Guest Reviewer
Lionel Ketchian
Gateway to Happiness
by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin*
Brief Bio Below
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I would like to introduce you to the most comprehensive book on happiness I have ever read. The book is called Gateway to Happiness and the author is Rabbi Zelig Pliskin. I never thought I would say that one book could be the best on the subject of happiness, but I can definitely emphasize this point. I have almost 400 books that I have read and that I recommend on happiness on my Happiness Club web site. There are many good books and great books that have been written on happiness. I want to tell you why this is the best book on the subject.
Rabbi Pliskin does a skillful job helping us to understand happiness with thoughts
like this one, "The person with greater control over his thoughts will have greater
control over his emotions. Anyone who claims that one does not have a large amount
of control over one's emotions is merely saying that he does not have much control
over what he thinks about and how he perceives events."
I am not Jewish and I bring up this fact because the book has many references to
the Jewish religion and tradition and you can skip these parts if you choose. I
think that this book does the most comprehensive job of explaining happiness of
any work I have ever read. To begin with, the book is not like most books that are written to tell you about the author's experience. This is a book of happiness, facts that are categorized in chapters that make it easy to look up any particular topic you want to focus on and learn more about.
Gateway to Happiness is actually more like a reference book that you can work with. Let's say you are not feeling particularly happy today, then just think about what it is exactly that you are not happy about, and let's say for example that someone
insulted you. Than open the book and look up the chapter called, "Insults." and you will learn the basics of dealing with insults from the perspective of being a happy person.
Rabbi Pliskin has chapters dealing with everything you could imagine that could
rob you of your happiness. He has chapters dealing with worry, sadness, friendship,
living in the present, anger, guilt, suffering, preventing problems, envy, desires,
grief, discouragement and many more.
In his chapter on "Approval Seeking," Rabbi Pliskin writes, "If you seek approval,
ask yourself why you want approval in the first place. The answer is ultimately,
you want to be happy and you feel that approval is pleasurable and will give you
happiness. Realizing how much needless suffering your approval seeking causes you,
will motivate you to strive to master an attitude that allows you to feel happy even when people fail to show you honor and approval. It is ironic that something you want for happiness causes you so much unhappiness. By giving up your demand for approval, you will ensure yourself greater happiness in life." This chapter was of significant benefit to me. It taught me that I do not have to seek approval in order to be happy. Why should I put my happiness in the hands of others in order to gain their approval? Why should I allow other people to have control over my happiness?
I got a note from one of the Happiness Club members that said he went to the library
to look for Rabbi Pliskin's book, Gateway to Happiness, and said that they do not
have it. In the meanwhile another member has requested that the Fairfield Library purchase the book. At one of our Happiness Club meetings someone told us about having ordered the book from a local bookstore and was told it had come in. When she went to purchase the book, she found out it had been taken by one of the workers. The store offered to get her another one at no charge. The book appears to be hard to get on Amazon. You can order the book from a store in New York called Eichler's. The book is available for purchase online at: www.eichlers.com.
The most incredible components of this book and the segments that make it great are the first four chapters. They are -
• Chapter 1: Happiness is an obligation,
• Chapter 2: Appreciating what you have,
• Chapter 3: Happiness is dependent on your thoughts,
and
•Chapter 4: Peace of mind. These four chapters include the best thinking and
teaching explanations on happiness I have ever read.
As Rabbi Pliskin says, "Would you rather feel worse than you have to? Do you want
to choose to feel happy? At the root of complaining is thinking that the situation
could be better. At the root of satisfaction is being aware that the situation. could be worse. In almost all instances things could be worse and they could be better. To master happiness a person needs to have a constant awareness that things are better than they could be."
The wisdom contained in Gateway to Happiness is essential for the individual seeking the happy life. As Rabbi Pliskin says, " Happiness is a skill that can be learned.
The essential factor as to whether or not you will live a happy life is based on
your attitudes toward life, toward yourself, toward other people, and toward events
and situations."
................
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin is a Self Talk Coach and Happiness Teacher and has generously made his book: Gateway To Happiness, (A Condensed Edition) available to you as. a free e-book. It is Rabbi Pliskin's vision to see as many people as happy as possible.
You can download a 60 page FREE Condensed Edition of Gateway To Happiness at:
www.HappinessClub.com
http://happinessclub.com/pages/GATEWAYTOHAPPINESS.pdf
*Brief Bio
Rabbi Zelig Pliskin was born in Baltimore, Md. in 1946. He attended the Tamudical
Academy, from 1950 to 1959. He attended Telshe Rabbinical College from 1959 to
1969. He studied in Brisk Yeshiva in Jerusalem for advanced Talmudic research from 1969 to 1974. He was an a founding teacher in Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem where he continues to lecture on topics related to happiness and building a positive self-image.
He received a BA from Empire State (affiliated with State University of New York)
in 1981 in the field of Counseling Psychology. They give evaluations rather than
grades and he has received an evaluation as an expert in the field of cognitive therapy. He has written 24 books, including the classic, Gateway to Happiness, a comprehensive guide to happiness and other positive emotions based on the writings of Jewish scholars throughout the ages.
He is also the author of Conversations with Yourself (a comprehensive book on upgrading self-talk), Life Is Now, Building Your Self-image and the Self-image of Yourself, Anger The Inner Teacher, Consulting the Wise, Growth through Torah, Guard Your. Tongue, Love Your Neighbor, Gateway to Self-Knowledge, The Power of Words, Happiness,
Courage, Kindness, Patience and Marriage to name a few of his other book titles.
His work on spreading ideas for living a meaningful happy life have predated the
modern interest in positive psychology. He is the host of the Joy Club of Jerusalem
(affiliated with Happiness club International). He has a lifelong mission to spread
happiness clubs throughout the world.
Gmar Tov,
Best Wishes for 5773!
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