Clarity is one of life’s greatest blessings, the ability to know with certainty the correct path to take in life. There is no joy like dispelling the shadows of doubt. But how do we actually find clarity, especially in times of great confusion? Today, perhaps more than ever, we're being constantly bombarded by conflicting messages and contradictory narratives—whether in the media, politics, and in virtually every area of life. Self-interest and bias distort the truth. How can we navigate the maze of half-truths, propaganda and even outright deception inundating us? Is there a way to discover clarity, not only in our personal lives but also in our collective, communal, and social spheres? It starts with the individual. When speaking to someone, how do you know if they’re being truthful, if their words are authentic, or if you're being misled by a "white lie", a partial truth or a deliberate con? How do we know who we can trust? In a world where information spreads at lightning speed, discernment becomes more crucial than ever. Finding clarity—grounded in truth—is essential to making decisions that move us forward with confidence and purpose. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in our ongoing 60-day Journey Series, as we uncover the secret to finding clarity in an age of confusion. Discover how to cut through the noise and embrace a life illuminated by truth and certainty.

There’s so much hatred in the world today—rational or irrational. The very essence of hatred, at its core, feels irrational. We see it everywhere: between individuals, in politics, in the media, and between nations. Wars rage on with no end in sight, and it can feel overwhelming, even depressing.To be clear, there is love in the world as well. We’ve all experienced and witnessed acts of nobility, virtue, and selflessness. Yet, that doesn’t erase the reality of the hatred we face. So, is there a solution to all the hatred around us—a long-term, sustainable response and resolution to mend our differences and end the strife and abhorrence permeating society? Will hatred ever be erased?Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we continue our 60-day journey, exploring and discovering how we can bring love and unity into our current polarized and divided world. 

Where do you turn in times of fear and uncertainty, when upheaval disrupts your regular routines? In such moments, we often get disoriented and demoralized. You might feel like a lost ship at sea, unsure how to navigate and where to turn. So, how do you find your bearings and maintain balance and equilibrium? We are living in such times now. The widespread threats and unpredictability is unprecedented. Consider the global situation: the volatility in the Middle East, especially in Israel; the conflict in Ukraine; and the turmoil in the United States with its unpredictable presidential elections. Where do you turn? The good news is that we have a time-tested formula, dating back over 3,300 years, for navigating fear and uncertainty. This method is detailed in my book 60 Days: A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays.  We just entered this special period, the Hebrew months of Elul and Tishrei, which teach us how to regain balance after disruption and reclaim love after it has been violated. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this new fascinating series, as we kick off the 60-Day Journey and discuss how to find hope in times of fear, pain and loss. 

With all that has unfolded in Israel over the past year—the losses, the pain, the tragedies, the atrocities, the senseless deaths—we can't help but wonder: Will the war in Israel ever end? This is not just an abstract question; it is a deeply rooted apprehension, a profound and painful tension that grips any decent heart witnessing such upheaval. Tragically, this isn't new. The past year has only amplified a long-standing reality. If we look back through the years, the decades, the centuries, Israel has been at war since the beginning of time. As a modern state since 1948, it has faced numerous wars against its sworn enemies. But if we go back further, we see that wars have been waged over this land for millennia since biblical times. In the days of Abraham, conflicts erupted over this region. Then after the Egyptian exodus the Jewish people had to fight to reclaim their promised land. During the First Temple era, Israel and Jerusalem were attacked by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Second Temple period saw battles with the Persians, Greeks, and finally the Romans who destroyed the Temple and exiled the Jews. Throughout history, from the Crusades to the Byzantine and Ottoman empires, many have fought over this small piece of land called Israel. Essentially, the history of Israel in the last fourteen centuries has consisted of wars between the Chrsitians, Muslims and the Jews, all seeking control of the Holy Land. What is going on? Are we doomed to perpetual conflict, or is there hope? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this crucial discussion as we explore not just a global issue but a personal one. What lies at the heart of these wars, and what can we do to end them once and for all?

How would you rate the current state of education for our children and youth? This isn't a small question. Just as the health of a tree depends on how its seed is planted, so too, healthy adults are the product of a good education. But what is a good education? Are our schools failing us? Are they failing our children? Our world today is facing many crises. Our young people are lost in an ever-increasing technological blur of information overload, polarized political and social discord; they are suffering a crisis of purpose, lacking passion and commitment toward higher values, struggling with addictions, and overwhelmed by distractions. We must ask ourselves: What is happening in our school system? What are we teaching our children? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital discussion, for our future depends on it. As we begin a new school year, this is the perfect moment to revisit and take a hard look at the way we are educating the next generation. Are we doing a good job? Do we even have the right assumptions about what a good education is?

With alarming threats emerging from Iran, many are asking: What will be? Should we be frightened? Will a larger war erupt? Will America get involved? And what will be the impact on Israel? These are not small questions, as the stakes go beyond just one region—they affect the entire world. War always has global repercussions, but conflict in that part of the world is especially significant, given its history as a powder keg for centuries, and indeed, throughout history. But history also offers us wisdom. By looking back, we can find lessons that provide strength, courage, and clarity in times of uncertainty, turbulence and upheavals. Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we delve into the imminent threat from Iran. We will explore how we should address these pressing issues, how the world should approach the situation, and, most importantly, what we can do about it.

Does anyone care when you are in pain? Does G-d care? Are we alone in our suffering? One of the most devastating aspects of pain and suffering is the isolation—the feeling that no one is out there. When you are weeping, when a child is crying, is anyone else crying with you? And above all, is G-d crying with you? This is a critical question in life because we all face difficult times, setbacks, and losses. When you are in that situation, are you truly alone? Is anyone standing beside you, offering comfort and simply being there to soften the pain? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this powerful and meaningful talk addressing the question we all ask: "Where is G-d when I cry?" The question is stronger than ever as we find ourselves in these difficult times. With the Middle East on the brink of war and threats and uncertainty looming, have we been abandoned to deal with the chaos alone, or is G-d with us on our journey?

If ever there was a leadership vacuum, it is now more glaring than ever. The world seems on the edge of a precipice. The Middle East is teetering on the brink of major conflict, with the recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and top Hezbollah military figure Fuad Shukr, compounded by the chaos caused by Iran and its proxies. This crisis highlights the stark absence of global leadership. Where are our leaders? Why is no one speaking out? Have you heard any world leader address the crisis, call for action, provide a moral compass -- and present a vision for the future? We are in desperate need of direction. Have you ever seen such a lack of clarity and guidance? In the United States, we are clearly adrift. The current president is compromised, and the next presidential candidates offer little more than vague rhetoric on the major issues, without a grand plan. This presidential campaign is one of the most chaotic and unfocused, driven by polls and media distortions, while the global situation remains highly unstable. Leaders in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere appear just as lost. We need to bring this issue to the forefront. Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he addresses the critical lack of leadership and explores its causes. It’s time for a grassroots movement that demands true leadership from our current leaders—or, if necessary, paves the way for new leaders who possess the wisdom and courage to guide us toward a better future, to bring us together and create a world that reflects our true potential and destiny.

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The recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has jolted the nation and the world. Whether you're his supporter or not, the shocking scene witnessed by millions on television—of a 20-year-old with an unknown motive, just a few hundred feet away, shooting at the President's head—has become an iconic image. Many are wondering: was this divine intervention? A small turn of the head, a split second, and the outcome could have been very different. Tragically, one attendee lost his life, and two others were injured. The entire country is now gripped by these scenes. Is this incident a blip on the screen -- another tragic, violent act we see periodically, which in time will become a distant memory, or is this a watershed moment in history? Can and will this shooting change things? Not just for Mr. Trump and the presidential election, but for our society as a whole, and not just temporarily but permanently? Amidst today's social unrest, polarization and unprecedented vitriol, can this fateful event lead to meaningful and decisive change? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical discussion as he presents a case of how Trump's shooting can and should serve as a global wake-up call, and become a defining moment that will shape and create a better future.

Let's talk about the state of leadership today. Our modern world is blessed in many ways. Unprecedented success and prosperity, breathtaking breakthroughs in science and medicine, revolutionary technology that is dramatically raising our standard of living. The list goes on. Yet we also face many profound challenges. Our society is deeply polarized. We are witnessing a deterioration of personal values, with a foreboding sense of feeling lost at sea, without a clear moral compass to guide us.  At times like this we are in desperate need for leadership.  But where are our leaders? Throughout history, true leadership has been a guiding force, offering direction, instilling confidence, empowering individuals, and helping us tap into our inner resources. Today, there is a stark absence of such leadership. While we all possess innate strengths, the pressures and demands of our subjective lives often blind us to the broader picture. This is why we look to leaders for vision. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a timely and crucial discussion on the nature of leadership and why our current leaders appear to be failing us. Explore what we can do to change the status quo. When we are unable to impact things from the top down, we need to work from the bottom up -- by us becoming the leaders we seek, and creating standards that demand true leaders to rise.

With July 4th, Independence Day, upon us, it's a good time to ask: What exactly is freedom and independence? What does it really mean? When the American Founding Fathers declared independence 248 years ago, it was straightforward. They felt the overbearing control of King George of Great Britain and that compelled them to throw off the shackles and declare their independence from that sovereignty. So, is that what freedom means—to not be under someone else's control? Does it simply mean not being in prison? Or is there a deeper meaning? You can be physically free—no shackles, no prison—and still be enslaved to your passions, addictions, your fears and insecurities, and other forces that inhibit your free expression. What about emotional freedom, psychological freedom, spiritual freedom? As a very wealthy individual once told me, "I can do anything I like in this world, but I live in a gilded cage. I am not free. I have no idea why I am here and where my life should be headed." It's important to think about this because it's not just a general or hypothetical question—it’s about who you are. Are you truly free?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this special July 4th program to explore the meaning of freedom. Discover ways to free yourself from the many pressures that trap us from realizing your full potential, allowing you to spread your wings, be the best you can possibly be, and reach the heavens and beyond.

Are you reactive or proactive? Most of us tend to be more reactive, and there are several reasons for this.Firstly, we start our lives as children reacting to our parents—their attitudes, smiles, approval, and disapproval and we mirror their behavior.Secondly, as we grow older, we seek acceptance from our peers, friends, and society. This often leads us to follow others  rather than take initiative. Fear plays a significant role, especially for those who grew up in insecure environments. The fear of potentially failing or facing disapproval, makes us more likely to react cautiously. Being reactive feels less risky.Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical discussion and discover how to become more proactive in your life -- and how that will significantly improve many of your decisions, as well as unleash your great potential, helping you be more successful. Learn methods on how to take control of your life rather than simply reacting to others, which in turn will transform every aspect of your life.

Do Real Men Cry? There's a pervasive myth that real men don't cry, implying that tears are reserved for women. This notion is not only demeaning, suggesting women are emotional and weak while men are tough and stoic, but it's also untrue. Is vulnerability a weakness? Is expressing emotions wrong? Where did this stereotype originate, and why does our culture view honesty and fragility as problems? Why do we idolize toughness and machismo? What does this say about our society? Our perceptions of men and women, and their roles, are confusing and disturbing. Women are criticized for being too tough when they play by men's rules, and men are told to suppress their emotions. There's much to unpack here. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this special program to explore how to reclaim our true masculine and feminine personalities in a healthy way. It's about improving our personal lives, educating our children properly, and ultimately transforming our society.

With war continuing to rage in the Middle East, it would be wise to go back and trace the roots of this war and the long-standing antipathy and confrontation between the Muslims, Arabs, Jews and even Christians. We all know this isn't the first time that fighting has broken out in the region; there is unfortunately an ongoing history of deep tensions between nations and religions over the millennia. Countless battles being waged for control of the land of Israel and particularly Jerusalem. Going back to Biblical times and spanning throughout the ages we are witness to empire after empire trying to conquer this ancient land. The Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Mamluks, the Ottomans -- all vying for control of the promised land. What lies at the root of all of these conflicts? The only way to ultimately find a permanent solution is by understanding what we are actually fighting about. Is this a battle over land? Is it a battle over power and control? Or is it a religious and ideological war? And if so, what is the ideology and what will finally create a situation where we establish a lasting peace, coexistence and harmony within the diversity? We can find our answer in an event that took place over three millennia ago -- the greatest event in all of history: the Sinai Revelation. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this important discussion and discover how the events at Sinai 3,336 years ago changed and transformed this planet. Learn how Sinai created a new paradigm, challenging the nations of the world to embrace their divine mission, paving the way and providing us with a formula for global transformation. However, the journey is a difficult one. Hence, the never-ending struggles. But the good news is that over time Sinai's power has infiltrated and slowly refined and elevated the world's values. And now, we are poised to enter a new stage of spiritual redemption, in which Sinai rises to its true prominence -- helping us end these battles once and for all. and establish permanent and sustainable peace between all nations of the world.

