A new course for women, Code to Joy: The World’s Happiest Kept Secret, explores a simple premise: Happiness isn’t just something that happens to you; it’s an approach, an attitude, an understanding of the world and your place in it. It’s something you do, a code that you can crack.
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The Jewish Women’s Circle at Chabad of Monroeville is excited to announce a new offering for women, The Rosh Chodesh Society (RCS), a once a month women’s class that aims to transform the lives of Jewish women, their families, and their greater communities through the bonds of shared Jewish experience.
This year’s course is titled Code to Joy. In this six-part series, Code to Joy delves into some of the underlying ideas and beliefs that sustain a truly joyful life. Fusing classic Jewish concepts with the panoramic perspective of Chasidic thought, along with a sprinkling of insights and research from modern psychology, you’ll learn how to find self-acceptance without complacency, to confront the past without being burdened by it, to be comforted by faith without being confined by it, to give to others and gain even more, and so much more.
It is not happiness that makes us grateful. It’s gratefulness that makes us happy. In Code to Joy we discover that joy is untouched by circumstance. We learn a pivotal truth: that what matters most is how we appreciate our life circumstances and how often we express that appreciation.
The course will be taught once per month for six consecutive months and is designed for women at all levels of Jewish knowledge.
From the importance of nurturing a healthy self-concept; to expressing our personal strength while pursuing our life mission; to overcoming stress through positivity; and many other valuable, transformative lessons, this course takes us on a journey that ultimately leads us to a deeper, lasting happiness. I invite you to join me in discovering and cracking the Code to Joy.”
Please join me as I welcome my dear mother, master educator, Mrs. Blumi Rosenfeld who will be teaching this course.
Class title and date/time can be found below.
If you are interested in the course but the time of the class doesn’t work for you, please call or email me 412-596-5971.
*This course is being planned as a virtual class. Should the option of in person become feasible as the year’s progresses, we will make adjustments at that time.
All the best,
Esther
Course fee: $36 (student textbook included).
Scholarships available.
 LESSON 1 Journey of Yourself STAYING HONEST, HUMBLE, AND HAPPY Staying positive about life means staying positive about ourselves. In this second class, we look at the importance of nurturing a healthy self-concept and how to avoid negative feelings about ourselves. Often times it is feelings of nihilism and excessive navel-gazing that drag us down, but they can be countered by two prime, if seemingly paradoxical, Jewish principles: that I matter as an individual—but it isn’t all about me. MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2020 At 10:30 AM  LESSON 2 Job Opening: You! WHAT AM I HERE FOR? Each of us matters, because each of us has been sent into this world for a particular purpose. But how do we find out what that mission is? This lesson goes through nine different life-factors to take into account when searching to find one’s life calling. Above all, we learn that — contrary to popular misconception — living a holistic life inspired by the Torah means having a relationship with G‑d in which our individual selves find expression. To this end, we employ a kabbalah-based personality test to learn how to best express our personal strengths while pursuing our life mission. MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2021 At 10:30 AM  LESSON 3 Journey from Oy to Yay! OVERCOMING STRESS THROUGH POSITIVITY Halfway through the course, we stop to learn how to start breathing easier. The Talmud has some advice for dealing with anxiety, while a Chasidic master proposes a strategy for changing the way we feel by acknowledging the power of the mind over the heart. Finally, we look at the importance of cultivating optimism and trust, learning from the inspiring example of King David and from the perspective of contemporary research. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 At 10:30 AM  LESSON 4 Judging Ourselves? Yes! PERFECTLY HAPPY BEING IMPERFECT Jewish guilt poses an intractable problem: How can I ever be at peace if I’ve made serious mistakes in my life or if I’m upset about my character shortcomings? This extraordinary lesson flips the script by introducing central teachings from the Chasidic masters that teach us how to embrace our never-ending quest for self-improvement and find the tremendous power and meaning in that struggle. Finally, a discussion about the place of regret and remorse shows us how to experience joy in spite of the failures of our past. MONDAY, MARCH 15, 2021 At 10:30 AM  LESSON 5 Joining Others = Yields INVESTING IN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS Compelling psychological research has demonstrated the many remarkable effects of friendship on happiness and emotional well-being. We are inescapably social beings. And yet, both social science and personal experience show that loneliness, disconnection, and division are stubborn realities of life. How can we arrest this disconcerting drift apart? This class analyzes how to mitigate some of the major impediments to our interpersonal relationships—namely, cynicism, disagreement, and an inability to listen to others. MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2021 At 10:30 AM  LESSON 6 Jew’s Ongoing Yearning DISCOVERING A DEEPER HAPPINESS Study after study shows that leading a religious lifestyle tends to make people happier and more fulfilled. But that isn’t enough. Too often we forget that Judaism is itself supposed to be a joyful experience — not despite the many duties and strictures that come with keeping the Torah, but because of them. This final lesson reconceptualizes what our joy can look like by introducing a more transcendent form of joy that is available to each of us; although more difficult to achieve, it is crucial to our happiness because it allows for true self-actualization. MONDAY, MAY 10, 2021 At 10:30 AM
2715 Mosside Blvd. |
