Emuna Therapy

Women's Wisdom

At the tomb of Rachel,  wife of the great sage Rabbi Akiva located south of Tiberias. 

The story of Rachel and Rabbi Akiva is one of the greatest love stories of all time.  When the couple met, Akiva was a 40 year old illiterate pauper  working as a shepard for Rachel's wealthy father. Rachel, who possessed extraordinary wisdom, saw Akiva's great potential and married him on the condition that he learn Torah despite her father's threat to disown her.

When  Rabbi Akiva returned to Rachel,  after having achieved greatness in learning, they had been separated for 24 years. Giving credit to his wife for his success, he told his students: "Mine and yours are hers."

We see from this story that a wise woman draws her husband closer to the Torah. By encouraging her husband to learn Torah, a woman fulfills her responsibility to spiritually build the home. Women possess a wisdom called binah in Hebrew as in bniyah (building).  King Solomon, the wisest of all men said (Proverbs 14:1): "Women's wisdom built her home." Rabbi Arush points out that the verse does not say, "A wise man built his home."

Wishing you Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Jump Start Your Week

Here's my prescription for a great week: Listen to seven minutes of my cherished friend Rav Dror Moshe Coussoto - I guarantee he'll get your juices flowing. 

Have a blessed week,

Dr. Zev

 

Believers

By Dr. Zev Ballen

What brings meaning and purpose to my life? Forty years ago I would have answered: to be a starting forward for the New York Knicks. During my college years, it was about the freedom to do as I pleased; and, later on, when this nagging question got worse, I comforted myself by thinking that my purpose in life was to be a therapist, or so I thought.

As the years went by, my idealized image of myself as the strong, all-knowing therapist stopped working. The truth was that like most of my clients, I too was living in uncertainty and doubt. Every now and then (more often than I realized) someone would see through my façade of strength and self-sufficiency and recognize that I too was a fellow sufferer.

These days, my clients seem to appreciate my telling them the truth about my own struggles and how I deal with them. It’s not always easy, but I’m trying to be more honest with them and myself.

We tend to define ourselves by a limited role or affiliation such as: American, musician, doctor, or housewife rather than thinking more broadly about what we believe in and what we stand for. I always admired people who were passionate about a mission or cause that was dear to them such as the civil rights movement and other types of humanitarian causes. Even if they seemed quirky, naïve or fanatical – believers eat, sleep, walk, talk and breathe their purpose in everything they do. They live with a broader more encompassing sense of purpose, responsibility and commitment to their cause which they experience as greater than themselves. Most of these people are ready and willing to die for what they believe in. Rabbi Arush and Rabbi Brody are the best examples that I have found of this type of person.

I would still be in the same old rut if Hashem hadn’t intervened. He sent me a “mid-life crisis” (though he could have sent it at any age). My mother passed away, I began experiencing signs of my own aging, marital conflict followed on the heels of financial strain, and six years of harassment by a fanatical psychopath were enough to nudge me toward greater introspection.

My journey back to myself began with the books of Rabbi Arush and the lectures of Rabbi Brody. As my wife and I became more inspired we realized that there was an answer to every existential dilemma that we had in those books and CD’s. We visited Israel and felt that we belonged someplace for the first time in our lives. We toured the land and immediately felt connected to our people, our history, and our future. With our new Spiritual orientation, we started to feel a sense of commitment and responsibility – to learn more about Hashem and to share whatever we had with others. I started learning at Chut Shel Chesed, and, as I got to know Rabbi Arush and Rabbi Brody I realized that I had never met men like these before. These great men spoke to my soul. It’s not always easy, but I strive to nullify myself to them as representatives of Hashem. My wife and I feel that our lives have finally become meaningful. I am learning Hashem’s Torah, writing, giving shiorim, working with my clients; we entertain Shabbos guests, raise our children, – every aspect of our lives have become unified by our common purpose of serving Hashem. Continue reading

Before he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, Adam knew with perfect certainty that the only necessary reality is Hashem and that his Glory was everywhere. When he ate from the Tree of Knowledge, he forgot about Hashem and started to think for himself. The Midrash says that he became so preoccupied with his own aggrandizement that his head actually swelled from arrogance, and became so heavy that he couldn’t hold it up. Eventually he toppled over from the weight of his own intellect. Continue reading...

