The second level of the Healing Pathways model is the human personality. The human personality is varied and richly complex; it includes 72 individual traits (see Kuntres Shivim Kochot Ha’Adam LehaGra, by Rav Yaakov Mordechai Greenwald). These 72 traits fall within ten energetic categories:
1. Potential
2. Elemental
3. Temperaments
4. Centering
5. Developmental
6. Sensory
7. Emotional
8. Integrative
9. Focusing
10. Intellectual
These traits represent the various abilities and talents God has given man as the means through which to connect with and actualize his potential. They allow him to process stimuli from the environment to strengthen and enhance his essential self, and they enable him to project his individual perceptions out to the world, allowing him to influence his environment in positive ways and to achieve his unique purpose in life.
In our discussions of these traits, we employ the concept of energy. Energy is defined as a force that, while not material, can be directed by and cloaked within the material. Electrical energy, for example, is not material, but if someone touches a live wire he will feel that energy in the shock he gets. The energy of love is not tangible, but it can be experienced in a warm glance or a hug.
Category One – Potential States
This category includes the traits of: 1: Negation; 2: Primal Matter; 3: Primal Form
In our presentation of the elements that constitute environment (the first level of the Healing Pathways model), we explained that the first category of environment is essence, which represents our ability to connect to our infinite potential. In the human psyche, connecting to one’s potential requires three separate states of mind:
Step 1: Negation
Pure potential is beyond energy and form as we know it. An idea that someone will think of a year from now does not currently exist in his perception. Although the idea is definitely rooted in his soul and eventually will be part of the energy he will draw into the world, it is not accessible to him at this point in time.
Accessing pure potential requires a person to rise above his current perceptions and limitations and enter a different dimension, which lies beyond the confines of his current mind-set. In order to be willing to enter a different state of being so as to connect to ideas that are thus far pure potential requires negation. Negation is a person’s human ability to let go of the self-imposed limitations of his mind and imagination and open himself up to levels he does not yet understand or comprehend, but that he merely senses to be there.
After Naftali began to experience success in his business, he became more open to new possibilities. Whereas his initial feeling was to limit his business to a level in which he could maintain complete control, he understood that in order for his business to grow, he would need to delegate responsibility to trustworthy, reliable individuals. Due to his new mindset, Naftali today manages a business empire that operates on two continents.
Step 2: Primal Matter
In order for potential to be conceivable and useful, it must be given both energy and form. In the negation stage, the pure potential lacks both energy and form. As potential begins to become actualized, it receives an energy of potential, which allows the potential to be channeled to any particular direction that the recipient desires. This stage of potential is known as primal matter. (see Sefer Habris – Introduction).
As a man with diverse talents and broad life-experience, Naftali had a wide range of dynamic ideas and concepts that he felt could be used to develop a successful business. Some of his ideas had nothing whatsoever to do with the others. For at least a month Naftali considered his various possibilities and spoke with a number of trusted colleagues before making the decision that would determine the direction that his business would follow for years to come.
Step 3: Primal Form
In the final stage of potential, the energy of potential is channeled along a specific form and direction. At this stage the potential gains definition and is ready for actualization. This stage of potential is called the primal form.
Recognizing that people always need to eat, and believing strongly that food should be both healthy and delicious, Naftali used his background in culinary science and biophysics to create a broad array of healthy snacks that won the hearts [and taste buds] of consumers everywhere.
Category Two – Elemental States
This category includes the traits of: 4/5: Fire; 6/7: Air; 8/9: Water; 10: Earth Though potential that has both energy and form is usable and can be directed, it cannot be experienced until it takes on a tangible material form. After God created the three levels of potential (negation, primal matter and primal form), He proceeded to the next step and created energetic building blocks, which were used to generate the world as we know it. These building blocks are known to us as the four basic elements of fire, air, water and earth. Blended together in harmonious unity, they serve as the basis for all levels of creation: inanimate objects, flora, the animal kingdom and mankind.
Each of the elements exists both in physical form and as energy. Fire exists in the flame we use for cooking, or in the glow of a coal. But fire also exists as the energy in the fiery prayer of a devout Jew, devoted completely, body and soul, to his Creator; fire exists in heated discussions between study partners struggling to understand a
difficult topic in the Talmud, or in the internal glow of a fire opal.
Air manifests physically as it supports a speeding jet, and as the air we breathe. It also shows up as a spaciness found in the human personality. On the physical level, we drink and wash with water. 
On an energetic level, water represents our desire for growth and development. The physical earth provides us with place and stability, while earth-energy gives us a sense of cohesiveness and the magnetism to draw others close to us.
Category Three – States of Temperament
This category includes the traits of: 11: Warmth; 12: Coolness; 13: Wet; 14:Dry
When the four elements – fire, air, water and earth – blend together, they manifest certain essential physical and energetic properties, known as temperaments, which influence our world and how we relate to it. These four temperaments are 1) warmth, 2) coolness, 3) wetness and 4) dryness. Warmth can emanate from a flame, or from the closeness we feel from a loved one. Coolness can be sensed while holding a snowball, and also from the aloofness we feel from someone who rejects us. Wetness binds physical matter; for instance, water mixed with sand makes cement, and liquid mixed with flour creates dough. Energetically, wetness unifies and harmonizes, providing the catalyst to cement relationships, binding us together and uniting different forces. Dryness can be experienced as a lack of humidity on a hot, arid day, or in the biting, cynical or insensitive energy of dry humor.
Category Four – Centering Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 15: Integration; 16: Balance; 17: Change
Once the energetic building blocks of the world are in place, it is necessary to combine them in various ways in order to maximize their creative potential. The energies that bind these forces together are known as the centering energy states.
Centering energy is connected to the inanimate level of Creation. The essence of something inanimate is such that it manifests constant internal movement through the vibration of its molecules and atoms, while outwardly it appears static and completely at rest. For us, this can represent our achieving an inner harmony that can be utilized to integrate the diverse elements of our environment and unify them with our understanding. We need to be open to all the sensory input that reaches us, yet to maintain an inner sense of balance and stability as we deal with the daily challenges we face as a result of that input, despite the presence and influence of negative external forces.
