8:00pm: How to Interact with Unfrum or Non-Jewish Family Members

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 20, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info beginning at 8:00pm. This week’s class is titled Family Diversity: Unfrum or Non-Jewish Family Members.

We live in a very complicated generation – replete with assimilation and intermarriage, with so many Jews unaware of their roots. Sadly, this very often affects our own nuclear families. What should be our attitude to secular family members, either those that never were aware of Yiddishkeit, or those that are presently not involved? How do we interact at weddings, parties and family gatherings? What should we tell our children? How do we balance love and non-judgmentalism while maintaining our integrity and standards?

Other topics to be addressed in Sunday’s broadcast include: How to prepare for Gimmel Tammuz; Hiskashrus to the Rebbe; Tools for mediating conflict in a wide range of scenarios, from community arguments to family disputes; What can I do about my shul where people don’t seem to stop talking?; Finding a mashpia.

Tune in this Sunday night for the next episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied, which will address these sensitive issues. 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.

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

·        How do we prepare for Gimmel Tammuz?

·        Hiskashrus to the Rebbe Part II

·        Tools for mediating conflict

·        Dealing with a noisy and distracting shul

·        Unfrum/Non-Jewish family members

·        Finding a mashpia

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.