Why is memory so important? How does it affect our lives on a daily basis? How can it transform us?Very often if you want to appreciate something, you have to think what life would be like without it. What would our days look like if we did not have our memories? If every morning we woke up with a clean slate, a blank picture and we had to rebuild everything anew... If we didn't have our past experiences, thoughts, and memories to inform our present and future..As we celebrate Memorial Day, the official beginning of the summer, it's fitting to give some thought to the power of memory and how it contributes to our existence. This is not just about nostalgically living in the past and going back in time, but it's about memories that live on and inform, educate and teach us to learn from the mistakes and to improve on the good things.So please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we honor and memorialize those that have fallen and also take this opportunity to remember everyone that has contributed to our lives. Discover that without memory we actually don't have history, and without history we have no future.

We are always looking for miracles in our lives, seeking out extraordinary moments within our ordinary routines. Those aha moments that affect, inspire and transform who we are. I'd like to share with you some miracles I recently experienced. Life is filled with paradoxes. Joy, pain, tears, celebration... the roller coaster of the cycles and vicissitudes of life. Nowhere is this captured more than in the biblical Promised Land, the Holy Land of Israel. I have just returned from a trip there and I personally experienced - as so many others have I'm sure in their own way - these paradoxes; witnessing real miracles and joy while also seeing pain, tears and suffering. What can we learn from these moments? What lessons can we apply to our personal lives? The Holy Land, as Jacob called it in the Bible, is a gate to heaven; an interface between heaven and earth, a bridge between spirit and matter, that allows us all to experience deeper states of transcendence in our very material and physical world. There are thus many lessons that can be learned from the miracles and paradoxes manifest in the Promised Land of Israel. I, Rabbi Simon Jacobson, invite you to please join me in this special discussion as I take you through a journey of my personal diary from Israel.

The continued unrest on our university campuses has raised very powerful and existential questions: Are our education systems healthy or corrupt? Are we actually giving the very best to our children and to our students? Are we setting them up for life and providing the necessary tools to help them not only survive but also thrive?There's clearly a problem. Our universities were always meant to be the ultimate model of academic excellence, free thought, open inquiry, and healthy discussions - a place where all opinions are welcome. But when universities turn political, armed with specific agendas, you have to wonder what's happening to our education system as a whole?Take a look at our students. When you ask them what they stand for, what values they are ready to fight for, many of them are clueless. Couple that with technology, social media and all the forces that are inundating their impressionable minds, and we have a very confused generation. Are our youth getting a healthy education? Are they learning how to think critically, or are they being indoctrinated, brainwashed?And above all, what is education? Is it a mere transmission of facts and information, or is it about character development?Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses these vital questions. Explore the anatomy of who we are as human beings, and how education is meant to shape minds, hearts and souls into being the best they can be.Today’s crisis in our schools offers us a wake-up call and an opportunity to reclaim the true meaning and goal of education. Together let us embark on a healthy journey to realign the very focus that lies at the center of shaping the minds of our next generation.

With protests breaking out on our campuses across the country, everyone is asking what is going on? Why suddenly now? What's happening? What's behind all this?Initially, the protests seemed to be a spontaneous reaction of innocent students simply outraged at innocent civilians being killed in Gaza. But if that's the case, why were there no protests after the horrendous atrocities of October 7? It's becoming increasingly clear that the intentions of the organizers of these protests was to deliberately create the impression of spontaneity - it's a an excellent way of fabricating a dramatic narrative. But the more we dig into the story and the more time passes we realize that these uprisings are part of a very insidious and planned strategy - being formulated and funded for years, with the understanding that this is a PR war, a war over our perceptions. Vietnam wasn't lost in Vietnam; it was lost in the minds of Americans. And while we don't want to compare the two, the impression these bad players are trying to create is that these students are waking us all up to a “moral” obligation, when in fact there's far more criminal intent going on with clueless students being used to nefarious ends. It is critical more than ever that we delve deeper to understand the forces at work creating these disruptions in our institutions, bringing ferment and hate in a place that was always protected from war: our schools and universities. This isn't just an inconsequential phase, there are high stakes involved.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this important conversation as he address the question on all of our minds: Is Hamas at war with our students, our universities and America?

Freedom is one of our most cherished values. It is a monumental achievement of our times. The human aspiration for freedom, the desire to live as a free people, reflects the deepest longing of the soul, and is a vivid departure, standing in stark contrast to the days when monarchs and tyrants ruled. But what does freedom truly mean? Is it merely the lack of physical confinement, the absence of bars and chains, or does it go beyond that? Consider this: In our contemporary world, we are surrounded by communication technologies designed to liberate and emancipate us. However, how many of us find ourselves entrapped and addicted to these gadgets? We live in an era of prosperity and unprecedented comforts, yet we grapple with more addictions than ever, be they physical, emotional, or psychological. Freedom, while a beautiful concept, also comes with its challenges. Even if we are free from external control, we may still find ourselves oppressed by forces that dominate us, like fear, insecurity, societal pressures to conform. We can be physically liberated and successful, but be psychologically enslaved. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson Join in this crucial pre-Passover discussion titled ‘When Freedom is Slavery’, and discover the true essence of freedom, and how to access it in our lives and relationships.

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Is religion synonymous with morality? And is morality synonymous with religion? It is indeed disconcerting to witness a religious figure act immorally — doing something criminal, abusive, violating another, behaving in a manner that contradicts the moral standards we associate with their position. This stark contrast is very unsettling, as it challenges our perception of a religious leader’s role in upholding the highest virtues of humanity. This paradox has led some to question the integrity of religion, citing corruption and hypocrisy, particularly when these flaws hide behind a veneer of piety. However, it’s impossible to ignore the lofty principles and values religion has introduced to humanity, demonstrating the extraordinary potential of human character. So what are we to make of this contradiction — when a religious person behaves in an immoral fashion? Many atheists argue that we can be moral without faith and without G-d. Is this true? This raises the question, do we need religion to be moral? And do we need religion to be moral? Some argue that morality can exist independently of religious faith. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he explores this intriguing topic, dispelling stereotypes and shedding light on the true essence of religion and its inherent connection with morality.

Do you have a habit that you find increasingly difficult to break? Or is there a good habit that you wish to incorporate into your daily routines but you can't seem to make it stick?Very often we resolve to stop a certain obsessive behavior - overeating, biting our nails, being attached to our phone etc., or to begin a new commitment - spending more time with family, going to the gym, starting a new project etc. Armed with determination and enthusiasm, we set out on our way with gusto and a positive mindset, ready to tackle the challenge. And yet, despite our good intentions, after a little while we tend to gravitate right back to our old ways, playing out past patterns, stuck in a groove -- which describes the very nature of a habit. It feels like the habit is wired into our very beings, seemingly impossible to break free from.Why indeed is it so difficult to break habits? Is there anything that we can do about it? And at the same time, how do we go about building good habits? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an important discussion that affects virtually every aspect of our lives. Are we creatures of habit? Are our lives predetermined? Can we truly change our habits and structures? Discover that you have two parts to you -- one that is indeed hard wired, making it difficult to break old habits. But we also have a side to us, our souls, which is in some ways indeterministic. And by accessing our souls we have the power to transcend our defined conventions and proclivities, helping us break bad habits while also building good ones and scaling new heights in actualizing our enormous potential.   

Some dance to remember, some dance to forget… Despite the sentiment, in most areas of life most of us would like to be less forgetful and more retentive. But how? What causes us to forget things? And what is the secret to remembering? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this, well, memorable workshop as he shares his experiences as a “chozer” (remembering hours upon hours of the Rebbe’s talks) and discover the five secrets to a better memory: Absorb, Listen, Be Humble, Concentrate and Review. Learn surprising facts about how your mind works, and counterintuitive ways to engage the mind in retaining far more than you could ever imagine. Find out how memory is related much more to the power of listening than to the power of thinking; it’s more about absorbing than processing, and how becoming a better listener will transform your life and your relationships.

Truthfulness Responsibility Understanding Security Tenacity How important is trust in our lives and relationships? Do we appreciate the crucial role it plays? Are we aware of the impact trust has -- for good and for bad -- on virtually every decision we make? Trust is the heartbeat of our existence, a beacon that guides our decisions and relationships. It’s a pivotal force, often underestimated, yet it shapes every aspect of our lives. Like the sturdy foundations supporting a skyscraper, trust endows us with unwavering security, affirmation, and self-worth, enabling us to reach our full potential and broaden our perspectives. Born out of unconditional love, trust is a seed planted in our hearts during childhood by our loved ones, forming the solid ground upon which all future relationships stand. Recognizing its importance becomes starkly apparent in its absence, as life without trust is a shadowy landscape of fear and uncertainty. In light of the essential function of trust, the question arises: how can we build and foster trust, particularly if it has been shattered early in our lives? Join Rabbi Jacobson in a meaningful conversation where he delves into five key strategies to build trust in your life, encapsulated in the acronym T.R.U.S.T: Truthfulness, Responsibility, Understanding, Security, Tenacity. These principles offer a roadmap to nurturing and fortifying trust in our personal and professional relationships, establishing a profound connection to our own core identities and those of others.

As we journey through life, two essential elements guide us: love and individuality. These core values nourish our growth and well-being. Love completes us, while individuality allows us to be true to ourselves. However, can these two intricate needs coexist without contradiction? As individuals, our primary focus leans towards self-preservation and ensuring our unique needs are met, and that we aren’t mistreated or compromised. Love, conversely, calls for empathy, sensitivity, and unselfish care for others, even at our own inconvenience. The question then arises: can we harmonize these two seemingly divergent forces? Join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses this intriguing topic. Is there a way for love and individuality to coalesce? Uncover the elusive third element that seamlessly merges these two entities into a force greater than their individual parts. It’s the secret ingredient to cultivating true peace and harmony in your home, your workplace, and the world. Join us and unlock the secret to this harmonious blend.

The root of many problems and disagreements in life is arrogance. But what exactly is arrogance? And how do you deal with it; both with your own personal arrogance and with the arrogance of others? Ostensibly, we think of arrogance as a result of an overinflated ego. Take a gifted individual who is endowed with unique qualities and virtues. Instead of humbly recognizing them as a blessing to share, the person feels superior to others, resulting in a pompous, condescending attitude. Or someone who has grown up with a sense of entitlement and snobbery, being told repeatedly that he is better than his peers, very likely that he will develop an exaggerated sense of his importance. But what is less emphasized is that arrogance can actually be the result of the exact opposite: insecurity and lack of self-esteem. Arrogance — a false bravado and conceit — is a defense mechanism to cover up feelings of inadequacy, hiding it behind a facade of faux haughtiness and standoffishness. Let’s think about this logically for a moment. If someone is very secure with themselves and their position in life, why should they feel threatened by another? Why would they need to demean others in order to feel better about themselves? A secure person knows who they are, allowing them to coexist with everyone else. It is only when someone lacks confidence and is not comfortable with themselves, that they then need to use arrogance as a shield to protect them from the “threat” of others. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he unravels the complexities of arrogance, illuminating its roots, allowing us to “nip it in its bud” and address it at its core. Discover ways that help us free ourselves of arrogance’s ugly symptoms and complications; in self-awareness, in relationships, and in communication, both interpersonal and intrapersonal.

Were you ever in a situation where you wished a miracle would happen in your life? Someone close to you may have been ill or suffering in some way, or you may have experienced a setback, or faced a difficult predicament. You really hoped and prayed for a miracle to happen.All of us at some point will have moments when we wish for a miracle to save us from a seemingly helpless and hopeless circumstance. But here's the question: is there even such a thing as a miracle? Or is it simply wishful thinking, a nice escape into fantasy, as skeptics and cynics would have us believe? Is it the futile attempt of a desperate person seeking a delusionary lifeline to take them out of his misery? As Leonard Cohen sadly bemoans the man waiting "half my life away" for the miracle to come.Or are miracles truly possible, and most people believe. And many testify to having experienced a miracle in their lifetime. But what actually is a miracle? And can we create miracles in our lives? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this potentially life-changing presentation, and discover the surprising nature of a miracle, and how miracles are happening all around us all the time. Learn how to uncover and unleash the miraculous energy within your life -- how to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, the supernatural in the natural. It is in fact up to you whether you will live an ordinary and one dimensional life or an extraordinary and miraculous one.

