8:00pm: With So Much Pain and Darkness How Do You Maintain a Positive Outlook?

The topics in this week’s 335th episode of the highly acclaimed MyLife: Chassidus Applied series, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, will include:

  • Chassidus Applied to Chanukah and Miketz
  • What five messages do the Chanukah lights teach us
  • Why did the Rebbe cross out the words “whispering flames”? 
  • With so much pain and darkness how do you maintain a positive outlook? 
  • Should a chossid eat jelly doughnuts on Chanukah?
  • Why is Judaism so obsessed with food?
  • How can we take on and maintain so many resolutions?
  • What should be our attitude to the Covid vaccine?
  • Should we still be following Covid medical guidelines?
  • Is there a double standard when it comes to discussing Trump and Biden?
  • Would it be okay to name our children Donald?
  • Chassidus question: How can we apply the Kabbalistic explanation of Chanukah in Derech Mitzvosecho to our lives?


MyLife: Chassidus Applied is a weekly video webcast candidly answering questions from the public about all life matters and challenges, covering the entire spectrum of the human experience. 

This hour-long dose of insights, broadcast live every Sunday night 8-9PM EST, is meant to provide people with inspired guidance and direction, empowering them to deal with any issue they may face. 

In what has become a staple in so many people’s lives, MyLife: Chassidus Applied 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?

MyLife demonstrates how Chassidus provides us with a comprehensive blueprint of the human psyche as a microcosm of the cosmos, and offers us all the guidance we need to live the healthiest possible life and build nurturing homes and families, bringing up the healthiest possible children, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. MyLife is brought to you by the Meaningful Life Center as a public service, free of charge.

Questions may be submitted anonymously at chassidusapplied.com/ask.