17 episodes
Struggling With God Rabbi Yonasan Bender LCSW, Psychotherapist
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- Religion & Spirituality
What is morality, faith, and our place in the world? Not easy questions. Many look to religion to answer these questions. Religion certainly does provide answers but not in the way we're used to. The answers we're given are really only starting points to help guide us on a path to greater wisdom. That path is a difficult one because it demands us to be present. To think outside the box. It demands us to struggle with God as opposed to thoughtlessly receive "the answer." In the struggle and through this tension we grow.This podcast explores these topics and more from the Jewish religious tradition with a psychological perspective. Judaism struggles with justice, belief, and morality spans thousands of years. More than anything, the hallmark of Jewish wisdom is not in it's answers. It's in how it demands questions. ----- Rabbi Yonasan Bender LCSW, received his ordination from Rav Yitzchak Berkovits, head of the Jerusalem Kollel and Aish HaTorah. He is a graduate of Hebrew University's Paul Baerwald School of Social Work. He completed post graduate training in a wide array of therapeutic approaches. These approaches range from CBT to Psychodynamic therapies. Before Hebrew University, he studied at Washington University in St. Louis and Drake University. Yonasan majored in philosophy and ethics. Yonasan is a member of the Association For Contextual Behavioral Science. He's a key member of the clinical team at The Place, the Jerusalem Centre for Emotional Wellbeing. Yonasan is a Dialectical Behavioral Therapist skills trainer and a group leader for the National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder' Family Connections program. He specializes in treating anxiety, depression, anger, poor self-esteem, insomnia, and marital conflict.
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How Truth Is Made
The definition of truth is not clear cut in Judaism. Is there one "truth" to be grasped or is truth something more organic than that? After giving the Torah, does God have a say in changing the truth found in Jewish law? This class discusses this topic through the lens of the famous debate between Rabbi Eliezer The Great and his students.
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Surviving Spirituality With Law
Jewish parables, refereed to as medrashim, are speckled throughout the Talmud. They're nuanced, esoteric, and captivating. They also contain within them the spirit of Judaism. This course discusses the power of metaphors and parables. It also discusses how Judaism relates to them. With a deep understanding of moral law, these texts open up to us a deep well of wisdom. Without that background, these metaphors remain closed to us, best case scenario. The worst case scenario is they destroy any ...
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Actualization Through Setting Limits
Knowing what the right thing is and doing it are extremely different. God revealed a higher purpose but Judaism's struggle is how to actualize that purpose. How do we build a better life for ourselves? This class discusses how rabbinical additions to Jewish law actualize Judaism's purpose. Rabbinic restriction is, in essence, what taps into divine meaning. By struggling to make God’s law livable we are able to understand God's deeper purpose.
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Discovering Yourself
Taking yourself seriously means realizing no one else who has ever lived can compare to you or what unique gifts you have to offer this world. Figuring out what that exactly means is no small job. This class offers some practical psychological advice in getting closer to understanding yourself and making the changes necessary to live your hero’s journey.
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The Impossibility of Meaninglessness
It’s no secret there’s a trend in the Western world towards meaninglessness and nihilism. Talk to any college aged teen and you’ll see they’re hard pressed to find a good reason to care about anything bigger than themselves or they know someone else that’s in that boat. Some possible causes are the dramatic rise in depression and anxiety or that old religious and communal institutions that provided a structure to make sense of the tragedies of life no longer speak to many. No matter the reaso...
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The Living Chain of Tradition
Separating the Jewish people and it's cultural character from Jewish law isn't easy. For thousands of years the culture has dedicated itself towards one primary goal - keeping the living word of God alive for each generation. In the words of the famous psychologist Carl Jung, the Jewish people are perhaps the only society that has collectively made the infinite unconscious almost entirely conscious. This class outlines what that chain of tradition is and the nuts and bolt of...
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