Can you find joy in difficult times? Is it possible to find happiness during dark days? Joy and happiness are critical for a healthy life. We all know what it feels like when we're happy, when we're joyous and celebrating; experiencing the joy not just externally but also internally. Inner joy creates a state of peace and calm, a sense of belonging and serenity: life just feels right.But it's one thing to experience joy in good times, when things are going well. What about when things are not going so well? Can you find joy amidst tragedy, grief, loss or setbacks? This question poses a catch-22 situation. On one hand joy is what allows us to be buoyant and hopeful, it helps us build our confidence and gives us courage. On the other hand, hardships tend to demoralize and deflate us. So how do you find joy when you are feeling dejected and discouraged? Is it possible? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of joy, and discover surprising insights about the power of joy: Joy is now about what you do, it's who you are. True joy is not a result of what happens to you, it is the natural state of your soul. When you connect to your soul and its mission, you can find happiness and a sense of belonging in everything that comes your way, including difficulties.By appreciating the inherent joy within the reservoirs of your spirit, you will learn life-changing tools to access these reservoirs, and draw from them into your daily life.

What is intelligence? Human beings are considered to be the most intelligent of creatures; we value the mind, education, smart people... But as is often the case, we use a word without defining the axioms and assumptions that define the concept behind that word?What exactly is intelligence? Is it IQ - the intelligent quotient , or is it EQ - the emotional quotient? Intellectual intelligence vs. emotional intelligence. Book smart vs. street smart. Knowledge vs. common sense. Facts vs. imagination.We often see brilliant geniuses lacking basic life and people skills. And vice versa, those considered simple and yet capture people’s hearts and souls, at times taking the world by storm. So is intelligence really about brain power or is there something more to it? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this vital discussion about the very definition and nature of intelligence, and discover a whole new perspective on the role of the mind. Understanding the meaning and purpose of intellect, which affects each one of us — our choices, our children, our leaders, our academia, our universities — will influence how we think and our decision making process; it will help address cognitive dissonance and the schism between our ideals and values and our actions and behavior; and it will dramatically transform how we educate the next generation, which in turn will determine our destiny and future. 

With the current war raging in Israel, the big question returns. Why is it that this region - more than anywhere else in the entire world - has had so many battles and fought so many wars over the last three millennia? From the beginning of Biblical times with the war over the land of Canaan and the land of Israel, to the wars waged by the Assyrians, Babylonians and the Romans (just to name a few), to the rise of the major religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam battling over control of Jerusalem and the promised land - the Middle East is in a perpetual state of war.Today's war is nothing new. This doesn't diminish the tragedy, and the pain and suffering, but seeing this centuries-old pattern behooves us to retrace the steps and explore the history and the roots of these battles.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this eye-opening discussion and discover the underlying historical, religious and spiritual forces at work here. Recognizing the root of the issues will help us seek out sustainable and long-term solutions.

What do Jews really think of gentiles? With Jews in the news yet again, dominating headlines as they so often do -- the war in Israel, rising antisemitism -- all the big timeless questions rise to the surface: Why is the world so obsessed with Jews? What are the roots of antisemitism? Why are Jews hated so much by some people, and respected by others? But a question that's less often asked is the other way around: what do Jews really think about non-Jews? Ostensibly, one would naturally expect that the Jews developed tremendous fear, animosity and hate toward the nations of the world due to the sheer extent of Jewish persecution perpetrated over the millennia -- expulsions, discrimination, violence, inquisitions, pogroms, and of course, the 20th century Holocaust. Can you imagine anyone not developing massive distrust of gentiles who have historically (with few exceptions) oppressed the Jews throughout history? Take the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were annihilated, with the world remaining mostly complicit through their silence. But is that really true? Do Jews hate gentiles? Do they look down at them? Antisemitic literature and media would sure have you believe that. (The fabricated Protocols of the Elders of Zion -- the most notorious and widely distributed antisemitic publication of modern times -- is one example). They cite Jewish texts, distorting them as derogatory quotes about non-Jews. But what is the meaning of some of these texts? And how about the concept of Jews being the "chosen people" -- does that suggest that gentiles are inferior? So what indeed is the true attitude of Jews to non-Jews? You may be surprised and even shocked by the answer. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover what Jews really think about non-Jews -- very different from what you would expect. Learn some profound, counterintuitive truths, which will leave you with new and fresh hope, and a gameplan on how to build a unified and loving future -- with harmony between all human beings, Jews, gentiles and all peoples of the world.

One of our greatest enemies is a silent enemy. It's called fear. Its power lies not in aggression, not in violence and not in sheer fire power. Its power lies in its inconspicuous and insidious ability to paralyze us; to hold us back and prevent us from moving forward.What effect does fear have on your life? And what can we do to counter it? Being that it's not an overt enemy you really can't measure its consequences in a tangible way. But how many decisions do we not make, how many moves do we not take and how many elements in our lives would be different if fear was not holding us back?The first step to taking control of fear is identifying this invisible enemy that is lurking in shadows. The second step is then confronting and countering it. This is especially relevant in today's volatile climate, in a world with so many unknowns and uncertainties. The wars being waged, the polarization in our society, and so many other shifting standards create a deep-seated disorientation due to the ever changing landscape. There are so many turbulent factors that are contributing to a certain unease, a disruption of norms and of constants you can rely on. Without these solid foundations in place in our lives, our collective and individual fear level only rises. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this very pertinent discussion on fear and its consequences. Discover the secret to identifying this silent enemy and explore tools and methods to conquer the fear, and free ourselves of its invisible tentacles -- and live a liberated life, with the courage to spread your wings and actualize your greatest potential.

I was looking at aerial images of Gaza before and after October 7th. The sheer destruction, the tragedy, the shattered lives and losses that are all so senseless and such a waste. And I thought to myself, what is the root of it all? Why? Who needed this devastation?How could Hamas subject their own people to such utter ruin and destruction?The answer is one simple word: hatred. It all began with the tremendous potent power of hatred. Atrocities perpetrated against innocent men, women and children with such animosity. A hatred so deep that it actually celebrates the mutilation and the humiliation of other people. You suddenly see before your very eyes how utterly lethal hatred is when it takes over and consumes a person, or a group of people. It can do the worst possible things with the worst possible outcomes. Far worse than any fire and worse than any weapon can cause.This teaches us not only how to avoid hatred at all costs but also - and above all - how to embrace the antidote to hatred, which is love.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this relevant and critical discussion about the corrosive effects of hatred, as it consumes and destroys everything in its path. By delving into the heart of darkness, into the abyss, we can learn how to counter those toxic forces with enormous forces of positivity, light and love.

The tremors and upheavals of 2023 are meant to lead to a new birth, to a new world. So as we enter this new year of 2024, what shape will this renewal take? What will this new world look like? An added, exhilarating element to this metamorphosis is that we - every single one of us - are very much active participants and partners in writing the script of this birth and renewal. Our actions and behavior will help define the unfolding drama, the  narrative and choreography of our future life. So we are compelled to ask ourselves - what will the new future look like? What should it look like? And what should we be doing to help actualize it? How can we harness and transform the wars, the battles, the pain, the grief and the tragedy that marked the last quarter of 2023 and turn it into a true rebirth - a future that we can be proud of? A future that would in some way "redeem" the darkness we are experiencing? It is up to us to determine that when time will tell the story and history will write the narrative we will be able to look back and say that the pain is a distant memory of the past, and in its stead here is the glorious world we built. Here is what we accomplished. Here is how we grew as individuals, as a community, a nation, and as a world.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital discussion on how to look ahead and discover a vision for tomorrow. Last week we closed the chapter on 2023 and this week we begin to write the new chapter of 2024 -- and of the future of our universe.

As the curtain comes down on the year of 2023, we can headline it as the year of disruption. So many of our expected "norms" have been upended..In fact, the disruptions really began earlier in this millennium in so many different ways; in technology, in commerce, in politics, in geopolitical shifts etc. And of course, Covid. As we look back at the last two decades and connect the dots we can discern a developing pattern of accelerating disruptions.And indeed in this past year we are witness to the ongoing battles in Ukraine, hostilities with China and Iran, and now, in the last quarter of the year, the horrific atrocities of October 7th and the ensuing war in Israel and Gaza. The question is, where are we headed? What does this all mean? How are we to interpret these upheavals? Can we make sense of them? Can they be a precursor to a brighter future?Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and probe into the deeper forces at work behind this chaos. Discover how these disruptions and upheavals are actually tremors of a new world being born. The shivers preceding the eruption of a paradigm shift.

How much of your personality has been shaped by others? By our parents - our genes and our DNA. By our environment, our homes, our families, our schooling, our education, our value systems and our social influences. The question is how much of your existing identity is really you and how much has been defined by others? Have you found your own voice, your unique purpose? Or have you never discovered it, or perhaps lost it along the way?This question is acutely amplified when faced with adversity. When we are attacked, we impulsively go on the defensive. But do we get defined by our enemies? Take for example, the natural defense mechanisms and immunity systems we build up to protect ourselves from predators. After sustained attacks, it's possible that in our fear of being hurt we develop such thick layers of protective armor, to the point of our own detriment, that we cannot distinguish between our armor and our inner identities. You have become the mask and the armor. Think about that: In addition to the initial pain caused by the abuser, you may have tragically become the ultimate victim -- perpetually defined by those who have threatened and hurt you. Instead of being your own person, you are then giving the perpetrator the power to dictate who you are. You will never be able to win against an enemy that continues to shape you and define who you are meant to be. It is critical to find yourself and not allow yourself to be defined by anything else in life. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital discussion and discover that while yes, there are factors that shape our lives, they DO NOT determine who we are. We need to face and fight our enemies, but it is critical that we not allow ourselves to be defined by them. Discover how to access the real you -- independent of all your surrounding circumstances -- and unleash its power in your life and in the world.

Is there anything in life that is indestructible? We are mere mortals, finite creatures in a physical world where everything in existence seems to be impermanent. Things erode, deteriorate, and ultimately age and perish. That inner search for eternity, for immorality - is that just a fantasy or is it indeed possible? Chanukah teaches us the secret to immortality, the indestructible power of light that turns the finite infinite and the ordinary extraordinary. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we learn how to access that light within ourselves and within the world around us. Especially now, in dark times, finding that indestructible power of light is needed more than ever.

With war being waged in Gaza, military strategists are obviously seeking and employing all types of methods and ways to fight this war. Every war has its distinct  personality and unique challenges and therefore requires a customized solution. This war is no different. Dealing with a hostage situation, savage terrorists, who wantonly use civilians as shields,  poses particular difficulties, as we all know.And frankly the war is not just in Gaza. This war is also in the media; the war over our minds and our hearts being influenced through disinformation and propaganda like never before.While the military experts on the ground are doing their job, there is a surprising source -- that most of us may not think of -- where we can find powerful tools and strategies for war. The "military" secrets come from the holiday that we are about to enter, Chanukah, the festival of lights. The discovery of pure olive oil, and the subsequent rededication and lighting of the Chanukah Menorah was a result of a victorious war fought by the Maccabees. Why then do we celebrate Chanukah with light, by kindling candles?Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this illuminating Chanukah program and discover how light teaches us the best war strategies. Learn five lessons that empower us to fight and win the battles that come our way.

We all hate war. (Well let's qualify that. There are some people who for one reason or another historically, as well as today, are predisposed to aggression, violence and upheaval. But civil people generally despise war and everything it stands for. Healthy people inherently want a calm and peaceful existence.)So why would any decent person go to war? Why would a moral country deploy their citizens to fight? Why would anyone put themselves in harm's way? Who in their right mind would want to shed blood and create all the havoc and destruction that  comes with war?The only reason is because you have no choice. It is a last resort. If you are attacked, if your family is in danger, you are responsible to defend and protect yourself and your loved ones. It's called: self defense. But then what does war achieve? Is it just to eliminate the threat, the enemy? It's more than that. When your sworn enemy has called for your unconditional destruction, and unwaveringly demonstrated that in action -- they have in effect left you with no other choice -- then war becomes not only a necessary way to protect yourself, but the only means to achieve true peace and harmony. Because as long as you don't vanquish your enemy, you will forever be at war. It may be dragged out and appear at times to be peaceful, but inevitably it is a war. It's just like an infection in the body - if you don't deal with it and eradicate it, it'll continue to fester and grow until it ultimately kills you. As Israel continues to wage war with its sworn enemies, all ethical people are compelled to ask themselves: yes, we were forced to go to war. But to what end? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical discussion to establish the moral imperative of this war. Discover how war cannot be justified as an end in itself; we cannot be satisfied with fighting just to defend ourselves. War is legitimate solely when it is the only way to peace. At times we can achieve peace through peaceful means; but at times the only way to achieve peace is sadly through war.

