Customer Reviews

Sacred Therapy: Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Inner Wholeness

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Estelle Frankel's "Sacred Therapy" is one of the most important and optimistic books I have read, as a woman, a therapist, a Jew, a human being. Whether the reader arrives at this writing with explicit spiritual knowledge and practices, or simply a deep longing for understanding and peace, Estelle's graceful blend of wisdom and heartfulness inducts each of us into a direct experience of wholeness, of the Divine. Estelle does not skirt around issues of pain and suffering, nor the practical, rather, she dives headlong into the darkness with us, with Torah and simple tools, and, magically, we resurface with more hope and a greater ability to respond to Life as it truly is. For psychotherapists, Jewish or otherwise, Estelle offers a language and a context which urges us to "remember" our Selves large enough to hold our clients and to offer them a well to drink from, too. Through rich stories of Jewish history and spirituality, and with the support of guided meditations, Estelle invites us to know our Selves individually and in connection, through the eyes of God, even if we don't believe in God.

Do you believe in coincidences? Recently, at Harbin Hot Springs, a fabulous retreat center in Northern California, I was handed a book by an author who said, "I was planning to give this away to someone else, but it looks like you are the right person to hand it to." The attractive dark-haired woman who gave me the book was named Estelle Frankel, and is it turns out, I *was* the right person, at least in the sense that the book has made a deep impression on me.

A practicing psychotherapist and a "seasoned teacher of Jewish mysticism, Frankel studied and practiced Jewish mysticism in Israel for 8 years, and has been personally tutored by both Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. For someone like myself, who has been in and out of Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah as a dilettante, I have found parts of this book absolutely fascinating, especially Biblical-era stories and musings of what it was, exactly, that happened with Moses and the People of Israel out there in the desert... (When was the last time you were part of a group illumination, what my Pennsylvanian friends would call an "egregrore"?)

The book consists of modern-stay healing stories, Midrashic-level musings, Hasidic wisdom and tales, and practical rituals and strategies for self-transformation and spiritual upliftment. The Kabbalah is, of course, returned to time and time again, and many themes that I would call (perhaps anachronistically) gnostic permeate the text. Here is one of my favorite passages:

"At every transition point in the life cycle, when one stage of life ends and another begins, we inevitably pass through this death-rebirth cycle of creation, dissolutoin, and re-creation. The shattering of the vessels is, in a sense, the Kabbalah's unique idiom for talking about what the Buddhists refer to as life's essential impermanence. As soona s something is created, its dissolution is already at hand. The vessels of creation, the finite forms created to house the infinite, are always imperfect and impermanent. They must inevitably shatter to make room for the next manifestation of divine unfolding. The light of the infinite simply cannot be contained and limited by any finite form, and so by shattering, the vessels of creation continually allow more light to be revealed. And just when things seem most broken and shattered, that is when healing or tikkun begins."

I have found this to be a rich and evocative book, one that ties together modern psychotherapy with Jewish mysticism, from the perspective of someone who uses both these tools to help individuals in their day-to-day lives. Especially for those interested in the Western esoteric traditions generally or Jewish mysticism specifically, or anyone with a Jewish background, I highly recommend this book.

I am a psychotherapist and spiritual director and I found Estelle Frankel's book Sacred Therapy to be an absolute jewel. The blend of Jewish teachings, psychotherapy, and spiritual direction is masterful. I resonate very much indeed with many of the teachings, and say "yes!" often as I read. I particularly loved Estelle Frankel's writing on T'shuvah as being the call from the inner divine spark to return to our wholeness....delicious! I have read parts of the book to my husband , and he too has found the work rich and inviting....

Jinks Hoffmann

Sacred Therapy, Estelle Frankel's newly published (www.shambala.org) book on healing from a Jewish perspective, is warm, well-written and inspirational, but it's not necessarily suggestive of an easy path. Reading Sacred Therapy immediately evokes in the reader primary difficulties: losses, deaths, broken-heart moments, grief, disillusionment. I especially thought of profound empathic breaks that have occurred within my own relational world -- in my psychotherapeutic work, in my daily life-flow, in my own character and spiritual development, in integrating the lows and highs of conscious, collective experience (organizational, marital, extended-family) relative to ideals and in my often ambivalent relationship with G-d. Such existential problems of living gain a spiritual, mytho-poetic context in Frankel's alchemy of Kabbalistic teachings and psychological nuance. Frankel accomplishes this with personal, experiential illustrations; examples from her therapeutic encounters; pleasant prose; a poetic sensibility; and elucidations of ancient mystical wisdom embodied in and culled from Jewish myths. Her generous seasonings of Chassidic legends illuminate her insightful interpretations of Torah teachings and Midrashic wisdom. She provides contexts of "sacred embrace", a transformative crucible for re-contextualizing our very human suffering patterns.