Ultimately, we need to sensitize ourselves to the ramifications of these outside influences, to be open to positive adaptation and to the change that our environment demands. The constant lapping of ocean waves on broken, jagged fragments of a Coca Cola bottle will eventually reconfigure the glass into smooth round pebbles, offering minimal resistance to the force of the water. The glass will maintain its internal integrity as glass while adjusting itself to the demands of its new environment. So too, the daily challenges we face are geared to help us move in the new directions that we need for positive self-growth.
Category Five – Growth-Oriented Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 18: Receptive Energy; 19: Holding Energy; 20: Digestive Energy; 21: Distinguishing Energy; 22: Rejective Energy; 23: Growth Energy; 24: Reproductive Energy
Once our energy is centered, it is time to direct ourselves toward positive goals that generate creative growth. This is accomplished by the growth-oriented energy states. Growth-oriented energy states are those aspects of the human personality that allow a person to take an experience from his environment, connect to the meaning of the stimuli, internalize it, decide which aspects of the experience are valuable to him personally, and use them for positive self-growth. At the same time, the person discerns which aspects of the experience are negative or toxic, or potentially so, on some level, whether physical, emotional, mental or spiritual, and learns to discard them quickly, effectively and completely.
A husband may return from work one day to find his wife on the warpath, having had an emotionally draining day. He finds himself on the receiving end of a barrage of accusations and complaints, including some of the regular ones he has heard before plus some new ones thrown in for variety. It is even possible that some of her comments address valid issues, even though her chosen means of communication is not ideal for gaining her spouse’s optimum state of receptiveness.
Growth energy in balance will allow the husband to: 1) listen to the emotional onslaught with sensitivity to his wife’s need to express herself, opening himself to receive her message; 2) create a temporary safe energetic space to hold the experience at an emotional distance, in order to process the encounter; 3) digest what has been said; 4) distinguish between which remarks are valuable and require positive action on his part (i.e., the valid comments) and which parts of the outburst should be disregarded and discarded because they have no basis in reality (i.e., the emotional comments that serve only to reflect the wife’s difficult day); 5) move what is valuable from temporary storage into his conscious mind, to be worked on and improved as best he can while rejecting emotional negativity from his subconscious mind before it damages him or his relationship with his wife.
These initial five states make up the first stage of the growth process. The second stage involves the ability to make the changes that will allow physical, emotional, mental and spiritual improvement and growth while connecting to one’s full potential. The third and final stage in growth energy is reproductive – to produce “offspring” in the form of positive actions that result from the internalized change; “the principal offspring of the righteous are good deeds” (Rashi, Bereishis 6:9).
Category Six – Sensory-Based Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 25/26: Sight; 27/28: Hearing; 29/30: Smell; 31/32: Taste; 33/34: Touch; 35: Imagination; 36: Sensory Stacking; 37: Storage; 38: Creative Thought; 39: Memory
Once we establish our ability to grow from our experiences, the next step is to be sensitive to our environment – to pick up on the essential cues that God sends us. For that purpose, we have been provided with sensory-based energy states.
Sensory-based energy provides us with the means for accessing experiences and meaning from our surroundings. There are five senses which, like the elements, contain both physical and energetic aspects.
The sense of sight includes both what we see with our physical eyes and what we perceive with our mind’s eye, our intuition and telepathy. For a Jew, the most important eyes are the eyes of emunah, faith, which allow us to glimpse the infinite truth of God and His supreme love for us.
Hearing is the ability to hear what another person is saying or to hear a car coming down the road even before it can be seen. Hearing also includes the ability to understand clearly what the speaker wants, or, in the case of the car, to sense the threat inherent in the nearness of the sound and to take proper steps to ensure the safety of everyone concerned.
The sense of smell attracts us to the sweet fragrance of a spring blossom and repels us from the foul odor of food that has gone bad. More importantly, smell is the ability to sense what is holy and what is not (Sotah 68a). Energetic smell is the ability to sense right as opposed to wrong, the feeling of a “red warning light” in a situation that could prove harmful even though the problem is not apparent and cannot be perceived either visually or aurally.
Taste is pure connection. Whether tasting food, love, Torah or one’s relationship to God, on either the physical level or the spiritual-energetic level, taste reveals the true essence of the experience on the deepest level. An orange can be described by the way it looks, how it smells, or by its anatomic and chemical structure, but to describe it in any of these ways is not to truly experience the orange. The moment the first juicy segment enters a person’s mouth, however, he experiences the tangy-sweet refreshing taste and feeling, and he knows what an orange is all about! The taste may not be describable, but it represents true knowledge and connection.
Touch is nurturing. We bond with a newborn baby by holding her, hugging her, kissing her. Each of these forms of caress tells the baby in the most meaningful language possible that, “You are not alone; there is someone who loves you more than anything. You are loved and accepted just as you are, 100 percent unconditionally. You are so special to me!” Touch is unique since, in our current state of existence, it is the only sense that is experienced in every limb, sinew and cell of the body and soul. Love can be conveyed by a gentle caress, by a tender glance of the eyes or by a caring, soothing tone of voice. On the other hand, a thoughtless word or an angry slap, God forbid, can devastate someone we love, wreaking havoc with their self-esteem and sense of self-worth and smashing their positive motivation.
To enable us to truly benefit from sensory input, God augmented our senses with five additional abilities: 1) imagination; 2) sensory stacking; 3) storage; 4) creative thought; and 5) memory.
In man, there exist two distinct types of mental processes: intellect and imagination. Intellect is non-sensory, logical and unemotional. Intellect is used to understand abstract ideas, such as mathematics or spiritual concepts (for instance, God, or angels), which are not tangible. Imagination, on the other hand, is a totally sensory-based mental process. As such, it is totally unbounded, completely divorced from logic and objective reality. One can imagine absolutely anything, no matter how absurd. For example, imagine a pink elephant with wings, flying through the air and eating sherbet while reading the latest report on “The world elephant crisis and the Jews.”