There are rare moments in our lives when we are provided with an unprecedented opportunity, a wake up call. Those moments where a paradigm shift occurs that can affect us on an individual level, on a collective level or on a global level. Certain events shake us to our core and open us up to these quantum leaps.And at that moment your actions, your choices, your decisions can change everything. We are now living in such a time.The events that happened on October 7, the atrocities perpetrated, the sheer brutality and all the subsequent events - the war that continues to wage, the rise in antisemitism, the mass protests - are indeed a watershed moment. And these are times where we are looked at - and will be looked out by future generations to come - to see, how did we behave? How did we react? Did we step up? Did we stand up? Did we speak up? Or did we retreat in silence or in fear and chose to do nothing? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a historic and vital conversation that every individual must hear - and then must ask themselves these important questions. Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Are you making history or letting history make you? This is an opportunity that can radically change the entire future. Be the change. 

With the recent alarming rise of antisemitism in wake of the atrocities perpetrated on October 7th by Hamas, it's well worthwhile to dig deeper into the nature of Jew hatred, what exactly antisemitism is. What are the roots of this abhorrence and where does it stem from? Why is it that throughout history Jews were consistently singled out more than any other minority? With acts of hatred, discrimination, expulsions and genocide. From a scientific point of view we cannot associate antisemitism with one particular cause because it goes back millennia, and was directed at Jews from every possible nationality and culture. For example, to say it's a result of Christian discrimination, while definitely a contributing factor, doesn’t give the full picture because there was Jew hatred before Christianity existed. And before Islam became a religion.So we have to find a common denominator that would transcend the different millennia, the different centuries, different empires and different situations of discrimination against Jews. What lies at its core?Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical conversation dissecting the anatomy of antisemitism and explore what we can do about it. Discover the cosmic, spiritual and psychological roots of the longest hatred in history. Learn how the irrational despise of Jews is linked with the natural materialistic hostility to the transcendent and the divine. Knowing the cause can then help us finally uproot this cancer once and for all.

I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live! Deuteronomy 30:19Does it make any sense that a healthy person would choose death over life? Would any sane person choose destruction over survival?And yet we see - amplified in the latest atrocities going on in Israel - that there exists a perverse culture of death, of martyrdom. Where death is celebrated. Where death is the ultimate sacrifice and goal. This frightening reality compels us to look deeper into the very meaning of life and identity -- who we are as human beings. What defines us? Life or death? Blessing or curse?In the Bible G-d commands us: "Choose life." But why do we need to be told to choose life? It seems natural  that every human being graviates to do everything possible to preserve life, your own life and the life of others. Yet in times like this, where we find ourselves fighting a war where death is glorified, this verse from the Bible suddenly resounds with tremendous import and profound relevance. This darkness -- completely antithetical to life -- behooves us to examine the significance and true value of the human soul. As we wage spiritual war, alongside the physical one, please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this fundamental discussion and discover the importance of choosing life. Choose life. Always choose life. 

While Israel is at war with its enemies, following the atrocities that took place on October 7th, there is another war raging all over the world. This is the war over truth, a propaganda war filled with misinformation, disinformation, lies and myth. This war is being fought in the media, on campuses, with protests and videos aimed to manipulate and pull at our heart strings - all vying for control over our minds. And this information war is only amplified by modern technology, incessantly streaming and inundating us with reports and opinions of all colors and stripes. This instantaneous access on live social media and all existing platforms has created unprecedented confusion on a critical mass level. How in the world can one sift through all this conflicting data and contradictory narratives, and figure out what is true, and what isn't true? Who should we believe? Not only on a breaking news level but also on perspective, on context. Who is the oppressor and who is oppressed? Who is the victim and who is the perpetrator? This is a war going on in your family, in your home and in your mind. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical battle over the truth, and discover how to discern fact from fiction, reality from myth. When we hear so many different and opposing accounts, the only way for intelligent people to find clarity and tackle thorny questions is by digging deeper into the issues and researching the history of the region and its people, based on hard verifiable facts and sources. Instead of buying into subjective -- and distorted or outright false -- storylines presented by people with agendas, biases and prejudices, it behooves us to directly and transparently review the evidence and come to conclusions based on authentic and critical evaluation.

With the latest brutal atrocities perpetrated in Israel - the horrific sights and descriptions of things that most of us couldn't imagine in our darkest dreams - the words "absolute evil," "pure, unadulterated evil", have become the way many are describing these massacres. Not simply killing which is total evil in itself, but the sheer savage ways and extreme forms of cruelty and sadism with which these heinous crimes were committed, defies any word in our human language. Absolute evil doesn't even seem strong enough. And yet, there are many that try to "justify" these actions, and even worse and more appalling -- they argue that the victims are somehow at fault! In some twisted form of 'logic" there are the claims that Israel is evil and somehow Hamas good. But even if you don't go that far, some argue the case of moral equivalence, where both sides are equally guilty. Others altogether embrace moral relativism, rejecting any form of absolute right and wrong.Which brings us to the big question; is there absolute good and evil in this world? Is it black or white? Are there suituations where the lines between good and evil are very clear, or are there two sides to every story and everything is relative. Some even say that there is no such thing as good and evil; it's all subjective.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital and fundamental conversation on good vs. evil. and discover the implications involved and what we can actually do about it. 

We - and every decent person in this world - are shocked by the heartwrenching events and the tragic war taking place in Israel. How can a decent human being not be horrified by the brutal atrocities perpetrated against innocent civilians; men, women, children, elderly murdered in cold blood, abused, degraded, tortured and taken hostage in the most inhumane way. We are united and devastated in pain and confusion.How could this happen? Why did God allow it? How should we react to this? What should be our approach and what can we do about it?As we continue to reel from the news, we have many, many questions. But most importantly, what is our role in a historic time like this? This is clearly a watershed moment, a game changer for the Middle East and for the entire world. The annals of history will look back at this time and ask: what did you do?What did we do?To shine some light, provide perspective and clarity and offer direction and hope in these times, please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this timely and critical discussion.

Are you a happy person? Do you feel happy right now? As human beings, we all have times that we're happy and times that happiness eludes us. But overall, what is your natural inclination?Are some people just born happier than others? Is happiness inherent or acquired? And more importantly, are there things we can do - tools we can learn, methods we can implement - to bring more happiness and joy into our lives, to become more upbeat and optimistic? Or are we simply hard wired a certain way, with some people being more despondent while others more spirited?You will be surprised to learn that happiness is something that you can control.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover that happiness is both inherent and acquired: you are naturally born happy. Happiness is your state of being. However, that core nature can be obfuscated by life experiences. Learn how to acquire tools that allow you to access your natural happiness, to experience happiness as a noun, not just as a verb. Remember, you do not control your circumstances, but you can control your state of mind, which in turn allows you to navigate the ups and downs of life. You have the power to become a happier person because your attitude will ultimately reveal your identity and shape your reality. 

Do you feel stuck in your life? Stuck in a situation, stuck in a relationship, stuck in your job? Are there things that you simply cannot free yourself from, no matter how much you try and no matter how good your intentions are? After all your attempts, you just keep being tugged back into the same old rut?What do you do in a situation like that? Is there any way out? How do you get yourself out of the pit when there is seemingly no rope to hold onto, no light to show you the way out? This is one of the most difficult questions to answer because in many cases we may be our own worst enemy, and a prisoner cannot free himself. Somebody else cannot pull you out of your trappings - especially if you're resisting and don't want the help. A problem cannot be solved within the same system that created the problem. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this life changing discussion and discover how to access powers that are beyond the system where the problem was created. Learn time tested methods to not only help yourself get unstuck, but to help propel you to even greater heights than you could've imagined.

Are you motivated? Do you wake up each morning feeling energized, excited to seize the day? Or is your life one of tedious routines, monotonous habits, repeating the same cycles, day after day, simply making do and getting by?One of the great challenges in life - even though it sounds innocuous - is boredom. The monotony and the routine, feeds into a lethargy that ultimately leads to resignation and demoralization. It may seem harmless enough at the start, and yet it can often be the beginning of a downward spiral. Boredom creates a void, a breeding ground for all sorts of problems -- as we desperately seek to fill the vacuum.Another difficult challenge we face in life is the feeling of being trapped: The narrative goes like this: I'm stuck in my life. I can't seem to get out of the rut. The more things change the more they stay the same. How can I escape this pit of negativity that's holding me back?Life is synonymous with movement. Everything in existence is pulsating with energy. Healthy living is all about hope and possibilities. When we feel languid and sluggish, we are actually defying the very nature of our core being, brimming with tremendous power within. Observe young children and how they never stop moving, always filled with enthusiasm and curiosity. How can we access and unleash the energy that is trapped in our outer routines? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this pre-Rosh Hashanah special program and discover how to break out of your boredom and traps. Uncover the secret to one of the greatest gifts in life; learning how to rejuvenate yourself, how to recharge your batteries in a sustainable way and how to access the tremendous resources and potency within you.

No company, organization or entity can efficiently function without a mission statement. Can you? Have you ever asked yourself what your personal calling is in life? If you haven't, know that you're not alone. Most people on this planet do not have a personal mission statement. But the bigger question is how do you find your mission? How do you identify your unique and indispensable role in this world? We're so busy and overwhelmed with the existing pressures of life, with expectations and demands to make ends meet, to pay our bills, to fulfill family and personal needs. And in today's day and age, with technology and media overload we are inundated from every direction. We don't even have the time to step back and think about what our mission is. Most of us simply take life day by day, reacting to the needs of the moment. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this vital and fundamental discussion on discovering your personal calling in life, and how that will infuse every aspect of your existence with deeper meaning and urgency.

Let's talk about God. What does God mean to you? Is God real or superstition? Do you have a personal relationship with God, or is God simply part of the culture and home you grew up in? This three-letter word "God" evokes perhaps more conversation and debate than any other word. And the debates continue to rage. There are firm believers, firm non-believers, firm agnostics -- and those not so firm in their beliefs. Everyone has an opinion on the matter. The battle between science and religion continues to impact society to this day. With the advent of the Enlightenment, known as the Age of Reason, free and open inquiry challenged absolute religious authority. Many felt that science would replace religion. But has that happened? Are faith and reason compatible? Is God a contradiction to an open, questioning mind? Is God necessary? What is most interesting -- and bizarre -- is that while we argue over God, we may not even agree or know what the word means! Before we agree or disagree - before we say whether we believe or don't believe - shouldn't we first define the meaning of the thing we are discussing? Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev once told a self-proclaimed atheist: "The God you don't believe in, I also don't believe in." Think about that! Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this important conversation that has an impact on everything and anything we are involved in. Let's talk about God and discover what God truly means. And then we can determine whether God is relevant to our lives.

Love - we all need it and yet we find it so difficult to attain. It is perhaps the most elusive of all experiences. What is love? Is is real or just a chemical reaction? Is it just another physical/psychological aspect to our being or is there something deeper, a spiritual/ethereal component to love? Schopenhauer notoriously wrote, “Love is based on an illusion and represents what is an advantage to the species as an advantage to the individual.” Is this correct? Is love simply a way of nature tricking and deceiving us in order to perpetuate the species? Are we simply being fooled into “loving” in order to survive? Or is there something more transcendent, something deeper going on? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this vital conversation and discover that not only is love real, it is actually the key to turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, the mundane into the sublime. Love is our ability to bring eternity into our impermanent lives; infuse immortality into our mortality; fuse the infinite and the finite.

Think Importance Mission Energy Is time your friend or your enemy? On one hand we’re always trying to beat the clock and meet deadlines. The pressure of time - the constant tik tok, tik tok - can be overwhelming and even downright scary. Our time is limited, every minute that passes can never be reclaimed and it keeps on moving no matter what. We literally cannot do anything physical to stop time and the aging process. On the other hand, time keeps us moving, motivating us to make the most of it. It reflects our full life journey - the past, present and future. It defines our milestones and achievements. It’s the way we function and get anything and everything done. Time is the fuel that keeps our life on track. What exactly is time? Is it real or imaginary? Does it have a soul? How should we best utilize our time and manage it most efficiently? How can time become our ally? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this critical discussion on the very nature of time. Discover four steps -- reflected in the four-letter acronym of T.I.M.E. -- that will empower you to tap into the energy of time and enhance your life. Learn how to maximize your time in fulfilling your very mission in this world.

How would you rate your self esteem? And how do we even define self worth? What do we consider valuable? Is it how much money you have; how many possessions you own? Is it how many friends you have; how much love you have in your life? And who defines self worth? Do we define it ourselves? Or do others define it? We live in a world where we are inundated from every direction by all types of voices trying to sell us something. If you buy this, you'll look better and you'll feel more valuable and more worthy. But is our worth so surface based, so superficial. Additionally, we are faced with constant demands and expectations -- from parents, educators, employers and employees, family, media, politicians and more -- competing for our attention, time and energy. No wonder that we find it often difficult to discover ourselves -- to appreciate who we are and our own inherent value, independent of all these forces. Can others give us our worth or should our worth be generated from within? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he discusses this critical topic that affects us all. Discover how to recognize your true value -- that which makes you truly indispensable. Learn how to build inner security and confidence, enabling you to make healthier choices and decisions, and helping you actualize your greatest potential.

