Book Launch: Jewish Wisdom for Finding Emotional Wellness in an Unbalanced World

On Tuesday, Feb. 18, members of Sacramento’s Jewish community will gather for a discussion with Chasidic scholar Levi Y. Shmotkin on Jewish wisdom for finding emotional well being. Hosted by Chabad of Greater San Francisco and KOH Library & Cultural Center, Shmotkin will discuss his new book Letters for Life: Guidance for Emotional Wellness from the Lubavitcher Rebbe. This newly released bestseller draws upon the over four decades of letters and private counselling by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, and provides inspirational insights, poignant stories and practical tools to achieve emotional equilibrium in an unbalanced world.

“Our generation is known as the ‘anxious generation’. People are suffering tremendously, and they’re looking for solutions now more than ever,” said Rabbi Mendy Cohen, director of Chabad of Greater Sacramento. “For that reason, we invited Levi Shmotkin to come share age-old wisdom for finding the elusive inner calm so many of us are searching for.”

While the Rebbe is most widely known for his leadership and his global initiatives to rebuild Jewish life after the Holocaust, Letters for Life highlights a lesser known area of his legacy – his extensive private counseling. As a teenager struggling with feelings of apathy and cynicism, author Levi Shmotkin discovered the Rebbe’s correspondences in which he responded to countless people from all walks of life seeking guidance for how to face some of life’s greatest challenges. This counsel provided to others helped Shmotkin achieve a sense of emotional health and balance, and he was moved to pay it forward by compiling Rebbe’s wisdom into this new book.

“People today are more open to confronting life’s emotional challenges than in the past, and I wrote this book to open the conversation and help people achieve real change,” said Shmotkin. “With everything going on in the world, it’s vital for each of us to cultivate emotional resilience so we can all thrive.”

Levi Shmotkin will speak about Letters for Life, which is organized into two sections. The first, Essentials for a Healthy Life, focuses on preventative emotional care, exploring the mindsets and habits that build resilience and reduce suffering before it happens. The second, Overcoming Darkness, addresses how to handle difficult emotions such as anxiety, worry, sadness, self doubt, and low self esteem.

In the six months since the book’s launch in July 2024, tens of thousands of people from diverse backgrounds have expressed their enthusiasm for the book through social media, podcasts, book clubs and fan-created workbooks.

The discussion is free and open to the public and copies of the book are available for purchase. Please RSVP to KOH Program Director Taliah Berger at 916-541-3720 or taliah@kohlcc.org.

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