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8:00pm: Is Resignation Ever Acceptable?

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 105, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: 12 Step Program; Our G-d vs. Their G-d; Is Resignation Ever Acceptable? How to Remain Connected in a non-Jewish Environment?

MyLife MP3s are available to download from the Meaningful Life Center Shop. Become a free member today and receive unlimited Mylife MP3 downloads.

How should a chassid view healing programs like the 12 Steps? Is the affirmation that “we are powerless over our addiction” and that “we made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God” and are “entirely ready to have G-d remove all these defects of character” a contradiction to what the Torah teaches us? Is there ever any justification to lessen one’s mitzvah observance in the name of recovery and healing? Is this consistent with the concept of iskafya and the methods Chassidus teach us in exercising restraint and conquering our obsessions?

Other topics that will be discussed in this week’s episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied include:

  •        * Should I relay positive feedback and affirmations to a friend when I honestly don’t believe what I am saying?
  •        * Do we have a different version of G-d than the non-Jews have?
  •        * My family recently moved to a small town where there is no synagogue and no other Jewish families. How can I stay connected when there are no resources around to do so?
  •        * How do we apply today the concept of berating our animal souls as explained in Tanya chapter 29?

Rabbi Jacobson will also continue describing the process of chazoreh and writing hanochos, remembering and writing the Rebbe’s sichos.

He will also review the following essays submitted in last year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest: “Our Guest Was Having a Bad Hair Day” by Yosef Kanner, “Growing through Guilt” by Rivkah Shanowitz, and “Uplifting the World” by Chaim Venkin. These and other essays can be read online at meaningfullife.com/essays.

 

And finally, the Chassidus question of the week:  Please explain the meaning of the Alter Rebbe’s famous statement in Torah Ohr Vayeira, Posach Eliyahu (14b) that “aderabah, ha’Maor Hu b’hisgalus,” in contrast to light which is subject to concealment, the “Source,” on the contrary, is revealed. How do we understand this revelation when the Alter Rebbe says at the same time that the “source is beyond revelation and concealment”?

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 atmeaningfullife.com/mylife.

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

  •        * Chasidus Applied to Vayakhel and Shekalim
  •        * Is Chassidus compatible with The 12 Step Recovery Program?
  •       * Our G-d vs. their G-d
  •       * Is “resignation” ever acceptable?
  •        * How do we apply the concept of “berating” in Tanya chapter 29?
  •       * Staying connected when not in Jewish community
  •        * Hanochos – follow-up
  •        * Chassidus Question: How can the “Ma’or” be revealed (Torah Ohr Vayeira 14b) when It is beyond revelation and concealment?
  •       * MyLife Essays: Our Guest Was Having a Bad Hair Day, Growing through Guilt, Uplifting the World

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.

All episodes are immediately available for viewing in the MLC’s archive and can be downloaded as MP3s for listening on the go.

Questions may be submitted anonymously at meaningfullife.com/mylife.

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