Rabbi
Haim Lifshitz
Founder
of Sadnat Enosh
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Rabbi Lifshitz founded Sadnat Enosh (The Human
Workshop) a unique counseling center that employs a
unique methodology.
Born in Israel and trained in the great
analytical traditions of the Lithuanian
Yeshivas, Rabbi Lifshitz was a scion of the
scholarly dynasties of the Lithuanian Torah
world. Rabbi Lifshitz represented
Torah Judaism – the authentic spirit of Torah
as taught by the great sages of the Lithuanian
and Chassidic schools.
He learned his first Torah from his gifted
father, a close student of the Hafetz Haim and
one of the great scholars of the Lomzhe and
Hebron yeshivas. As a growing child, he
"sheltered in the shade" of the Hazon Ish and
drank of his wisdom. He served as “right hand”
to Rabbi Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, of blessed
memory, author of the responsa series,
Sridei Eish, participating closely in
the writing and editing of these responsa.
Rabbi Lifshitz studied closely under Rabbi
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, of blessed memory, for
many years, and for decades maintained close
personal contact with his illustrious cousins,
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, of blessed memory, and
Rabbi Josef Dov Soloveitchik, of blesed
memory.
Sadnat Enosh is an independent institution,
unaffiliated with any organizational
frameworks or educational institutions.
Rabbi Lifshitz's teachings have always
acknowledged the
influence of pioneering developmental
psychologist Jean Piaget, his teacher at the
University of Geneva for six years, whose
theory of structuralism -- aspiring to achieve
balance between opposing vectors --
contributed to Rabbi Lifshitz's methodology:
Th principle of Structuralism is dominant in
Judaism, and reflects the Jewish view of man
and universe. There is one significant
difference, however, between the Piagetian
view and the Jewish view: While Piaget follows
Western perception, and seeks the balance
somewhere between the two sides, Judaism
proposes a three-dimensional structure.
Height -- that is to say, spirituality -- is
the third dimension and the dominant factor.
The spiritual dimension of height determines
the direction, organizational pattern and
goals for all the other factors. Organization
-- in the sense of prioritization -- is
considered to be more important than balance
in the Jewish perception. Organization
is one of the guidelines of Jewish psychology
as formulated by Rabbi Lifshitz.
However, The Human Workshop does not suffice
with theoretical formulations. Rabbi
Lifshitz developed a comprehensive methodology
out of these theories, which has generated a
unique system of diagnostic and counseling
techniques.
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