Wishing You Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Aliyah and Personal Growth

by Dr. Zev Ballen

 Hashem showed me that I couldn’t depend on Uncle Sam or on any of the other materialistic values that sustained me till then...The harder I worked the less I had to show for the time and energy I was expending – eventually the stress effected my health – but it wasn’t until I landed in the hospital – that I woke up from the American dream I had been living all of my life. See the full article here...

by Dr. Zev Ballen

Fighting Back Against Financial Stress

Dr. Zev Ballen

Are you currently unemployed? Are you struggling to make ends meet? Have you been seeking employment without success? If you are, you are not alone. As I am now approaching retirement age, I find that my standard of living is objectively lower than what it ever was - but here is the good news - never, in my life, have I been happier or more successful than I am now. How is this possible? - Please read on.

Although I have less money and material items that I did before making Aliyah, I feel rich because I see that I can be happy with much less. Since I have accepted that I will only receive the bounty that Hashem designates for me, I have been relieved of the obsessive pursuit of money. The more time and energy that I give to serving Hashem and others, the more spiritual abundance that I receive back. The very situation that made me feel impoverished before, has led me now to a spirit of prosperity which I can joyfully share with others.

Now I can give encouragement, inspiration, and hope to anyone who wants it. I can tell people how kind Hashem has been to me and how close He is to me now. I can write about how Hashem has helped me shed my self-centered personal ambitions and has elevated my talents to a far higher purpose. Hashem has taught me how he likes to be spoken to and I am finally asking him the right questions. Hashem has answered me by letting me know my true purpose and mission in this world.

When you find your true purpose, you too will cherish it beyond anything in this world. By living your life in alignment with your true purpose, you will continuously live in close contact with Hashem, and you will never compare or measure yourself by what other people think. You will no longer be fooled by the evil inclination who cloaks bad with "good." Your eyes will no longer be drawn to the cheap thrills of this world; instead, you will be drawn to Holy people and seek to be close with them - for only they possess the truth, beauty, and goodness that you seek.

There is no poverty in the Truth - a life devoid of connection to your purpose is not even worth living. A person who does not recognize Hashem is headed for complete bankruptcy. While someone who serves Hashem without questions is elevated to national and global significance. Hashem will take you on as a partner in the rectification of His world. Hashem will open your eyes to the pain of His world and cause your heart to ache for those do not yet know Him. When you pray for them, through your tears, you will achieve complete wholeness - you will lack nothing.

The depravity and foolishness of today's world offers you an unprecedented opportunity to choose Hashem instead. Hashem, whose essence and crowning Glory is His Joy, wants nothing more than to give you a life of paradise. A life based on these principles will lead you to a happiness that you have never known - you will acquire a happiness that is beyond your present conception of happiness and beyond psychology and philosophical speculation. Your joy will be deep, powerful and permanent. Your daily mood will be characterized by elation which will seem very simple and natural to you.

Hashem wishes to touch you with his Benevolent Hand and lavish you with his Abundance - there is only one prerequisite and that is your complete faith that there is a Creator – a Super-Being who loves you more than your conception of love can fathom. Just believe that nothing happens haphazardly. Hashem is running His world without mistakes so there is never anything to worry about. Then, you will extract joy and find a connection to Him in literally every thought and occurrence of your life.

Do you have clean water to drink? Do you have clothing, shelter and nutritional foods to eat? Do you have access to medical care and Torah education for your children? Why not rejoice in what you have right now. Hashem is certainly meeting your needs! Thank Hashem for every "little" Blessing that you have received and He will surely give you even more to thank Him for. Absolute poverty only comes with sadness, complaints and dissatisfaction with what you have.

When you realize that you can be happy right now with what you presently possess, you can put an end to your worrying. Then you will discover that you yourself possess the power to heal other people. You will discover that Hashem has filled you and enveloped you with his brilliant white Light. The radiance of your smile will now bring life to the masses of sad faces you encounter; your Heavenly reward for this - alone - will transcend the reward of even scholars and philanthropists.

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen