6 | FEBRUARY 11 • 2021
essay
Rabbi Dr. Twerski:
A Legacy of Caring
Times of Israel
T
he recognition upon the pass-
ing on Jan. 31 of Rabbi Dr.
Abraham Twerski — a scholar
and psychiatrist — has already shown
us the many facets of his greatness.
Over the years, I was
fortunate to meet him
and to hear him speak
in synagogues where I
was the rabbi, at rab-
binic conferences, and
to read several of the
92 books that he wrote.
His personal warmth,
whether it was speaking to a large
audience or giving time to someone
after a talk always permeated all his
interactions. There are several lessons
that stand out in my mind, which I
would like to share.
The first lesson is that the issues
we struggle with in our lives are not
temporary problems that we engage
with, overcome and then move on to
the next one. He said that the issues
we struggle with, character traits we
need to change, bad habits we need
to break, complicated relationships in
our lives are probably issues that we
will need to address our entire lives.
“Polishing the Diamond” (see his story
by that name) is something that takes
a lifetime.
The second lesson came when
someone asked him why life is so
hard, and it seems we are always
struggling. Many of his books empha-
size celebrating life and being joyful,
feeling good about ourselves and
having self-confidence. Yet his answer
was very simple and as he was often
Rabbi
Jonathan
Feldman
PURELY COMMENTARY
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Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski