MyLife: Chassidus Applied Rabbi Simon Jacobson

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:MyLife 500 campaign  What assets and resources do we have to face life’s challenges? 


The power of Torah and Chassidus  


Transition from Iyar to Sivan 
Rosh Chodesh Sivan: Like one man, with one heart 
Bamidbar 
Bechukosei 


Omer 


Should we be concerned that America will turn against Jews, and begin planning our exit strategy? 
Can we compare events today to events that happened in Europe during the 30’s? 
When do we escape danger and when do we remain? 
How could the Frierdiker Rebbe visit Israel and then leave from there? 


Should we be looking at the events of October 7 as deeper blessings hidden in the curses? 
If the Palestinians turn out to be from the lost twelve tribes would we welcome them? 


What should our reaction be to the Trump verdict? 
Are we allowed to pray for him? 

What does this time-period and Torah portion teach us today?  Is it significant that a group climbing Mt. Everest brought a Sefer Torah with them and held it up in the air doing a “super Hagbah” at the highest point in the world? Should we be moving to Israel? Follow-up War with Hamas Donald Trump  

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:MyLife 500 campaign  What does Lag B’Omer teach us today? 


How does Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai help us deal with our challenges? 
Why is this day so special? 
What is the source that Lag B’Omer is the day of Rashbi’s Hilula? 
Why can we listen to music and make weddings on Lag B’Omer? 
Did the Rebbe suggest that we visit the Ohel on this day? 
Is there an alternative for someone who can’t go to the Ohel? 
Why don’t we celebrate with a parade on other special days of the year? 
Why is there a custom to light bonfires on Lag B’Omer? 
How could the students of Rabbi Akiva defy their teacher’s cardinal rule about loving another? 
Why did the students of Rabbi Akiva die in an epidemic – does not respecting another warrant the death penalty? 
Why do we say Lag B’Omer, but don’t say Tu B’Av? 
Should we be relying on the segulos associated with Lag B’Omer? 
Segulos don't seem to work for me. What should I do differently? 
What can we learn from Rashbi living 12 years in a cave? 
Is there a connection between Lag B’Omer and Moshiach? 
Is it connected to the Zohar? 
And if so, how does it relate to Chassidus? 
Who was Moses de Leon, and what role did he play in disseminating the Zohar? 


What do we learn from this parsha? 
What is the connection between this parsha and Lag B’Omer? 
Why are engraved letters higher than written ones? 


What is the significance of the month of Iyar and the general time between Pesach and Shavuos? Follow-up 


If Sinai teaches us the lesson of humility, why was the Torah given on a mountain altogether? 


Why are we not gathering daily and holding prayer vigils and public reciting of Torah and Tehillim and tzedakah beseeching heaven to free the hostages and end this evil war? 
Where are our leaders? 

Bechukosei Iyar Sinai Why did the Rebbe not go to Israel? Follow-up War with Hamas 

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:What lessons and empowerment does this time-period and Torah portion offer us in facing today’s war?  


What is the significance of the period between Pesach and Shavuos? 
What does the month of Iyar teach us? 
What is the connection between Rafah and healing? 
What do we learn from Pesach Sheni? 
How does counting the Omer help refine and strengthen us? 
Weeks of Netzach and Hod: What are netzach and hod and what are their functions? 
Behar: What does a “mountain” teach us?  
Do the laws of Yovel apply today? 
Beis Iyar 
How to fight a war with a l’chatchila ariber attitude? 
Who was the Rebbe Maharash named after and what do we learn from that? 
Should we induce labor to give birth to a child on an auspicious day like Beis Iyar? 


What do we learn from the soldiers that were tragically killed by “friendly fire”? 
Is Israel the safest place on earth? 
How do we reconcile the Rebbe’s statement that Israel is the safest place in the world with the unfortunate fact that over 1,200 people were murdered in one day in Israel?  
Should we move to Israel due to fears of rising anti-Semitism? 
How can we apply the concept of l’chatchila ariber to the current physical and spiritual war? 
How should we react to President Biden withholding arms from Israel and to the general anti-Israel stance among some USA officials? 
Should we remain allies with the USA or perhaps turn to Russia and China for support? 
Are the soldiers tzaddikim? 
Is it possible that my putting on Tefillin actually caused harm to our soldiers? 
What power do our actions have in impacting world events? 

 War with Hamas 

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:What does this time-period and Torah portion teach us today?  


What lessons do we glean from our work of counting the Omer in the “second month” (Iyar) following the “first month” (Nissan)? 
What are the different meanings of the word sefirah (v’sefartem)? 
How can we gain strength and conviction in the war with Hamas? 
What’s the best way to address the anti-Israel protests on campuses?  


What does this chapter teach us about education and how can it help us address the crisis in our schools and universities? 
What is the best way to discipline students? 


How can we distinguish between appropriate hiddurim on Pesach and OCD?  
What can I do with a family member who is going overboard with chumras or other obsessions? 
How can the Midrash say that the Jews were redeemed from Egypt on account of them not changing their names, their language, not speaking slander and modesty, when in fact they did not maintain these virtues? 
What can we learn from these qualities that helped redeem the Jews from Egypt? 
Is there a source for the custom of baking a shlissel challah for the first Shabbos after Pesach?  


What is a practical way of explaining Geulah? 
What is the difference between Moshiach and Geulah? 
What is the purpose of making the world a more beautiful place? 
How many stages will there be after Moshiach comes? 
How will we know what stage we are in? 
Will there be miracles when Moshiach comes? 
Will Resurrection be literal – the physical rising of all those that died? 
How do we integrate Moshiach in our daily lives? 
Should we quit our jobs and totally dedicate our lives to prepare for and bring Moshiach? 

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:What does this time-period and Torah portion teach us today?  


How does Pesach continue to empower us as we conclude Nissan? 


How could we have celebrated Pesach with a free heart when our brothers and sisters are being held hostage by our enemies? Any advice on how to address my heavy heart? 
Why did the liberating energy of Pesach not help the hostages be safely freed from captivity Don't they also deserve to have been free to enjoy the seder with their families?  
Is there a prayer with which we can complain to G-d when He hurts us, just as there is the Hallel prayer to praise Him when He is kind to us? 
Can we refrain from praising Hashem when our families are in danger? 
What is the significance of praising G-d? 
How can we say that Chizkiyahu did not say praise when he certainly said Hallel that Pesach? 
Why was the tribe of Ephraim killed for leaving Egypt 30 years earlier? What did they do wrong? 


What is a synopsis of the Rebbe’s impassioned talk on 28 Nissan 5751? 
What is the meaning and practical application of “the energies of Tohu in the containers of Tikkun”? 
What should we be doing in response to the Rebbe’s call: “Do everything you can to bring Moshiach”? 


What is the essential theme of this chapter and its lessons for our times? 


What did Aaron's sons do wrong by going into the Holy Temple that caused them to die?  
What is the significance of the lots (gorel) cast on Yom Kippur to determine what to do with the two goats? 
Is it connected to the lots of Purim? 


Why do we count sefirah every year if we have already rectified any emotional blemishes we had in previous years? 
 Is there a connection between counting sefirah and the fifty gates of understanding?


How should we react to these disturbing events?  
Do they have anything in common with the 1960’s Viet Nam War protests?  
Did the Rebbe make any comments in support of or against the Vietnam War protests? 
How do we deprogram all the brainwashed college students that hate Jews based on false propaganda and lies? 
What’s the best way to fight these protests? Physically or spiritually? 
Is it appropriate to display Moshiach flags at pro-Israel rallies? 

Rabbi Jacobson will discuss the following topics:What does Pesach teach us today? 


How do the miracles and redemption of Pesach empower us in dealing with our current challenges? 
What is the main theme of Pesach? 
Is it the joy of freedom from slavery or the lessons in humility from eating the matzoh? 
Why don’t we do a thorough internal cleansing of any chometz left in our bodies before Pesach? 
What is the best way to run a Seder? 
Is it better to have an enjoyable experience even if we compromise some of the more stringent details? 
Why are we constantly reminded that we were slaves in Egypt and idol worshippers when we’re not supposed to remind someone of their past sins?   
Is the Egyptian exile a deeper concealment than that of the tzimtzum harishon? 
Why are we not all wealthy today as the Jews were when they left Egypt? 
Why are matzos, and Pesach food in general, so expensive? Is there a spiritual reason for this? 
Is that why we call matzah “the bread of the impoverished”?! 
Since Pesach and Nissan represent freedom and redemption, why are some of us bogged down with financial and other problems that make us feel like slaves? Where are our miracles?  
How can we access the energy of Pesach to resolve our challenges and constraints – financial and otherwise? 
What do we have to do to earn and deserve the geulah today? What can we learn from Geulas Mitzrayim in this regard? 


Which was a bigger miracle, being saved from genocide at the hands of the Persians on Purim or at the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians on Pesach?  
What can we learn from the way Moshe dealt with Egypt how we should deal with Hamas and Iran today? 
What is the best way to thank G-d for the miracles of saving Israel from the Iran attack? 
When we say Hallel during the seder can we have in mind the miracles of being protected from the Iranian missile attack? 
Should we avoid celebrating the deaths of our enemies, learning from G-d rebuking the angels for singing when the Egyptians were drowning? 
What benefit are the prophecies if they're vague and cryptic? 
Can we give tzedakah on the condition that the hostages be released? 
Is it possible that our prayers for the hostages are being blocked because of our own inequities? 
Should we accept teshuva from the Hamas terrorists?  


Why do we say that the generation that left Egypt had great Emunah? 
Can Rabbi Jacobson please present a synopsis of a Pesach maamar?