Hanan Ben Ari's Ex-Wife Shares Intimate Reflections on Divorce and Self-Forgiveness
Hadassa Ben Ari, the ex-wife of Israeli singer Hanan Ben Ari, has shared a deeply personal reflection on divorce and self-forgiveness, prompted by a social media experiment.
Ben Ari initiated a question on Instagram asking her followers why people get divorced. The response was overwhelming, with over a thousand individuals sharing their personal stories. Inspired by their bravery, she wrote a lengthy post detailing her insights and her own internal process.
"I read every answer of yours, including private messages," Ben Ari stated, noting the profound lessons learned about "death following love." She emphasized her focus on forgiveness, particularly self-forgiveness, as a path to healing. "The first person you need to forgive is yourself," she advised, especially in the lead-up to Yom Kippur.
Drawing on Kabbalistic texts, Ben Ari views crises not as endings but as gateways to new beginnings. She referenced the concept of "Bereshit" (In the beginning) from the Torah, interpreting it as a "gate" to renewal. "Where I have a blockage, there lies my gate to do my repair," she explained.
She quoted a follower who described marriage as entering with a dream that eventually unravels when reality sets in. Ben Ari expanded this idea, suggesting that everyone enters life with a dream that inevitably breaks. However, by embracing loss and practicing self-forgiveness, individuals can transform these breakdowns into opportunities for rebirth, emerging "broken and also liberated, dirty and also new."
