Dear Friends,
Contemporary psychology and mental-health research increasingly validates what the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi - founder of Chabad) taught more than two centuries ago: that sustainable, healthy inner life comes not from suppressing or denying our feelings, but from guiding our emotions with consciousness and introspection.
A growing body of research - from “contemplative science” to spiritually integrated psychotherapy - finds that practices which combine awareness, reflection and spirituality can offer real psychological benefits. For example, a comprehensive review of mindfulness-based practices concluded that mindfulness leads to “increased subjective well-being, reduced psychological symptoms” and improved emotional regulation.
Similarly, a 2024 paper that surveyed recent studies on spiritual and religious practices found that spiritual engagement - whether prayer, meditation, reflection, or community ritual - plays a critical role in supporting mental health, especially under stress.
Closer still to the Alter Rebbe’s method: research on “spiritually integrated” therapeutic approaches - where cognitive or behavioral techniques are coupled with a person’s religious or spiritual framework - shows that clients often fare better than in strictly secular therapy. In other words: when mind and spirit work together, healing is deeper, more lasting, more aligned with one’s truest self.
These findings echo the Alter Rebbe’s path: a long-term inner balancing, not built on sudden ecstatic highs, but on consistent intellectual and spiritual discipline.
Why Many Are Again Turning to Tanya and Chassidus
It is no surprise, then, that more and more people today — especially those navigating emotional distress, spiritual emptiness, or the dissonance between “inner and outer self”— are rediscovering Tanya and the broader Chassidic teachings. Where secular therapy sometimes feels empty or fragmented, Chassidus offers a holistic approach: a framework that values thought, feeling, spirituality, community, and meaning — all together.
In a time of rapid change, ambiguity, and mental-health challenges, the clarity and depth of Chassidic psychology resonates. Rather than treating fear, emptiness, or anxiety as “disorders,” it treats them as signals — windows into the soul crying out for alignment. People are drawn to the Chassidic path for guidance that is both intellectual and soulful, individual and communal.
From Yaakov’s Fear to Yud-Tes Kislev: A Path to Inner Liberation
When the Torah in this week's portion describes Yakov’s fear of encountering his brother Eisav, it says: “Vayira Yaakov meod vayetzar lo” - “and Yakov was very afraid, and he was distressed”. What he was acknowledging was not his fear of his brother, but the inner fear of unworthiness before Hashem. And when Rivkah Imeinu cried out “Lamah zeh anochi?” - “what’s going on with me?” she too was confronting inner discord. Their response was not avoidance — it was a turning inward, seeking Hashem, trying to realign soul and spirit.
That journey, that struggle — is precisely what Chassidus and Tanya are about. And it is why the 19 Kislev holiday — the liberation celebrated on Yud-Tes Kislev — has become so meaningful for us: not only as the physical freedom of the Alter Rebbe, but as the liberation of our inner selves.
To help us tap into that inner freedom, we are gathering this Monday night for a special Yud-Tes Kislev Farbrengen with Rabbi Nir Menussi, a highly respected scholar and author from Israel, whose work is characterized by its unique combination of scholarly knowledge, psychological depth, and clear, lucid explanations. He will share his personal spiritual journey, speak about what he calls “the next Chassidic revolution,” and explore how Tanya and Chassidus today can help us find balance, purpose, and inner peace in a chaotic world.
You are invited — to bring your questions, your fears, your inner conflicts, your desire to go higher. Let’s journey together.
Good Shabbos and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Ruvi New