When it comes to intellect, everyone is limited by his capacity to digest certain concepts. Intellectual capacities range from a simple child struggling to comprehend his physical surroundings, to a great sage who can understand all the revealed and hidden aspects of Creation. And yet there is always a limit to intellect. Not so with emotions, which can, it seems, be experienced without limit, to the point that they can engulf a person in intense waves of feeling that are sometimes beyond his capacity to deal with. King David declared emphatically (Psalms 139:22), “I hated the wicked without limit!” If this was true for his hatred, imagine how boundlessly great was his love for the righteous!
Nevertheless, an emotion can be held in check, either by intellect or by the opposite emotion – its “anti-emotion.” The capacity to hope and aspire to a given goal can be limited by the rational mind informing us of all the obstacles in our way, or by the tendency to fall into hopelessness due to low self-image, or by negative feelings and fears that our yearning will be ignored, God forbid, by Heaven and is therefore not worth the effort. Love for God can be limited by feelings of disconnection that lead to self-doubt over whether the love one feels is truly real or whether it is merely hopeful imagination.
On the positive side, lust for certain inappropriate desires can be limited by rejecting an indulgence that goes too far beyond normal boundaries. Most people enjoy the food at a festive banquet, but if at the banquet they would see someone stuffing himself greedily with enough food for four banquets, then the feeling of those viewing that person would be disgust, not desire. Participation in the eating process creates specific mental pictures, relative to which a certain amount of consumption arouses within the individual an attraction to food, whereas a disproportionately high level of consumption generates a sense of disgust.
These mental pictures are known as imagination. Our imagination allows us to create mental images that compare one experience (eating to satisfaction) with an alternate experience (overeating).
True sensory expression requires the ability to use more than one sense at a time. Imagine how much your sense of satisfaction would decrease if you could not see the steak on the plate as you ate it. Imagine if you could only taste the food you eat but could not smell it or feel its texture in your mouth. Your capacity to enjoy that food would be greatly diminished. Our Sages teach that even though the manna that the Jews consumed in the desert was a delicious and totally spiritual food, and it could taste like anything the person desired, still, the fact that the person did not actually see the food he wanted would cause him to feel a lack of satisfaction (Yoma 74b). Our ability to stack sensory experiences together is what enables us to experience the full extent of sensory expression.
As we go through life, we accumulate a huge variety of life experiences. We learn from these experiences and use them to make decisions that affect our future in both positive and negative ways. Imagine how difficult life would be if there were no way to store the life-information that we already accumulated, if the message of each experience had to be relearned each time we encountered a similar situation to one we experienced previously; think of all that wasted time and effort. God has blessed us with the ability to store within ourselves everything we experience, from conception until the present time.
Storage capacity alone, however, is not sufficient. We need to be able to retrieve any needed experience from mental storage at a moment’s notice when necessary if our stored concepts are to prove useful. Therefore, God gave us memory – our ability to access stored past experiences and apply them to new situations and, when no longer needed, to return the experience to storage.
Even with the capacity to store multiple sensory experiences in our brain and to recapture them when necessary in the form of mental images, these images would be totally useless without the ability to use them to formulate productive plans of action in life. Therefore, G-d gave us the ability to think creatively. Creative thought allows us to take our various life experiences, create mental pictures, and guide these pictures toward a given goal. The power of creative thought is immense; when focused, it acts like a laser beam, cutting through all obstacles that stand in the way of a desired goal.
In a non-focused mode, creative thought provides a mild, soothing light of awareness, much as the diffused light of a 100-watt bulb fills an entire room with gentle, useful light.
Category Seven – Emotional Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 40: Love; 41: Delight; 42: Pleasure; 43: Courage; 44: Anticipation; 45: Willing; 46: Hate; 47: Rejection; 48: Sadness; 49: Fear; 50: Hopelessness; 51: Anger
Once we have the ability to obtain sensory input from the world, G-d wishes to bestow on us the tremendous gift of being able to experience feelings and emotions. Indeed, the visual splendor of a radiant sunset would be totally lost on us if the beauty did not register within our emotional selves.
Emotional states speak to the heart of man. Emotion is “E” (energy) in motion. Emotions flow from state to state, lending color and flavor to what might otherwise be a dry, drab existence.
Emotional states exist in six energetic pairs; each member of the pair has a complementary “anti-emotion.”
| 40 | Love | versus | 46 | Hate |
| 41 | Delight | versus | 47 | Rejection |
| 42 | Pleasure | versus | 48 | Sadness |
| 43 | Courage | versus | 49 | Fear |
| 44 | Anticipation | versus | 50 | Hopelessness |
| 45 | Willing | versus | 51 | Anger |
When our emotions are in balance they give us direction and motivation. When they are out of balance, they misdirect and confuse our minds, turning sweet into bitter and good into bad. Every emotion has a place in the balanced individual. To hate what is evil is just as important as to love truth. It is essential that we desire God, Torah and mitzvos, but that is no less essential than choosing to reject the false or misguided desires of this world.
Love and Hate
Love is the epitome of the positive emotional experience. Love is oneness; it is the feeling of being totally connected to another person or to God. Connecting through love brings acceptance, attunement and the ability to overlook shortcomings, as the verse states (Proverbs 10:12), “Love covers all iniquity.” Despite the awareness of flaws in the object of one’s affection, true love brings a deep sense of inner peace and calmness. Love is the element of water that is in balance, nurturing growth and development in all areas of human perception.
Hate, the opposite of love, is disconnection; it is distrust, in both mind and heart, of someone else. Hate is opposition and indifference to another person’s mind-set, feelings and/or beliefs. From hate bursts forth antagonism and hostility.
Although hate may seem like a negative emotion, in truth its energy is identical to the energy of love; it is just dressed a little differently. Love cannot exist without hate. To truly love God passionately, one must hate falsehood with the same intensity. If someone compromises regarding evil, then to the same extent that he has compromised and allowed evil into his sphere of acceptance, his love for God will be lacking. A love of things other than God (except for those relationships and things that God commanded us to love) will diminish our love for G-d to the extent that we are involved in those other things.
