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8:00pm: Why Does an Esrog Cost $100 When Its Cousin, the Lemon, Can Be Found in the Supermarket for Fifty Cents? How Do We Justify Price Gouging?

The topics in this week’s 372nd episode of the highly acclaimed MyLife: Chassidus Applied series, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, will include: 

  • Lessons from Yud Gimmel Tishrei – 139th yahrzeit of the Rebbe Maharash 
    • What should we learn from the Rebbe Maharash?
    • How does his life and leadership impact us?
    • What is the connection between the Tzemech Tzedek being daas and “now let’s travel to father to hear what is doing”?
    • Story: A Rebbe never leaves
  • Chassidus applied to Sukkos
  • Sukkah
    • What is the spiritual significance of eating in a sukkah?
    • Why is Sukkos not in the spring after Pesach?
    • Is there a connection between sukkah and mikveh, as both surround us completely?
    • Why can a Sukkah be made of any materials you want, but the roof can only be made of materials that grow from the ground? Is the roof of the Sukkah more significant than its walls? 
    • Why is Chabad custom not to decorate the Sukkah?
    • What is the meaning of the Gemara that in the future non-Jews will be tested with a Sukkah and they will refuse to sit in it because of the heat, and what is its message for us today?
    • If Hashem wanted us to enjoy our time in the sukkah why did he create mosquitoes and bees to torment and ruin it for us?
  • Four Species
    • Why do we shake the Lulav?
    • Why does an Esrog cost $100 when its cousin, the lemon, can be found in the supermarket for fifty cents? How do we justify price gouging?
    • Why do we use an esrog from Italy instead of from Israel?
  • Other
    • What is Simchos Beis Hashoeiva and why did the Rebbe reinstitute this celebration? 
    • How can we control our diets during this holiday season with all its meals?
  • Chassidus question: How does Chassidus explain Sukkos?

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 human experience. 

This hour-long dose of insights, broadcast live every Sunday night 8-9PM EDT, 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.

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