8:00pm: How Are We to Understand the Idea of Jews as the “Chosen People”?

The topics in this week’s 344th episode of the highly acclaimed MyLife: Chassidus Applied series, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, will include:

  • Chassidus Applied to 7 Adar, Terumah and Zachor
    • How are you empowered by the Moshe within?
    • How to turn your life and home into a holy sanctuary?
    • What can we do to eradicate apathy and doubts?
  • How does Chassidus view the relationship between spiritual/emotional health and physical health?
  • Does ambition have a purpose according to Chassidus? Or is it better to be without ambition completely?
  • What is the best way to daven that Hashem puts you in the right place at the right time to meet your bashert?
  • Non-Jews
    • What is the difference between psyche and soul from a Chassidic perspective, and how are they different by Jews and non-Jews?
    • Are non-Jews obligated to have bitachon?
    • How do I talk to my non-Jewish patients about G-d and the purpose of life? What topics and ideas in Chassidus can I share with them?
    • Is one allowed to listen to non-Jewish explanations of the Torah?
  • How are we to understand the idea of Jews as the “chosen people”?
  • Follow-up: Effort
  • Chassidus question: What is Tanya’s realistic expectation of us? Are we expected to be perfect or accountable? Is the Tanya’s beinoni a real person or just a theoretical model of the ideal non-tzaddik?
  • MyLife 2020 Chassidus Applied Essay and Creative Contest: 15th Place winners:
    • Essay English: The Power of Imagery, Yehuda Shmotkin, 35, Shliach, Chabad of Hamilton Heights and City College, New York, NY
    • Essay Hebrew (men): התמודדות עם עצלות וכבדות מהתניא, Benayahu Yankovitch, Jerusalem, Israel
    • Essay Hebrew (women): רכישת אסרטיביות מתוך ספר התניא, Mrs. Rivkah Yankovitch, Jerusalem, Israel
    • Creative: The Anatomy According to Chassidus (sketchbook), Chaya Youngworth, 18, Student, Torah Academy, Johannesburg, South Africa


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.