8:00pm: Our Troubled Youth; Mental Illness; Criticizing Others

This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 80, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: Our Troubled Youth; Mental Illness; Criticizing Others.

The tragic suicide of Faigy Mayer, among other recent tragedies (more than the public is aware of), has brought to the fore many critical questions. What anguish would cause someone to take their own life? How should we be dealing with our troubled youth? Is there anyone to blame? How responsible are parents, family and our school systems? What role does mental illness —and the way we do or don’t deal with it – play in all this? Are we properly handling mental illness, especially considering the deep stigma and shame associated with it? Families and communities are being vilified for not creating a nurturing environment for our young people facing challenges. But is this accurate, or just a scapegoating campaign? With much talk about what’s lacking in the community and causing youth to leave yiddishkeit, what about the other end of the spectrum: Are the organizations and support groups for these people creating a healthy environment for them, helping them build functional lives or are they simply perpetuating the negative sentiments they harbor?

In this episode of MyLife Rabbi Jacobson will begin addressing these thorny and complex issues. Other topics that will be addressed include criticizing others and can one be frum and gay.

Where do we draw the line between the mitzvah of “rebuking your neighbor” and inappropriately criticizing others? Why are people mixing into other people’s business? “I have been to several homes where the topic of conversation at the Shabbos table, in the presence of all the kids, is not on the Parsha or a chassidishe story or hergesh, but about the flaws of others. Can you please address this and its negative effects.”

Rabbi Jacobson will also review the following essays submitted in the MyLife: Chassidus Applied contest: “Productive Self-Evaluation” byMenachem Mendel Chalili, “Controlling One’s Feelings by Separating them from the Facts” by Esther Gur, and “The Power of Persistent Positive Thought” by Chana Kalachi.  These and other essays can be read online at meaningfullife.com/mylife/contest/.

And finally, the Chassidus question of the week (our new feature): I don’t fully see the difference between Kabolas ol, Iskafya and Mesiras Nefesh (mesiras ratzon). Can you please explain the different approaches? Thank you.

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/mylife.

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

• Chassidus Applied to Elul and Parshas Shoftim
• Our troubled youth: Who is responsible?
• Mental illness and its stigma
• Can I be frum and homosexual?
• Criticizing others
• Follow-up: Laziness and Homeschooling
• Chassidus Question of the week: the difference between Kabolas Ol, Iskafiya and Mesiras Nefesh
• MyLife Essays: Productive self-evaluation; Controlling feelings by separating them from the facts; The Power of Persistent Positive Thought

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.

MyLife is now available as a podcast and can be streamed or downloaded from iTunes.