8:00pm: Mechanical Judaism, Making Elul Count, Lip Service, Green with Envy

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 34, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info beginning at 8:00pm. This week, Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics of: Mechanical Judaism, making Elul count, lip service, green with envy and intrusive smart phones (pt. 2).

We learn that Elul is a time of spiritual accounting. Yet, year after year I go through this and frankly, it’s all the same – nothing changes. Try as I do I come out no different. If Rosh Hashanah is truly a new energy, why does it not affect us? What I can do this year to harness this new power to infuse and reenergize my life?  The machzor is several hundred pages long. Even someone who is fluent in the words would need many hours to read these prayers meaningfully. How can I daven and grow on Rosh Hashanah when I don’t even know the meaning of most of the words?! Are we expected to pray with more than lip service?

I am afflicted with jealousy and unable to celebrate other people’s happiness. How can I overcome these poisonous sentiments? I live a frum life but find it unfulfilling. How can I revitalize my Yiddishkeit? And how can I do mivzoyim and inspire others when I feel so uninspired? Is classical music more acceptable than rock and roll? My husband uses his iPhone all day and night, is this acceptable behavior for a frum man? Did the Rebbeim provide guidelines for this intrusive technology?

Tune in this Sunday night for the next episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied. 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.meaningfullife.com/mylifelive.

The topics in this Sunday’s hour-long broadcast will include:

•  Mechanical Judaism and lip service
•  Lubavitch by rote
•  Making Elul count
•  Inspiring the uninspired
•  Classical music
•  Overcoming jealousy
•  Spouse’s iPhone abuse

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.