Delight and Rejection
Delight is our capacity to aspire to and desire a given object, relationship or goal. Delight is important in that each person comes to this world with a given purpose. Since we don’t necessarily know what that purpose is, and the world is very complicated and confusing, God guides us toward where we need to go by directing our desires, in addition to directing the other capabilities we possess. Our soul is shown a brief glimpse of the spiritual light in a given object, person or situation, and then the soul ignites with a fiery desire to connect that light to his or her entire being. The desire will then cloak itself in the physical through our material needs, giving us the necessary motivation to strive toward achieving that goal or relationship.
In high school I met a very special person. From the beginning, I experienced a pleasant feeling of inner awareness of being connected to him. The feeling was totally different from what I felt when I first met anyone else. With that awareness came a tremendous desire to see and spend time with him, in order to study and learn from his exemplary behavior. We formed a close friendship and I learned a great deal from him, spurring me to seek deeper connection to God and Judaism, until life moved us in different directions.
There is a distinct difference between love and delight. True love is a pure and lofty feeling of total connection, unadulterated by personal agendas and not conditional on any gain we receive from the loved one. Delight, on the other hand, is love that is dependent on personal interest and desire. Desire is the yearning for a particular gain that can be achieved only with the person or object one loves – even if that desired benefit is love itself.
Rejection opposes delight. Whereas hate is directed toward the very essence of something, someone or some action, rejection is the realization that there exists a harmful situation or relationship that must be removed from the environment, in order to assure our own or our family’s safety and/or well-being. If a child vomits on a bus, for instance, it might arouse feelings of disgust and revulsion, but at the same time there is an inner awareness that it is far better that the toxins be on the floor of the bus rather than inside the child’s body. Although rejection may lead to feelings of disgust and unacceptability, either toward oneself or others, if they are channeled positively, such feelings can be directed toward repentance and self-improvement.
Pleasure and Sadness
Pleasure is described by our Sages (Raavad on Sefer Yetzirah 2:4) as the highest form of good. Pleasure comes when we connect to our essential purpose and potential in this world, and it provides a glimpse of the good that God has in store for us in the World to Come. To understand this, let us take a look at some of the common pleasures of life.
1: The Pleasure of Eating:
Food is life-giving – food connects the body and soul: if we do not eat, eventually we will die of starvation. The life force present in food is multidimensional. There is the physical nature of the food, which includes the various nutrients that the body uses to sustain itself, and there is the spiritual nature of the food, found in the sparks of holiness hidden within the food, which provide the spiritual source of the food’s nature, flavor, scent and texture. When we eat, our body partakes of the physical aspect of the food to support, sustain and build itself.
The soul, however, rejoices with the spiritual dimension of the food, utilizing the hidden holiness it contains in order to enhance understanding and fulfillment of the Torah. The sparks themselves do not suffer from the seeming destruction of the food as we consume it, for when the person utters a blessing over the food before eating it, he elevates these sparks from their physical garb and reconnects them to God, thereby fulfilling their purpose and destiny. This holy union between the physical and spiritual dimensions of the food allows us to connect our physical perception to spiritual reality. These sparks, the manifestation of God’s Oneness and pure holiness, give us the sense of pleasure we derive from eating (Likutei Moharan I – Torah 75).
2: The Pleasure of Money:
The beautiful colors of gold, silver and copper, the metals that have been used universally for coinage throughout the centuries, have a spiritual source known as the supernal colors (ibid., 25). The experience of deep inner peace we feel while gazing at a spectacular sunset, which reflects the spectrum of golds, oranges and reds, or the experience of renewal while viewing a field of freshly bloomed wildflowers, shows the tremendous power of color to influence our mood positively and to provide a fresh, positive mind-set. This is true even when the spiritual light of color is cloaked in a physical casing of metals or plant matter, and even more so when someone has the direct experience of the unadulterated glory of the spiritual light.
Money comes from the same spiritual root as does the soul (ibid., 68), representing our desire for achievement. Money contains the spiritual essence of the supernal colors and thus serves as a source of interaction between individuals. When people wish to share holiness, or to pass spiritual sparks from one person to another, they do so by using money or possessions. The deep satisfaction or joy a person experiences upon receiving money derives not from the physical aspect of the money but from the spiritual light that it contains. Both giver and receiver sense that a vital connection has been made, raising the holy sparks through their mutual interaction and reconnecting them to God’s infinite essence. This inner awareness of completeness is the true source of the pleasure that money holds.
3: The Pleasure of Connection:
When we interact with another person, whether it is with a physical connection through touch or with a verbal communication, the shared experience releases creative light, caused by the union of the two souls interacting (Taam Eitzah on Mishnas Chassidim, Introduction). When two different spiritual lights (in this case, two souls) connect together, a third light is created by the union. This creative or procreative revelation of a new light of God’s essence brings great pleasure in all the worlds and is reflected by the pleasure we feel from the union.
4: The Pleasure of Honor:
Everything in the world was created to manifest the glory of the Creator (Yeshayah 43:7). The higher the level of the creation, the more elevated and divine is the honor that creation reveals. Since the root of the human soul derives from the honor of God (Likutei Moharan I – Torah 37), the soul’s desire to be respected and admired is a direct consequence of the soul’s yearning to exalt God. When we take responsibility in this world to set productive goals and then to accomplish them, we earn the respect of our peers. When we help others, we receive their gratitude and esteem. The reputation we earn makes us feel worthy, but on a deeper level, our satisfaction reflects our connection to our Creator, Who is the true altruistic Giver. When some accomplishment or kindness of ours sanctifies the honor of God, we share in the special delight God has as a result of our wish to revere Him. This is manifest as the special pleasure we feel at that moment. Even when our intention in doing the good deed is not necessarily to exalt God, we still feel pleasure, since all our actions are ultimately part of the divine plan to bring glory to God.
