Oh, We Got Trouble... With a Capital "T"...

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Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

April 24-25, 2026 • 8 Iyar 5786 • Achrei-Kedoshim (Lev 16–20).

Here's a question for your table:

Can you complete the following sentence in a way that anyone could say it truthfully:

"Someone I know is trying to __________, but it's a struggle."

Everyone is struggling with something, right? So I guess in that broad sense, we can be sympathetic and supportive.

But are everyone's personal struggles so particular to them that there is no comparison? Or are there any struggles that are more universal than others? 

It seems to me that one could put it this way:

"Someone I know is trying to change a long-standing habit, but it's a struggle."

One of the core teachings of Jewish wisdom is the universality of the struggle.... Knowing that you and I broadly share the same struggle is a great motivator. In that sense, it's a level playing field.

Whether the habit is food-related, or vaping, or time management, or patterns of speech (like a perpetual complainer), there is a universal human challenge of reclaiming autonomy from a habit.

Try shifting your thinking from, "I'm doing something wrong" to ""I'm caught in a universal trap, and here is the roadmap to get out."

Everyone is indeed struggling with something—usually, it’s the gap between who they are and who they know they could be.


Shabbat Shalom

This message may also be read online at Blogspot and Times of Israel.
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