Do Spiritual People Live Longer?What is the secret to living a long and healthy life? Much has been said and written about the importance of maintaining physical fitness -- balanced diet, regular exercise, ample sleep, avoiding toxins, and so on. But how about our emotional, psychological and spiritual health? What effect does, say, anxiety and stress have on our welfare and longevity? How much do our fears and insecurities drain and erode our immunity systems? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a dynamic discussion on the virtues of living a more meaningful and spiritual life. Discover how to introduce transcendence into your daily routines, how to build and embrace eternal foundations and values, and how that will help free you from the stresses and pressures that take their toll on your health. Learn how to unleash forces in your soul that will allow you to live a more fulfilling and a longer life, quantitatively and qualitatively.

One of the greatest challenges in life is how to rebuild after loss, how to reclaim dignity after we've been violated, how to experience rebirth after we've been traumatized, how to find resolution after something may have been destroyed. Tonight is Tisha B'Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, when the Temple was destroyed. This day represents and personifies destruction on all levels, global, communal and personal. However, the good news is that within the destruction and within the challenges, lies the birth of hope, reconciliation and building something even greater that what was there before. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital conversation on how to comfort others and how to be comforted yourself. Discover the 5 R’s - five steps to build empathy: Reconnect. Recognize. Rebirth. Rebuild. Renewal.

Life is often fraught with challenges and difficulties. Yes, there are many times where life is thankfully filled with celebrations, joy, happiness, beautiful events and experiences. But there is no person on earth who hasn’t also been affected by the other part of life, the pain and suffering, the distress and anxieties – everybody has dealt with this in their own personal lives. Which brings us to the age-old question: How can a good G-d allow bad things to happen? If G-d is just, how can injustice occur? Why are good people made to suffer?There are those who have rejected G-d for this precise reason. But does a G-dless life make it easier to suffer? The fact is that each of us – no matter who you are – feels pain when we see innocent people senselessly suffer. If we did not have a sense of justice and compassion, why do we expect goodness to be rewarded? Why are we troubled when good people suffer? For many people G-d is actually their only solace and source of hope in difficult times. But the question still looms large: how can a good G-d allow bad things to happen?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this engaging class tackling the difficult questions of theodicy, reconciling a good and just G-d with a life where evil and bad things happen. What is the healthy way to face pain and suffering? Can we understand G-d’s ways? How do we remain strong and grow through challenges?

When you think of competition, how do you react? What feelings and thoughts does it conjure up?For many the word evokes feelings of failure, losing, or even humiliation. A competitive nature may not tolerate that another person won, leaving them bitter, angry and resentful. For others, the word elicits excitement, overzealousness to take on the challenge and be victorious at all costs, even if it means trampling others in the way. It can be about dominance, power and control. Either extreme doesn't seem positive. But does it have to be that way? Is competition all bad? Are there any benefits to it? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a dynamic discussion exploring the transformative potential of competition. Delve into the psychology and mechanics of healthy competition, uncovering its ability to drive personal growth, foster resilience, and ignite excellence. Discover how to harness competition as a motivational force, while also learning to navigate its potential pitfalls. In any area you are seeking to grow -- whether in a relationship, as an entrepreneur, an athlete or someone involved in personal development -- this class will equip you with the tools to embrace challenge and competition as a powerful catalyst for achievement and self-improvement. It will teach you how competition - healthy competition - can actually make you the best you can possibly be, drawing out your deepest strengths and helping you reach unprecedented heights. 

Do you feel alive, truly alive? Is your life filled with enthusiasm, energy, passion and excitement? We all go through ups and downs in life; there are times that we are sluggish and can feel unmotivated, uninspired, apathetic, and even zombie-like. And there are times that we feel like we are burning on all cylinders, making the most of our time and actualizing our potential. What state do you generally find yourself in? Is our energy level simply based on our moods and vicissitudes? Is it dependent on how we are wired: Are some people just more spirited than others? Or are we all able to achieve high octane levels to feel fully alive? And if so, what can one do to stimulate this state of being not only biological alive, not merely surviving, but living life to the fullest -- with spirit, energy and passion? Imagine what it would feel like to wake up each morning and jump out of bed with powerful anticipation, a mindset to seize the day and accomplish great things! And imagine being able to do so day after day, at full speed without burning out. Of course we all need moments of respite to reboot and recharge, but overall how wonderful it would be to generate and initiate that type of energy? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover powerful methods to invigorating and electrifying your life, making the most of every moment and unleashing your tremendous potential. Learn the five levels of your soul -- each one brimming with more energy than the next, and how to harness these dimensions to infuse into your life passion, fervor and inspiration and begin living a life that is truly alive.

What power and potency do our words carry? Words are everywhere. Books, media, video, marketing, talk radio -- the list goes on. Words inundating us from every direction. And of course, the words we use endlessly. Words we think, speak and write. Do we even know how many words we utter a day? How many words we text? How many words we communicate? Do our words matter? How many of them are meaningful and how many are insignificant, even nonsense? How many of our words are hurtful and destructive? To speak comes so easily that we often take it for granted. Being that we have no quota for how many words we can say in a day we just talk, talk, talk… At the same time words contain tremendous power. Language is the basis of all communication and transmission of knowledge and experience; conversations between people who love each other, between strangers, between spouses, parents and children. Words create relationships, connections and attachments. Kind and loving words bring us together; healthy discourse leads to collaborations; the written word over generations allows us to build on accumulated knowledge, transforming our lives. And hateful language can bring terrible destruction. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an eye, ear and mouth-opening conversation on the power of our words. Words -- speech, language -- are a gift we have been blessed with. It's time to pause and become more deliberate about the words we use. To step back and ask ourselves: What exactly am I doing with my gift of words? What words am I expressing, to whom and to what end? If you had a quota of words you can say on a given day, what words would you choose?

Are there any leaders that you trust?We have a leadership crisis today, where the people in power - our leaders - are simply not leading, and are not trusted. Do we even know what defines a true leader?Interestingly, the question goes deeper and is actually also about each one of us. Do you see yourself as a leader? We often think leaders are somewhere out there, other people who have the proper leadership credentials. But did you ever consider that you - yes, you - may have the potential to be a leader in your own right?It's about time to actually identify what makes a leader. Is it power, is it charisma, is it influence? The answer may surprise you and teach you what to expect in a leader and above all, how to be a leader in your part of the world.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this important discussion, and discover how the acronym of the word LEADER reveals the very features of what it takes to be one. Explore 6 qualities and ingredients that define a true leader and learn how you can employ these tools to become a leader in your own environment -- with the power to influence, impact and transform everyone and everything you come in contact with.

We are now in the graduation season with millions of students celebrating the conclusion of a stage of their schooling.But what exactly is a graduation? What does it signify? Is it just an invisible milestone that comes and goes? Or is there something deeper, something personal and meaningful that we all - not just the graduates but also friends and family - can learn from it?Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we discuss transitions, the right of passage, that takes us from one stage in our lives to another. Discover that this is really the essence of what graduation is; it’s about the journey of life and how we deal with these transitions and junctures in time as we move and metamorphosize from one stage to the next.

Is there anyone that you absolutely and entirely trust? Trust with your life, trust with your confidence, trust with everything about yourself; someone you are comfortable being vulnerable with, knowing that you won’t be judged or criticized and the person’s attitude will not change in any way. Is there anyone that you have total transparency with, total honesty with no defenses? Actually you can ask a deeper question. Do you totally trust yourself? Are you completely in sync with yourself, not living in denial? Do you trust your choices and decisions implicitly? Trust is a very big word and it lies at the heart of every important aspect of your life. Trust plays a crucial role in all our relationships and commitments, it affects our connections and our decisions. When you totally trust someone you let yourself be completely invested, sharing and giving of yourself in a very real way. But when you don’t fully trust someone, you’ll put up walls and find excuses and justifications, making it impossible to be totally present. How many masks and defense mechanisms do we have in place in our lives and interactions? How much of your life is driven by fear and insecurity? Is it possible to trust imperfect people who are driven by self interest and ruled by subjective factors? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he discusses this critical topic, and discover how to build true and lasting trust — fully and wholeheartedly — in yourself and the people around you. Learn how trust in G-d — in an immortal foundation and eternal values — helps us create unwavering security and love that will allow us the confidence to spread our wings and soar.

Are you a giver or a taker? The fact is that we live in a world that teaches us how to take, with the justification and argument that life is fundamentally selfish; survival of the fittest is the driving ethos and if you don’t take care of yourself no one else will take care of you. Is that accurate? Is that a healthy attitude? On a short term basis, it may seem that being a taker will benefit you, even if doesn’t help others. But what about the bigger, long-term picture? What about love, virtue, nobility — what happens with these fundamental elements in life when we are in a parasitic state of mind? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this penetrating talk — digging into the core of what defines us as humans — and discover how giving lays at the heart and soul of a healthy life. When you give you become a creator — defining yourself and your destiny, instead of being defined by those you take from. Giving builds confidence and security, enabling you to actualize your greatest potential.

Let's talk about spirituality. It's pretty much a given today that beneath the material surface of existence lies layers and layers of energy. What we experience with our senses -- sight, sound, taste, touch and smell -- is only the tip of the iceberg. Whether you call it energy, or spirit, or the inner workings, or the dna or the microscopic quantum state - there is a deeper dimension to our world that remains hidden to the physical eye. We will define it as spiritual energy. But what is spirituality? What does the very word spirit mean? Conventional thinking divides existence into two dimensions: spirit/energy and body/matter. And with the knowledge that e=mc2 we also discovered that energy and matter are actually reversible - they're both forms of energy just in different states of the same reality. (Just as heated water turns into gas and transforms into ice when frozen.) We also see our lives through this two-dimensional prism: 1. the material part of our lives -- survival, and 2) the spiritual part of our lives -- transcendence. The sensory and the supersensory, the physical and the metaphysical. But is there more to it? Are there only two reversible dimensions to our lives? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover that there is actually a third dimension - that is beyond spirit or matter! And accessing this third dimension is the secret to dealing with the inherent tension between matter and spirit, and the key to creating ultimate and total fusion of our material and physical lives.

Are women inferior to men? Were they created as an afterthought, a secondary human being, designed to live in the shadow of men? The common perception is that in earlier history, in primitive times, that was indeed the attitude – that men were the center of the universe and women were simply their accessories. Hence, totally inferior. And even more specifically, if you ask anyone about the biblical and religious views of male vs. female, the response is that male hierarchy controlled the world and women were second class citizens. This common perception continues that in time women slowly began to claim and finally gain some rights (i’ts still arguable when they have equal rights or almost equal). In the last century, the suffrage and feminist movements are seen as being the modern advances of women finally gaining recognition and equal stature to men. But is this true? Are women indeed inferior to men in the Bible? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he debunks these common misperceptions and you will be surprised to learn that it is quite the contrary! When we actually go back to the Bible itself, we find that women are totally equal to men – each having their own unique and superior qualities, complementing each other and working hand in hand. It is in fact the modern world that can learn much from that fundamental equality — how the powerful spiritual roles of the feminine and the masculine can and must join together to create a moral and spiritual revolution in our world. A paradigm shift in the way we look at and experience ourselves and our relationships.

Mental health is a critical component in every aspect of our lives. It affects how we think, how we feel, our moods, our behavior and our actions. It impacts how we will deal with stress, our relationships, the choices we make, and so much more. Therefore, to lead a functional, productive and meaningful life, it is absolutely vital that our mental state be healthy.But what exactly is a mental state? What does our psyche look like? And what constitutes a healthy psyche, and how do we build that? When talking about a physical/tangible part of our body, it is easier to evaluate whether, say, an arm is functioning well or whether it is injured. But how do we determine that on a mental level, in the area of our psychological, emotional and behavioral lives? How do we assess and analyze our psyche and what can we do when there are challenges? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this important talk as he dissects the very core of mental health and discover how to access and actualize the deepest parts of your psyche, of you who truly are. Learn a step-by-step process how to cultivate and enhance the health of your mental and emotional life, how to cope with any challenges and obstacles that come your way and how to channel that power into reaching your greatest potential.

We live in a world where we are constantly categorizing and labeling all our experiences, our products and our entities. We do this in our personal lives; organizing our kitchen cabinets and closets and orchestrating our family's activities. And we do this in our professional lives; creating a filing system and a structured work environment and schedule. The human mind is a master at quantifying, classifying, sorting and organizing information. Modern technology has only accelerated the process of systemizing ways to store, retrieve and distribute data. Marketing is built on branding and etching distinct definitions in our psyches. While it is critical for an efficient and organized life to have categories, shelves and structures, what happens when we begin doing that to each other as human beings? When we label one another -- or even worse, stereotype one another - what does it do to the human condition? And how does this impact our relationships? This can ultimately lead to the worst possible discrimination, prejudices, biases and hatred - unleashing war and destruction that has plagued the human race from the beginning of time. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an important and impactful discussion on what truly defines -- and does not define -- us as people. How are we meant to look at another and at ourselves? Discover that labels are intended for clothing and not for souls.

