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Never before had Moshe really felt how much Rachel meant to him. For the first time in his marriage, Moshe was aware of how much he truly loved and cared about Rachel and how great was his need to be connected to her no matter what. This is one of my favorite articles. You can read it here.
Every Blessing,
Dr. Zev Ballen
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Today's broadcast is called Power Parenting. G-d Willing you can see the 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. I hope you'll enjoy it!
With Blessings,
Dr. Zev Ballen
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Thought for the Day
True love is a passion to give to the one you love before giving to yourself; it is a concern with the other's welfare that transcends your concern for yourself; it is a belief rooted in emuna that through nullification of yourself to your partner you are fulfilling the main reason that you were brought into the world.
Have a great day!
Dr. Zev Ballen
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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.
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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+
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If you find yourself getting envious of someones ability in some area don't despair. It's just Hashem's way of showing you that there is a similar strength in yourself that you have not been using. That person was sent into you life to help you to reclaim what is rightfully yours. Your envy can now be transformed into the courage to access the particular strength in yourself that has been waiting to burst forth. At first, you might be uneasy about using this part of yourself; that's why you haven't rewarded yourself yet for having it. Just trust Hashem - He'll help you bring it out. Soon you'll be rock'in like never before!
Every Blessing,
Dr. Zev Ballen
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There's a businessman who's having a hard time. The recession has hit, and he's overstocked on merchandise. All of a sudden, the business that he's been building up for years starts sinking. In the meantime, he promised his wife a certain standard of living when they got married, and now he can't deliver on what he promised.
The problem didn't start with the business sinking. The problem started right back at the beginning of the marriage, when the man made a lot of mistakes and failed to treat his wife like an adult, and a real partner in his life. He didn't share what's really going on in his life, in his head, and make her feel important and significant and valued as a person in her own right.
He figured he'd let his money do the talking for him - which kind of worked when he had the money to give her. But now? Now she's feeling left out and resentful and angry. As a result, she's continuing to spend the money that they don't have - and that she doesn't even really want to be spending!
Why is this happening?
It's happening because the husband is failing to meet the wife's deeper needs. It looks like they are fighting over the money, but really, that's a minor detail. When he's telling his wife that they don't have the money, and he's having a go at her for overspending, what he's really saying is that he feels his wife is somehow sabotaging him, and that she doesn't want his efforts to turn things around economically to succeed. He's telling her that she's making him feel as though he's a failure.
In return, the wife feels even less loved and even more punished by her husband, and we have a classic vicious cycle, or what we call the 'Crazy 8' pattern, which just keeps going round and round, making both sides crazier and crazier.
No one can stand the pain and discomfort and reinforced negativity of being in a 'Crazy 8' pattern for long. Let's remember: they aren't really fighting about the money. Once the husband realizes that his wife has some deeper needs that he hasn't been fulfilling since way back when they first got married, he'll start trying to fulfil them. And when he does, the money issue all but disappears. It's practically gone. Why? Because now, the wife is receiving much more unconditional love and giving from her husband. He's making an effort to be home for dinner more; to spend more quality time with her and the kids, and to take the kids out more. He's holding back all the critical remarks and anger and resentment that he sometimes still feels. But even when those feelings well up, he's holding them back - and that is making all the difference in the world to his relationship with his wife.
He knows he's got a lot of mistakes to fix from the beginning of the marriage, but with emuna, he can undo them all, very quickly.
Deeper needs
The following 'deeper needs' are universal, and apply to men, women, children and everyone:
When it comes to us and our relationships, we have to ask ourselves: how far would I actually go to help that person, and to be with them in their trials and tribulations? Can I give them my all? 100%? Do I really have that love in me?
The answer is, yes, you do! But most of us really don't know that it's there. If we haven't pushed ourselves, or demanded it from ourselves, or unleashed it, then we haven't yet accessed that real, deep, love that we actually feel towards our spouses and kids, and also towards ourselves. That love is so very powerful. But most of us haven’t got anywhere near harnessing it properly, yet.
So instead, we get caught up in our heads, trying to work out and strategise 'what to do' about specific people, situations or problems. We forget that we love these people, and that our love for them is so powerful, it can push through anything. But before we can harness our love, we first have to be connected to it. Only once we connect to it, can we share it with our spouses, kids, colleagues, friends, neighbours, ourselves, and also G-d.
Love is the power that will bring Moshiach. Love is Hashem Himself. Love is Hashem's greatest midda, or character trait. Hashem loves everyone and everything He created, and His love is perfect and unlimited.
Of course, we're not Hashem! We are human and limited, and our love has flaws and limitations and biases. But we can still aspire to emulate Hashem to the best of our abilities. In fact, that 's the purpose of our life - to emulate G-d and perfect our character. We have to strive to live by the spiritual values that will prepare us and groom us to be able to make the right choices.
With Blessings,
Dr. Zev Ballen
