Connection: The Easiest Solution to the World's Greatest Problem

Connection: The Easiest Solution to the World's Greatest Problem is a series of 36 conversations with Rabbi Asher Gottesman on the ways we can all reconnect--through what we believe, what we do, what we say, and what we embody--in order to find recovery, healing, and the lost art of human connection.

Rabbi Asher Gottesman grew up surrounded by a family who loved him, a strong and loving Jewish community, and people who showed him that faith was everywhere. But as a young addict, Asher found that the more isolated he became, the easier it was to ignore the communities and connection around him. After recovering from his own addictions, Asher began to rebuild the connections around him - with his family, through his recovery community, and ultimately, with himself. And what he discovered was that connection is the most important tool we have against addiction, depression, and the terrifying feeling that we are all alone.

Connection: The Easiest Solution to the World's Greatest Problem is a series of 36 conversations on the ways we can all reconnect--through what we believe, what we do, what we say, and what we embody. As a leader in the recovery movement, and with deep connections within the Jewish community, Rabbi Asher Gottesman has over 12k followers on social media and connections throughout business, film/TV, politics, and more. He has learned the hard way what disconnection feels like and what it can lead to - and has discovered through the power of connection, a world of healing, recovery, and hope.

Connection explores how disconnection creeps in unnoticed, whether from early family dynamics or later social interactions and offers a hopeful message: reconnection is possible. With practical steps and a focus on grace and forgiveness, it guides readers on a journey to combat loneliness and rebuild a fulfilling life. Drawing on the author's experiences as a Jewish rabbi and addict in recovery, the book blends spiritual and secular wisdom to help everyone—regardless of faith or background—forge meaningful connections.

Through this powerful book, readers will discover how to love yourself, embrace your life, and realize your powerful role in connecting everything and everyone.

Rabbi Asher Gottesman is a spiritual entrepreneur, human connection coach, and Rabbi in Southern California. His story began at home as a young child where all seemed well from the outside. As the youngest by nine years, he felt a horrible sense of abandonment. His loneliness was compounded by his father’s prominence as a rabbi and community leader where the pressure to appear as role models was insufferable. This resulted in a childhood eating disorder and drug use by age 14. Asher was 33 when he lost his multi-million-dollar business, with the resulting bankruptcy destroying what little self-worth he had as a provider to his family – he had hit rock bottom. Asher found his road to recovery through the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous, where despite the circle of anonymous faces, it was truly the first time in his life he felt the power of shared human connection through service to self and others. The experience marked the debut of an odyssey of self-discovery, trading ego for vulnerability, and leaving the pursuit of pleasure for the pursuit of meaning. Asher decidedly dedicated the rest of his career to helping others help themselves “restore wholeness” in their lives. Armed with a renewed sense of self, profound life experience, and entrepreneurial passion, Asher founded Transcend in 2008, building an internationally recognized recovery community. Now sober twelve years and counting, Asher has counseled hundreds of men and women and built a renowned reputation where he is recognized by his three hallmark pillars of recovery; Accountability, Community, and Unconditional Love.