Book Description
“Few things are as necessary for a well-adjusted life as resilience; of all the qualities of character worth developing, this one should probably come first. Readers who internalize the message of this book will certainly be better people — and much more able to live successfully no matter what challenges life presents them.”
Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz, author of Living Inspired and Jewish Teenager’s Guide to Life
“No one is immune to life’s challenges and hardships. Resilience is an incredible handbook, helping a person to withstand these experiences and becoming emotionally stronger as a result. The book is a wonderful synthesis of Torah-based insights, extensive psychological research, and practical exercises. The reader will come out enriched, and their lives will be tremendously enhanced.”
Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, author of the Torah Tapestries series
“I highly recommend this inspiring book. While we usually have little control over whether or not we face hardships and challenges, we have much control over how we respond to them. Resilience provides us with sound tools — from modern research and ancient wisdom — that can help us deal with and grow from setbacks.”
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier and Being Happy
About The Author
Dr. Leslie Morrison Gutman is an associate professor in Clinical, Health, and Educational Psychology and the program director of the MSc Behavior Change at University College London. She is also an associate editor of the Journal of Adolescence and associate at the Early Intervention Foundation. She received her PhD in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Leslie has authored over sixty-five academic publications, including peer-reviewed scientific journal articles, chapters in textbooks, and policy reports for government. She also writes articles for Aish.com. Her research focuses on developmental trajectories in childhood and adolescence, health and well-being, risk and resilience, and aspirations and attainment, as well as the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions for children, adolescents, and families. She lives in London with her husband and children.
Praise
“Few things are as necessary for a well-adjusted life as resilience; of all the qualities of character worth developing, this one should probably come first. Readers who internalize the message of this book will certainly be better people — and much more able to live successfully no matter what challenges life presents them.”
Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz, author of Living Inspired and Jewish Teenager’s Guide to Life
“No one is immune to life’s challenges and hardships. Resilience is an incredible handbook, helping a person to withstand these experiences and becoming emotionally stronger as a result. The book is a wonderful synthesis of Torah-based insights, extensive psychological research, and practical exercises. The reader will come out enriched, and their lives will be tremendously enhanced.”
Rebbetzin Shira Smiles, author of the Torah Tapestries series
“I highly recommend this inspiring book. While we usually have little control over whether or not we face hardships and challenges, we have much control over how we respond to them. Resilience provides us with sound tools — from modern research and ancient wisdom — that can help us deal with and grow from setbacks.”
Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier and Being Happy
Sherry Levin –
This is a fantastic book and a must for those people who want to learn how to deal with adversity and build up their resilience. The book is based on academic research but easy to read and full of practical tips.
Allison Lavi –
Very inspiring, well-written book with fascinating insights from psychology and the Torah on resilience. Loved the practical tips and exercises too.
rachel –
Resilience: A Jewish Guide to Facing Adversity, Fostering Strength, and Living Your Best Life by Leslie Gutman was just what I needed to read right now. This one of a kind book brings together the academic rigor of a university based researcher, with the timeless wisdom and relevant case examples that speak to the Jewish soul. For anyone facing adversity of any kind, this book speaks to the heart but also the head with scientifically supported research on resilience and post traumatic growth. Very supportive and inspiring.
Daniella –
I saw Dr. Gutman on the Deep Meaningful Conversations podcast and found what she had to say as so valuable and relatable that I bought her book. The book is fantastic — written so well and filled with practical ideas and tips for dealing with life’s struggles. I really appreciate that the book is based on scientific research, along with real-life examples. I also love that each section relates psychological research to Jewish wisdom. How rare to find a book that is balanced between spirituality and science — yet is so easy to read with practical advice that you can use right away. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who is facing a difficult time or who wants to improve how they react to any stressful situation and increase their resilience. It is a definitely a guide to living your best life. Do not hesitate to buy it!
Randy Rubinstein –
Written with an academic eye and compassionate style, Dr. Gutman presents her recipe for nurturing our inherent resilience- through optimism, self-awareness, and a positive outlook. A wonderful insightful resource for these challenging times!
bruna dimantas –
Dr. Leslie Gutman touched me with her book “Resilience – a Jewish guide to facing adversity”. Her approach to the subject talked straight to my soul! I’ve lost my husband to an accident in 2016 and my father to cancer in 2017, so her book resonated a lot with my own struggles and personal victories, helping me understand all the processes that I have been through. Moreover, by using the lenses of Judaism she has given me another kind of appreciation to my own religion and its beauty. I wanted to take the opportunity to thank Dr. Leslie for giving me new skillsets to develop further my own resilience and a fresh perspective on life and its challenges.
Passionate Student of Human Nature –
Dr. Leslie Gutman has done a most excellent job of comprehensively explaining the key tenets of living a most fulfilling live full of prosperity, generosity, spirituality, resilience and fulfillment. Taken from the Jewish perspective of thousands of years overcoming hardship and adversity, here she lays out a very easy to follow framework, indeed a workbook, that reminds the reader of the importance of mindfulness, meditation, the power of “self talk”, our own individual capacity to overcome the most daunting challenges, family and of course living in God’s word. You don’t have to be Jewish to realize tremendous benefits from this book as the message applies to all of us on this planet. Highly recommend!
M. Katz-Fried –
User friendly format – combines personal stories, clinical concepts plus the appropriate Torah perspective. Exercises and suggested approaches and questions make this a super practical and useful book for anyone seeking a positive perspective and forward movement.
