Resource Category: Jewish Connection to Mental Health

Your Guide to “Arguments for the Sake of Heaven”

In Jewish tradition, arguments with a shared goal are holy and called “arguments for the sake of heaven!” Engaging in spirited debate conveys that both sides believe in the goal and care enough to fight for it. But shared goals don’t always mean constructive conversations, and a destructive conversation can have negative ramifications on your mental health. Here are three tips to ensure your arguments for the sake of heaven stay that way.
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Searching in Our Souls: A Pre-Bedikat Chametz Meditation

Jews around the world spent the night before Passover searching their homes for any chametz, such as bread and other items not Kosher for Passover, that they may have missed, before burning or disposing of that chametz the morning before the holiday begins. This process is called "Bedikat Chametz," or searching for Chametz. Now, as you prepare to search for the chametz in your homes, let’s take a moment to meditate on the chametz in our souls that we will be releasing tomorrow when we burn that chametz, to experience the personal redemption of Passover.
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Mental Health Mishloach Manot

By Max Hollander | We don’t only preserve community by taking care of our most unfortunate community members when they need us; we do so by also showing the people in our lives we care about them even when they don’t need us. We can’t just ensure the poorest among us don't fall through the cracks; we must also strive to ensure those closest to us don't drift away. This balance between matanot l'evyonim (gifts to the poor) and mishloach manot (gifts to our friends) is what nurtures community, and community is what nurtures us in the aftermath of intense challenges and trauma.
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Jewish Responses to Traumatic Death with the Shomer Collective

What can we possibly say to a person who is grieving a traumatic death? We know too many examples of such events in our own lives, from the shock of death by suicide, to the realities of death by natural disaster, to the horror of death by terrorism, and more. And yet, too often, we are stunned into our own silence, and moreso, into our own inaction, not knowing what to say or do in response to a traumatic death in our communities.
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Staying Rooted: A Tu B’Shvat Meditation

Tu B’Shvat, also known as the New Year of the Trees, is a Jewish holiday focused on nature and humankind’s stewardship of Earth. It serves as a time to reflect on the ways we are nurturing ourselves. Like all living things, we are constantly growing and bettering ourselves. Just as we care for the trees, we also must care for ourselves. Just as we water a garden, we must also nourish ourselves. Let’s take some time to step into nature, connect with the earth and plant the seeds of our own mental wellness.
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Staying Grounded to Keep Growing

According to Jewish law, all fruit trees need to be left to grow for a three-year period ending on Tu B’Shvat, the 15th day of the month of Shvat. Then, after a ritual redemptive process in Jerusalem, we may eat the saplings of the fifth year. This process is called “Orlah.” On the surface, this long and complicated process may seem tedious and unnecessary. But if you dig a bit deeper, the law of Orlah offers us a valuable lesson about the importance of patience when undergoing growth processes.
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October 7th – The Jewish Collective Trauma Response

By Talya Gordon | I don’t have the answers for how or even if we will be okay. Right now, all we can do is sit with the pain and be honest about how we are doing. We are not okay. We need the world to do more. We need to mourn and cry and take care of ourselves. We need support from non-Jews, so we know people outside of our community care about our safety.
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