MyLife: Chassidus Applied Episode 174, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
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What personal lessons can we glean from this time period moving from the sad Nine Days to Tu B’Av and into Elul?
Life has its turbulence, and we’re expected to weather the storms. How does Chassidus help us navigate the ups and downs of life?
Having an open home, no doubt, brings tremendous amounts of blessing. It also opens the door to all kinds of relationships, wanted and unwanted, healthy and unhealthy. No one is asked for their credentials, mental health status or criminal records when they’re invited for a meal, and this can create unpleasant situations. How does one have an open home yet ensure their children aren’t exposed to unhealthy or toxic people? If all are welcome, then what can parents do when someone in their home is destructive?
Everybody has a breaking point. Everyone reaches a place where he feels like he’s overexerting himself. Yet, we are always taught that anything that stands in the way of us accomplishing our positive and Torah-based goals is merely a tactic of the yetzer hara. How do I know if my resistance and inhibition is coming from my yetzer hara or is it actually my physical limits telling me to take it easy and relent before collapsing?
How does Chassidus approach the issue of proving G-d’s existence? Do we try to prove it? Can we prove it? Are there any airtight proofs? Or are we trying to “understand a concept by touching it with our hand” – applying our limited logic to something way beyond the empirical world?
Rabbi Jacobson will also review the following new essays submitted in the latest MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest of 2017: “A Fresh World is a Perfect World” by Schneur MInkowitz; “Stability as the Foundation of Success” by Mendy Ben-Harosch; and “4 Steps to Break Bad Habits” by Chaya Mushka Goldman. These and other essays can be read online at meaningfullife.com/essays.
And finally, the Chassidus question of the week: Chassidus describes Pharaoh/Mitzrayim, Amalek, and Midian in a similar vein. We learn that they are all negative forces representing the ego. Are they all descriptions of the same energy or do they represent different variations of the ego? Can you please explain the nuances that differentiate one from the other?
This hour-long dose of insights 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 meaningfullife.com/mylife.
The topics in this Sunday’s hour-long broadcast will include:
· Chassidus Applied to the time period beginning after Tu B’Av
· The significance of Chof Av
· How does one navigate the turbulence of life and remain above the fray?
· How do I know when to listen to my physical limits?
· Should we try to prove G-d’s existence?
· Hachnasas Orchim and a safe home: When is it too much?
· Is Yiddish a lost language?
· Chassidus Question: What is the differences between the kelipah of Mitzrayim, Midian and Amalek?
· MyLife Essays: A Fresh World is a Perfect World, Stability as the Foundation of Success, 4 Steps to Break Bad Habits
In what has now become a staple in many people’s lives, 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 and great care has to be taken when speaking openly, 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 week after week. 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.
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Questions may be submitted anonymously at meaningfullife.com/mylife
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Live Video:
Due to time limits this topic wasn’t addressed this week, and will be addressed next Sunday.
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