Frankel's book offers empathy, meaning and purpose to our struggles with challenging life-processes; inevitable losses, betrayals and heartbreaks in life are held with honor as essential to the fabric of our humanity and our own psycho-spiritual growth. Well-written and clearly organized, we journey, under Frankel's humble yet keen guidance, through our own and others' broken places and wounds. We are connected, as it were, to ancient human sufferings in a process that engenders humility, compassion and a healing sensibility, essential qualities in an effective therapeutic response. We are invited to honor our and others' wounds, depressive moods and life struggles, by culling and "extracting the meaning" from them.

Frankel skillfully brings our attention to the integration of brokenness and wholeness. When empathy flows, there is an engagement, an involvement, an "I-Thou" exchange that is inherently whole and healing. Conversely, "empathic breaks" are painful misses, shatterings of the wholeness and unity we long to have and sustain. Spiritual crises, loss of faith, betrayals, trauma - can be terrifying separations from our ground of being engendering blame, self-doubt, mistrust and paranoia. It is this Frankel addresses. Frankel reassures us throughout of the healing power inherent in our suffering. An initiation is often necessary for spiritual growth.

"God created a flawed universe in order to give every creature a role in its restoration." Tikkun, or repair, can then come about through a re-engendering of empathy between g-d and people, a re-collecting and re-constructing of the pieces into a "mosaic", a synthesis of gathering profound meaning and direction from the imperfect.

One such transformative initiation in my life was the break-up of a communal housing project in the Santa Cruz mountains. On the heals of an idealistic collective vision came the realities of years of challenging hardship and ultimate failure. Accompanying the ordeal of this collective calamity was the painful dissolving of friendships between two families whom had grown very close through the years. These families, like a poorly divorcing couple, were not able to manage the inevitable differences that arise in human relations and accomplish a clean break; rather, the project devolved into an ugly battle, with both parties feeling offended, betrayed and wounded.

The pain of an intimate betrayal and loss can be severe and intense: blame of self and other; maligning of character; alienation and a sense of "cut-off" from what is beautiful, good and nurturing; ongoing financial and legal stress; community discontinuity. The process of such a transformative "long, dark night of the soul" can be a lonely period of Ayn, of emptiness, sorrow and grief; and the beginnings of recovery. Teshuvah work, "holy aloneness", is difficult, compelling, transformative work; when the impact of one's choices and actions are felt to be "unforgivable" by the other. Nonetheless, such personal work can result in shifting of consciousness and reconciliation desires began to emerge.

I have had to struggle through such an alchemical process to reclaim my integrity and purpose after the damage of our Santa Cruz bust. What has burst through for me is a sense of a greater resilience within that I had previously known. A sense of forgiveness and of acceptance, a spirit of love and reconciliation, a redemptive longing and intensity has emerged as a clear prism, a healing gift from the ashes of destruction. It is akin to the greatest loss of my parents' lives, similar to the legacy Frankel has had to transmute -- the traumatic devastations of the Holocaust. Survival from such traumatic ordeals, when skillfully processed and integrated from a psychologically grounded and spiritually centered perspective, can engender tremendous compassion, humbly connecting us with the entirety of the human condition; liberation, as with my father's release from Buchenwald, is akin to the Exodus from Egypt and is thereby suggestive of ultimate human redemption.

Thus, painful, traumatic initiations can inform psychotherapeutic work and inspire spiritual development. I know now that the resource of resilience exists within me, spiritually, which I can embody in my life and offer whole-heartedly to my clients and. I have succeeded at "mining the meaning" and of evolving to a point of "meaning without blame" - Frankel draws out a new paradigm based on old myths, a "teleological perspective" that asks us to ask of our suffering:

"*Where is this experience potentially taking me, and who might I become as a result?"
"*How can I grow by being fully present to my experience?" and
"*What is God revealing to me through this particular revelation of divinity known as illness?"

