The Rebbe Rashab of Chabad was known as a man of complete Emes (truth), earning the profound respect of the great Rav Chaim Soloveitchik ZT”L. His teaching on integrity was clear and uncompromising: "Truth is the middle path. An inclination to the right - to be overly stringent with oneself and find faults with oneself that are not really there; or an inclination to the left - to be overly lenient with oneself, rationalizing one’s faults and being overly lenient and ignoring the demands of Avodas Hashem (service to Hashem) out of self-love — both of the above are pathways of falsehood."
In 1903, the Rebbe had been suffering from paralysis in his arm and when conventional treatments failed, he learned of a revolutionary new approach being pioneered in Vienna by Dr. Wilhelm Stekel, working in consultation with Sigmund Freud. This experimental treatment called “psychoanalysis” was virtually unknown in religious circles. The Rebbe decided to undergo psychoanalysis and was cured.
Rather than hide this unconventional medical decision, the Rebbe was completely transparent with his followers and openly admitted undergoing the treatment. With the attitude of, “If it is good enough for the Rebbe, then it is good enough for me,” many sought help and were healed through the new methods of psychoanalysis and its corollary methods.
Dr. Stekel published the case history in 1908, maintaining the Rebbe’s anonymity and cited, "a forty-two-year-old rabbi" who suffered from occupational neurosis that was cured through psychoanalysis. The case became notable in psychoanalytic literature as the first documented and successful treatment of a Jewish religious leader. Later, both his son (the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe) and the last Lubavitcher Rebbe openly spoke about it – thus making psychoanalysis and seeking help from mental health professionals socially acceptable which encouraged many in the community who needed help from mental health professionals to seek it.
