Leah Gniwesch, PhD

At the end of Megillat Esther, after Mordechai saves the entire nation, the text describes him in a surprising way:

רצוי לרוב אחיו
Accepted by most.

Most.

Not all.

Even Mordechai did not receive unanimous approval.

This is deeply psychological.

If you are leading…
If you are growing…
If you are setting boundaries…
If you are making courageous decisions…

Someone will disagree.

Our nervous systems crave belonging. We want to be liked. We want to be approved of.

But chasing 100% approval is a fast track to anxiety and self-betrayal.

Leadership requires:
Regulation.
Values clarity.
The ability to tolerate being misunderstood.

Thick skin.
Soft heart.

Stop waiting for unanimous applause before doing what you know is right.

At the end of Megillat Esther, after Mordechai saves the Jewish people from annihilation, the text describes him in a surprising way:

רצוי לרוב אחיו
“Accepted by most of his brothers.” (Esther 10:3)

Most.

Not all.

Even Mordechai — courageous, strategic, self-sacrificing — did not have a 100% approval rating.

This is psychologically important.

If you are leading…
If you are making hard decisions…
If you are growing…
If you are standing for something meaningful…

Someone will disagree.

The need for universal approval is deeply human. We are wired for belonging. But organizing our lives around avoiding disapproval creates anxiety, hesitation, and self-betrayal.

Leadership requires emotional regulation.
It requires values clarity.
It requires the capacity to tolerate being misunderstood.

Thick skin.
Soft heart.

If Mordechai could save a nation and still not be accepted by everyone, perhaps we can stop waiting for unanimous applause before doing what we know is right.

The “Changing Your Story About Money” workshop scheduled for next week at Finally Smarter Woman / Nefesh B’Nefesh has been postponed due to circumstances beyond our control.

What I do know is this: women’s stories about money — power, scarcity, worth, and permission — come up again and again in my work as a psychologist and coach.

If and when this workshop is rescheduled, I’ll share details here. In the meantime, this is a conversation worth having.

Yes, it’s my day off.
Yes, I chose a lecture.
Because staying at the top of my game means keeping up with how screens, culture, and modern life are rewiring our brains. 🧠📚

This year I gave myself permission to feel joy in the mess.
I sat with my mom. Prayed in places that held centuries of hope. Stood where my ancestors are buried and felt the weight of all they carried so I could be here. Hiked until my body remembered what resilience feels like. Said yes to Ethiopian food I’d never tried.
I’ve never been someone who waits for things to feel ready. I move. I go. I say yes.
But this year taught me something different:
Moving fast doesn’t mean you’re moving forward. Saying yes to everything doesn’t mean you’re saying yes to the right things.
The real shift? Learning that joy isn’t the reward for getting through the hard stuff - it’s what you choose to carry WITH you through it.
2026 isn’t about doing more. It’s about moving with intention. About choosing what actually fills you up instead of just what keeps you busy.
If you’re tired of motion without meaning, of being “productive” but not fulfilled - DM me “JOY”. Let’s talk about what intentional momentum actually looks like.

Real talk from Kenya: I almost quit scuba diving..
First dive was incredible. Then the seasickness hit on the boat - that deep, miserable kind where you’re bargaining with the universe. I sat there thinking: maybe this is it. Maybe I’ve aged out of this. Maybe my body is telling me it’s time to let go of something I love.
I decided to do one more dive.
It was amazing. I felt alive. Completely worth it.
Then I threw up again on the boat ride back.
Here’s what I’m sitting with: sometimes pushing through is exactly right. And sometimes pushing through doesn’t fix the problem - you still throw up, you still struggle, the difficulty doesn’t magically disappear.
But you also got that second dive. You got to experience the thing you love one more time. You learned you could do hard things even when your body was screaming no.
I still don’t know if I’ll have to give up diving. I still don’t have the answer. But I’m learning that not everything needs to be solved immediately. Some questions we just need to live with for a while.
This is the work I do with my clients - not handing them answers, but helping them sit with the hard questions. Teaching them to distinguish between “push through” and “let go.” Supporting them as they choose courage even when the outcome is uncertain.
Because sometimes the win isn’t conquering the challenge. It’s showing up for what matters even when it’s messy, you don’t have all the answers, and you might throw up twice.
If you’re facing a decision where you don’t know whether to push forward or let go - you don’t have to figure it out alone. DM me “DECISION” and let’s talk about what’s really at stake.

Marafa Canyon in Kenya reshapes itself every time it rains.
The landscape you see today won’t be the same next month. New paths form. What was solid becomes something entirely different.
Standing here, I thought: what if we stopped resisting change and started trusting it?
What if transformation isn’t something to fight, but something to lean into?
The canyon doesn’t mourn what it used to be. It just becomes.

Can anyone recommend a reliable contractor to strengthen the floor and support of a balcony in Jerusalem? Please contact Baruch at 054-4823366 with recommendations or comment here. Thanks so much in advance!

I forget how ridiculously beautiful this country is until I’m standing in it. A few hours offline, boots on dirt, watching the sky put on a show—this is the kind of wealth that matters to me. I get so caught up in screens and schedules that I forget my nervous system is literally designed for this. Not optimized for notifications. For this.
When’s the last time you went fully offline in nature?

✨🍎 Shana Tova – A Better Year Ahead 🍯✨

This past year has been heavy for so many of us. I see you. I hear you. I’ve felt it too.
The road has been long and uncertain, and at times it’s felt like we’ve lost our way.

One thing that kept me going was making music—singing and praying with friends, finding hope in melody when words weren’t enough. Out of that came my new single *“The Road is Long.”*

As we step into Rosh Hashanah, my prayer—for Jews and non-Jews alike—is that we find light rising from the darkness, that the earth may breathe in peace, that children may laugh in innocence, and that we may all return home to ourselves, and to each other, in peace.

And if this year you need support, a listening ear, or simply a reminder that you’re not walking the road alone—please feel free to be in touch. I’d be honored to walk a little of the way with you.

🎶 May this song carry a little hope for a sweeter, gentler year ahead.

✨ Shana Tova U’Metuka 🍎🍯 – a sweet and good new year.

Listen to the full version of *“The Road is Long”* on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueLWNWkt_WY&list=RDueLWNWkt_WY&start_radio=1.