Secular Education, Mushrooms, Music and Summer Camp
MyLife: Chassidus Applied – Episode 25 Airs Tonight at 8PM
What does the Rebbe and Chassidus have to say about music? How selective must one be about listening to Chabad music, chassidishe music, chazonus? What about Carlebach, mainstream frum music, and more modern music?
What role does secular education play in the life of a Chassid, if any at all? What can be said about those that some have coined “mushrooms”? Are camps teaching hiskashrus in a healthy way or teaching campers to simply repeat “bumper stickers”?
Tune in this Sunday night for the next episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied, which will address these sensitive and controversial issues, based on the questions anonymously submitted through the online forum. This hour-long dose of insight is meant to inform, inspire and empower us by applying the teachings of Chassidus to help us face practical and emotional challenges and difficulties in our personal lives and relationships. To have your question addressed, please submit it at www.meaninfullife.com/mylifelive.
The topics in this Sunday’s hour-long broadcast will include:
· Can you get a secular education without polluting your mind?
· What is the role of secular studies in a Chassid’s life?
· The legitimacy of “mushrooms”
· How should summer camps teach hiskashrus?
· How careful should I be about the music I listen to?
· Follow-up on Rebbe Edition
MyLife: Chassidus Applied addresses questions that many people are afraid to ask and others are afraid to answer. When asked about the sensitive topics he has been addressing, Rabbi Simon Jacobson commented, “I understand that the stakes are high, but the silence and lack of clarity on matters plaguing the community can no longer go unaddressed. The stakes of not providing answers are even higher.”
The on-going series has provoked a significant reaction from the community, with thousands of people viewing each live broadcast and hundreds of questions pouring in. At the root of every question and personal challenge tackled by the series is the overarching question: Does Judaism have the answers to my personal dilemmas?
In inimitable “Jacobson-fashion”, the broadcast answers people’s questions in simple, clear language while being heavily sourced. Each episode is jam-packed with eye-opening advice from the Rebbeim, gleaned from uncovering surprising gems in their letters, sichos and maamorim that address our personal issues with disarming relevance. Simultaneously, Rabbi Jacobson is able to crystallize a concept quickly, succinctly, and poignantly for any level of listener.
All episodes are immediately available for viewing in the MLC’s archive and can be downloaded as MP3’s for listening on the go.
Questions may be submitted anonymously at www.meaningfullife.com/mylifelive.
Live Video:
Rabbi Jacobson mentions in this class that he is not a leader, question is why not?
Someone that has been around the Rebbe for so long, and is constantly learning and researching the Rebbe’s work, along with him being objective and non biased why is he not in a Leadership role?
As a shliach, when I heard that Rabbi Jacobson would be speaking about this topic of sanctioned and unsanctioned shluchim, I was concerned about what he would endorse. I must admit that after listening to his wise and balanced words — and especially quoting the Rebbe and the the Rebbe’s call for expansion with a seder — I was pleasantly surprised and very gratified. It actually changed some of my thinking that we need to get out of our “in the box” corporate models and think more like the Rebbe and his expectations of us. I also will refrain from… Read more »
Yasher Koach for correcting the mistake. That takes character.
Thank you for your candid discussion re “mushrooms”. I was quite, pleasantly, surprised by your position. Kudos!
This is great on all fronts — the explanation of secular education, the type of music we listen to, and above all — shluchim and the “mushrooms” — absolutely brilliant. This class is a MUST MUST listen for everyone. We can see from this that when you UNDERSTAND Chassidus, and not just go through the motions, your perspective on everything, especially controversial issues, is transformed.