Positive Psychology is the scientific study of human flourishing. The field has been pioneered by Martin Seligman and other psychologists over the past couple of decades. They seek to understand what helps people thrive in their lives and have discovered many indicators and actions which can lead to a life filled with meaning and purpose.
Ostensibly, one of the main goals of religious life is to provide people with meaning and purpose. If this is so, then, we at Clal’s Rabbis Without Borders thought it would be interesting to teach rabbis about positive psychology and see if and how they can integrate it with their work as rabbis.