Frankel - Sacred Therapy

Frankel exhibits a stunning breadth of knowledge, particularly of Judaisms rich mystical tradition, and a profound depth of understanding of emotional and spiritual development.

Jewish Woman Magazine

Her use of Kabalistic cosmology to reflect on emotional pain, broken-heartedness, and separation is especially strong and moving.

Library Journal

Frankel has done an impressive job of blending ancient Jewish wisdom with modern psychology to fashion a powerful force for healing.

Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People

I highly recommend this compelling book to readers from all backgrounds, for its wisdom is rich and universal.

David A. Cooper, author of God Is a Verb

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Sacred Therapy Estelle Frankel travels to the heart of Jewish mysticism to reveal how people of any faith can draw upon this rich body of teachings to gain wisdom, clarity, and a deeper sense of meaning in the midst of modern life. In an engaging and accessible style, Frankel brings together tales and teachings from the Bible, the Talmud, Kabbalah, and the Hasidic traditions as well as evocative case studies and stories from her own life to create an original, inspirational guide to emotional healing and spiritual growth.

ESTELLE FRANKEL is a practicing psychotherapist and a seasoned teacher of Jewish mysticism and meditation. She was ordained as a rabbinic pastor and spiritual guide (mashpiah ruchanit) by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and is one of the spiritual leaders of her local Jewish Renewal community. Estelle has taught widely in the United States and in Israel, where she lived for over eight years, and is currently on the core faculty of Chochmat Halev: Wisdom of the Heart Meditation Center. She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband and two children.

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Sacred Therapy

Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Inner Wholeness

Estelle Frankel

SHAMBHALA

Boston & London

2011

Shambhala Publications, Inc.

Horticultural Hall

300 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

www.shambhala.com

2003 by Estelle Frankel

Cover design and illustration by Jim Zaccaria

See a continuation of the copyright page.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUES THE PREVIOUS EDITION OF THIS BOOK AS FOLLOWS:

Frankel, Estelle.

Sacred therapy: Jewish spiritual teachings on emotional healing and inner wholeness/Estelle Frankel.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN 978-0-8348-2519-2

ISBN 1-57062-997-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 1-59030-204-4 (paperback)

1. Spiritual lifeJudaism. 2. HealingReligious aspectsJudaism. 3. Self-actualization (Psychology)Religious aspectsJudaism. 4. RepentanceJudaism. 5. Cabala. I. Title.

BM723.F675 2003

296.7 1dc21

2003002498

Sanctity is not a paradise but a paradox.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik

Contents

T he ideas in this book are the product of my long and often zigzag journey as a student and teacher of Jewish mysticism and as a psychotherapist. So that you have some idea where I am coming from, I would like to share a bit of my story with you. Perhaps you will find aspects of your own journey mirrored by mine.

My spiritual journey began in 1969, when I had the good fortune of meeting Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and a group of hippies who were exploring the boundaries of religious ecstasy through song, dance, prayer, and meditation at the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco. I have always considered this meeting auspicious, as it profoundly influenced the course of my life at a rather vulnerable point in my youth.

Though both my parents grew up in Hasidic households in prewar Poland, they lost touch with their Orthodox roots after the war. They chose, instead, to raise my brother and me in a community that identified itself with Conservative Judaism. By the time I finished my bat mitzvah, the sixties had arrived, and I was becoming increasingly turned off to conventional Judaism. The deep spiritual longings I felt were not being addressed by organized religion, and the vision and music of universal love that filled the streets of San Francisco in the late sixties were far more compelling to me than the ethnocentrism and chauvinism I encountered at home and in the synagogue. At that time in my life, I found hiking in the California redwoods and along the rocky coastlines far more spiritually nurturing than any time I had spent in synagogue.

I had just graduated from high school a semester early in order to travel to Canada with a few friends, some of whom were heading north to dodge the draft, when, by chance, I was invited to spend a Sabbath at the House of Love and Prayer in San Franciscos Haight Ashbury district. I entered to find a roomful of people ecstatically singing and dancing, with light and love radiating from their faces. The incredible feelings of universal love and connection that were the hallmark of the sixties were fused with the spirit and light of Shabbosthe Jewish Sabbath.

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, may his memory be a blessing, had an amazing gift for making people fall in love with God and with Judaism. He also had a way of making each of us feel beautiful, special, and loved. A true tzaddik (a realized, righteous being) and wounded healer, Reb Shlomo, as he is affectionately known by his disciples, had the gift of seeing people through Gods eyes, mirroring back to each of us our highest potential. In many ways I owe my life to Reb Shlomos love and his profound understanding of Judaism, for the peak spiritual experiences I had at the House of Love and Prayer opened up the possibility that my spiritual longings could find expression in Jewish form. Instead of heading north as I had planned, after a few months at the House of Love and Prayer, I was inspired to journey east, to Jerusalem, to explore my roots.

For the next eight years I lived immersed in the world of simple pious Jews, Hasidic mystics and scholars, and kabbalists of North African or Sephardic (Spanish) descent. I spent both day and night in study, prayer, and meditation, soaking up the words of ancient sacred texts, entering the dreamtime of my ancestors. In addition to the four years I spent studying at Machon Gold Teachers College and Jerusalems Michlalah College for Jewish Studies, I was blessed to sit at the feet of many great teachers, including the late Reb Gedalia Koenig, may his memory be a blessing, Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz, Rabbi Gedalia Fleer, and Rabbi Meir Fund, all of whom introduced me to different aspects of Jewish mystical thought. I also continued to study Hasidic thought with Reb Shlomo Carlebach over the next twenty-five years whenever our lives intersected geographically.