Searching for God a route to wellness

Parasha Vayetzei

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.

Dr. Michael Mantell
For Shabbat, Dec. 8, 2019

SAN DIEGO — In this week’s parasha, Vayetzei, we learn quite a bit about spirituality, how we can find a deeper, broader meaning in life. In Genesis 28:17 Jacob proclaims, “How awe-inspiring is this place! This is none other than the house of G-d, and this is the gate of heaven!”

When was the last time you felt awe inspired, recognizing the house of G-d wherever you may be? We learn from this pasuk that Hashem is wherever we search for him, and nowhere when we don’t, as the Kotzker Rabbi taught when he noted that “G-d is wherever we let G-d in.”

This is an important step, perhaps the key step, to finding meaning in life. Jacob’s “ladder,” the one he climbs to search for the presence of G-d, like so many of ours, is a admittedly a bit fragile. Whether our “ladder” is a prayer book, a rabbi, a friend, a coach, or a class, when we take steps upward, it can help provide us with a firmer anchor for our faith and spirituality.

When we, as Jacob, seek a meaningful link with something bigger than ourselves, our emotional life is fueled with positivity, with peace, contentment, and acceptance.

Contemporary psychological insight teaches that in the face of real life challenges, turning inward, growing in spirituality, will undoubtedly help us deal with more propelling force. Awe, love, trust (faith), compassion, gratitude, forgiveness, joy, and hope constitute what current day mental-health professionals see as constituting spirituality. You see, many practices recommended to grow spirituality also improve emotional wellbeing. The two, after all, overlap.

As Albert Schweitzer (1947), a deeply religious physician and an integrative scientist maintained, “Man can no longer live for himself alone. We realize that all life is valuable, and that we are united to this life. From this knowledge comes our spiritual relationship to the universe.”

This parasha comes at a time that is critically important for our personal and societal benefit. We’ve diminished the value of prayer, of spirituality ruchniyot, of connecting with others beyond the superficial.

These five questions, particularly at the point of need in the face of life’s challenging moments will help you grow your spirituality, ascend your ladder:

  1. Ask yourself, “Am I a good person?”
  2. Ask yourself, “What’s the meaning of my suffering?”
  3. Ask yourself, “What’s my connection to the world around me?”
  4. Ask yourself, “Do I believe things happen for a reason?”
  5. Ask yourself, “How can I live my life in the best possible way?

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Dr. Mantell writes a d’var Torah each week for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship.