Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

May 28th, 2020

In the mini-seminar (link below) learn about the different kinds of non-attraction and what you can do about it: (1) Reality-Based; (2) Obsessive Control Type;  (3) Obsessive OCPD Type; and (4) Passive Aggressive.  Note this video is part of a longer series. Although in the introduction I ask you to listen to all of the other ones in order, this particular video represents a unit to itself. click on this for the seminar   Photo by …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

May 26th, 2020

The average diaspora Jew of the Twenty-First Century is unaware of the extensive Halakhic literature devoted to repentance, abstentions and fasts due to communal calamities and tragedies. In Shulkhan Arukh Orach Hayyim (572-580) there are detailed codes of when, how and what to fast for. Plagues, tornadoes, earthquakes, droughts, locust, crop blight and even economic inflation and deflation are codified with precision. The rabbis took seriously h …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

May 15th, 2020

Difficult times such as Corona virus cause us to ponder why we must suffer.  This is an old theological problem, indeed recorded in the Book of Job.  The language of Iyov is poetic, meandering, making it difficult to understand exactly what the various sides of the debate where, and what the final answer was.  Many exegetes, including Rav Saadia Gaon (introduction to commentary on Iyov) notice and question the unclear verbosity of …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

May 10th, 2020

The following guest post is from Chaya Feuerman, LCSW-R: Trauma and Tevila Trauma is subjective and intimate to each person. This discussion will focus on cultivating sensitivity and attunement to trauma suffered by women at the mikvah, in the past, present as well as at the mikvah itself. There is no “antibody” test for trauma, to know by looking at someone, what she has been through, how it has affected her, or how it will in the fu …
1 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

May 4th, 2020

Some people do not do well without structure.  Anecdotal samplings from aquaintances and clients indicate that many people are having a hard time davening properly without a minyan.  In the interest of disclosure, I consider myself a “Davening Zombie in Recovery”.  For the first four decades of my life, I found davening to be mostly joyless, robtic and of dubious value.  To be sure, I did not disrespect prayer and …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

April 28th, 2020

The following is a guest post from Chaya Feuerman, LCSW-R 
You lost your baby. You’re no longer pregnant. It’s a long story. You don’t want to talk about it. The doctors. The Rabbis. The Dayan. They all said you had to do it. You can’t talk about it. Nobody knows what really happened. Your husband refuses to talk to you about the baby. He doesn’t want you to bring it up ever again. You must move on. Everyo …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

April 21st, 2020

I quoted the Rambam in a prior blog posts about his rationalist approach, even to the extent that he blames the destruction of the Temple on the Jewish government's reliance on superstition such as Astrology instead of developing military strategy.  Some might say, "Well, that is the Rambam who was a rationalist, but other more mystical minded sages and tzadikkim would trust in Hashem more."  Check out simcha feuerman's youtube channel …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

April 20th, 2020

  As the COVID-19 crisis rages on, more and more women will need to go to the Mikvah and may not be allowed to do so if they still might be contagious. This matter has even reached the attention of secular news outlets, as featured in this article in the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/04/orthodox-jews-mikvah-immersion-covid-19/610204/   I wish I had an easy solution, but while meditating on the matter of Mik …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

April 13th, 2020

A number of people have emailed me or texted me saying that they're “losing it”. Just losing it! It's really difficult these days -- but what does it mean “losing it”? Psychologically, there is a process to it. Losing it is when your Ego, which is the part of your personality, crumbles and falls apart.  It is disorienting.   What is the Ego?  It is something that you develop as a young child, maybe even …
0 comments

Author: Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, DHL, LCSW-R

April 12th, 2020

The following post is written by my wife Chaya Feuerman, LCSW-R who is guesting in this blog: Trauma means being shaken up by unexpected events which are frightening and cause physical or emotional pain. Many people have experiences that have lasting negative effects which impact their relationships. It affects the way a person parents their children and it affects the way a person interacts with their spouse. It colors the way a person experienc …
3 comments