” he admitted.
“And you don’t drink blood or eat creepy crawly bugs.”
“Duh!” he said.  “That doesn’t count.”
In more or less these words, I shared the following thought with him.

The Talmud asks, why does God command us not to eat things that people are anyway disgusted by, like blood or bugs?  It answers, God desires to make people successful so He adds on easy commandments, “spiritual layups” so to speak.  If we intend to avoid eating a bug because of God’s command, we are accomplishing something significant.  How much more so, says the Talmud, when we face actual challenges?
My friend was surprised to hear this and thanked me.

This is the way of parents who say to their babies, “Who’s a good boy?  Who’s a good girl?  You are!”  Parents intuitively look to impart to their kids that they’re good, they’re successful.  Children generally accept this input.  And as an outcome, they are inclined to seek more accomplishment.  

Where do they get that from?  From the ultimate Parent.  God is imparting that message to us: I am making accomplishment easy and I want you to know that I am doing so.  I want you to see yourself right now as tasting success and I want you to have even more.   

The message is not, “You’re done, you’re perfect.  You can ignore any mistakes you’ve made.”  It’s, “You’re accomplishing great things right now.  I have pleasure from you.  Keep going.”

Apparently, God designed it that accomplished people want to accomplish more.   As we look forward to the opportunity of Yom Kippur, we are obligated to remember: we are accomplishing, right now.

A young man who has seen progress with certain compulsive behaviors shared insight to his growth journey.  Listen to what he describes.
 
“Originally, I was so ashamed of having this behavior that I couldn’t even discuss it, and I suffered alone.”
 
We sometimes view our shortcomings, our reactivity, our limited consciousness as personal failures – and we suffer!  
 
“Then I came to realize I wanted help more than I wanted to avoid embarrassment, so I reached out for help.  Though it took courage to reach out, I now acknowledge that that ‘realizing’ was itself a gift.  I hadn’t seen that option before, and then I did.  That’s a big deal.  Thank you, Hashem!” 
 
It is easy to overlook the gifts of new moods or seeing new options. 
 
“I also don’t minimize the courage it took to reach out for help.  In that sense, I see my partnership with God – He gives me new understanding and I then act.”
 
Wow – we are partners with the Source of all wisdom, and our partnership matters.
 
“Even after I was seeking help and support, I still felt ashamed.  I thought, ‘When is this habit going to be over so I can move on with respectable living?’”
 
Having meaningful insights about a challenge doesn’t mean we’re done and “normal” now.
 
“Then I remembered what Hashem told Moshe at the burning bush, “Remove your shoes from upon your feet because the ground you are standing on is holy.”  The Chofetz Chaim says this means that a person shouldn’t think, ‘I’d love to make progress but I’m too much of a loser; if I only I was like Joe, I could make something of myself.’  No.  ‘The place you stand on is holy ground’ applies not just to Moshe but to everyone.  Whatever situation or level you find yourself in, it’s holy; it’s not only not something to be ashamed of, it’s exactly the place from which to accomplish your life’s work.”
 
Bang.  We do the work of our lives better when we’re not judging, resisting, or fleeing it.
 
“I am warming to the idea that this challenge is really where Hashem wants me.  I wouldn’t have opted for it, but I can embrace it.”
 
This is a central opportunity of Rosh Hashana.  The Source of all wisdom is leading and guiding.  You can be in your life, in your lack of consciousness, in your habits, in your fears.   Where ever you are, you are on safe and holy ground.  You can make Hashem your King here and now and be His partner.

Joe is a guy who has often felt eaten up inside.  His grown child cut off ties yet continued to text angry messages through a third party.  Whenever the texts would arrive (and plenty of times when they didn’t), he would tailspin into a consuming misery.

At a certain point, Joe was open to understanding how his feelings work and where they come from.

He learned that his dark feelings can’t actually come from the state of his relationship with his child.

He learned that the presence of those feelings aren’t evidence there’s something wrong with him or his life.   Nor are they a predictor of future misery.
​
He learned that he is emotionally healthy now, that health includes flows of darker feelings, and that while he’s not free to turn them off, he doesn’t need to.  That understanding – that he needn’t fight or flee darker feelings – has opened up an even greater sense of freedom. 

Is he satisfied with the state of his current relationship?  No.  Does he enjoy greater feelings of dignity and hope and less entanglement in painful relationship patterns?  Yes.

“Nothing has changed in the circumstances of my relationship,” he recently acknowledged, “yet everything has changed.  I am so grateful.”

​There are times when we encounter a task or relationship and get discouraged.  Maybe we procrastinate.  Maybe we give up.  Chanuka lights the way out of stuck.  How?
 
This is how it looks in my life.  I size up a situation – a challenge one of my kids faces, a work project, the umpteenth effort to fix a leaky radiator – and my mind suggests, “For x, y, z reasons, this is not going to work.  Don’t look there right now.”
 
I don’t want to be stuck, but what can I do.  Simple logic tells me I am. 
 
The Greeks prized human logic and analysis.  They conquered the world and accomplished great feats by asking “What seems logical?”  They were driven to find what is good, what is beauty, what is wisdom – all according to man’s logic and reason.  Anything that didn’t fit was unwelcome. 
 
Then come the Jews whose entire being revolves around a relationship with an unseen force.  To the Greeks, this relationship and the commandments that informed it did not compute.
 
What’s the logic behind Shabbat - down time?  Let me choose when and where I need down time.   And certainly don’t tell me it requires I not turn on light switches.
 
