Save Our Children

Last summer I spoke with a 16 year old young man from the United Kingdom (personal details  altered to protect confidentiality). Here’s a short condensation of his story: After being expelled from Yeshiva, Moshe became progressively more isolated and distant from Judaism and Jewish kids; he was looking at the internet until late hours of the night and sleeping away most of his days. Moshe’s behavior toward his parents was severely oppositional, and at times, he exploded into fits of rage. By the time I met Moshe, it had been a long time since he had any pleasure from his life – he appeared to be severely depressed.

In preparing to meet Moshe, his parents warned me to not expect that Moshe would be overly cooperative – they said he had a deep mistrust of therapists. The only reason that Moshe agreed to a session, they said, was because he heard that I followed the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev. It was a saving grace – Moshe had told his mother that he never met a Breslever who didn’t seem to be a nice person.

When a person is depressed, he doesn’t have the desire to change his life – he hardly has the strength to speak about his life. So in beginning with Moshe, I wanted to spare him the trouble of having to speak and “open up” to me in the conventional way about his “problem.” Instead – I did all the speaking. In order to further maximize Moshe’s comfort and ability to concentrate, while I spoke, I suggested that he allow me to guide him into a state of deep relaxation. As I expected, Moshe was agreeable to this.

 As we prepared to start, the main question was could Moshe start getting up in morning in time to try another Yeshiva in the fall. Accordingly, Moshe’s mother told him that the purpose of his session with me would be to help him wake up in the morning and go to Yeshiva on time – something that he wanted for himself. Moshe and I met for a total of two times before he stopped – but that was apparently all of the help that he needed.

Moshe is actually in Israel now with his Yeshiva. He is also planning to come back again soon with other Jewish organizations that serve young people. His mother reports that Moshe has not overslept even once since our sessions last summer.

Here is a very condensed but accurate summary of what I said to Moshe, last summer, while he sat back with closed-eyes in a state of deep relaxation. It’s important to note that literally everything that I said to Moshe was taken from the teachings of my Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Arush, from his book entitled The Garden of Gratitude. You will also note, that in accordance with my Rebbe’s teachings – never once – in the following monologue, do I mention “oversleeping” or any of Moshe’s other “problems”.

“Now that you are relaxed…You’re powers of concentration are very great…There is nothing that you need to do right now and nothing that you need to say…This is a time for you to rest while I speak to you… and because you’re letting go so beautifully, Hashem will give you the ability to absorb everything that you feel is important almost effortlessly; you will also easily reject anything I say that isn’t interesting…that you don’t want for yourself.”

“Let’s start by forgetting all about your so-called problems…there are no problems just solutions… why should you let the current situation blind you to life’s beauty and wonder?”

“Now that your mind is settled… you have a tremendous capacity to recognize… that Hashem is supervising and directing every occurrence of your body’s functioning… and everything in the universe…as you begin to see Hashem’s loving presence in everything… you will have a happy and worry-free life. (p. 178). Now, you are becoming much more sensitized…and much more tuned in…to Hashem’s presence (p. 81)…He’s doing everything… for your ultimate best.”

“Soon you will know deeply… that true joy and happiness come… only from Hashem…May He be Blessed… You will thank Him for the “problems” that brought you to your new exciting life…and you’ll thank Him for what He’ll certainly do for you in the future. Hashem guides a person in accordance with his emuna…saying thank you to Hashem is not just good manners – it’s a primary obligation… and the main way you can have a connection with Him… If a person believes there’s no bad, then he won’t see any bad... Soon you’ll see yourself succeeding way beyond your natural normal capabilities.” (p. 301)

When you speak to Hashem say…My beloved Father in Heaven, (pause)… I want to thank You with all my heart, (pause)… for You are certainly good and merciful to me and righteous in everything You do (pause)… And although it is difficult for me to thank You, for the Evil Inclination distorts my heart, (pause)… I do want to believe that everything is for the best (pause)… And I request of You, beloved Father, that You will open my heart and brain (pause)… so that I’ll be able to thank You with total sincerity.” (p. 301) This type of personal prayer will burst through all the Heavenly gates ascending directly to the Creator.” (p. 313)

“Soon you’ll be ready to visualize great channels of spiritual and physical abundance opening for you…but first… let’s ask Hashem… to unclog the pipes of abundance… that flow from Him directly to you… because…more than anything…it’s our resentments…and lack of joy…that block the pipes…of spiritual and material abundance…that Hashem wants to send you… right now! So Let’s pray… for Hashem to completely uproot… and completely remove… all of our resentments… so we can merit… His great Blessings right NOW.”

“A powerful channel of abundance comes to us through the Blessings of our parents…we don’t know how this works…but the first channel through which success and happiness flows…is  through the parental-artery…Even the evil Esau understood the value of his father’s Blessing… even if the Torah didn’t command us to honor parents… common sense dictates a person must be perpetually indebted to them…this is for sure…since it’s written in the in ten commandments…Hashem doesn’t make mistakes…so take a minute to reflect… on how your parents… are no more than G-d’s messengers… to correct and purify your soul”.

“Say: Master of the Universe… pardon me… forgive me for the past…for I did not know then…when I was suffering… that everything is from You… and that everything was for my own good…and I did not thank You for the suffering. I should have said to You… ‘thank You very much’ for my suffering…but now that I have emuna… and I am returning to You… and I believe with complete faith that there is no evil in the world. Keep praying like this, Moshe, and your words will burst through all the Heavenly gates ascending directly to the Creator. (p. 313)

“Now, Moshe, picture Hashem healing your soul… See Blessings accompanying you on all sides…everywhere…see a wide-open road…and you’re surrounded by light…feel the light coming into you…feel yourself walking down the road to freedom…you can love completely…you can love your parents…you can love your siblings…you can love Israel.”
“And in the coming days…you can take timeouts…to care for yourself… whenever you feel the slightest negativity…you can whisper to yourself:

I believe there’s no bad in the world. I believe there’s only good!

…and whenever you’ll repeat these words…you’ll feel dramatically better!

This is a condensation of my verbal patter to Moshe for our two hours together. Holding a copy of The Garden of Gratitude in my hand, I skipped around to premarked pages and simply read to him my Rebbe’s words, as they were translated by Rabbi Brody, in a slow soft tone.  Throughout, Moshe remained relaxed and highly receptive to my Rebbe’s words. He barely moved and did not speak once. He never opened his eyes and thank G-d, felt no pressure to respond to me according to the usual social etiquette.

Rebbe Nachman wrote: “Today’s young people have an unparalleled yearning for G-d the like of which was never [even] seen in earlier times – but they do not know who they should follow.”

In today’s generation, Hashem’s presence is almost completely concealed in the darkness of impurity and evil. For the sake of our children, we must plead with G-d that He lead our young ones straight away to the door of a living Tzaddik – because only a Tzaddik’s words can set them on the right track to life.

 May Moshe and his parents see many continued Blessings!

*You might try modifying this script to meet the needs of a particular child and read it to that child as he or she is falling asleep at night.