These four examples of types of pleasure (eating, money, connection and honor) are raised to the pinnacle of perfection when we eat, earn money, interact with others and accomplish specifically in order to connect with God, the Source of all pleasure. When we align ourselves with the inner meaning of each pleasurable experience and use it to connect strongly with our Creator, then the pleasure in the experience is capable of bringing us to high levels of perfection.
Sadness is inner turmoil, a lack of inner peace, which results from feelings of grief, guilt, discouragement or feeling unacceptable to oneself or to others. Sadness may lead to self-punishing or self-destructive behaviors, or to feelings of betrayal and hopelessness. However, there is a positive form of sadness, known as a broken heart, which both heals and brings balance and harmony to a person. When someone expresses before his Creator his brokenhearted state, it is because he feels that his actions have not been up to par with his infinite potential. He approaches God humbly, with shame, supplicating God for a chance to make amends. As a result of his sincere repentance, this person becomes cleansed and ready to truly actualize himself.
Courage and Fear
Courage is assurance, an inner strength and trust within a person’s heart that he can set personal goals and overcome all challenges in order to achieve them. Once established, assurance serves as a state of inner strength that is constant and consistent over time, resulting in motivation and a feeling of self-protection.
Fear is based in one’s perception. Fear thrives when the imagination perceives a future event in a negative light and connects the event to other situations that have proved harmful in the past. Someone’s negative perception of a situation or person can result in fear being aroused within him. Fear can be the feeling that a given situation is alarming and potentially harmful; one example would be if one is being approached by a fierce dog, and one has seen, experienced, read or heard about someone being attacked by a dog like this.
Anticipation and Hopelessness
Anticipation can be connected to an expectation, or it can take the form of hope; hope is anticipation without any expectations. Positive anticipation actually has the power to create favorable results. If you believe that all will be well, it is likely that this will be the case.
As a young man, a well-known Rav enjoyed a close relationship with the Ponovezher Rosh Yeshivah. He related that when the Ponovezh yeshivah was still a dream, the Rosh Yeshivah told him that he planned to build a yeshivah with gold doorknobs. Years later, when the yeshivah had become famous and was full of top students, this Rav asked the Rosh Yeshivah what had happened to his plan for golden doorknobs. The Rosh Yeshivah replied that when a person dreams, he should aspire to only the highest and best. This guarantees that even though he may not realize his dream in its every detail, he will accomplish more than if had formulated only modest aspirations.
When someone focuses his anticipation to achieve a certain goal, he actually connects to the spiritual root of that goal (Sichot HaRan #46, #62). His anticipation literally opens a door to actualize the fruition of his dream. Anticipation must be used carefully in order to build oneself, rather than simply to indulge in totally unrealistic expectations, since unwarranted expectations lead to disappointment and a pained heart (Berachot 32b).
Hopelessness is the loss of hope, which is due to the erroneous belief that there are situations that are inconsequential and have no intrinsic value. If we feel that our efforts are worthless, it becomes difficult to maintain a positive attitude toward life.
Rav Mendel Kaplan was once traveling to the mountains together with a student of his, when the two of them realized that they were not sure of which route to take. They noticed a group of construction workers fixing the road, and the Rav stopped the car and sent his student to ask for help. The day was extremely hot, and the exhausted laborer had no interest in helping anyone with directions. He began to curse the young man, shouting at him to “get lost!”
Rav Mendel, who was watching the scene from a distance, left the car and walked over to the fellow. Putting his hand caringly on the man’s shoulder, he gently told him, “Listen, I’m old enough to be your grandfather. Hear me out, and I’ll tell you how valuable your accomplishments are. Do you realize that because of your efforts, women who need to give birth will have a quick and easy trip to the hospital, that sick people who might otherwise lose their lives will be saved just because you fixed this road?”
Rav Mendel continued along these lines until the exhausted worker began to appreciate the tremendous value of his exertions. The man’s face lit up as he listened to these words, and, looking straight at Rav Mendel, he apologized for his rudeness. He then gave the student detailed directions, telling him what was the best route they could take to reach their destination, and he wished them a very good day.
That day, Rav Mendel taught both the worker and us that no life-situation is meaningless, that even the smallest action has important consequences.
Hopelessness can also result from setting goals that are unrealistic at the present time. This could create a situation of inevitable failure. However, our great Torah leaders have taught us that “There is never reason to give up hope!” (Likutei Moharan II – Torah 78). Nothing in life is inconsequential. Everything you are experiencing, no matter how difficult or challenging, has been sent by Heaven to build you and help you become a greater person! Nothing can stand in the way of a deep desire to achieve greatness.
The Rebbe Harav Tzadok Hakohen pointed out that the entire foundation of the Jewish nation is rooted in a situation that should have been a source of hopelessness: At the time when Sarah conceived Yitzchak, both she and Avraham were both elderly people, and no one could have believed that they would have a child, even after they had been blessed by the angel. God set up the situation specifically in this way to show that there is never any reason for anyone in this world to lose hope (Daas Sofrim 16). As taught by the Talmud (Berachot 10a), “Even if a sharp sword is resting on a person’s neck, he should continue to pray!”
Anger and Willing
Anger is fire-energy that is out of balance. When anger becomes too frequent, it represents the person’s desire to avoid responsibility. If someone’s response to a problematic situation, relationship or attribute is to become angry, then the only thing his anger accomplishes is to warn the other person not to get involved. At the same time, the angry person’s flaws remain unacknowledged and uncorrected, and this will lead to greater problems in the future.
The opposite of anger is willing. It is common to have situations in which people feel betrayed and hurt; they feel that they are not heard or understood. Wallowing in these feelings does not change the situation; it merely increases the pain one feels in the situation and weakens one’s power of positive choice. Most people have needs and desires whose fulfillment, they imagine, would give them the satisfaction and oneness they crave. But too much focus on desires or on what is lacking also undermines one’s capacity to make positive choices.
