You Are What You Hate: A Spiritually Productive Approach to Enemies

by Sarah Yehudit Schneider

The text that is the heart of these teachings was weritten in the early 19th century by the great kabbalist and chassidic master, R. Yitzchok Safrin, known as the Komarna Rebbe. The question explored What is the most good-serving, God-serving (and also, surprisingly, self-serving) response to the test of enemies, and how can I use their vexation for positive change?

356 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Mick D]

Embrace thy shadow 😉

[Chava]

This book is not what I expected. I thought it would be more of a pop-psychology/self-help book. It is a very deep analysis of why God and the universe bring certain enemies and evil into our lives, and it turns out that these enemies and evils are actually part of us.

You could say that "people come into our life for a reason," or that certain things happen to us in order to shape us and enable us to develop our character traits, but Schneider's book delves into the kabbalah and Jewish spirituality to explore these things.

A great book to read during the Omer.

[Stephanie Corbett]

Who wants to believe this? But, after reading this book, I found myself probing parts of my soul that I had previously preferred to leave, well, unprobed.I have now read this twice and expect I will need to read it many more times in the years ahead.