Just before the start of the New Year and as we cross the fault line of the events of October 7, we would like to invite you from the bottom of our hearts to a fascinating launch evening for the book "On the Breadth of the Heart" by Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor, translated and scientifically edited by Eilat Raz.

On Generosity is an in-depth journey into the concept of generosity. The book presents generosity as a multifaceted and paradoxical concept, based on recognizing the vulnerability of others and caring for their well-being, while echoing our own vulnerability. Phillips and Taylor argue that "generosity" is a natural impulse that develops from an encounter with the other, along with the myriad of other emotions that this encounter arouses - hatred, love, desire, and envy - and in connection with them.

The Hebrew version has been supplemented with an introduction by clinical psychologist, translator of the book and its scientific editor, Eilat Raz, who reviews the concept in a broad and diverse psychoanalytic context, as well as two essays that link generosity to the events of October Seven. One, 'Attack on Hope', written by Raz, and the other, 'Becoming a Free People in Our Souls', by Amit Pachler.

In the first chapter, Facing Generosity, the authors observe with bewilderment the fact that Generosity is not in the social value place where we would expect it to be. For although Generosity always involves risk because it is based on sensitivity to others and the ability to identify with their vulnerability, Generosity is still one of the highest and most satisfying human pleasures. What is it that leads us to alienate Generosity or to connect with it?

In its subsequent chapters, the book examines the benefits, risks, and challenges associated with generosity, reviews the development of the concept throughout history, focuses on the role of generosity in psychoanalysis and psychological development, examines Winnicott's and Freud's attitudes toward generosity, and analyzes the role of generosity in parenting, family life, and society.

During the evening we will discuss fascinating questions such as:

- Conceptualizations of generosity in psychological literature in general and psychoanalytic literature in particular.

-How does generosity affect our mental development?

- What is the connection between generosity and love, sexuality and aggression?

- The psychoanalytic context of generosity

- Openness in therapeutic work, including dealing with vulnerability and empathy in the treatment room

- Broad-mindedness in Israeli society after October 7th.

We would love to see you with all our hearts on September 29th for a conversation with Eilat Raz about the book and its meanings.