Dr. Dovid Lieberman, giving the opening talk of the Jewish Learning Connection of Central New Jersey, said good choices make for happiness even in tough circumstances.
Photos by Dr. David Hirschorn
Rabbi Avrohom Herman said Lieberman inspired him to frame Torah teaching in an accessible way.
Class notes
What: The first two courses offered by the new Jewish Learning Connection of Central New Jersey
Where: Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth
When: March 4, 11, 18, and 25, at 8 p.m.
One set of four classes will be taught by Dr. Dovid J. Lieberman, and will include “The Seven Keys to Self-Esteem,” “How to Raise Happy, Healthy, and Resilient Children (and Grandchildren),” “How to Make a Good Marriage Great,” and “Get Along Great: How to Improve Almost Any Relationship and Resolve Most Any Conflict.”
Alternatively, Rabbi Simcha Barnett, a senior executive in New York City for the Executive Learning Program of Aish International, will teach the following four classes: “The Essence of Passover…Freedom,” “Beyond Matzah and Marror: Transforming Ritual into Spiritual,” “More than Maxwell House — Solving the Puzzle of the Haggadah,” and “How to Enrich the Seder Experience.”
For reservations or for more information, contact the Jewish Learning Connection at 908-355-4850, ext. 108, or info@jlccnj.org.
February 26, 2009
Even in times of economic chaos, said Dr. Dovid Lieberman, our happiness is shaped not by external factors but by the quality of our choices.
“We are wired by God to like ourselves,” the Lakewood-based behavior expert told his audience at the Wilf Jewish Community Campus in Scotch Plains Feb. 22. The more people’s choices reflect their higher values, the stronger their self-esteem and the greater their emotional resilience, he said.
“If we have self-esteem, we feel worthy of having the good things in life,” he said. “The $1-million question is where does self-esteem come from?”
Lieberman’s talk, “How to Stay Sane in an Insane World,” was the opening event of a new educational undertaking organized by the Orthodox community of Elizabeth, the Jewish Learning Connection of Central New Jersey.
In his talk, he made a sharp distinction between ego satisfaction — a pride dependent on how one rates in comparison with other people — and self-respect, the inner satisfaction of knowing one has done the right thing.
Lieberman’s message of self-respect in the face of personal and financial setbacks is to figure prominently in the four talks he will be offering in March at the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth.
Judaism is not the only path to this wisdom, he told the audience, but Jews have the benefit of a guidance system. “The Jewish people are not better than anyone else; God loves everybody, but we are better off because of Torah,” he said. “We have the commandments to help us make better choices and maximize our happiness.”
And when people choose to focus on the material at the expense of an awareness of God, they become like leaves tossed in the wind, ricocheting between good fortune and crisis, he said.
“When people give in to their impulses, they don’t trust themselves,” Lieberman said. “And if you don’t trust yourself, you can’t trust other people.”
About 60 people came to hear the talk, part of an effort by the Orthodox community in Elizabeth to connect people not currently engaged in Judaic study. Still, many of those present were clearly well informed and some were teachers themselves.
“I love to learn,” said Jeanne Major, leader of Yiddish Vinkl sessions at the YM-YWHA of Union County. “I’m always open to something new, and I thought he was wonderful.”
Lieberman’s course at the JEC will run concurrently with a course offered by Rabbi Simcha Barnett on the spiritual aspects and traditions of Passover.
For more information on the JLC and the courses offered by Lieberman or Barnett, visit www.jlccnj.org or contact Debbie Sarasohn at info@jlccnj.org or 908-533-4850, ext. 108.
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