Why is Despair So Compelling?
Earth Etude for Elul 5 by Rabbi Ora Nitkin-Kaner ~The Chasidic Rabbi Nachman of Braslav (1772-1810) was a lifelong sufferer of what was likely depression. When, towards the end of his life, he told his followers that “it is forbidden to despair” (Likutei Moharan II 78:7), it was because he