One travels through Frankel's book slowly, chewing on the ideas, myths and stories and digesting the insights and teachings in a moment to moment way.
Profound truths can be suggested and coaxed into life - Frankel's book breathes life into transformative spiritual processes, suggesting that we often need journey through initiatory experiences that chose us, alive and kicking, towards our greater wholeness.

Behind the scholarly title Sacred Therapy: Jewish Spiritual Teachings on Emotional Healing and Inner Wholeness is a book I found to be entertaining, informative, and comforting.

The format of Sacred Therapy lays out a field I can easily navigate. Author and therapist Estelle Frankel defines terms and sets a course that weaves personal context through the primary Jewish mystical map: to see ourselves as imperfect (but perfect-able) vessels of light; working through healing and rebirth; and, finally, becoming a whole and integrated person. Frankel writes conversationally and cuts to the chase in the first chapter: just as the universe was scattered in its inception, so are we like shattered vessels. Looking at our lives, we can relate to the Kaballistic paradigm and begin to love our imperfect selves while we work to reassemble our emotional parts into wholeness.

I've always found deciphering and distilling wisdom I can use from the Kaballah an esoteric and many-layered task. Similarly, the writings of Hassidic mystics have often seemed like they belong to another time. Frankel compares elements of our personal stories, the aspects which trouble or confuse us, with historical and mythical characters whose narratives parallel ours when viewed through a mystical prism. In my case, the death of my granddaughter, something I can't ever imagine "getting over" was addressed in the Hassidic perspective on an unexpected need to reconnect after loss.

Even if I weren't looking for a message I could specifically use, I would have found Sacred Therapy riveting for its success in making Jewish mysticism understandable and helpful in my not-very-organized efforts to get my own shattered psychic parts back into a lovely vessel.

This book shifted my view of my life. My Jewish background is very rich in knowledge, learning and practice. Yet this book changed me in very meaningful ways. Estelle Frankel discusses her own life, her struggles and insights in such a generous and giving manner that it's as though she's giving the reader a gift, the gift of inviting you to gently examine your own life, your own belief system, your own relationships. By relationships, I mean with other people, with yourself and with God. Yes, the operative word is "gently". There is no hard challenge, no daring, just a gentle invitation to look inside, make discoveries and consider new ways. I love this book and I highly recommend it, no matter where you are on your personal or spiritual path.

Sacred Therapy is the most acessible book I have read on Jewish Mysticism and healing. Estelle interweaves stories from Jewish mysitical tradition with the real struggles of what it means to be human living in the world. Her writing goes straight into the heart. It is a companion for all those who wish to connect with the divine and make the most out of life with all of its trials and joys.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the union between Jewish philosophy and psychology. The author bases her psychological discussion on kabalistic thought and beautifully weaved in stories from the Torah through which our personal stories and experience emerge and become meaningful. She also includes meditations and exercises that help to integrate the material. This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the relationship between spirituality and the psyche.

Everytime I read this book, it helps me deal with stress and setbacks that I am going through. I am buying several copies as gifts, it is helpful to most people to help them learn how to deal with everyday life disappointments and to learn to grow, to heal and evolve into the best we can be.

Estelle Frankel's Sacred Therapy is a groundbreaking book in the new field of Spiritual Guidance. She explains the major concepts in Kabbalistic mysticism and creatively applies them to one's life; she also includes many examples from her own psychotherapy practice. This is a book for professionals and those studying to learn these concepts and to apply them to their daily life. It extends and updates the historical concepts laid out by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Frankel's meditative exercises allow the reader to experience the esoteric elements personally.

I have used this book twice in its short history on my bookshelf. This spring I used her as a example in an academic paper on Jewish women's spirituality and its syncretism with Asian paths; Frankel readily admits to having studied Buddhism and how it opened many concepts in Judaism for her, especially the idea of Ayn Sof, a holy name for God meaning "without end." Presently for a workshop at Hofstra university in August, I will be quoting her concise explanations regarding the four worlds of being: Assiyah: action/actualization - the physical realm; Yetzirah: formation - the emotional realm; Beriah: creation - the Thinking Realm; and Atzilut - emanation - the spirit realm. After explaining how the worlds relate to the mystical idea of the Sephirot, which she explains describes "the progression or process of divine unfolding from infinite being to finite reality." In other words, the Creation story. She also applies the four worlds to Jewish liturgy and to Jungian principles as well.

Rosie Rosenzweig, Resident Scholar in Women's Studies, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA