8:00pm: What Can Couples Experiencing Difficulties Having Children Learn From Yitzchak and Rivkah?

The topics in this week’s 377th episode of the highly acclaimed MyLife: Chassidus Applied series, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, will include:

  • Chassidus applied to Rosh Chodesh Kislev
    • What is the significance of this day and can we learn from it?
    • What is the theme and energy of Kislev?
    • How to grow through setbacks?
  • What was the origin of the Kinus Hashluchim? 
  • Lessons from Toldos
    • What can couples experiencing difficulties having children learn from Yitzchak and Rivkah? 
    • What do we learn from the battle of Esau and Yaakov in Rivkah’s womb?
    • Why did Yaakov have to dress up as Esau in order to steal the blessings?
    • What justification is there for Yaakov to steal Esau’s blessings?
    • Why did only Rivkah, and not Yitzchak understand the status of Esau?
    • Why couldn’t Yitzchak correct himself and bless Esau with the brochos he mistakenly gave Yaakov?
    • Why was Yitzchak not spared the pain of seeing Esau become a wicked person as Abraham was by having him pass away earlier?
    • What was the yeshiva of Shem and Eiver?
  • Ways to find a shidduch – follow-up
  • Comments: The importance of asking questions
  • Women in the Torah
    • Why does the Torah rarely mention the girls in the families?
    • How should I respond to someone who criticizes the Torah for being a patriarchal system that keeps men in power? 
    • Why don’t women wear a yarmulke?
  • Chassidus question: Based on the rule that the highest levels fall to the lowest ones, 1) why did Rivkah and Yaakov give up on Esau and not let him receive the blessings in the hope he would do teshuva? 2) Does this rule apply to the monsters in history as well, like Stalin?


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.