Solutions to problems occur when a person chooses to use his power of will and free choice. Actualizing this uniquely human power allows us to rise above the inertia we feel in a situation and to actively change the course of our lives. Will is one of the highest powers of man, but it is necessary for a person to manifest the power of will by taking positive actions. Making the choice to alter even one negative situation can bring in its wake tremendous changes for the better. In due time, a person can achieve all his realistic needs and desires and let go of the negative feelings that hold him down.
Category Eight – Integrative Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 52: Motion; 53-64: The Twelve Mind/Body Powers
Once we can experience the full range of the emotional spectrum, the next step is to fine-tune our ability to express ourselves effectively to God and with other people. To this end, God bestowed on man thirteen integrative energy states. The first of these states is motion, and the rest are the twelve mind/body powers.
Motion
Life is motion. The living body never stops moving, whether in the swift movement of thoughts flashing through the mind in quick succession, or in the body’s constant physical and energetic activity. In its optimum form movement can manifest grace and harmony, as in the magnificent synchrony of a deer’s body as it runs. Motion purifies the environment, ridding it of stagnation, rigidity and disconnection, via the air and sea currents that cleanse and balance the atmosphere and the vast bodies of water.
On the spiritual level, motion reflects the reality that the world is being renewed by God constantly. At every moment new spiritual light is introduced into the world (Sichot HaRan #54), guaranteeing that each moment is totally unique and can never be repeated. Every individual has a unique destiny, and in each moment he or she is given a clean slate and a fresh opportunity to succeed!
Motion as we know it is divided into three categories:
1. Orbital movement, such as the movements seen in the cycles of the sun, moon and planets;
2. Natural movement, such as the movement of plants in the wind, or the gravitational pull drawing down a falling rock or a waterfall;
3. Motion by will and choice, such as a person’s willful choice to raise an arm.
By nature, motion – whether that motion is physical or mental – produces friction and heat. As thoughts pass swiftly through the mind an energetic form of heat is created, and that heat is communicated to the heart, producing emotional arousal toward the goals that the mind seeks.
The Twelve Mind/Body Integrative Powers
The twelve mind/body integrative powers are high-level spiritual powers, which have been given to man for self-actualization. Each of them is connected to a specific part of the human anatomy. The following chart shows these twelve powers and their corresponding anatomical points [Sefer Yetzirah, ch. 4]:
| # | Integrative | Anatomical | # | Integrative | Anatomical |
| Power | Reference | Power | Reference | ||
| 53 | sight | right hand | 59 | swallowing, sleep | stomach |
| 54 | action | left hand | 60 | smell | small intestine |
| 55 | speech | right leg | 61 | turmoil | large intestine |
| 56 | mobility | left leg | 62 | intimacy | liver |
| 57 | thought | right kidney | 63 | laughter | gall bladder |
| 58 | hearing | left kidney | 64 | spleen |
These traits introduce us to the fascinating topic of energetic anatomy. It is written (Job 19:26), “And through my flesh I perceive G-d.” Every limb, organ and component of the human body has a spiritual root and source, and as such each one can teach us deep insights. In addition to its physical function in the body, every primary organ is linked to human behavior. Sight is connected to the right hand and action to the left. Speech is connected to the right leg and mobility to the left. Thought is connected to the right kidney and hearing to the left, and so on (as listed in the chart above).
Pure potential in its highest form is not tangible and is inconceivable to the human mind. However, we can relate to that potential through the energetic network we call our body. By touching a particular organ, we can connect to its spiritual potential and release the healing energy associated with that organ. This healing energy can then be directed toward specific goals and issues that have settled themselves, on an energetic level, within that specific area of the body.
The twelve integrative energies connect us to our intrinsic essential self and to our infinite potential. Let us explore them briefly in more depth:
The Hands
Our hands represent our ability to actualize ourselves through accomplishment. The right hand represents positive visual perception of ourselves and others – a vital component necessary for positive self-actualization. It is most important that we maintain an ability to see the good in life, despite seemingly negative circumstances. Someone who trains himself to look for the sunny side of every situation, even if he is restricted physically, feels unbounded and unhampered.
Years ago, a Breslover chassid who lived in Communist Russia was locked in solitary confinement for an extended period of time as punishment for helping his fellow Jews. He chose to spend his time in prison conversing with God. As a result, instead of going insane from the solitude, as his tormentors expected and even intended, when he finally left prison, he left with a completely sound mind. In fact, he actually managed to use his cruel situation to reach an extremely high spiritual plane.
The left hand represents action, the basis for accomplishment in this world. Being connected to our potential and thinking creativity are extremely important, but without the ability to actualize ourselves through positive actions, many ideas that could advance both the individual and the world at large will remain dormant and will eventually be forgotten.
The Legs
Our legs take us to where we need to go; thus they represent our ability to move forward in life to a successful and radiant future. This is true on the physical level as well as on the conceptual level. The right leg represents speech, the basis for open, beneficial communication. Conceptually, our ability to move forward is intimately connected to our ability to express ourselves verbally and to communicate in other ways. On a deeper level, the right leg represents our choice to create an inner self-talk cycle of positive self-encouragement. Just as many individuals hold themselves back due to a negative perception of themselves and their abilities, so too, consistent positive self-perception and self-encouragement can lead to actualization of all of a person’s positive personal goals.
The left leg represents mobility and the power of flexibility. Flexibility allows us to move forward in life and to achieve our positive goals without getting bogged down and stagnating as a result of excess rigidity. While it is essential for a person to have basic principles and to uphold them, too much rigidity can cause someone to become immobilized, both in thought and in action.
One of the earliest sessions I facilitated reflects this idea. I was working with a close friend, who had suffered from a difficult childhood. He did not truly believe that I could help him. Though his energy was requesting a specific visualization, on a practical level he was not able to picture the image. I made a number of attempts, working from various angles, to help him create this visualization, but finally I had to admit defeat.
After that session I called my teacher and asked what I should have done in that situation. He replied that if a client can’t work with a particular technique, even if his body asked for it, then after trying a couple of times unsuccessfully, I should just ask his body for a different technique. If he can’t visualize, try using a color or structural correction. The main thing is to flow and keep moving!