There has been a recent explosion of the use of mind altering substances - specifically psychedelics; DMT, psilocybin, ayahuasca, mescaline, ketamine, and other forms of experiences that people are attributing to helping them heal and reach deeper spiritual states and expanded consciousness. Some are suggesting that certain psychoactive substances have immense therapeutic potential, especially when it comes to tackling serious, hard-to-manage mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, alcoholism and addictions.The truth is that this is not a recent phenomenon. For centuries, various cultures and tribes have been using plant medicines and hallucinogens. Some shamans and healers have been incorporating these substances into their healing processes and ceremonies since ancient times. Are these appropriate and reliable methods? And what are we to say about this recent surge in our society? What's driving it? Is there any legitimacy to it or is it simply a fad? What long lasting impact will it have?And above all, what does it tell us about the human condition today, the very need that people have, the void they are looking to fill? Regardless if you agree or disagree with this approach, these are vital questions that need answers. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on an eye-opening journey into the Biblical genesis of the human psyche. Discover how the Bible - the best-selling book of all time - defines the very essence of the human being: who you are at the core, what happens to your soul as you enter the toxic world that obfuscates your inner identity, and how do you reclaim yourself. What are healthy and natural methods to reconnect to your innermost self -- to experience higher states of consciousness? And what about mind-altering drugs -- should or should they not play a role in this process? This fascinating session will alter the way you look at yourself and your life experiences.

One of the more challenging moral obligations that we face throughout our lifetime is honoring our parents - and especially our elderly parents, as they become more needy and more dependent. This is not an easy thing to do on so many levels. It can be physically challenging, mentally taxing, emotionally draining and a major burden financially. So the big question is why are we obligated to help our elderly parents? Why should our parents become our responsibility? And this question is acutely growing as the largest demographic today are the elderly - due to higher life expectancy and health and medical interventions. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a vital discussion that not only addresses our moral obligation but also our spiritual well being. Explore what lies behind our relationship with our parents, both when we are children and they (hopefully) cared for us and as they get older and we may need to take care and support them. Discover how honoring our parents -- especially in challenging times -- uncovers the very core of our humanity, of our love and relationships, the very essence of our souls and their divine nature.

Freedom is one of the most cherished values in life. Personal freedom, political freedom, religious freedom… Much blood, sweat and tears have been shed for freedom; wars fought and lives lost in the name of freedom. Indeed, for thousands of years the world’s population was not free at all! We lived under monarchs, sometimes tyrants, always controlled by others. It’s only a recent phenomenon that we have freedom in our lives. But the big question is: Do you actually feel free? We may have all these freedoms around us, but are we enslaved internally? Is something holding us back? And the even bigger question is: What is freedom? How do we define freedom? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating pre-Passover discussion all about freedom. You can be physically free, free to roam about, not imprisoned behind tangible bars, but still be trapped and addicted emotionally and psychologically. Prison can take on many forms. Passover represents the exodus from bondage and slavery to any force and power within or without, and empowers us all with the ability and tools to transcend our obstacles, limitations and restrictions allowing us to spread our wings and be truly free.

We usually associate spirituality with very positive and uplifting experiences; feelings of inspiration, transcendence, and free-spiritedness. Spirituality encompasses the ability to go beyond ourselves to experience higher states of consciousness and awareness.But is there a dark side to spirituality? Are there shadows, risks and challenges lurking? Is there such a thing as a bad or destructive spiritual experience? Are there harmful shamans, healers or sorcerers? Every powerful force can create tremendous good or cause profound damage.Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this important conversation and discover that with all the great and powerful experiences we are capable of - both on a cosmic and personal level - we must never forget that there is also "the other side", the darker side. Explore methods to not only preempt the negative energy but also learn to harness it toward the good.

What is meditation and how can it help you in your life? Our minds, especially in today’s world, are hyper-stimulated and over inundated. While racing from topic to topic, we are constantly multitasking and filled with distractions. How can we learn to slow down, smell the roses and live in the moment? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover that there is a method where you can learn to focus your heart and mind and soul. And that focus in turn will spill over and saturate every part of your being with a deeper level of purpose and urgency. Explore how you can live a more focused, calm, serene and less stressful life.

Happiness is so crucial to life and yet often so elusive. Many people say, “If things are going well, I’d be happy.” The truth is: If you were happy, things would be going well! So how can we become happy? Is there a trick, a method to finding more happiness in our lives? Or are we destined to our predisposed disposition? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this unique program on happiness. Discover that when you smile you can actually generate happiness. Scientific studies show that when you smile (even a fake one) your brain releases neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. Happiness is not just what happens to us, but it is actually what we create and initiate. We have the power to generate tremendous joy and happiness in our lives, despite our circumstances and vicissitudes. This life changing lesson will be sure to improve and transform the quality, joy and productivity in every aspect of your experience — from your daily routines to your bigger milestones.

A new frontier is upon us. Artificial intelligence has been talked about, written about and discussed in the form of predictions, prophecies and science fiction for centuries. Books have been written and movies produced foreshadowing a world driven and even controlled by robots and machines. But now we are actually experiencing it, living with it -- we have entered into a new era of AI that some are heralding as nothing less than a revolution, comparable to the greatest intellectual breakthroughs in history. With the development of ChatGPT, self-driving cars and so many new technologies, we have robots, machines and drones that are programmed to replace so many of our daily tasks. But not just mundane activities; we now have tools that can replicate and perhaps surpass the very process of human cognition. With our great minds, we have designed programs infused with human intelligence, experience and collective knowledge that are not simply covering menial tasks but can even channel creativity and the imagination. We put all that information into them and are not just getting facts and crunched results in return - we are also getting a process, a method; a seemingly mind of its own is emerging. So what does the future hold? Will machines ultimately take over and replace man? Are we headed toward a doomsday and apocalyptic scenario? Should we be putting a plan in place to save mankind from the invading technologies? Are we creating monsters that will come back to haunt us? Or will all these new developments elevate the human race to a whole new level of higher consciousness? Will these programs enhance our lives and help us reach unprecedented new heights? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this revolutionary talk and discover a refreshing approach to channel and embrace the new frontier that is upon us. These new technologies compel us to revisit the very nature of intelligence, and indeed the very nature of being human. What is the role and purpose of the mind? What defines us as humans? By exploring the deeper dimensions of knowledge and intelligence, we can learn to appreciate how to properly use artificial Intelligence and all its hidden potential for greatness to help us actualize our higher calling.

How much potential do you have within you? Is there a way to release, access and actualize it? Today we know that every fiber of existence — even the smallest piece of matter — contains enormous amounts of atomic and nuclear energy. But to the naked eye and to our conscious senses and conventional tools, this energy is so concentrated that we have no awareness of it, and can’t even fathom its sheer power. Yet, we have developed methods, through nuclear fusion and fission, to produce unimaginable levels of energy. So too, you — each one of us — contains incredible power concealed and locked within your quantum supra-conscious. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in part 4 of a new revolutionary series as he presents time-tested methods on how to unlock the tremendous potential within you and how to channel it in your daily life. Discover 6 steps to unleash your supra-conscious and draw it into your consciousness. ***** This new 4-part series, How Consciousness is Born: 6 Steps from the Quantum Supra-Conscious to the Conscious, deciphers a 16th century kabbalistic text in the Pardes of the great mystic, R’ Moshe Kordevoro, describing the metamorphosis from the quantum supra-conscious to the conscious. In part 1 of this series, we took a journey through the six steps of this fascinating process — from the very conception of consciousness in their undefined, nebulous states, traveling along as these states take form and become more crystallized, ultimately evolving into the defined state of consciousness that we are aware of. In part 2 Rabbi Jacobson discussed how our pure, pre-birth supra-conscious can empower us to dispel the demons that haunt us. Our experiences — our traumas and joys, from the youngest age — embedded in our psyche, which impact our fears, joys, attractions and repulsions are all part of who we are and propel us along to reach our greatest heights. In part 3 we learned time-tested ways to draw from our supra-consciousness and transform our lives. This is no small feat. Doing so can allow us to open up new channels of awareness, while also freeing us from the toxins — pain and trauma — that may have polluted our inner psyches. ***** Do you ever wonder where consciousness comes from? It’s quite obvious that our conscious thoughts, feelings and experiences are just the outer tip of the iceberg. But what lies behind the curtain of our perception? Can we access it? Understanding the supra-conscious and how it impacts our lives is not simply an academic, psychological or even philosophical discussion. It affects all our activities and encounters, which are the surface expression of these subliminal forces within. So understanding how consciousness is born and its earliest roots, can help us revisit the source — the engine room of supra-consciousness — to perhaps charge and rewire our underlying neurons, to fire on new cylinders.

Are you able to access your supra-conscious (or unconscious, as it’s more popularly, though not necessarily accurately, known)? Ostensibly, it would seem impossible considering that the supra-conscious is an imperceptible and ethereal state — comparable to quantum-like indeterminism. However there are indeed methods to access and channel your supra-conscious into your consciousness. This is no small feat. Doing so can allow us to open up new channels of awareness, while also freeing us from the toxins — pain and trauma — that may have polluted our inner psyches. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in part 3 of a new revolutionary series as he presents time-tested ways to draw from our supra-consciousness and transform our lives. ***** This series, How Consciousness is Born: 6 Steps from the Quantum Supra-Conscious to the Conscious, deciphers a 16th century kabbalistic text in the Pardes of the great mystic, R’ Moshe Kordevoro, describing the metamorphosis from the quantum supra-conscious to the conscious. In part 1 of this series, we took a journey through the six steps of this fascinating process — from the very conception of consciousness in their undefined, nebulous states, traveling along as these states take form and become more crystallized, ultimately evolving into the defined state of consciousness that we are aware of. In part 2 of this series Rabbi Jacobson discussed how our pure, pre-birth supra-conscious can empower us to dispel the demons that haunt us. Our experiences — our traumas and joys, from the youngest age — embedded in our psyche, which impact our fears, joys, attractions and repulsions are all part of who we are and propel us along to reach our greatest heights. Do you ever wonder where consciousness comes from? It’s quite obvious that our conscious thoughts, feelings and experiences are just the outer tip of the iceberg. But what lies behind the curtain of our perception? Can we access it? Understanding the supra-conscious and how it impacts our lives is not simply an academic, psychological or even philosophical discussion. It affects all our activities and encounters, which are the surface expression of these subliminal forces within. So understanding how consciousness is born and its earliest roots, can help us revisit the source — the engine room of supra-consciousness — to perhaps charge and rewire our underlying neurons, to fire on new cylinders.

Do you ever wonder where consciousness comes from? It’s quite obvious that our conscious thoughts, feelings and experiences are just the outer tip of the iceberg. But what lies behind the curtain of our perception? Can we access it? Understanding the supra-conscious and how it impacts our lives is not simply an academic, psychological or even philosophical discussion. It affects all our activities and encounters, which are the surface expression of these subliminal forces within. So understanding how consciousness is born and its earliest roots, can help us revisit the source — the engine room of supra-consciousness — to perhaps charge and rewire our underlying neurons, to fire on new cylinders. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this revolutionary series as he deciphers a 16th century kabbalistic text in the Pardes of the great mystic, R’ Moshe Kordevoro, describing the metamorphosis from the quantum supra-conscious to the conscious. In part 1 of this series, we took a journey through the six steps of this fascinating process — from the very conception of consciousness in their undefined, nebulous states, traveling along as these states take form and become more crystallized, ultimately evolving into the defined state of consciousness that we are aware of. But what about our experiences — our traumas and joys, from the youngest age — embedded in our psyche, which impact our fears, joys, attractions and repulsions? How do we contend with these toxins that pollute the supra-conscious? In part 2 of this series Rabbi Jacobson discusses how our pure, pre-birth supra-conscious can empower us to dispel the demons that haunt us.

