Expanding Potential

Praise

Jonah Simcha Chaim’s most recent work, Expanding Potential, is another example of his burning desire to teach and inspire the Jewish world to be better, ever striving for the next. In this latest endeavor, he not only offers readers an innovative appreciation of our many festivals but also empowers them to grow with each chapter as he takes them on a journey across time and space. Jonah Simcha Chaim designed this book as a guide for the inquisitive at any level of learning, as he manages to transform out-of-reach Jewish wisdom into practical and growth-oriented ideas. 

On a personal level, Jonah Simcha Chaim is a budding talmid chacham whose passion for life and living is infectious. With a smile on his face, he can always be found supporting, nurturing, and helping everyone he can. He is the epitome of kindness, chessed, and simchas ha’chaim like no one else I know. 

Rabbi Glenn Black – CEO, NCSY Canada 

I had the great pleasure of reading through some of the beautiful pages of your upcoming book, Expanding Potential. It is so exciting for me to see how you were able to take profound teachings of Chassidus and other holy sources and not only make them relevant but help facilitate a person who really wants to work on themselves. The world is so inundated now with confusion. A book like yours will certainly help people reach for who they could really be. Indeed, there is no more true indication that it is G-d’s holy Torah than when one is able to not just learn ideas but transform them into actual practice. Your book is all about that. For that we all owe you a debt of gratitude for this work. 

Rabbi Shmuel Braun  – Rabbi, Congregation Lev Le’Daas 

Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown does it again! In Expanding Potential, he shows each reader their power within and how to utilize that to change their life and the world around them. Jonah Simcha Chaim believes in people and helps them believe in themselves. His optimism, drive, resilience, and courage are inspiring and contagious, and this book engages its readers while motivating them not to be passive receivers of the information but active participants in the work. Connecting all of these life lessons to the Jewish festivals makes the material timely, relevant, and reminds us of our commonality and deep foundation in Torah. It is a beautiful example of how ancient Jewish wisdom is always applicable to our lives, and grows and develops with us. This is a must-read for anyone and everyone looking to improve themselves. 

Sara Esther Crispe  – Co-director, Interinclusion 

Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown has accomplished an impressive feat with his newest book, Expanding Potential. He has succeeded in distilling some of the most complex and mystical ideas of Judaism and presented them in a clear and concise format that will vastly impact and transform our understanding and observance of the Jewish festivals. It seems that with the release of Expanding Potential, Jonah Simcha Chaim has matched his clinical skills with a guidebook that will help tap into and unleash the innate potential we all possess. This is a guide that will be best utilized over and over at each festival’s arrival — providing a detailed blueprint to the terrain about to be traversed, as well as a satellite image of the vastness and richness of each festival. This book will be a welcome addition to any Jewish library. 

Rabbi Dr. Benjy Epstein – Author of Living in the Presence: A Jewish Mindfulness Guide to Everyday Life 

Besides being a vivid example of a light-filled, joyous chassid, lamdan, and yerei Shamayim, Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown offers a much-needed piece of literature that will revolutionize the way we approach and utilize Torah learning and opportunities hidden in the Jewish calendar for self-help. This book is an adventure, a gift, and a resource to anyone wanting to bring Heaven down to earth and live a more intentional, meaning-filled life. A much-needed manual for the uncharted territory we are navigating personally and collectively. Jonah Simcha Chaim is a true blessing to all of us! 

Chaya Sara Gurewicz  – Founder, Jewish Women Awaken 

There can be nothing more important in living a purposeful life than identifying and unlocking our unique human potential. As an alumnus of our yeshiva, Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown has written a wonderful book that reflects two of the underlying educational principles on which our programs are built: work to unlock your potential and realize that it happens with small consistent steps. 

Potential is always hidden away below the surface. Using Kabbalistic sources — which our Rabbis refer to as the “hidden Torah” — Jonah Simcha Chaim gives us personal direction on how to uncover our potential, hidden below the surface and waiting to be identified and unlocked. Written for audiences of all backgrounds, he uses the special nature and messages of each milestone in the Jewish calendar as a tool to work through the process step-by-step.

My decades of experience educating baalei and baalot teshuvah has shown the importance of continuous work on personal growth. This work should not be limited to the time spent in a yeshiva or seminary. But the tools needed to continue such growth are not always part of the curriculum. The Maharal, in his introduction to his commentary on Pirkei Avot, presents the thesis that every living creature strives to actualize its unique purpose for existence over time. This book is an important resource for all those who want a deeper sense of self, and to identify their unique mission in life. 

Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky  – Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Darche Noam/Shapell’s 

Expanding Potential is a deep and interesting read, filled with powerful concepts. The author’s far-reaching grasp of Jewish sources and ideas invite the reader to take a deep dive into Judaism’s most compelling thoughts. The ultimate purpose of this book is the same as the ultimate purpose of our lives: to live with focus, meaning, and joy. 

Ruchi Koval  – Co-founder, JFX 

Expanding Potential equips readers with a reinvigorated perspective of self through the life-giving wisdom of the Torah’s annual festival cycle. Eloquently written, dutifully sourced, and accessible to a wide readership, this book is sure to leave a lasting impact on those who carry it with them throughout the year. 

Rabbi Yaakov Lehman  – Founder, Wisdom Tribe

You’ve done it again! I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your latest book, Expanding Potential, a wonderful work filled with thoughtful, uplifting, and penetrating essays on the Yamim Tovim. This is a book filled with the light of the Baal Shem Tov and his students, geared toward anyone searching to add depth and meaning to their observance of our festivals. Your ability to transmit lofty ideas of penimiyus haTorah is extraordinary. The inspiring and insightful chapters and meaningful “Purposeful Pauses” help us internalize the essence and spiritual opportunities of the mo’adim. The anecdotes and lessons you share from our mutual, beloved friend, Zalmy Plotkin, z”l, are particularly touching. Your warmth, sincerity, and deep commitment to Yiddishkeit comes through so beautifully. Thank you for sharing your beautiful Torah. May Hashem continue to grant you the opportunity to inspire us. With blessings for the wellsprings of your teachings to continue to spread far and wide! 

Rabbi Judah Mischel – Executive Director, Camp HASC; Mashpia, NCSY 

Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown has written a book that uses Chassidic and other sources to develop the idea of “expanding potential” — pathways to discovering and actualizing our deepest potential. The attentive reader of this work will find many useful tools to help unlock a world of potential — and then to expand that potential without limit. 

Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz – Founder, Jerusalem Medical Ethics Forum

At a time when the world is going through a year of great change and navigating unfamiliar territory, Jonah Simcha Chaim Muskat-Brown’s latest work, Expanding Potential, truly makes its mark.

As someone who works with teens and clients searching to grow, understand, and travel toward their greatest potential, I can attest that any effort in this generation to make the words of Torah and the Jewish calendar feel personal and connected is lapped up by a thirsty audience. This book is fascinating, well-sourced, and full of creative additions like poetry and thought-provoking questions. It truly lifts up the soul.

The method of “Purposeful Pauses” throughout the book allows the thoughts to percolate and become integrated in unique and beneficial ways. This book truly expands upon the author’s earlier work and elevates the human connection to our yearly cycle of Jewish festivals. It is an adventure worthy to be a part of!

Dr. Rayzel Yaish – Clinical health psychologist