Lazer Beams

The Path to Inner Peace - part 4

Spiritual Remedies that Really Work

Hello Rabbi

We are avid readers of your internet site, CD’s and books – Garden of Emuna and The Trail To Tranquility. We live in a small community in west Texasand were introduced to your books through our son who lives in Dallas. 

My husband, a general practitioner and modern-day country doctor, has started to make use of your excellent CD’s and books by incorporating them into his counseling in his medical practice. In fact, one patient was so impressed with the advice she received that she asked him where his source came from. He replied, “from 2 Rabbi’s” - One of which is yourself the other Rabbi Twerski. This person - a Baptist - was most delighted especially as no psychologist has ever helped her.

My husband has also used your advice from the CD First Place for a Cherokee Indian with marital problems, and it actually worked!! He also introduced the concepts that you mentioned in Reincarnations and No to Drugs to a young lady in order to help her over the death of her father; they made a very positive change in her attitude. My husband and I wanted to share this with you and make contact, and to thank you - your books and CDs really work.

Dr. Mitchell and Sandra Allen

Ginger's Story - Part 1

First of all, I want to thank Rabbi Brody for giving me the opportunity to express myself. I was a heartbeat away from suicide; my story could save others from a similar fate. I sank in a quicksand mire of anger, depression, frustration, and bitterness. The Almighty had pity on me, and in His infinite mercy pulled me out to safety; maybe, so I could live to tell this story.

I was a picture postcard coed. Not only was I a cheerleader at Auburn, but I was an honors graduate in economics. I completed an MBA at Wharton up north in twelve months. Every job I interviewed for wanted me. Homesick, I finally decided to accept a promising junior executive training position in one of Alabama's most prestigious banking institutions.

With my bright star still on the rise, I started playing tennis with what I thought was a dream of a man - 3 years older than me, very smart, very good-looking, very athletic, and super successful - "Tom". Often, he'd leave his office and pick me up from work. Since my roommate and best friend (at the time) was also a tennis player, she and her boyfriend would play doubles against Tom and me, followed by dinner and more jolly times. Who could ask for more?

The bubble burst when I went away to visit friends at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I was supposed to be away for a week, but I came down with the flu and preferred to feel miserable at home. I walked in the door of my apartment 48 hours ahead of schedule, and lo and behold, discovered Tom (who two weeks earlier had asked me to marry him and I agreed) in a very intimate position with my roommate.

I nearly fainted. The double treachery of my fiance and my best friend was unexpected to say the least and far more than I could handle. I moved out on the spot.

My life became a house of dominoes that caved in. I went from a foxy 126 pounds to a 98 pound bag of bourbon-drinking and pill-popping misery. I quit my job before they fired me, but the worse is yet to come: The Almighty, in His mercy (that often looks like cruelty), made me run into my former roommate at least once a week, sometimes in the store, the post office, or wherever. Every time I saw her, it was like treason night and a knife in my heart all over again. After seeing her in the car with Tom at the gas station, I went home, drank three shots of bourbon and then took a dozen 10 mg valium pills. I was punching out of life.

The Almighty had other ideas and delayed my funeral. Instead, I woke up in the hospital at the University of Alabama in Birmingham with a pumped stomach and hooked up to a respirator. In a cloud, I heard a doctor telling my mom and dad that they were lucky that I was alive.

A few days went by, and I was still hospitalized. Between the overdose and the booze - my pitiful attempt at suicide - I had suffered a terrible seizure. In the same room, a sweet and a little-bit shy young lady in her late 20's was recovering from a stomach operation. The difference between her and me is that she was always smiling, but I wasn't especially happy to still be here on earth. The other difference is that while I was Baptist, she wore a star of David around her neck.

To be continued tomorrow, G-d willing

Are you a web addict?

As we're now counting down to the awesome Day of Judgment on Rosh Hashanah, now more than ever is time to perform some serious introspection. Have we been using our time efficiently? Have we been learning Torah, praying, and doing acts of lovingkindness as much as we can? Almost all of us claim that we have no time. Can we honestly say that every moment spent surfing on the web was a necessary productive endeavor?

Web addicts, like most other addicts, hate to admit or totally deny their addiction. Here's a diagnostic self-help test we put together for those who desire to take an honest look at themselves.

Web-addiction Diagnostic Self-Test

1. Do you lose track of time while online?

2. Do you surf past your bedtime twice or more a week?

3. Do you feel irritated or angry when someone interrupts web-surfing time?

4. Do you check your email box several times a day?

5. Are you irritable when offline?

6. Are you online when you should be doing homework or chores?

7. Do you prefer time online rather than time with friends or family?

8. Is the web your first destination after the termination of the Sabbath?

9. Do you disobey time limits that your parents or spouse have set for internet usage?

10. Do you sneak online at work or at home when no one is around?

11. Are you more tired and irritable than before the internet was a part of your life?

12. Do you think about the computer when offline?

13. Do you log on with excitement and anticipation?

14. Do you feel happiest when you're online?

Answer yes or no as candidly as you can to the above 14 questions. Now, count your yes answers.

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Score chart:

10 - 14 yes answers: Hard-core web addict; you're surely performing way below optimal level in other areas of your life. Either your marriage, your job, or your schoolwork is in grave danger, and so is your physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

6 - 9 yes answers: Strong web-addictive tendencies. Beware of marital and job problems; you most certainly need to do tshuva for not learning and praying enough.

3 - 5 yes answers: Avid web jockey: Take a good hard look at your priorities in life; try exercising and learning more.

0 - 2 yes answers: Normal web user.

Elul is the best time of year for Tshuva and self-correction. If we've fallen into the internet trap, we'd be best advised to add more Torah and physical activity to our lives. If you scored badly on the self test, don't lose heart: Rebbe Nachman of Breslev says that if you believe you can ruin something, then believe you can correct it too. Hashem will be more than happy to help us correct whatever needs correcting in our lives - all we have to do is ask.

Personal prayer on the beach knocks the daylights out of websurfing any day of the week. Give it a try! If you don't live by the beach, try a park or river; anywhere is a good place to talk to Hashem. Exquisite image by Rich Terlaje, courtesy of www.pbase.com