Thank you for writing “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder”. I found a copy of it in a public library in Portland, Oregon in 2005, and it changed my life. I was raised Catholic, but the Mussar tradition resonates with me.
You keep surprising me Rabbi with this level of enlightening that I don’t want to listen to my Pastor again ,,, nobody could explain this the way you do
This is one of the most motivating lectures I ever heard. The totally insightful idea here is that you need to Work to achieve pleasure. I thought that pleasure is like rain that washes effortlessly. But, it is work that is the road to pleasure, like the feeling when you finish your exercise routine. There is a very old joke about Rabbi who explained that sin is when you first feel pleasure, then regret. But real pleasure is first effort, then feeling satisfaction or pleasure. The joke uses swimming metaphor, but I just detailed the key point.
Rabbi, this talk is so much about my own experience: so relevant. Thank you for the insight into what Judaism is about and the opportunity Hashem has given me to grow. I always say, “Resistance is my middle name.” Now I can see it as a gift.
