In this morning’s class, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath explored one of the Torah’s most psychologically honest teachings: what to do when our emotions and our values don’t align. Through the mitzvah of helping an enemy’s fallen donkey, we uncovered Judaism’s middle path, neither repressing emotions nor surrendering to them. Drawing from halacha, Kabbalah, and Chassidus, the class reframed emotional maturity as the ability to feel honestly while choosing responsibly, and offered a practical way to act with integrity even when the heart resists.
Key Takeaways
The Torah acknowledges emotional resistance without letting it dictate behavior
Feeling something does not automatically make it true or actionable
Jewish Law validates emotions but prioritizes responsibility and mitzvah
Helping an “enemy” is about freeing yourself from the grip of impulse
In Kabbalah, the mind is meant to guide emotions like a wise parent, not silence them
Sometimes the heart follows the hands, action can lead emotion
#Judaism #Kabbalah #Jewish #Torah #TorahLessons #TorahPortion #Bible #BibleStudy #KabbalahForEveryone #EmotionalWisdom #torahpsychology #MoachShalitAlHalev #InnerWork #JewishMindfulness #SpiritualMaturity #HalachaAndHeart #chassidus #RabbiBernath #chabad
Available now:
Paperback (US): https://www.amazon.com/Forgiveness-Experiment-What-Would-Your/dp/1069217638
Paperback (Canada): https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1069217638
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FR2QNJL6
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