8:00pm: Who Is Running the Show Now?

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 116, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: Who Is Running the Show Now? How Does One Overcome Fear of Public Speaking? Why Do Some Not Celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut? Is Facebook as Unadvised for Adults as It Is for Children?

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

Who is running the show? We seem to be experiencing a serious vacuum in leadership? People cannot even agree on an authority to trust. With various issues arising, like the recent controversy around building an eiruv in Crown Heights – how are we to find any clarity today? How important is the Rebbe’s role in our lives today? I have heard some people argue that we now have to rely on ourselves and not on the Rebbe? Is there any truth to that? And without the Rebbe here physically to ask him directly, how are we to resolve issues, especially those roiled in disagreements?

Standing up and addressing a crowd is one of the greatest possible fears for many people. Why is public speaking such a prevalent and terrifying fear? Is it rooted in the fear of rejection? Most importantly, what tools does Chassidus provide for overcoming this fear?

Rabbi Jacobson will address these relevant and misunderstood topics in this week’s 116th episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied.

Other topics that will be discussed include:

  •        Is there a difference between adults and children using Facebook?
  •           Why do some not celebrate Yom Hashoah, Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Hazikaron?
  •           The Rebbe adamantly advised against having televisions at home. Is this at all different to unrestricted internet?

Rabbi Jacobson will also review the following essays submitted in last year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest: “Reciprocity: The Name of the Game” by Eli Soble, “Man and Woman: So Different and So Perfect for Each Other by Rivka Ehrentrau, and “Conquering ‘I Can’t’” by Shoshie Gutnick. These and other essays can be read online at meaningfullife.com/essays.

And finally, the Chassidus question of the week: In Hemshech Ayin Beis, volume 2, chapters 357-358, the Rebbe Rashab explains how chochma is the etzem and core of everything. He then continues to discuss how this is the level of Torah, the middle channel (kav ha’emtzoei). But later, in chapter 362, the hemshech explains that chochma is limited to the only in kav ha’yemin (the right channel of the sefiros), and that da’as is the middle channel, the core force and central spine stringing all the sefiros together. How do we reconcile the two?

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:

  •          Chassidus Applied to Behar and Pesach Sheini
  •          The significance of Lag B’omer
  •          What is the role of the Rebbe today?
  •          Who is running the show now?
  •          Overcoming the fear of public speaking
  •          Is Facebook more appropriate for adults than for children?
  •          Feedback and follow-up:
    –   Proof of G-d’s existence
    –   Shabbas Mevarchim
    –   R’ Yisroel Aryeh Leib
  •          Chassidus Question: Chochma – center or right? Is chochma the core central force of the sefiros, or is it relegated to the right channel? Resolving a contradiction in Hemshech Ayin Beis.
  •          MyLife Essays: Reciprocity, Man and Woman: So Different and So Perfect For Eachother, Conquering “I Can’t”

In what has now become a staple in so 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.

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

If you value MyLife: Chassidus Applied, please subscribe to our youtube channel of the same name, to help keep these videos coming and to share them with others.