Yocheved's Bookshelf

The Torah Lifestyle (Finding Meaning and Purpose in a World Transformed)
by Rabbi Barry Shafier
Reviewed by Yocheved Golani

Normal Jews experience extremes of joy and sadness yet they wonder "Why am I here?" and "What is the meaning of all the roadblocks we face in life?" Despite the naysayers, Rabbi Shafier insists that those are appropriate Jewish questions even if the search for answers and spiritual success seems never-ending for most mortals. In human, simple terms the author explains away the confusion for anyone who has ever felt utter frustration at deciphering "The Meaning of Life." The simplicity of the text is merely the gateway to loftier concepts (presented in cheerful and understandable terms) including those of the Ramchal's Duties of the Heart and the teachings of Reb Yisroel Salanter. The best part of the easy-to-understand book is that if you begin to appreciate any of its premises, you're on the road to spiritual perfection.
A prominent Orthodox psychologist perfectly captured the human dilemma some time ago when he explained a crowded synagogue that "All human beings feel like they are bound around the ankles by duct tape at one time or another." Self doubt and confusion, compounded by a sense of frustration, are the common lot of us all. To the chagrin of many Jews, we often doubt that we are making any spiritual progress despite devotion to Jewish concepts and studies. Despair over our sorry spiritual states often induces more despair and it is a downward slide that is easily prevented. Rabbi Shafier explains how and why this is so, and better, why the self doubt, confusion and despairing frustration are the gateway to spiritual progress! It all comes down to the foibles of human nature: imagination and the adversarial relationship between the spiritual and animal souls inside us. It accounts for the seeming irrational behavior of stable, socially prominent or emotionally sophisticated individuals who engage in morally repulsive actions. Want to understand how this can be true? Read about the function of earthly life as a spiritual workout and about how the Torah serves as the perfect preventative for mental and moral breakdown.
Far from a boring treatise on morality, Shafier wrote a wonderful and easily absorbed guide to spiritual success. The Torah Lifestyle should be on the reading list of every Jewish mental health therapist and every rav. Every Jew who has ached for the answers to their heartrending questions will likely find this book a treasure of emotional relief and a direction from which they can move forward in life. As to the title's reference to a world that is transformed, that world belongs to the reader's changed worldview after understanding Shafier's book.