Do you ever wonder where consciousness comes from? When an idea suddenly falls into your head, where did it originate? That aha moment... what brought it on? As conscious beings we are aware of our thoughts, our experiences and phenomena around us. But what lies behind the curtain of our perception? If consciousness is the outer tip of the iceberg, what does the iceberg look like? Can we access it? Understanding the supra-conscious and how it impacts our lives is not simply an academic, psychological or even philosophical discussion. It affects all our activities and encounters, which are the surface expression of these subliminal forces within. Our memories and experiences -- our traumas and joys, from the youngest age -- whether we are aware of them or not, are all embedded into our psyche. These forces, even if deeply buried and concealed, impact your external life experiences - your fears, your joys, your attractions, your repulsions. Every past experience will inform your future experiences. Especially ones that engage your vulnerabilities and emotions. Thus, peering behind the scenes into your inner workings, can help you gain some understanding and mastery of your outer reactions. The bridge between the supra-conscious and the conscious can also help expand the flow of your creative juices. Discovering how creativity is born - ideas, innovations - is critical to living your most successful life and actualizing your potential. So understanding how consciousness is born and its earliest roots, can help us revisit the source -- the engine room of supra-consciousness -- to perhaps charge and rewire our underlying neurons, to fire on new cylinders. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this revolutionary talk as he deciphers a 16th century kabbalistic text in the Pardes of the great mystic, R' Moshe Kordevoro, describing the metamorphosis from the quantum supra-conscious to the conscious. Take a journey through the six steps of this fascinating process -- from the very conception of consciousness in their undefined, nebulous states, traveling along as these states take form and become more crystallized, ultimately evolving into the defined state of consciousness that we are aware of. Discover how to unlock your psyche, spread your wings, your channels and horizons, experience higher states of consciousness -- and how to integrate that into your conscious life and relationships.

Vision is one of our most powerful senses. It impacts every aspect of our lives. It has the power to stimulate, captivate, mesmerize and seduce us -- for good or for not -- in overwhelming ways. And yet, how much of reality do we actually see? What percentage of the bigger picture do our eyes of flesh perceive? Indeed, considering all the different existing forms of manipulation and deception, our eyes can be led to believe all types of distortions and falsities. Behind a smile may lie an enemy. A sugarcoated candy can conceal poison within. Life is fraught with dark secrets lurking beneath the surface. What you see is not always what you get. Don't judge a book by its cover may be one of the most fallacious cliches. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on a journey plumbing the depths of reality, traveling into dimensions beneath and beyond our sensory tools. Learn how to recognize the limits and parameters of your instruments of perception, explore how to opens these doors and peer into the inner workings of your psyche and existence. Discover how to experience higher states of consciousness, and most amazing of all: How to use your senses to access the suprasensory, express the inexpressible, see the invisible, and transform your defined structures into springboards of transcendence.

Are social media and technology improving your personal life? Are they enhancing your relationships? With all of technology's breathtaking advancements, connecting us in unprecedented ways, why do we feel more disconnected than ever? Despite the thousands of "friends" we may have on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok, why have we not become closer and more intimate? People today, perhaps more than ever, feel disoriented and are experiencing deep alienation; a crisis in relationships and intimacy. How do we explain this paradox: A world both connected and disconnected like never before? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this important conversation and learn how the true challenge is not how to look at technology but how to look at yourself. Discover how to reclaim your life and take control of technology, instead of letting it control you. Explore what social media is doing to us and what we can do to use its benefits and gifts to advance and grow our personal lives and relationships.

Do we live in a beautiful world or an ugly one? I will never forget a conversation I had with two individuals. We were talking about life. One of the people began sharing, in a very warm and kind way, the beautiful life she grew up in. Her loving home, a supportive family, a welcoming community; her childhood and journey into adulthood was filled with light, warmth, nobility and dignity. The other person joined the conversation expressing how he grew up in an entirely different universe! His life was one of trauma and pain. A hostile home, angry family, disconnected community; his childhood and journey into adulthood was filled with darkness, backstabbing, narcissism and selfishness. His description brought me to tears. I started to think about this contrast, how every person has a different perspective on life based on their different experiences. To some this world is warm, open, inviting. And to others it's cold, hostile and isolating. No doubt, over the course of our lives most of us experience both beautiful times and sometimes ugly ones. But how do you perceive the world as a whole? Do you wake up to a loving world, ready to absorb its warmth and fly with the angels? Or do you wake up to a mean world, ready to brace the cold and battle demons? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this life-changing talk, and discover that despite the darkness, coldness and hostility often surrounding us, we have the inner resources to warm and illuminate not only ourselves but others as well. We are not products or victims of circumstance. At our core and essence we are bright and soaring souls, sent to a dark and cold universe, with the innate power to transform and create a beautiful world, no matter the challenges.

Life is replete with change. Processes, transitions, maturation, growth and setbacks -- life is synonymous with movement, and movement is all about change. The journey of life with all its twists and turns, and ups and downs. Why then are we afraid of change? And if you fear change it's inevitable that it will play a major role and impact every juncture of your life (whether you know it or not). Every transition from one state to another -- every new unknown -- will trigger fear and impede your progress. It will compromise your choices and commitments (how can I commit when I'm afraid of what will be?). And being that nothing in life ever stays the same, this inertia would be quite often! Going even further, all growth by definition is a form of change; it's going out of one state, one paradigm and growing into another paradigm. If one is overwhelmed by change - this is preventing all growth in life. We all have to thus ask ourselves the critical question. Do I fear change? And what can I do about it? Because if you don't mitigate it, this fear of change will keep you from making any move in life. Whether you want to grow and climb to greater heights, or whether you're stuck in a bad relationship, a bad job, a bad state of mind, your fear of change will keep you stuck in the status quo. (As they say: the known evil is better than the unknown one.) The fear will paralyze you and not let you move, not let you grow. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of fear, and specifically fear of change. Learn how instability, insecurity and lack of trust lies at the heart of the fear of change. By identifying its root causes we discover its antidote -- how to overcome and counter fear and how to embrace change in your life so that you can navigate the vicissitudes of life and be free to spread your wings, grow and be the best you can be.

As the curtain comes down on the year 2022 and we prepare for the new year of 2023, we all wish for each other and for our loved ones a very blessed new year. A year filled with joy, happiness, inner peace and world peace; a year of serenity, success and the fulfillment of all our hearts desires, all in good health and in a very obvious and revealed way. The intentions for an amazing, transformative and accomplishing year are there. We all want it, dream it, long for it and aim for it. But the big question is how? How do we make our dreams a reality? How do we ensure that we indeed have a great year? We all know that new year comes and goes; previous years have proven that we can make resolutions with great intentions and positive goals but then we see them dissipate... they can often last one day, two days, or even a full week! But slowly the inspiration begins to wane and we find ourselves right back where we started. Many new years have come and gone and we haven't necessarily experienced real change. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and learn how to change that narrative! Discover what you can actually do to make this year the best possible year yet. Learn about the forces that hold us back from growth, and the key tools necessary to counter that inertia, and be the change in your life - for yourself, your family, your friends and the entire world at large.

What is the single most important ingredient for a healthy and successful life? Many answers have been offered and discussed. Is it love; wholesome relationships and healthy attachments? Is it religion; faith in a higher power that we answer to and a code of laws to follow? Or conversely, is it simply the pursuit of pleasure; enjoying the moments and living it up? While all of these are certainly options people follow, and they may also be valid approaches, with each one playing a vital role in our lives, there is still a bedrock that lies beneath all other forces, which is absolutely necessary to living a truly wholesome and productive life. This single most important ingredient is meaning and purpose. When you have a unique calling and distinct mission, that in turn drives everything else in your life. If you don't have a raison d'etre, everything you do will be lacking a sense of direction and urgency. Meaning -- that your life matters and all your choices matter, now and forever -- is the foundation upon which every other part of your life is built, including healthy love and relationships, including religion, including enjoyment and success in every given area. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover how you can find your unique meaning and purpose, and how that will transform your life. We are living in a time of crisis of meaning -- people everywhere are in desperate need of finding their personal mission statement. What is needed, now more than ever, is nothing less than a revolution of meaning: empowering every man, woman and child with a meaningful life. Let us join together and light up the entire world -- a world that is so often shrouded in darkness and confusion -- with the clarity and focus of meaning.

Psychology is a force that impacts every one of us. We are all in some way dealing with struggles of the human condition. Being alive means we are dealing with the vicissitudes — ups and downs, twists and turns — and many complexities of life’s journey.  Hence, the trillion dollar therapy and medicinal industries, serving us for good or for bad. But what exactly is psychology? The actual definition of psychology is: the study of the soul. Yet, what exactly is a soul? Did you know that there are over 45 different psychological schools of thoughts? from Fraud, to Watson, to Adler, Jung, Frankl, from the cognitive to the behavioral, and everything in between, over and under. New opinions and novel approaches are continuously being introduced. Clearly, the true nature of the human psyche remains shrouded in mystery and continues to elude us mortals. So how are we to make sense of all the different — and often opposing — opinions about something so critical: the understanding of who we are? How can we make heads or tails and figure out what makes us tick? You may be surprised to learn that around 250 years ago — a century before the birth of modern psychology — a Russian born mystic and sage developed, what we will call, the most comprehensive psychological blueprint for life. With his keen insight into the very nature of the soul, based on thousands of years of esoteric teachings and hard earned experience, The Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, laid out an intricate roadmap, an x-ray of the human psych. In doing so he integrated the best of all the psychological schools of thought and offers us a revolutionary new model, relevant today more than ever, one that has the ability to guide us into the future. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this fascinating and illuminating talk to reveal a new way of looking at yourself and your potential. Discover how you are not a product or victim of circumstances or genes, how you control your destiny — how you have the power, power beyond your belief, to navigate every challenge and curve ball life throws at you. How to forge ahead and carve your future to be the best it can possibly be. Learn to not only contain your demons but how to transform them into assets that will make you grow and actualize in ways that you could never have imagined.

How do you deal with adversity? When facing a challenge in life, how do you react? There are the conventional approaches of fight or flight; do you retreat out of fear of confrontation; escape your reality? Or do you stand up and fight, waging a battle with the enemy within and without? Others might turn to prayer; do you beseech G-d to interfere and show you the way? Or do you follow the approach of simply giving in; surrendering to the circumstances and waving the white flag. These are the four conventional approaches that most people take when dealing with the different obstacles that life throws at them. And believe it or not, while all four might serve a purpose in specific moments, they are all limiting and holding you back from truly facing your challenges. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson to discover a revolutionary fifth approach to dealing with adversity - which will not only help you overcome the obstacles but will help you grow from them to become the best you can be.

Do you ever feel that there is a battle being waged within your psyche? That you have conflicting drives tugging you in opposite directions? It may be a struggle between your reflective mind and impulsive heart, or between your responsibilities at home and at work, between your personal values and the outside pressures that may compromise your standards, or between being a taker or a giver, between serving yourself or serving others. If you feel a battle raging inside you -- manifesting in any of the above ways or in other ways -- welcome to the "club." Know that you are not alone. Every one of us has an inherent clash within our souls, two forces wrestling for control over our choices. The voice of survival and the voice of transcendence. The physical drive and the spiritual drive. Most of us either choose one or the other, or we compartmentalize. Can we make peace between these two drives? Can we experience inner harmony? Or are we doomed to a perpetual war? Please join Rabbi Jacobson on a fascinating journey plumbing the depths of your innermost self, and learn how these two forces are actually twin "souls" competing for your attention. Discover that the ultimate way of fusing your conflicting voices and relieving the tension between matter and spirit is by spiritualizing the material, and harnessing its enormous power toward a higher purpose, which is beyond both body and soul.

We all can appreciate the personal and universal message of Thanksgiving. The importance of gratitude resonates deeply, and its power has been demonstrated to increase happiness, lower stress and anxiety, and overall improve our mental and emotional lives. Recent psychological studies show how gratitude frees us from our self-contained, self-interest driven egos, how it teaches us to appreciate our gifts and blessings, and broadens our horizons. In turn this unshackles us from toxic emotions and negativity. But what is the deeper reason behind gratitude's healing powers? Why is gratitude such a powerful force of life? What lies at the root of its strength? Please join Rabbi Jacobson on a journey into the inner recesses of the soul and of the cosmos, and discover how the integral unity of all existence is triggered and accessed through gratitude. Learn how the simple act of appreciating those that have helped you unleashes tremendous reservoirs of energy that will transform your life and your relationships.

Everything in our material world will naturally age, erode, deteriorate, break down... and perish. Is there anything that lasts forever? Can we touch the infinite; experience the eternal? Enter your soul. Your body ages and ultimately dies. But how about your soul? Is it subject to the natural laws of erosion? Is its potential limited and confined by the parameters of material existence? Where does our soul go after it separates from the body and leaves this world? The question really begins the other way around: Where did the soul come from originally? Did its journey begin in your present life?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a very critical and personal discussion on the very nature of who we are. Discover new dimensions within yourself that may surprise you. Learn answers to these important questions: Do we ever die? Is there a part of us that lives on? Is there a part of us that was here before? And most importantly how does that affect our lives today, our relationship, our destinies - and our eternal legacies?

