The Spiritual Cure for Anxiety, Depression & Unshakable Faith with Rabbi David Yisrael Kalmus

Rabbi Kalmus shares an extensive personal testimony of struggling with depression and anxiety since age 10, compounded by growing up secular without faith. Despite trying psychiatric medications, diets, workouts, TMS, and ultimately electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)—which has an 80% success rate for treatment-resistant depression—he remained among the 20% for whom it failed and lost years of memory as a result. This crisis led him to Rabbi Nachman's teachings, particularly the concept that some illnesses are "faithful illnesses" bound by faith rather than nature, requiring emunah rather than medicine. He made a covenant to spend an hour daily in hitbodedut (intimate prayer with God in one's native language) without trying to fix anything himself, believing God would provide healing. Twelve years later, he credits this practice with his recovery and has since established the first English-speaking Breslov yeshiva in Israel. The conversation explores Rabbi Nachman's core teachings: that challenges exist to draw people toward prayer and connection with God; that speech liberates the Shekhinah (divine presence) trapped within; that emunah (faith/patience) is the soil in which all efforts must grow; and that problems contain their own solutions when reframed through a spiritual lens. Kalmus and co-host Gedaliah emphasize that inspiration without action is worthless, that desire must match the greatness of what one seeks, that avoiding pain creates more pain, and that the yeshiva's distinctiveness lies in character transformation rather than mere intellectual study. They discuss practical applications including self-esteem, boundaries, rejection sensitivity, and the importance of extending one's perspective beyond immediate circumstances. The discussion culminates with a Holocaust story illustrating how holding onto a tzaddik's (righteous person's) teachings provides spiritual support through impossible situations.