8:00pm: When Is/Isn’t Humor Appropriate?
This week’s edition of MyLife: Chassidus Applied with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Episode 122, will air tonight, Sunday, here on CrownHeights.info, beginning at 8:00pm. This week Rabbi Jacobson will address the topics: When Is/Isn’t Humor Appropriate? Can Non-Jews Study Torah? Should I Always Trust My Mashpia’s Advice?
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Humor opens up people’s hearts and can lighten a heavy mood. We all can appreciate a good joke and sharp wit, but is humor always appropriate? Is a sense of humor always congruent with a Torah-dedicated life? How is one to know when, where and how to incorporate a sense of humor appropriately?
Is there anything inherently wrong with a non-Jew learning Torah?
The Rebbe implored Chassidim to find and trust a mashpia who can offer an objective perspective. Are we to believe that whatever a mashpia suggests is what the Rebbe would want us to do? What happens if someone receives guidance about a certain issue from a mashpia and then finds the Rebbe says otherwise, somewhere else? Must one listen to a mashpia regardless?
These are among the relevant and provocative issues Rabbi Jacobson will address in this week’s 122nd episode of MyLife: Chassidus Applied. Other topics that will be discussed include: Scholarship among women, and a follow-up to previously discussed topics of rebuking a friend, tznius and intimacy.
Rabbi Jacobson will also review the following essays submitted in last year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest: “The Baalei Teshuva Lifestyle” by Avrahom Moshe Erlenwein, “Perfectly Imperfect” by Faigy Schwei, and “Tackling Your Fears” by Menashe Wolf. These and other essays can be read online at meaningfullife.com/essays.
And finally, the Chassidus question of the week: In episode 120 you laid out the general map of seder hishtalshilus. Can you elaborate on what you alluded to – the exact position ofkeser of atzilus in juxtaposition with tohu, akudim, and adam kadmon?
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 at meaningfullife.com/mylife.
The topics in this Sunday’s hour-long broadcast will include:
- Chassidus Applied to Chukas
- What are the appropriate parameters of humor?
- What if I feel that my mashpia’s advice is different than the Rebbe’s?
- Can non-Jews study Torah?
- Are women inferior in the area of scholarship?
- Follow up:
- – Rebuking a friend
- – Tznius & intimacy
- Chassidus Question: In the “map” of the cosmic order where is Keser of Atzilus positioned in juxtaposition with Tohu, Akudim, and Adam Kadmon?
- MyLife Essays: The Baalei Teshuvah Lifestyle, Perfectly Imperfect, Tackling Your Fears
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.
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