Is Feeling Shame Ok? Post Yom Kippur Musings

Shame is a topic that researchers such as Brene Brown brought out of the closet and discovered the importance of "owning our shame."

Owning our shame allows us to be vulnerable and have courage and, in Brene's words (quoting Teddy Rosevelt), "daring greatly." We go past mediocracy into actualizing our true potential and begin to return to ourselves.

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak once asked his father, the Rebbe Rashab, after Yom- Kippur, "what is the Avoda (service) now?"

The Rebbe Rashab answered, "to begin doing Teshuva (repentance). After going through the process of Teshuva, we come to settle and check in to where inside we are still not there. So much of Teshuva has to do with understanding and having the right perspective on shame.

In this class, delve into the contradictory aspects of Yom Kippur. Where in the first half, we are compared to angels, while in the second half, we get really real and delve into shame. We explore the essence of shame in its shameful negative side as well as shame in the positive light. Shame in Hebrew is spelled בשת - Boshet or the same letters as תשב to return or Teshuva.