S1E7 - Lori Polatnik

In this world, no human being is created alone, no human being is an island. We need others; some are extroverted, some introverted, but no one, with maybe exceptional exceptions can live a solitary life. No matter how independent we may feel we are, we come into this world, as our guest Rebbetzin Lori Polatnik explains, as completely helpless. We can only survive with the love and care of others.

Rabbi Sacks zt’l point out that the first time it says Lo Tov or not good, in our Torah, is in the context of Adam not having a life partner, someone to live and love and grow with. So God makes Chavah, Eve. The partnership of marriage, of a commitment to build a life and a world, and generations with another, can teach us so much about the sacredness and devotion needed in all good and thriving relationships.

The key underlying ingredient in close relationships is loyalty and trust, the foundation, when without, nothing else can stand. In this episode, we learn about the Dibber of Lo Tinaf, do not commit adultery. Committing adultery is the archetypal act representing the loss of trust, safety, loyalty, devotion, that is needed to fuel loving relationships.

With passion and wisdom, Rebbetzin Lori helps us understand the significance of this foundational Dibber, and how each us can guard, with full, sincere and total effort, the relationships that build homes, communities and the world. We will also learn in the process how to love others, in a deep and practical way. We will see how loyalty to God and to others go hand in hand in this world, and how both the Divine and human relationships have so much to teach other, in living a wholesome life.

Lori Palatnik is the Founding Director of Momentum (formerly JWRP). She is a world- renowned Jewish educator, speaker, writer, and media personality, who has lectured all over the world. Lori has authored four books: Friday Night and Beyond, Gossip, Remember My Soul, and Turn Your Husband Into Your Soul Mate.

In 2014, Lori was named one of the ten “Women to Watch” by Jewish Women International in recognition of her contribution to Jewish women throughout the world. Hadassah named Lori one of the “Most Outstanding Jewish American Women of Our Time” and Izzy included Lori in its “Global Jewish 100” list for moving Jewish culture forward. In 2020, Lori was selected to light the “Diaspora” torch at the national ceremony for Israel’s 72nd Independence Day. Lori lives with her husband Rabbi Yaakov Polatnik, in Jerusalem.

This episode inspires me to want to work that much harder on the close relationships in my life to make them the best and most loving they can be, just as God wants iWelcome to the Aseret Podcast, where we learn about character, kindness, wisdom, and virtue from living examples of inspiring people, based on the ethical and moral vision of the Ten Commandments or the Aseret HadDibrot.

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