Mental Health Struggles or Addictions and Torah Obligations

Applied Chassidus with Rabbi Simon Jacobson: To What Extent Are People Facing Mental Health Struggles or Addictions Responsible for Their Torah Obligations? What Message Does Kislev Teach Us in Our Personal Lives? Full Story

November 23, 2025 – 3 Kislev 5786

To What Extent Are People Facing Mental Health Struggles or Addictions Responsible for Their Torah Obligations? What Message Does Kislev Teach Us in Our Personal Lives? What Is Represented by Jacob’s Ladder and the Angels Ascending and Descending? How Do We Explain All the Allegorical and Mystical Interpretations in Torah Seemingly Justifying Questionable Behavior? What Are the Dynamics of a Blessing? What Are Some Interesting Teachings of the Mitteler Rebbe?

MyLife: Chassidus Applied Episode 569 with Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Sunday, November 23, 2025 / 3 Kislev 5786 – 8:00-9:00PM ET

Podcast YouTube Chassidusapplied.com

The topics in this week’s 569^th episode of the highly acclaimed MyLife: Chassidus Applied series, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, will include:

Kislev

· Why is it called the month of geulah?

· What message does this month teach us in our personal lives?

Vayeitzei

· What lessons do we learn from living with the times, with this week’s Torah parsha?

· What is the personal application of Vayetzei Yaakov?

· What is represented by Jacob’s ladder and the angels ascending and descending?

· Why is prayer compared to a ladder?

· Why was there a need for G-d to make a promise to Jacob when He had already promised the same thing to Abraham?

· How could Jacob be fooled by Laban when he knew the entire Torah?

· What do we learn from Rachel giving the signs to Leah?

· How was Yaakov and Leah’s marriage valid according to halacha if the kesuba named Rachel and not Leah?

· Who were Bilhah and Zilpah?

· Did Bilhah and Zilpah consent to marriage?

Toldos

· How do we explain all the allegorical and mystical interpretations in Torah seemingly justifying questionable behavior?

· What is the difference between the balance of chesed and gevurah and tiferes?

· Was there a difference between Jacob and Esau as children and as adults?

· What are the dynamics of a blessing?

· Why did Isaac bless Yaakov with the name Elokim and not Havaya?

Tes Kislev

· What was unique about the Mitteler Rebbe?

· What do we learn from this day?

· What are some interesting teachings of the Mitteler Rebbe?

Responsibilities of those suffering from mental health issues and addictions

· To what extent are people facing mental health struggles or addictions responsible for their Torah obligations?

· For a person suffering from addiction, is the message just to continue doing mitzvos — or does that minimize the need to address the addiction itself?

MyLife: Chassidus Applied is a weekly video webcast candidly answering questions from the public about all life matters and challenges, covering the entire spectrum of human experience.

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MyLife demonstrates how Chassidus provides us with a comprehensive blueprint of the human psyche as a microcosm of the cosmos, and offers us all the guidance we need to live the healthiest possible life and build nurturing homes and families, bringing up the healthiest possible children, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. MyLife is brought to you by the Meaningful Life Center as a public service, free of charge.

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