This great principle of life applies to both physical movement – the ability to travel and arrive at specific goals, and perceptual movement – the ability to enhance relationships, to grow in knowledge and to improve life-situations.
The Kidneys
Our sages teach that kidney energy represents trust (Tehillim 51:8; see Rashi), and that guidance and discernment derive from the kidneys (Shemos 29:22; see Rashi). The left kidney represents our ability to listen carefully to the messages that other individuals convey to us with their communication, and to open ourselves to the subtle nuances of meaning present in their communication. The right kidney represents thought, the capacity to ponder the subtle nuances of meaning that are present in other people’s communication, and to delve into the knowledge that we have learned in order to achieve deep understanding of what the other person wants to tell us.
In the early 1900s Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld was the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. During that time a well-known rabbi from Europe moved with his family to Israel and visited various scholars in Jerusalem. He would engage them in deep conversations, presenting them with complex questions and answers on various Torah-related topics. One day he came to visit Rav Sonnenfeld and presented several questions on a complicated topic in Jewish law.
Instead of addressing the questions, the Rav began to tell his guest about the various difficulties he himself had faced when he first came to settle in Israel. He concluded by telling his guest, “Just as God helped me get settled, so too will He help you.”
The next day Rav Sonnenfeld spoke with the lay-leaders of a certain congregation in Yerushalayim that was seeking a spiritual leader. They accepted his recommendation and appointed the new arrival as their rabbi. Overjoyed at having finally found a position, the scholar told a friend, “Rav Sonnenfeld was the only one who understood that my questions on Jewish law were really asking, “How will I provide for my family?”
The Stomach
The stomach represents digestive energy. When we eat, our initial task is to use our teeth to chew the food well. After we have chewed it the food travels to the stomach, where it is mixed with hydrochloric acid and is affected by the stomach’s contractions to create a partially digested mixture called chyme, which then passes on to the small intestine for full digestion. In a similar process, stomach-energy represents our ability to both swallow and digest complex concepts by breaking them down into comprehensible parts, which are appropriate for our level of understanding.
When people are forced to confront situations that threaten to overwhelm them, and they lack the emotional capacity to deal calmly with the challenge, they may react with anger; this type of reaction may free them temporarily from dealing with the situation. Most people tend to hold anger in their stomach, which explains the nervous “butterflies” people feel when they are overwhelmed.
Without the ability to digest, man could not benefit from the food he eats; in the same way, unless we can digest our life-experiences positively, we cannot grow from them. We need to “stomach the challenges of life” as well as to digest them, to break down each situation within our minds to its basic components and to absorb its positive aspects, both for ourselves and in order to help others. In this way, any negative situation becomes easier to handle and we are more able to utilize it to our benefit.
The Small Intestine
The small intestine represents the function of sleep, or renewal. Sleep is the energy of self-transformation and change. During sleep we enter a state of subconscious perception in which our minds are free to explore our innermost goals. Sleep is a time to renew our energy, to open ourselves to our inner state of potential, to receive new ideas and awareness, and, subconsciously, to allocate each new concept to its proper place in our conscious awareness. For this reason the best time to study a new concept or work on a problem is before sleep. While we are sleeping the mind reviews the concepts we have studied or contemplated and often comes up with solutions for the problems we encountered. When people rise in the morning they are often surprised to find that many of the quandaries with which they contended on the previous day have been resolved. This is the source of the idea that before making an important decision one should “sleep on it”!
The small intestine serves the essential function of receiving the partially digested food from the stomach and completing the digestion process by absorbing all the beneficial nutrients into the bloodstream to sustain and heal the body. By doing so, the small intestine renews the body and maintains its connection to the soul. After all the beneficial nutrients of the food have been removed, the small intestine passes the superfluous material to the large intestine, which moves these toxins out of the body.
Energetically, small-intestine-energy is the ability to accept good, whether it be the good within ourselves, the good within others or the good in the world at large. This is no small task, since many individuals who experienced trauma early in life are so accustomed to seeing themselves and the world in a negative light and with pessimistic expectations that they can no longer recognize good, even when it is handed to them as a gift. Even if, intellectually or on some conscious level, they admit that there is good in life, emotionally and energetically they may sabotage the good and convert it into the negative energy they feel comfortable with.
The Large Intestine
The sense of smell, the ability to sense the scent emanating from a given object, is connected to the large intestine. Smell provides awareness of a substance even before the actual essence of the substance is experienced; it is a sort of spiritual barometer. When we learn Torah or pray, or when we perform other mitzvos, the sense of holiness we may experience is a mere whiff of the infinitely deep satisfaction that our good deeds cause in all the spiritual worlds.
In the body, the function of the large intestine is to excrete the toxic wastes that the digested food produces after all the useful nutrients have been absorbed through the small intestines. Energetically, large-intestine-energy is the recognition of the emotional and energetic toxins that block access to and utilization of the person’s inner spiritual powers. This includes one’s willingness to rid the body of these toxins – toxins such as negative stress and negative perceptions – by forcing them out of the system before they harm us by damaging our growth and relationships. Large-intestine-energy allows us to forgive ourselves and others for the mistakes we or they have made and to move on in life without giving negative past experiences the chance to hold us back.
The Liver
The liver represents the energy of turmoil. The liver, which is hot fire-energy (Yaavetz, Migdal Oz, Neveh Chacham, chalon 2), breaks down nutrients into useful compounds, which the body distributes as needed. The power of integrative turmoil, a balance of constructive anger mixed with fear, enables an individual to confront the challenges of life, as well as his own inner negativity, and to conquer them successfully (Berachos 5a). If a person recognizes that he is engaged in negative self-talk patterns that confuse and misguide him, he can realign himself with his true inner potential. He can achieve this by blocking these self-defeating patterns immediately, through integrating anger and fear: anger against his nonproductive negativity and fear of its destructive ramifications. Once he is realigned with his intrinsic essential positive self, he can judge himself favorably and connect with his intrinsic inner goodness. This provides the positive motivation to return to an internal state of balance and harmony and to actually utilize his difficult tests as sources for ongoing self-perfection.
