Emuna Therapy

The Nature of Freedom

 

 photo by Krish Tipirneni

Finally, after all our preparations, tonight is seder night! Get ready to recline back and enjoy the fruit of your labor.

In the Hagadah, we will read: "Had the Blessed One not taken our fathers from Egypt (at that very moment), then we, our children, and our children's children would still be enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt."

One might ask: If Hashem had not taken us out of Egypt then we would still probably become free at some later date?

To this, one may answer yes, we might have become physically free at some later date, but our minds and personalities would have remained 'enslaved' forever, becoming totally Egyptian. Hashem 'pulled us' from Egypt at the last possible moment when most Jews were only one step away from adopting the Egyptian way of life, unable to become the Jewish nation.

In fact, only one fifth of  of the Jewish people were saved. Four fifths died in the maka of darkness, having fallen so low that they didn't believe in the redemption or didn't even want to be redeemed.

So too do our brains get conditioned into patterns of apathy, sadness, lonliness and feeling distant from Hashem. Why? because most often our thoughts go where they're most familiar then they get hard-wired into those destructive emotions. 

Can you become conditioned to feel loved by Hashem all of the time and to be happy all of the time? Most people believe they can't so their brains don't go for better thoughts and feelings because they don't reward themselves enough.

In physical conditioning when a person works his muscles beyond what is comfortable for them, he becomes stronger and what was previously difficult for him becomes easy. It's the same with spiritual conditioning. You've got to work on yourself when you don't want to, when you feel one-step away from giving up. But if you do, that's precisely when you'll get the biggest spiritual rewards. The same nervous system that conditioned the person to feel like a  slave can condition him to feel truly free!  

Childhood Trauma

photo by the bop

Research has shown that there's a strong connection between severe childhood trauma and the development of psychosis later on.

Are children who are being raised by parents who live in accordance with emuna principles  less likely to become psychotic? 

Yes they are.

Even more so, adverse or traumatic events during childhood can predispose children who were raised with emuna to even greater levels of emotional and spiritual development than their peers.

How is this so?

There are many examples from the Torah of children who grew up under circumstances that would be considered traumatic by today's standards and they rose to incredible spiritual heights,  for example King David and Rabbi Akiva.

G-d willing, I'll be speaking about this subject in much greater depth tomorrow, in my live broadcast.  The simple explanation for now is that Divine Providence looks upon every soul and knows exactly what it needs to be maximally happy and to fulfill it's purpose in the world.

If, G-d forbid, a traumatic event does take place in childhood, it offers the child of parents who have faith the opportunity to turn to Hashem with their pain, and in so doing Hashem will lead them to find their true purpose in this world. Since fulfilling their true purpose is the only way that they can live lives of true happiness, these kids can end up better off than their peers who never find themselves.

Today, the first day of the month of Nissan (the month of miracles) is Rebbe Nachman's birthday and the first day that we can make a blessing on the trees. To learn about the amazing connection between these two events read this!

With blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 

Emuna Therapy

image credit:smiling_da_vinci

Tal Rotem interviewed me and asked some pretty sharp questions. I hope you'll like how I answered him in "Emuna Therapy"...It's right here.

The wife wanted the body cremated; the husband's religious brothers quickly made a proper burial; the wife sued and the case went to a jury trial, but Rebbe Nachman intervened from Above. It's right here!

More new articles from Breslev Israel:

I Don't Envy You - By Rabbi Shalom Arush

Election Fever - By Rabbi Lazer Brody

Loyalty Check - By DovBer HaLevi

Reserved Parking - By Chaya Golda Ovadia

A Child's Eyes - By Racheli Reckles

Veneer - By Rivka Levy

Camouflage - By Rabbi Pinchas Winston

Sound Of The Siren - By Ari Davidson

Mighty Matriarch - By Rabbi Dovid Charlop

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 

Live Broadcast - Unlocking Your Power

  

                                       image credit: gadknows

Everyone agrees that our decisions and rituals shape our lives - that persistence in some area of life is essential for a person to achieve mastery and success. What people disagree about is on what rituals will give them the results that they are looking for. What area of your life - if it changed - would lead you to the greatest boost in your personal performance, productivity, health and happiness?

This is the subject of today's broadcast - it is called "Unlocking Your Power."

You can see it today Wednesday at 5:00 PM Israel time at our Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva, 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street, Jerusalem, in the main sanctuary. Everyone is welcome, both men and women so if you're anywhere near Jerusalem, come on by!