What’s the logic behind circumcision - health?  What if I feel the benefits don’t outweigh the risks?
 
What’s this unseen force?  I see human effort and ingenuity.
 
Relationships, as my wife often reminds me, don’t thrive on logic alone.  Whereas logic alone fills my drive to experience me, a relationship fills my drive to experience connection to something beyond me.  One drive aborts the other. 
 
I am blessed to be married to a special woman with whom I share much and who desires to know me, yet still inhabits a distinct world.  Through logic alone, she will often look unreasonable, unreachable.  While I sometimes enjoy drawing those conclusions (that I’m right and she’s wrong), they prevent my finding her.  Remembering my drive and desire for relationship, I see the limits of my logic, my wife feels closer, and lo and behold my desire for relationship moves me closer to her.
 
There is a real and living Source behind life that wants to know me, but at times seems distant.  Through logic alone, that Source seems unreachable and my life unnavigable.  And here, too, despite the frustration it brings, there is something satisfying about my “rightness” (“see,” I say, “it is miserable”) but I remain alone.  Remembering the limits of analysis, I awaken to a profound desire to connect.  The world feels more hopeful and the Source seems near. 
 
There was nothing purely logical about the Jews going to war.  The Greeks had all the might, organization, weaponry.  But the Jews’ desire to connect reminded them that there is something to connect to.  Both we and our Source desire to connect.  Both a husband and wife desire to connect.  Both a parent and child desire to connect.  We are not alone.  The world is filled with connection when we don’t let our logic and analysis get in the way. 

Many folks labor and struggle with ending bad habits and starting healthy ones – only to give up in despair.  But why bother with all the labor?  Why not just cut straight to the despair? 
​ 
Save time and struggle by embracing my new guide entitled, “Personal Change: 6 Ways to Hit Deep Despair Quickly.”

#1 Hold fast to the idea that normal people change with willpower alone, without Divine blessing.  Conclude that your inability to change must simply mean that you and your willpower are defective. 

#2  Overlook the places in your life where you have experienced change.  If you do recall them, insist it was purely your strength, your intelligence, or luck. 

#3  Grab hard to the belief that your dark feelings are proof there’s something wrong with you.  Dismiss any notion that normal people have difficult moods.  And definitely dismiss the idea that you innocently amplify those moods by judging and resisting them. 

#4  Look for all kinds of causes for your moods and habits among the circumstances of your life.  Once you've identified them, fixate on controlling or escaping them. 

#5  Ignore the fact that you're not always stressed by those circumstances, that your sometimes fine with them.   In other words, do not let evidence of your resilience undermine the simple story that you are messed up.

#6   When difficult feelings come, demand of yourself to change them now.  If unable, recognize your only option is to run to a habit.  Don’t settle for the fake consolation of “being” in the present, of “accepting” your lack of absolute power, of “embracing” Divine contractions.   Nonsense.   Remember:  you cannot be with the pain.  It is too much.  You must disappear it or you will die.

And there you have it: The 6 Steps to Deep Despair.  Good luck!

One of my kids recently asked for access to an online video game in which players design 3-D  game props.  Our policy has been not to allow our kids web or video games.  He assured us this is more about the graphic design.  And he offered to set up tight limits to his daily use, all linked to scholastic achievements and chores.  
​
My gut was to say no.  It has been helpful to limit my children’s exposure to these things.  They read.   They play with each other.  They interact. 
 
Still, I was conflicted.  I like to say yes to my kids.  I like to give, to fulfill their requests and see them happy.  He’s such a good boy. 
 
I was uncertain.  I felt pain, and though unaware of it in the moment, I wanted to blame someone or something for this pain. 
 
My son.   If he weren’t so insistent on something I find yucky, I wouldn’t have been in this position.  What’s wrong with him?
Myself. What’s wrong with me that I don’t know if I’m being responsible? Or a control freak?  Or harming the warm bond between us? 
 
I didn’t like it.
 
At some point I remembered a beautiful line from child psychologist Chaim Ginott: “Children act good when they feel good.  So how do you help kids feel good?  Accept what they feel.” 
 
Strong feelings come and go.  A surge of feelings can feel frightening, something either to fight or flee.  Kids’ acting out is their attempt to fight or flee scary feelings.  But when a parent is not inclined to fight or flee his kid’s feelings, the kid isn’t either.  And then the feelings pass.
 
Sometimes a parent needs to parent himself.   My surge of pain can feel like something to fight or flee from:  ‘What’s wrong with him?  What’s wrong with me?” 
 
But I can remember that these feelings are basically safe.  I needn’t react to them.  And then the feelings pass.  The child and the parent ride an updraft and taste the buoyancy of their own spirit.
 
In the end, I told my son no.  I felt his disappointment, I listened, and I expressed sincere regret that he wasn’t getting what he wanted.  Thank God, our relationship moved on.  And I continue to trust in our updraft.
 
Here are some takeaways from this story.
 
#1: You have permission to not know in life.  It’s not a failure.  It’s a sign of competence and humility to acknowledge something’s not clear, to refrain from deciding simply because others want you to.
 
#2: Things we don’t know are a type of deficit.  Deficits are human; they allow us the chance to form a partnership with others, God, or both.  There is nothing more human than that.
 
#3:  Difficult feelings, while painful, are not dangerous.  You get to discover that about your own feelings, and then your loved ones pick it up without you even saying anything.