The Gallbladder
The gallbladder represents intimacy or the ability to balance what seems contradictory, for the task of the gallbladder is to calm the anger of the liver (Maseches Berachos 61b, see Rashi). Our world is full of opposites and contradictions, in which polarized aspects of creation keep each other in balance. God created male and female energy, with male representing the giving aspect of the creation and female representing the receiving aspect. All of us, whether we are male or female, have aspects of our personality and life-situations in which we serve in a masculine role of giver, and other aspects of our personality and responsibilities in which we serve in a feminine role. For example, a wife and mother may accept money from her husband (receiving) and then use it to feed her family (giving). These two opposite energies of male and female unite to create new life and opportunities, whether in the physical form of children, or through good deeds, which are called spiritual descendants (Bereishis 6:9; see Rashi).
The Spleen
The spleen serves as a major organ of our immune and defense system, and also as a filter to cleanse the blood. The blood, which carries oxygen and vital nutrients to all the organs, must be cleansed and purified constantly. On an energetic level, we must similarly cleanse the soul of all the spiritual blemishes it suffered during its sojourn in this world. The best cleansing agent in existence is joy! Spleen-energy in balance brings joy and happiness; when spleen-energy is out of balance it can serve as a catalyst for excessive worry (Tikkunei Zohar: 48), which is the opposite of contentment.
The last of the twelve body/mind powers is laughter, which is connected to spleen-energy. A sense of humor is a powerful tool for positive change. A good joke can turn a hostile audience into a captive one, ready to listen eagerly to the words of the speaker. It can dissipate the tension that causes disharmony in families, reuniting them to pursue common goals.
A certain sinner, overcome by remorse for his wayward habits, came to Rav Baruch of Mezhibuzh to seek a path of repentance. He entered of Rav Baruch’s private room and began to cry bitterly over his many sins.
“Look,” he said to the Rebbe, showing him a long list of his transgressions. “How on earth can I ever rectify all that I have done?”
Rav Baruch took the list, read the description of each wrongdoing and laughed heartily. When he finished laughing through the entire list, he told the Jew: “Your sins have all been forgiven. Just make sure that from now on to follow the proper path!”
This Jew was totally sincere and had already made an inner commitment to change his life and to be a kosher Jew. Nevertheless, he was totally overwhelmed by what he had done and could not comprehend how he could possibly rectify all the spiritual damage he had caused by his actions. His feeling of helplessness was leading him into depression, which could easily lead him to give up on his newfound commitment.
Rav Baruch therefore taught us a most valuable lesson. God has infinite mercy and eagerly awaits the repentance of every individual. The evil inclination seeks to drag us into depression, endeavoring to convince us that we have been rejected completely and that there is no hope for return. This depressed mode can create an energetic wall between us and our Creator. But our Sages teach: “Even though the gates of prayer have been locked [for those who have sinned], the gates of tears have not been locked [as long as our tears are sincere].”
The chassidic masters taught that while tears can open the gates, profuse joy can break down the wall. The Hebrew words rov simchah (profound joy) have the same letters and numerical value as the words shoveir chomah (to break down a wall) (Heard from Rav Yehoshua Grossgart). Rav Baruch taught the message: “Do you think you have so many sins that you can’t cry sincerely enough to open the doorway to atonement? If that is the case, then be joyful, and [in that way] break down completely the barrier between yourself and God!”
Happiness is the best catalyst for motivation. Joy fills a person with the energy, enthusiasm and encouragement he needs to help him achieve all his goals. It opens his mind to positive self-talk patterns that boost self-image and the desire to succeed.
Category Nine – Focused Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 65: Desire; 66: Intelligence; 67: Thought; 68: Choice; 69: Anger; 70: Imagination
Enhancing the usefulness of the preceding sixty-four facets of the personality is the ability to focus their energy toward specific goals. Our Sages teach that the power of the mind is so immense that focusing on any goal with full concentration will attract it to us and will move it from a potential state to a state of actualization (Likutei Moharan I, Torah 193). Focused energy is our ability to direct our various mental and emotional powers along distinct pathways in order to achieve creative goals. We can direct our right-brain experiential intelligence, our left-brain creative thought, and our sensory-based imagination, as well as our emotional forces of anger, choice and desire. Integrating the intellectual with the emotional, with complete clarity and focus, allows us to achieve goals that require participation of all seventy-two facets of our personality. Staying focused on positive energy makes it easy to achieve our positive personal goals; choosing to ignore the negative protects us from getting drawn into situations and thought patterns that drag us down, since, unfortunately, negative focus itself attracts negative energy.
Category Ten – Intellectual Energy States
This category includes the traits of: 71: Abstract Intelligence; 72: Active Intelligence
These last two abilities represent the highest level of human expression. Abstract intelligence is our ability to create and develop new concepts and technology, as well as to reflect and meditate on metaphysical or conceptual ideas, be they spiritual in nature, such as God or angels, or secular, such as mathematical concepts.
When a person first learns to drive, he has to consider carefully his every move, consciously noting which foot is on the gas and which is on the clutch. With practice he eventually places his feet in the correct positions without needing to think about it. This is because his subconscious mind takes over, leaving him free to think about other matters. The ability to integrate the steps of various procedures, whether simple or complex, until they become second nature is known as active intelligence. By working together, abstract intelligence and active intelligence enable man to utilize all the other seventy facets of his personality, either in “manual” mode – via conscious choice, or in “automatic” mode – through subconscious competence and conditioning.
Active intelligence is an unbelievable gift. Imagine if you had to think about digesting your food in order to make it happen, or to think about seeing in order to see. What would happen if you had to do this with the millions of functions your body performs every minute? Your mind would be totally overwhelmed with infinite bits of information and processes, leaving you with no time to address the goals for which you were created – the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos. God gave us the subconscious mind with its wondrous ability to run us on automatic pilot with ingrained, instinctual behaviors. Thus, we remain free to serve G-d with joy and peace of mind.
This concludes the second level of the Healing Pathways model, the aspect of human personality.