You can see today's lesson here - 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 (Israel is still on winter time while the USA is still on Daylight Savings time): 

8:00 AM in LA and the West Coast, 9:00 AM Denver, 10:00 AM Mexico and Central Daylight, 11 AM EDT, 4 PM in the UK, 5:00 PM Johannesburg and Capetown, 5:00 PM Israel. As soon as we can, G-d willing, we'll post a link to the lesson for all those who couldn't see it live. If you can't see the broadcast, you might need to download a new version of Flash Media player, which you can do here. We hope you enjoy the broadcast.

I hope you can join me.

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Think Only Good Thoughts

 

 

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                                                     Image credit: matthewray

On Rosh Hashanah you must be wise. This means that you should be careful to think only good thoughts. Then G-d will be good to us and give us a good year.  On Rosh Hashanah you must be joyous...and on Rosh Hashanah you must weep (Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom 87).

A New Soul

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                                                      Image credit: Dan Bar Dov

The blasts of the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah revitalize the soul and intelligence of every Jew. Each one receives a new soul and a new level of understanding, each according to his level. (Likutey Mahoran 35:6)

Loftier Than Anything

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                                            Image credit: La Pause-Café4

King David already spoke in praise of hitbodedut when he said (Psalm 55:7), "O that I had the wing of a dove that I would fly away and find rest; behold, I would wander afar in the wilderness."

With Blessings for a sweet new year!

Dr. Zev Ballen

Two Laws Of Spirituality

 

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                            Image credit:  Geomangio

Two important laws of Spirituality:

(1) Hashem is the cause of every catalyst.

(2) Any situation of tension, stress or sorrow is none other than a test of faith. 

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Need A Boost?

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                                                                   Image Credit: sosidesc

People often ask me, "how can I take my intellectual knowledge about emuna and start to really apply it to my life?" People say: "I've read all of Rav Arush's books but  I still don't feel that I am actually living the vibrant and fulfilling life of Faith that I want."

To answer questions like these, we have developed one-on-one Emuna Coaching Programs with you in mind. Together with your personal coach, you will learn how to apply what you have learned about emuna to the specific areas of your life that you want to improve. For more information call Breslev Israel at: 

DIAL FROM USA:

 1-718-577-2975

DIAL ISRAEL DIRECT:

 +972-2-532-3339 X2

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Conversing With G-d

 

By Dr. Zev Ballen                             Image credit: paul+photos=moody

Here is a small sample of what Rebbe Nachman said about conversing with Hashem (from: Advice by Rebbe Nachman, translated by Avraham Greenbaum):
 
* Speech is the vessel with which we receive the flow of blessings. According to the words, so is the blessing. This is the reason why when we pray, we must actually pronounce the words with our lips (Likutey Moharan 34:3)
 
* Words of holiness - Torah and prayer - are a very high concept. Holy words are theShechinah, the Divine Indwelling, because the kingship of G-d and the truth of His existence is revealed through them. Holy speech is the "breath of Mashiach." (78)
 
* Words of Torah and prayer have the power to raise up the fallen [holy] sparks and restore and renew all the fallen worlds. The one who speaks them is accounted as if he had created Heaven and Earth and all the worlds afresh. (75)
 
* Longing and yearning by themselves create only the possibilityof spiritual strength. But the words of your prayers and conversations with G-d draw this spiritual strength into the realm of the actual.The letters of Torah are present throughout the Creation. By expressing your yearning and desire (for Hashem) in words, you invest these letters with strength for good. You give new life and strength to everything, drawing goodness and blessing into all the worlds. (31:8,9)
 
* When a person speaks to G-d and uses every kind of argument and appeal to "conquer" G-d, then G-d Himself has great joy and pleasure. He Himself sends words to this person's mouth so that he will be able to "conquer" Him. (124)
 
* It is impossible to convey the true greatness of this method. It is superior to all others. It is the way of serving G-d, and through following it everyone can attain the ultimate good in this world and in the World to Come. There is nothing that cannot be accomplished by prayer and entreaty. (25)
 
* Even if you find you are unable to express yourself before G-d, even if you can say no more than a single word, this is still good. Even if you can say nothing except "Master of the Universe" it is also good...and very precious in G-d's eyes. (25,100)

May you be inscribed and sealed in the Good Book of Life,

Dr. Zev Ballen