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A Chassidic grandmother in Boro Park, a kollel wife in Jerusalem, a Modern Orthodox mother in Manchester, England, and a high powered balas teshuva attorney in L.A. might never have met under normal circumstances. However, they join each other, along with hundreds of other Jewish women around the world on an hour-long Torah-based self-improvement teleconference call each week. These unusual classes, known as “Aryeh Nivin’s Personal Development Chaburas,” are led by Rabbi Aryeh Leib Nivin—a resident of Ashdod, Israel. Originally from New Jersey, Rabbi Nivin was heavily influenced by Rav Noach Weinberg zt”l, the founder of Aish HaTorah, and is currently a close disciple of the Pittsburger Rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Yissachar Dov Leifer. He is also an experienced life coach. As such he synthesizes the teachings of Chassidut, mussar, and coaching – developing a unique approach to self-improvement that includes sources from Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, the Talmud, and modern psychology.

“Rabbi Nivin has taken personal growth, Torah, and practical methods, and put them all together in a way that’s easy to understand and easy to implement,” said noted author and Chabura member, Mrs. Sara Yoheved Rigler.

“The world is turning upside down, emotional intelligence is at an all-time low, and spiritual awareness is minimal,” Rabbi Nivin explained. “In order to run a home you need a certain set of skills to balance the many areas of life such as family, health, spirituality, self-fulfillment, self-esteem, community, and purpose. We provide Jewish women with the life skills to deal with these everyday issues in order to live lives of vitality, transcendence, and joy.” Rabbi Nivin defines these three goals as follows: Vitality means achieving a sense of inner power – wanting to wake up in the morning and not wanting to go to sleep at night; transcendence means learning to rise above the struggles of life; and joy is a deep sense of inner satisfaction and fulfillment.

There are currently over 500 women enrolled in the various tracks of the Chabura from five continents around the world. Over 2000 women have participated to date, many of whom are still enrolled in advanced levels and an introductory program begins approximately every six months.

“We have a cross-section of the entire Jewish people on the phone,” Rabbi Nivin said. “Although they each come from totally different backgrounds, they eventually unify and connect from the comfort of their own homes. Because we can’t see each other, we transcend the boundaries of age, affiliation, and levels. We’re normally all so divided by our externals. When you get on a phone call like this where the goal is growth and the way you dress is irrelevant, everything gets stripped away. In every community people are suffering. We can unite together in our common humanity and we can inspire and strengthen each other.”

Two new chabura groups for women are starting this week!  (Aug 5th and Aug 6^th).  Hurry and register now for the 3-Class No-Obligation Trial and for a limited time receive a bonus 3 CD Series, “The Jewish Woman’s Introductory Guide to Achieving Vitality” for $1.  For more information go to trial.newchabura.com, call (646) 863-4123 from the US or (02) 580-6406 from Israel, or email [email protected].

If you’re traveling this summer, there will be a special review session after the Yomim Tovim so that you can make up any missed classes.