66: Free Choice - Use It Wisely | Rabbi Shais Taub

Ebb and Flow with Solomon Ezra

Topics of Discussion & Show Notes

Rabbi Taub's background that led to becoming a well known, influential Rabbi

1. and how it led to writing God of our Understanding
2. "fascinated by human insights found in Torah, especially Chassidic teachings, and what they teach us about how people work... and how we can best fit ourselves for service."
3. At age of 20 he came across the Book of Tanya, by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi the founder of Chabad. He felt like an observer and wanted to become more of a student of life.

Obvious to you. Amazing to Others -- Derek Sivers

The Book of Tanya as a way to understand reality & How he cultivated the perspective he shares

we intuitively sense the truth and the genius is in how to give it the proper words.

1. Personalizing information & keys to happiness
2. Tanya is about distinguishing between emotions and behaviors
3. "The AR classifies thought as a behavior. There's impulse for thought, which we can't really control... but we can control what we think about."

what are we going to choose to meditate on. I can't choose what I think of, but I can choose what I think about.

Wisdom compared with Torah Wisdom

The Wisdom of Maimonides: Truth is independent of its presenter (Mishneh Torah, book 14, treatise 17, 24:1)

"Go to your faith tradition - if you're not finding it compelling. It probably hasn't been presented properly to you."

"If you have a jewish soul, then your soul is going to be compatible with a jewish spiritual path."

God of Our Understanding & Addiction

Defining Addiction and how it is a state of being; and the process of breaking (releasing) habits

1. how to get out of addiction if someone is using holy objects as escape from reality?
2. Differentiating a religious observant life with insulating oneself
3. Religion can be misused - turning religion another form of self-medication

SoulWords.org

It's all about language. Soul is the abstract. Words are the containers... self limitation is ironically self expressive

1. Class Series - Essence of Chassidus
2. Tanya + Map
3. Parsha, Holidays

To check out more about Rabbi Taub head over to

https://www.soulwords.org/about/ or

https://www.instagram.com/rabbi_shais_taub/

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