In this episode of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today, Levi Brackman sits down with his longtime friend Adam Haston, real estate investor and author of The Wonder Effect: An Adventurous Guide for Igniting Your Passions and Pursuing Your Calling.
Drawing on nearly 30 years of shared history from yeshiva and Chabad outreach, Levi and Adam explore how to move from “just sitting” through life to actually living with vision and purpose. They unpack core ideas from The Wonder Effect — crushing limiting beliefs and “idols,” knowing yourself, using curiosity as a compass, and building a concrete vision for your next 3–5 years — and put them into conversation with Chassidic and Kabbalistic concepts like ratzon (deep will), kavana (intentionality), and bittul (self-transcendence).
Along the way they talk about: why people are afraid to really look at themselves; how to distinguish your true purpose from other people’s expectations; the “Jonah complex” and fear of success; why many religious people never actually experience spiritual ecstasy; and how the same inner work that leads to a meaningful career can also open you to a genuine encounter with the Divine.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
- How two former yeshiva bochurim ended up talking about AI, real estate, and wonder
- The origin story of The Wonder Effect and why Adam wrote it for his kids
- “Crushing idols”: breaking false self-images and inherited narratives
- Practical ways to start discovering your calling if you feel you “have no passions”
- Purpose as an answer to “What am I for?” — religiously and psychologically
- Ecstasy, bittul, and why you can’t reach God while protecting your image
- The danger of confusing spiritual experience with spiritual truth
- How Jewish sources on ratzon and Keter map onto modern purpose-in-life research
Perfect if you’re feeling stuck, rethinking your life direction, or looking for a bridge between Jewish spirituality and modern personal-growth tools.
Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.
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