8:00pm: Character Refinement in Our Education System

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 63, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: Why is there no Emphasis on Character Refinement in our Education System?; How to Respond and Advise on Sensitive Matters; Wife Doesn’t Daven; Seeking Spiritual Direction Outside of Torah.

Refining one’s character – birur ha’midos – seems to be a prominent theme in Chassidus. Why then is it not emphasized in our homes and schools?

This question is especially timely during this period of Sefirat HaOmer, when the focus is precisely on character refinement – examining and improving each of the emotional faculties from chesed she’be’chesed to malchus she’be’malchus. How can we make these days between Pesach and Shavuot count (no pun intended)? How can we personalize this daily Mitzvah?

Serving as a rabbi and community leader is fraught with unique challenges. Answering a halachic question is pretty straightforward. But how do we respond to personal matters, especially sensitive ones. How does a rabbi serve as a “soul doctor”? What do you say to someone who shares with you a delicate issue like infidelity, mental and emotional health, intermarriage or homosexuality? This question is not just relevant to community leaders, but to anyone who is entrusted with a confidential matter. How do you respond to someone confiding their darkest secret to you?

Other topics to be addressed in this week’s episode are: “My wife doesn’t daven. My mashpia told me to leave her alone about it, but it really bothers me.” “I can’t understand and apply Chassidus to my personal life. Can I seek spiritual guidance outside of Judaism, which I find far more accessible and practical?”

In addition, Rabbi Jacobson will continue the new segment in each MyLife episode – discussing essays submitted in the MyLife: Chassidus Applied contest. Each week he will present key ideas of selected essays, and also analyze the elements and criteria that made the essay stand out, while also providing guidance in how to improve your capacity in applying Chassidus, helping you become next year’s winner! In this week’s episode he will be discussing the next top essays about coping when life throws the unexpected at you, hope in the face of challenge, power of speech and ADHD.

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 atwww.meaningfullife.com/mylifelive.

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

  • Chassidus Applied to Post-Passover and Omer counting
  • Reviewing Chassidus Applied top contest essays about coping when life throws the unexpected at you, hope in the face of challenge, power of speech and ADHD.
  • Advice: My wife is not davening
  • How to respond and advise on sensitive matters
  • Where is the emphasis in our education system on character refinement?
  • Seeking spirituality outside of Judaism

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.

One Comment

  • Yossi A

    Rabbi. Jacobson is finally addresing Landmark ie; call of the shofer issue….