Emotional Health

Our message today is intended to be a spiritual antidote to all that's trying to pull us down and to enable us to truly feel good about ourselves. The "Three Weeks" period is a time to yearn for Moshiach and the Holy Temple, but not a time to be sad or depressed.

Many of us are unaware of what's going on inside of us. With pandemic all around us, it's only normal that anxiety levels are on the rise even in people who never suffered from anxiety. It's like walking in a battlefield – as much as you normally retain your cool, it's difficult not to feel pressure when people are getting wounded and dying all around you. That's exactly what's going on in the renewed wave of COVID-19. How can we successfully cope? Let's hear:

So many people nowadays feel short-tempered, or nervous, or worn out, or all three. The lurking threat of sickness and the difficult challenge of lockdown, quarantine and kids at home are eating away at their nerves. If you feel like that, don't be down on yourself, because it's natural and even mentioned in the Gemara. Hear all about it in today's encouraging podcast, which is bound to make you feel better about yourself.

You know the old expression: Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me! Whoever coined that never learned Torah and didn't understand much about the human soul. There are plenty of adults walking around today with deep emotional scars that never healed because of a derogatory nickname that someone gave them when they were young. If that someone was a parent, it takes a miracle to heal the insulted child's soul, who grows up with a negative self-image that's worse than a physical handicap. Today's lesson is a must for any parent or for anyone who aspires to be a parent.

A parable about the power of loving your fellow human being...

When you feel good about yourself, other people will feel good about you. There are three ways to pursue happiness and to build a healthy self-image: strengthening the body, strengthening the soul, or to understand that body and soul are inseparable and to strengthen both simultaneously. Today's Emuna Beam teaches us how to do that.

Before you can make others happy, you have to make yourself happy. That's not egotism, but a requisite to emotional health. Therefore, don't do anything unless you want to and it makes you happy. There is, though, one significant exception to that rule - if someone saved your life, you'd be an ingrate by saying, "I don't feel like doing a small favor for that person." Don't forget gratitude...