Note: the first two paragraphs are introductory and are derived from the first post in this series. I’ll continue to repost them, in case this is your first time reading a post from this series.
When I was still a doctoral candidate at Sofia University, one of the courses I completed was “World Religions.” This was one of the classes I enjoyed the most during my time at Sofia University. I’d never had such broad exposure to the world’s religions before and this class really allowed me to gain a better understanding of them.
One of the papers I wrote for that class really tied in the fact that I was in a clinical psychology PhD program. The purpose of the paper was to collect quotes from scriptures of the various world religions that I could use with clients/patients when I became a therapist. While I’m no longer pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, the quotes I collected could certainly be of use, so I thought I’d share them here.
Today’s collection of scriptures for guidance comes courtesy of Judaism. Enjoy!
Anxiety
Whoever had bread in his basket and says, “What am I going to eat tomorrow?” only belongs to those who are little in faith. (Talmud Sota 48b)
Anger
Anger deprives a sage of his wisdom, a prophet of his vision. (Talmud Pesahim 66b)
Addiction
Rabbi Isaac said, quoting Proverbs 23.31, “Wine makes the faces of the wicked red in this world, but pale in the world to come.” Rabbi Me’ir said, “The tree of which Adam ate was a vine, for it is wine that brings lamentation to man.” (Talmud Sanhedrin 70ab)
Death
The body is the sheath of the soul. (Talmud Sanhedrin 108a)
Grief
Before He brought on the flood, God Himself kept seven days of mourning, for He was grieved at heart. (Midrash Tanhumma Shemini 11a)
Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it. (attributed to the Talmud)
Rabbi Me’ir said, “When man is sore troubled, the Shechinah says, ‘How heavy is my head, how heavy is my arm.’ If God suffers so much for the blood of the wicked, how much more for the blood of the righteous.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 6.5)
Guilt
Forgive all guilt and accept what is good. Instead of bulls we shall pay [the offering] with our lips. (Hosea 14:3)
If you liked this post, you might like one of the other posts in this series:
Jeremiah Stanghini 
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