Hello, friends. I’ve been back in the States for a few days now, re-establishing my old rhythms of cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Mom. One thing I haven’t been doing is listening to my former rotation of news podcasts. Before the war, I kept them on almost constantly, but now, for the most part, I just can’t bear it. I’ve been listening to Torah podcasts instead, which is probably what I should have been doing all along. Calamities often cause us to seek G-d, and choosing Torah over news is one of the ways it’s manifesting for me. Sometimes I miss the old familiar voices, but it’s a relatively small sacrifice for the sake of inner peace.
One of my favorite Torah speakers is Rabbi Shais Taub. His speeches combine deep Jewish teachings with practical psychology. He’s not a trained therapist, but he’s the son of one, so he’s as conversant in the language of psychology as he is in Torah. He also worked in addiction treatment under the famous Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski, zt”l. If you ask me, he surpasses his mentor. I’ve often come away from one of his lectures with the feeling that he just encapsulated my life. Often, I get clarity about what to do next. This week was one of those times.
The Torah portions of the past two weeks covered the life of Avraham Avinu, so Rabbi Taub did a two-part lecture on him. Each lecture is about an hour long, and they’re both excellent, but rather than link to something so lengthy, I’ll give you a 15-minute sample. It’s the springboard to the longer ones on Avraham Avinu. The theme is narcissistic parents and truth-telling kids, based on the famous children’s story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
Rabbi Taub posits that since Avraham Avinu figured out monotheism while living in an idolatrous world, he was the ultimate truth-teller. Unfortunately, truth tellers tend to be isolated if not flat-out hated. They upset the status quo, and they often get punished for it.
The world we live in isn’t idolatrous (exactly), but it’s certainly full of disinformation and hype. Social media exacerbates it, and though it can connect people in positive ways, it often does the very opposite. Yet, I, for one, don’t want to stop expressing myself, least of all here on Substack. And so, once again, Rabbi Taub came through with words to live by:
“If you have access to one of these devices where you can post stuff and everybody can see it all over the world, I don’t care if you have a million followers or two. . .you have access. You have a mouthpiece. We never had that before. . .
“Don’t get embroiled in political arguments. Once you enter into an argument, it operates under a completely different set of rules of what is real and normal and true. Even if you win, you lose. Just stay above the fray and teach Torah.”
And so, thanks to Rabbi Taub, I’m announcing a change in my Substack. Or perhaps it’s not too drastic a change. I live by the Torah, but I don’t teach it, so I’ll probably just continue with slice of life pieces that reflect Torah. But I have no problem sharing other people’s Torah, and I’ve started with Rabbi Taub’s. I hope you’ll check him out. And if you choose to stick around, thank you. With G-d’s help, you’ll continue to enjoy what I have to say.