Elise Brodersen, Jewish Inspiration at your Fingertips –
Resilience – A Jewish Guide to Facing Adversity, Fostering Strength and Living your Best Life contains many helpful tips on how to have a positive attitude even when you are experiencing great difficulties. I have used Dr. Leslie Gutman’s tips concerning the importance of self compassion. Her book is a lifesaver. For anyone who is looking for a better quality of life, I would highly recommend Resilience – A Jewish Guide to Facing Adversity, Fostering Strength and Living your Best Life. Elise Brodersen
mom-of-three –
I was amazed how much practical information this book contains – it is an incredible resource for anyone who wants to build up their inner strength and relationships with others. I love that the book is based on psychological science – it feels substantial and not fluff (or based only on personal experience) like the usual self-help book. I also love how the book relates each section back to Jewish teachings. It is so inspiring and empowering. The book is organized according to 4 major sections. The first section focuses on what is resilience and how this relates to Judaism. The second discusses adversity and focuses on four different ones – bereavement, divorce, mental and physical illness, and abuse. There are different stories of people’s experiences of these adversities and helpful strategies to lessen/protect against their negative effects. The third section (and the longest) is on strengths: personal, family, and external (like friends) support systems. Many different strengths are discussed for each area and each strength has several exercises that you can do to build up that strength. This was my favorite section – it’s a sort of like training your brain to learn to respond in more productive ways for your thinking, acting and relating to others. There is also a section on post-traumatic growth (thriving). The book ends with an exercise to reflect on your own resilience and strategy to move forward. I highly recommend this book!
Rivki Silver –
Everyone will experience hardship and challenges in their lives, whether it’s interpersonal, financial, communal, health, or something else. And yet so many of us feel at a loss on how to cope with the challenge in the moment, and, more importantly, how to move through these challenges and emerge not only intact, but stronger.
Professor Gutman has combined both clinical research and the ancient wisdom of Jewish tradition in an accessible and applicable way to help everyone access the crucial tools necessary for living the most fulfilled and connected life.
With practical examples and a wealth of exercises to take the knowledge and actively apply it to our lives, this book is a gift to the world. You should absolutely buy it for yourself and all your loved ones.
Michael –
After experiencing a stressful personal event, I bought this book. I found the book so inspiring, empowering and yet comforting. It really spoke to me. It was extremely well-written and well-organized, with chapters on how to best confront adversity and others on evidence-based ways to boost your resilience. This book weaves personal stories, Torah insights, psychological research and practical exercises in a seamless way, resulting in highly enjoyable and informative read. I gained a lot from this book and continue to use its strategies and insights on a daily basis, improving the way I live my life.
Nana –
Combining psychological theory and Jewish texts, this book provides a practical approach to gaining resilience in dealing with life’s difficult issues. The step-by-step exercises for developing and growing one’s resilience are informative and relatable. This book is a definite read for our times.
Customer –
This is a useful and delightful book that combines practical tools and attitudes to build resilience with examples and lessons from Jewish history sourced in the Torah. I refer to Dr. Gutman’s book when I talk with people. I especially like the idea that in life, we don’t “bounce back”. We “bounce forward”. Definitely worth the read!
Sherry Levin –
“Resilience” is a must-read!! For ages young and old, this book serves as a beautiful guide to facing life challenges with strength and optimism. I absolutely loved it and recommend it highly!
Frank Rosenbaum –
Enjoyed reading and learning practical resilient methods to deal with the stressful lessons life sends our way.
Esther Cohen –
An intelligently written book offering therapists and individuals seeking self-help the perfect blend of Torah insights and wellbeing tools backed up by rigorous academic research.
Dr Leslie Gutman has created an honest and inspirational resource offering accessible exercises to help individuals build resilience and rediscover their inner strength. While bravely and realistically acknowledging the heartbreak caused by adversity and challenges, the book emanates positivity, strength and hope. The seamless blend of Torah values, psychological self-help exercises and research-based evidence makes this book a work of art that is user-friendly, practical and informative.
Sharalynn F –
An easy to read and well written book that is both practical and based on solid academic research. Definitely worth the read.
Yankee in England –
Since my mother’s passing, I have heard ‘resilient’, ‘resilience’, ‘strength’ and other words of a similar nature bandied about as if they had no meaning. “You look so good. You are so strong and resilient.” I wanted to explore the depth and breadth of the subject. When I came across Resilience: A Jewish Guide to Facing Adversity, Fostering Strength, and Living your Best Life, I was excited to see how Torah wisdom mixed with modern research would bring more clarity to this subject. This book has not let me down from the very start, when Prof Gutman says in her preface, ‘Everyone has his own pekeleh—baggage.’ I knew I was in safe hands, as these are the words that my parents always taught me when growing up. Whatever your pekeleh, when placed with everyone else’s, you will always take your own back. The layout of information and exercises to implement the concepts into practice is inspirational. The clarity that she brings to the subject astounds me, which is to be expected due to role as a Professor at UCL. I enjoyed the way she brought Torah sources to prove her points. What is adversity? How does the body react when it suffers from adverse situations and build up our resilience? Her research on this complex subject shows on every page. She has also included exercises that the reader can do to encourage resilience daily.
Though she wrote this book before the pandemic, she was able to share her research and thoughts on the subject, due to the publishing date being in the pandemic—one of the most challenging times in recent history in which we need resilience more than ever to survive. Reading this book will help readers cope with the everyday adverse situations they find themselves facing. These are just a few examples that are covered: mental health, familial strife, divorce, sickness, and so much more. I can continue expressing my admiration, but suffice to say, this is a perfect book for the times we live in.