Emuna Therapy

Loving Your Limitations

 

image credit:YOUneak / Shannon Frost

Once you realize that the things that you've been ashamed of because you don't do them well are coming from  G-d, you won't need to keep those things secret anymore.  You'll love and cherish what you don't do well because you can use those "deficits" to have a life of greater courage, happiness, freedom and self-acceptance. In this week's lesson, I'll show you how to turn your tailor made personal "deficits" into your greatest assets ever! 

G-d Willing you can see the live broadcast today, Wednesday at 5:00 PM Israel time at the Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva, 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street, Jerusalem, in the main sanctuary.  The broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time as follows:

7:00 AM in LA and the West Coast, 8:00 AM Denver, 9:00 AM Mexico and Central Daylight, 10 AM EDT, 3 PM in the UK, 5:00 PM Johannesburg and Capetown, 5:00 PM Israel. G-d willing, we'll try and post a link to the lesson for all those who couldn't see it live by 12:o1 AM Monday morning. If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player, which you can do here.

Enjoy!

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Hashem Needs Our Help!

This eye-0pening clip shows us in unequivocal terms where we stand in relation to our neighbors and the world at large. Isn't it clear that when Rabbi Shalom Arush tells us that we can't count on anything but our Faith that he knows what he's saying? Let's take time today to decide on one thing in ourselves that we will fix with Hashem's help. In the merit of even your desire to improve in one area of your life, may Hashem grant you that change and lift you above all the other challenges of your life as well! Amen.

With Every Blessing,

Dr. Zev Ballen

  

Core Strengths

Here's my video-lesson for the week. Your core strengths are manifest in the activities of daily living that come easiest for you. By "playing" to your strengths you can more easily reach your emotional and spiritual goals. It's my gift to you!
With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

If you missed this past week's parsha newsletter, here it is:  Download CSC NL Week 15 Bo

 

Spiritual Workout

When your Belief is strong you are congruent and powerful. A person who has clarified the Truth, has a powerful purpose for living. With his love of people and his G-d given strength, he can fire awesome spirituality into human hearts. This video is for you!

With Love,
Dr. Zev

 

In Ten Minutes

A person who has clarified the meaning and purpose of his life is ready at any moment to take fearless action to safeguard his deepest values.

 

 

You can download our weekly parsha newsletter here: Download CSC NL Week 13 Shemot

Good Shabbos!

Dr. Zev Ballen

Be a Winner!

 

 

image credit: Marcos Vasconcelos Photography

2012 is ending with the whole world tensed for 'war' in once way or another. Here in the Middle East, it's being fought with rockets and air planes; in other places, it's being waged with guns and knives; in still other places, the battle is to stay afloat financially, or to stay sane when the pressures are mounting daily. Whatever war we happen to be fighting, or caught up in, there is only one way to win it: we need to work on ourselves, and to fix what we need to fix, with Hashem's help. Even when we find ourselves in the toughest times, and the hardest circumstances, G-d is still very close to us. He's right here, ready to listen to us at any moment, night and day. He wants to retract all the severity and strictness that He's pumping out into the world. Let's remember that G-d's main characteristic is love and kindness, but when we don't listen, then He has to up the ante. The wake up calls get bigger and louder, until we all recognize that if nothing changes, then nothing changes - and G-d forbid, then everything could change very suddenly and dramatically, because we're refused to respond to G-d's messages, or pay them any attention.

Every Blessing,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Break Through!

 

image credit:Garry Jenkins

Here's a  Tool-for-change called S.W.A.P that I developed based on the teachings of my Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Arush. You can hear how it not only completely transformed one person but it transformed his marriage too. I'll be speaking about it in tomorrow's (Wednesday's) lecture at 5pm Israel time. Watch for more details soon.

******************************************************************

S – Means we STOP ourselves – we interrupt our natural tendency to view the situation as “bad.”
W - Means we WONDER what the positive purpose is that Hashem is sending us.
A - Means we find an ALTERNATIVE way of behaving that also fulfills Hashem’s purpose but without the dysfunctional symptoms.
P - Means that we PRACTICE the new behavior - first mentally and then in actuality.

Every Blessing,

Dr. Zev Ballen+

Be Happy!

My Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Arush said that even if, G-d forbid you have nothing in your home this Chanuka; if there is happiness in your house, then you've got it all!

Blessings for a Joyous Chanuka!

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 image credit:Abu Ilai

Traveling Beyond Pain

 

image credit:Luke Bryant

If someone is out at sea on a clear day and he can normally see two or three miles into the distance, if he is asked to see a ship that is 5 miles away, he will squink his eyes in order to see a further distance. Rebbe Nachman says that by narrowing the opening of the eyes the vision is less dispersed and one can see further. People also tend to tightly shut their eyes in order to escape from pain such as underdgoing a painful medical procedure. Its as though they are trying to shut out this world and put themselves in a better place.

Rebbe Nachman says that if you want to be able to see even further into the next world you need to do more than squink but tightly clench the eyelids closed . By doing that you are making a clear statement that you want to lock out the materialistic physical world. By doing this you can look past the physical world into the next world where there is no pain and suffering.

I heard from Rabbi Noson Maimon that hisbodidus (personal prayer) is a good time to clench you eyes tightly. This is a process of self-nullification that allows you to travel as if you were on a rocket ship to the next world where everything is totally good.  Looking down from the next world, the good and "bad" look pretty much the same.

Every blessing,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Without A Shot

"If Israel's leaders would go out into the field for an hour and speak to Hashem about whether or not they should send ground troops into Gaza, Hashem might bring a tsunami on our enemies without us having to fire a shot."

- Rabbi Lazer Brody