Wall- A large barrier that keeps elements apart.

Doorway- Opening that allows passage and connection between either side of the wall.

We’ve all been up against the wall. We’ve worked, strived, dreamed, planned, and hit those seemingly insurmountable barriers. A wall stops you dead in your tracks; with nowhere to go. Whether material obstacles-such as lack of funds, emotional- “She’s put up a wall and I can’t reach her,” or spiritual- “I feel so empty and unconnected,” walls loom big, solid and impenetrable.

Personal coaching, developed in the 90’s, is a system of mentorship by skilled professionals to help one identify their goals, visions, obstacles and chart a path of growth. Usually associated with helping climbing professionals reach success, one creative thinker has developed a unique meld of cutting-edge coaching techniques and the deepest spiritual truths. She helps people shine a light on their personal walls including stuck relationships, frustrated dreams, fear and anger, and transform them into doors that open into hope and choice.

The founder of Kabbalah of Transformation, Shifra Chana Hendrie is a passionate and articulate woman, an avid student of Torah based mysticism for close to 30 years. A mother of 5, she lives in New Jersey with her husband Dovid, a network security specialist.

“I grew up in Minnesota. My grandparents were observant, but my parents were not and we received a typical suburban Jewish American upbringing of the 60’s and 70’s.

“While I was attending the University of Minnesota, my younger brother started investigating Chabad, and shared his new discovery with me. I learned that my grandfather, a communal leader in Chicago, had a private audience with the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, in which he bemoaned his children’s distance from observance. The Rebbe promised that his grandchildren would return. So although I chose this path freely, it is a closing of a circle, the fufillment of a prophetic promise, my destiny. It taught me how intricate- and how intimate- the workings of Divine Providence really are.”

Shifra Chana studied Chassidus and the Rebbe’s message that the world is on the brink of a new era of light and redemption. She came to see the need for targeted tools to help people grow and deal with frustration and pain. There is often a gap between beautiful but somewhat abstract truths, and the real life issues that people struggle with. Shifra became a certified personal coach in 1997.

“I felt we need a place to get answers. The Rebbe told us that Moshiach is imminent, but darkness and suffering are so real! I felt there had to be a way to reconcile these two conflicting realities.” She collaborated with Chana Ginsburg and Esther Wilyamowsky to create a small support group to share ideas of how to find redemption in personal life.

“We planned a series of meetings and started to create a curriculum, striving to find more effective ways to apply Chassidus to the challenges of life. It became the beginning text and exercises for my Walls Into Doorways course, and is continuing to expand as I move along this path.”

“Chassidus provides a clear template for understanding life that can be applied to all realms, from the interpersonal to the psychological to the global opportunities and challenges of our times.”

How can these lofty ideas help one in the trenches, dealing with the nitty gritty of daily struggles?

“Understanding the forces and laws of creation can make a huge difference in your outlook and ability to access your potential. In the process of creation, there was a surplus of powerful light, more than the ‘vessels’ could contain. The vessels shattered, setting into motion the fragmented nature of our existence. The Torah guides us in how to ‘put things back together’- and create new vessels that can hold an infinite light without breaking.

“This means that the breakdown between an initial vision and the implementation is normal, not a sign of personal failure. We are meant to struggle and dig to make the vessel bigger. One of people’s biggest obstacles is the limiting belief that something is wrong with them, that everyone else has it together. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that impedes relationships with self, others and G-d. If you believe you can’t - why bother trying?

“When you grasp and internalize that this IS an intentional part of the human condition-that we all feel this way somewhere inside, and that our challenges, including this belief, serve a spiritual purpose- you can start to switch from a life of being a helpless victim to one of powerful and personal redemption.”

Walls Into Doorways has evolved into a 3-month transformational course utilizing interactive technology to create a virtual support group actively learning, struggling and celebrating growth. Material is posted online at Kabbalahoftransformation.com. During weekly phone conferences, Shifra presents new insights, and skillfully moderates questions, networking and discussions. An online chat forum is a vehicle for sharing further insight as the seeds of wisdom and light take root. Personal coaching sessions provide an intense and exciting catalyst for each participant to find the door through his or her personal obstacles.

Her students come from around the world, finding their way to Shifra through various channels. “A significant number of the participants are not Jewish. Many have done personal growth work and are looking for a deeper level of truth and fulfillment. They have a sense that the Torah and Kabbalah represent the deepest path to authentic spirituality and truth.

Most participants lead active Jewish lives, but want to go further in extracting the profoundly life enhancing qualities latent in Torah and Chassidus. They want personal, powerful and effective ways to apply the infinitely rich spirituality to every aspect of their lives.

“Most people are caught up in the challenges, issues and goals of daily life and seek a personal and meaningful relationship with G-d. My aim is to help people grow dramatically in making their personal and spiritual life come together.”

“I try to help people be in touch with what they authentically want. We often lead our lives with a sense of what we don’t want, rather than what we do- and unfortunately we usually end up creating more of the same. Even when people do know what they want, they are often stopped by fear. We can learn to move way beyond the fear and become co-creators in our own lives. We just have to understand the rules.”

A big arena of growth is in relationships. Shifra specializes in what she dubs “authentic conversations.” Strained and distant relationships affect parent/child, friendships, marriage, employer/employees. We kvetch and blame, ‘if only the other would change’, and then criticize or attack, or withdraw affection. Shifra has successfully guided many to break out of these patterns and to risk and learn to have authentic, open, honest and powerfully effective conversations with those important others.

“Sharing without manipulation and a hidden agenda, but rather a positive agenda and openness, allows for mutual respect and a deeper level of understanding. Quite often, miracles happen, connection that seemed impossible.”

Besides the personal satisfaction this intuitive mentor gains from helping individuals shine, Shifra Chana sees her work as having a larger impact. “These breakthroughs are not just important for personal transformation. The central theme of our times is redemption. Fifteen years ago you had to create interest in this topic, because most people didn’t find it relevant. But history has moved on. The Torah’s issues of truth, mysticism, Israel, and spirituality are now global questions. There is great concern about immorality and family breakdown. People urgently want answers and need help extracting them from the Torah. I would like to continue to do much more.”

Like her namesake Shifra, a Jewish midwife during the Egyptian enslavement; Shifra Hendrie uses her intelligence and passion to help humanity give birth to the age of redemption. Then all our struggles will be seen for what they truly are, doorways into an infinite world of new possibilities.

To learn more about Shifra’s classes and programs, visit www. KabbalahofTransformation.com