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Letters for Life: Levi Y. Shmotkin on Rebbe’s Guidance for Emotional Health From the Inside Out
In this episode of From The Inside Out with Rivkah Krinsky and Eda Schottenstein, we interview Levi Shmotkin, author of Letters for Life, a practical guide to emotional health based on the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s letters, recorded in honor of Gimmel Tammuz. Shmotkin shares how his own teen experience of heaviness and apathy led him to the Rebbe’s counseling, emphasizing gratitude, humility, and shifting focus outward through giving and responsibility. He contrasts popular self-help’s self-focus with the Rebbe’s “third way” that validates feelings while expanding the mind toward Hashem and others, including examples from education. He discusses tools like structure and productivity, trust to counter anxiety, hesech hadas (redirecting attention), loneliness as eased through awareness of Divine providence, Torah and halacha as the enduring path to spirituality, discovering purpose, and the Rebbe’s message that “nothing stands in the way of the will.”
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GUEST BIO
Levi Y. Shmotkin
Levi Y. Shmotkin is a Chassidic scholar and author based in Los Angeles, California. His debut book, Letters for Life: Guidance for Emotional Wellness from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was born from a deeply personal journey — as a teenager, Levi found himself grappling with heaviness, apathy, and a loss of inner spark. It was the Rebbe's letters that became his lifeline, and what began as a private notebook of insights eventually became a book that has resonated with thousands across all walks of Jewish life. A member of Generation Z who never met the Rebbe in person, Levi brings a fresh, relatable voice to timeless wisdom — showing that truth, as he says, is eternal, and the Rebbe's guidance speaks as powerfully today as ever.
You can purchase the Letters For Life book here: https://a.co/d/040r8ezR
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
04:05 Meet Levi Shmotkin
16:03 Gen Z Connection to Rebbe
17:50 Modern Self Help vs Rebbe
19:27 A Third Way
27:47 Healing Through Others
41:17 Spiritual Not Religious
42:11 Psychedelics And Torah
46:45 Channeling Spiritual Desire
48:11 Finding Your Purpose
53:29 Loneliness And Providence
59:31 Solitude Versus Isolation
01:08:13 Changing From Within
01:08:42 Speak To Yourself
01:14:48 Anxiety And Trust
01:23:25 Hesech Hadas Explained
01:25:19 Action Without Rumination
01:28:39 Marriage and Subconscious
01:35:16 Suicidal Student Letter
01:41:27 Leap Beyond Status Quo
01:45:09 Willpower and Soul Energy
01:49:12 Closing Quote and Farewell
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