New Book Release: You Are What You Hate

You Are What You Hate: A Spiritually Productive Approach To Enemies by Sarah Yehudit Schneider

Enemies hold fallen slivers of our souls, estranged sparks that we do not recognize as pieces of our very own selves. They have chosen us as their opponent because they are trying, in their deluded way, to connect back to their root, which really is us. The spark of ourselves inside the enemy must be recovered… We cannot complete our life mission until we have collected all the scattered pieces of ourselves, including those currently embedded within our enemy’s soul. The question becomes: How do we both protect ourselves and reclaim our sparks? What is the most spiritually productive way to succeed at this paradoxical mission?

The text at the heart of these teachings was written in the early 19th century by the great kabbalist and chassidic master R’ Yitzchak Yehuda Yechiel Safron, the Komarna Rebbe. It is the fruit of his personal struggle to find the most spiritually productive attitude toward his own detractors… A truly enlightened strategy requires us to find the right balance between self-protection and generosity, protest and acceptance, savvy and idealism, zero-tolerance-for-evil and compassion. The Komarna Rebbe uses the kabbala for his guidance. He pulls these lofty teachings down into real life and presents us with practical instructions for how to solve this ancient and universal dilemma.