Kabbalah and the Hidden Architecture of You - Lesson 1

Taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman — An informal pre-class conversation recorded before Lesson 2 at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on November 3, 2026. Before diving into Lesson 2, Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman picks up three questions from the group. First: do Jews believe in heaven and hell? Yes, but not the hell of pitchforks and red costumes. The soul descends on a mission to discover G-d hiding in plain sight, and its reward is a relationship it truly earned, "the difference between being a trust fund baby and working for your money." Gehinnom is not punishment for its own sake but a cleansing, like polishing a buried diamond, so the soul can take in Divine revelation without the filters it picked up in this world, much as the sage Rava fasted to forget his old way of learning before studying in the Land of Israel. Next, a clearer picture of what Kabbalah is: each of us sees the same room through our own lenses, while the Kabbalists, like the Arizal, who said that sharing what he experienced in a sixty-minute Shabbat nap would take eighty years, lived in a deeper dimension and taught what they actually experienced. Finally, a follow-up on last week's question about the soul's yearning and suicide: growth means letting go of parts of ourselves, not the whole, and, as the story of Nadav and Avihu shows, the soul's job is to stay in the body and live through it. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman — Recorded live at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on November 3, 2026. Kabbalah and the Hidden Architecture of You: Reincarnation, Soulmates, Dreams, Names—What These and Other Mysteries Say about the Design of Your Life. This six-week course takes the most fascinating ideas in Kabbalah and unlocks them with the clarity and depth they've always deserved. In Lesson 2, Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman asks how an infinite G-d can create, and relate to, finite beings like us. The answer lies in the ten sefirot, the Divine "ornaments" that filter G-d's infinite light, like the colored lenses of a traffic light, so that we can exist and enter into a relationship with Him. Discover how these ten powers, from crown (desire) through wisdom, understanding, kindness, discipline, harmony, endurance, humility, bonding and royalty, live within your soul and are mapped onto your body, how the four letters of G-d's ineffable name are written into the human form, why our hands and feet carry the number ten, and why it takes two coming together to bring new life into the world. We are not a body with a soul, but a soul with a body, and a living mirror of the Divine image. Knowing that changes how we show up in everything we do. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman — Recorded live at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on November 1, 2026. In Part 3 of "The Feminine Paradox: The Kabbalah of Relationships," Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman explores the mystery of "Galut HaShechinah," the exile of the Divine Presence. Why does G-d conceal Himself within the 70 heavenly "officers" and within the "klipot," the shells that hide the Divine light? Using vivid analogies, from a traffic light's colored filters to the peel of a grape and the shell of a nut, Rabbi Schusterman explains the difference between the translucent shell (klipat nogah), where most of everyday life is lived, and the impure shells that cannot be seen through. Discover how a simple blessing on a cup of coffee, a moment of gratitude when we wake up, and a life of humility "liberate" G-d from exile, and how this sets the stage for understanding masculine and feminine energy and the "helpmate opposite" at the heart of every relationship. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Lesson 1 of "Kabbalah and the Hidden Architecture of You: Reincarnation, Soulmates, Dreams, Names—What These and Other Mysteries Say about the Design of Your Life," taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta). This six-week course takes the most fascinating ideas in Kabbalah and unlocks them with clarity and depth—offering a completely new way of seeing yourself, your soul, and everything around you. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman — Recorded live at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on October 25, 2026. In Part 2 of "The Feminine Paradox: The Kabbalah of Relationships," Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman unpacks the Torah's description of Eve as an "ezer k'negdo" (a helpmate opposite him), Divine humility and contraction (tzimtzum) in creation, and how cultivating mindful pause and soul-awareness transforms physical reality (yesh) into a vessel for Divine connection. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Taught by Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman — Recorded live at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on October 18, 2026. In Part 1 of "The Feminine Paradox: The Kabbalah of Relationships," Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman explores the foundational Kabbalistic dynamics of masculine and feminine energies, the Divine names Havayah and Elohim, and why infinite Divine light requires a vessel and filter ("the sun and its shield") to allow for independent consciousness, human connection, and ego transcendence in relationships. The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! http://intownjewishacademy.org/donate ~ http://intownjewishacademy.org http://soundcloud.com/intownjewishacademy http://facebook.com/intownjewishacademy http://instagram.com/intownjewishacademy

Rabbi Mordechai Dinerman's lecture 'Finding Calm: A Kabbalistic Approach to Anxiety,' recorded live at the Intown Jewish Academy (Chabad Intown, Atlanta) on October 22, 2026. An episode of Knowledge on the Deeper Side, the Intown Jewish Academy podcast — bringing Jewish wisdom to life. More at intownjewishacademy.org.

The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! intownjewishacademy.org/donate

The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! intownjewishacademy.org/donate

The Intown Jewish Academy takes pride in offering innovative, inclusive, and impactful educational programs to all. People from a diverse spectrum of life find the Academy to be a warm and non-judgmental community in which to experience the richness and authenticity of Jewish learning and heritage. ~ Support our work! intownjewishacademy.org/donate