A clever cynic once said: We must believe in free will. We have no choice. Do we have free choice or is everything in our lives predetermined? Am I wired like a machine -- programmed and predictable, or can I change the course of my destiny? That is the big, age old question that has sparked many debates, research and countering arguments. In 1814, French philosopher, mathematician and scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace stated what has come to be known as causal determinism -- that if there was an intellect (coined Laplace's Demon) that was able to know all the data of the past and present, he would be able to predict everything in the future because at the end of the day everything is a process of cause and effect, action and reaction. The only problem is that we don't have all the data. This theory would seem to negate the concept of free will - everything is predetermined, we just don't have all the information to see the results. The discovery of quantum mechanics in the 20th century, which presented an indeterministic model of the (microscopic) universe, essentially undid the premise of causal determinism. Heisneberg's Uncertainty Principle states that we cannot simultaneously determine both the position and velocity of a particle, not due to lack of data, but due to the fundamental nature of quantum probability. This proves that it's not just a lack of proper data that keeps us from determining our future, but it truly is indeterministic. But there are still many questions swirling around the idea of free will. As creatures of habit, shaped and conditioned by many influences, do we really have free will? How do we know that we aren't like any animal, simply following our natural instincts and predilections? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this important discussion and discover the roots of this debate and how it reflects the very way we look at ourselves. Are we random creatures, or do our lives have purpose? Are we puppets on a string, or are we free people with control over our choices? Do you and your decisions matter? Is your life headed somewhere? Explore inner dimensions of yourself and learn that you can choose to choose -- that you indeed have the freedom to choose your future, and you have more control over your actions, and power to determine your destiny, then you ever knew!

Can you be a pioneer? Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower? Do you have the confidence and inner strength to form your own choices and direction in life? Or are you hesitant to take charge and navigate uncharted waters? Many people feel that they are just not wired to be a leader.. they feel they are lacking the traits necessary to step up and have their voice heard. But the honest and deep truth is that you - yes, you! - have a leader within you; you have a pioneer within you. You may not be aware of it yet, but it's there. Every single person has the potential to be a pioneer. The question is, how do you access it? How do you not allow outside force and influences to obfuscate and cover up this power within you? The first and greatest pioneer of them all was Abraham. He faced ten challenges that catapulted him to greatness -- a greatness that impacts the world till this very day. Learn how these ten steps manifest in your life, as ten challenges you will experience, and how overcoming them serves as a springboard to becoming a pioneer. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a life changing class and discover the hidden reservoirs of your true potential. You are a leader. You have an unique and indispensable voice that only you can share with the world. It's time for you to rise to the occasion and realize the mission that only you can pioneer.

How many of the things you do are driven by other people's expectations, demands and attitudes? How much do outside influences impact your life's choices and direction? Is your identity defined by you or by others? Whether it be our parents and their approach to things that shaped us in our informative years, or by our colleagues and their opinions; whether it be by our education system, culture and religion or by society and the media's noise that inundates us with information... Can you see through all these distractions to form decisions on your own? And now ask yourself, how many of the things you do are driven, generated and initiated from within you? Do your thoughts and actions reflect your inner self? This is a critical question every single person must ask themselves because this defines our lives, this defines who we are and what we do. So many times when we struggle and go searching for something more in life, when we look within and dig to the root of the issue, it comes down to who and what defines your life. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital discussion on who and what defines your life and learn the secret on how to discover your own voice. Start living YOUR life -- driven by who you are from within. An inside-out life instead of an outside-in one.

Are you bored? Do you find your life to be a monotonous routine, going through the motions, often feeling stuck in a rut? How do you relieve the tedium? Lethargy is lethal for the human spirit. We will do anything -- sometimes healthy, often not so healthy -- to get a new rush of excitement, a high, that will lift us out of the doldrums. Would you be surprised to know that there is a millennia-old time-tested method to discover renewal in your life? Would you be further surprised to know that to do so you don't need a pill or other external means and substances to achieve rejuvenation? Please join Rabbi Jacobson on a journey into the recesses of your soul and find a hidden treasure -- a vibrant and dynamic reservoir brimming with renewable energy. Beneath the surface of your seemingly ostensibly static world,  lay fountains upon fountains of perpetual creation.  Learn how to access and release these formidable flowing forces -- and experience continual rebirth. What better time to do as as we enter the new year, when a new unprecedented energy enters into the cosmic -- macro and microcosmic -- universe.

How do you experience renewal in your life? How do you truly move forward, away from all your old baggage, your past experiences? Can you truly let bygones be bygones and forge ahead into a new future? Every one of us, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, are always seeking to improve our life, but often our past haunts us, holding us back from growth. Is there a way out of that trap? Can we learn to not ignore our past, but also not to let it hold us hostage? As we prepare to enter the Hebrew New Year, this is the perfect opportunity to begin anew. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this special program. Discover how to use your past as a stepping stone into your future; to reflect on the year we are leaving behind - all the good and all the challenges that came along with it - and use the energy to propel you forward into new and unprecedented horizons.

We human beings pride ourselves on our intelligence; how we are far superior to all other species with our minds, our innovations, scientific breakthroughs and technologies. With our intellect we have learned to tame the elements and conquer the universe. Yet, what exactly is intelligence? And what defines intelligence? Is a powerful mind the only contributing factor? Is dominance over other forces the litmus test for success? One can be book smart but have no common sense. A person may have a high IQ and be emotionally immature. Intelligence is not just brain power and it's not simply data processing. True intelligence is also the wisdom of life -- the wisdom of interactions, the understanding of relationships. It goes far beyond the brain and its limited parameters and capabilities. It's more than a science; it's an art. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating discussion on the true nature of human intelligence and discover dimensions within yourself that you may not have been aware of or fully accessed until now. Learn how to actualize your full potential and achieve ultimate intelligence, combining the brain and the heart, intellect and emotions - to create a complete and integrated pers

Do you live to work or work to live? If someone asks you who you are, do you show them your business card? Is your identity defined by your work? Shouldn't it be the other way around? But many us have become so consumed by our jobs and careers, that who we are has become an extension of what we do. Shouldn't we be directing our vehicles and instruments where to go instead of them telling us where to go? Who is the captain of your ship? Let's take this a step further: Is labor a positive thing? We who have grown up with work as a cultural norm may think that this is how it always was. That is not the case at all. Work, as we know it is a relatively recent development. For much of ancient and medieval history, work has been hard and degrading. Indeed, according to the Bible, work-labor is a curse: “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.” The Greeks and later the Romans believed that manual labor was for slaves. The Greek word for work was ponos, taken from the Latin poena, which meant sorrow. So as we return to work after Labor Day, how are we to look at our jobs and careers? Are they a curse, a necessary evil? When we go to work in the need to support ourselves are we capitulating to the overwhelming forces of materialism? Are we doomed to sell our souls to a corrupt world that "consumes its inhabitants"? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he drills down into the belly of the beast, and uncovers the deeper soul of labor and work. Discover that the challenge is not our professions and businesses on their own, but rather with realigning and focusing our work toward a higher calling. The tension between matter and spirit is ultimately best resolved not by escaping the world of labor for the world of spirit, nor by surrendering to work as a curse, but by spiritualizing the material and revealing the deeper sparks embedded in our work. Learn how to become the captain of your ship.

Love. One simple word that is far from simple. Love contains volumes upon volumes. Everyone uses the word, but does anyone know what it means? No matter what culture, race, religion or nationality, love -- or the lack thereof -- is everywhere. From the beginning of time, authors, poets, songwriters and artists have tried to define love; the simple word connoting longing, passion, connections, complexity, depth, beauty, heartache, intensity, to name a few of its many facets. Love has moved mountains, but it has also destroyed nations. The best and the worst of people have emerged in the name of love. So what is this love? Is it biological or spiritual? Is it real or imagined? Love to the human spirit is like water to a flower. Everybody needs it and yet we find it so elusive. It lies at the heart and foundation of all of life and yet it's so difficult to find healthy, nurturing love. What would life be like without love? Can a child grow up healthy without love? Is there such a thing as dysfunctional love? Is love selfless or selfless? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this critical discussion and discover age-old secrets from the Kabbalah about the essence of true, healthy love. By contrasting it with current scientific views on love, learn new and deeper dimensions of love that may surprise you, including how love (and the need for love) drives everything we do -- even our destructive behaviors. Find out how to create relationships that are not only meaningful and sustainable, but connections that will be eternal.

One of the greatest compliments you can give a person is to call them a visionary. But what is a visionary? And who is a visionary? We often think the title is reserved for the geniuses, the rare individuals that were blessed with unique foresight, prescience, wisdom and strength -- a guiding light and presence. But the truth is that every single person - you and I included - is capable of being a visionary! We each have the capacity; we just need to become aware of our uniqueness, and learn to have the courage and fortitude to not just please and conform to  others, but to be ourselves, and tap into our own powerful and life-changing value. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover how YOU can become a visionary. Explore how to discover your true self, and how you can employ certain methods, a formula to use in your life to widen your horizons. Instead of looking at things with myopic vision, begin to see the panorama -- and that in turn will inform and enrich every detail of your life.

Details, details, details.. All of our lives are comprised of so many minute specifics, obligations to our home, family, friends, work and even to ourselves. We often get overwhelmed simply by the pressure, expectations and demands of these daily routines, known as the daily grind for a reason. It sounds nice in theory to be told that we must step back and see the forest for the trees, get beyond the minutiae and look at the big picture -- and allow the big picture to inform the particulars.  Great advice! And yet, life goes on, often at a 90 mph pace, not leaving us much room to pause and breathe. Every morning we wake up bombarded with our to-do lists, details necessary to get through the daily rat race, but overwhelming and often anxiety inducing at the same time.  How can we actually -- and responsibility -- take care of all the details in an effective way, but (and here's the million dollar question!) instead of the details controlling us, we control them? Is that even possible? Does my life simply consist of random moving parts or can I find purpose in each piece?  William Blake put it so beautifully, "To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand. And Eternity in an hour."  But how? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this exciting workshop as you discover the beauty in the details, how you can see the greatest of the great in the smallest of the small, and how you can combine all the tiny parts of our day to create the most magnificent big picture. And how you can indeed experience the infinite in the finite and the eternal in the moment.

"Life breaks all people but some are stronger in the broken places." Ernest Hemingway During the course of our lifetime, every one of us is going to inevitably experience hurt -- a loss, a setback, trauma, grief, death, etc. At one point or another, we will all face difficulties along our journey, tested with heartbreak and challenges. Now, this is not meant to paint a dark picture and negative outlook on life.. It is simply the reality of life's cycles. The most important thing to remember is that your response to life's cracks will be what defines who you are. How will you deal with loss and betrayal; with broken promises and shattered dreams? What will you do when your love is violated? When you are in pain and suffering? How will you navigate the uncharted and crashing waves of setbacks and trauma? Will you break down or will you become stronger in the process? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this fundamental workshop as he shares with us a time tested proven formula - almost 2500 years old! - and learn the seven steps that lead us from loss to healing; a seven step process that offers us critical tools and methods to take us from life's darkest moments to not only heal - but to become stronger and greater than ever.

When was the last time you cried? I will never forget the day when a gentleman in his mid 40s came to see me. Taking one look at him, without even uttering a word, I could sense the extreme tension in his body. He was so wound up, clearly carrying a very heavy weight on his shoulders. When we finally began to speak, he shared with me that throughout his entire life he was bullied, loathed, hated.. by his parents, siblings, friends and strangers, to the point that in time he began to hate himself. I can't describe how painful it was to witness this broken man telling his heartbreaking story. He sat there -- pitiful, numb, frozen, all knotted up. So much sadness. So much sorrow. So much despair. How can anyone carry so much?! After a while, which seemed like an eternity, I turned to him and asked, "When was the last time you cried?" He looked at me in complete bewilderment and then responded, "The last time I cried was when I was 5 years old. My father looked at me with a stern eye and said, 'Men don't cry. I do not want to see you cry ever again.'" "And I have never cried since. No matter how painful my life was, no matter how difficult my situation was, I never cried again. I feel like if I would now begin to cry, I would never be able to stop." Tears are a critical part of our lives. We were given tears as a way of release, like the steam escaping from a kettle. Without the release, all our feelings and emotions, our joys and our sorrows, would just continue to build and bottle up inside of us with no outlet. The tension would overwhelm and implode within us. Tears allow the intense energy to escape. They soothe and bathe us in the release of feelings and emotions. Tears bathe your soul, say the mystics. Please Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an important discussion on the role tears play in our lives. Discover the mystical and cosmic power of tears and the tools they provide us that help us express and balance our deepest feelings and emotions in a healthy and productive manner. And... learn the end of the story of the man that didn't cry for 40 years.

Is your life made up of many disjointed and fragmented pieces? Or is there a larger narrative that's unfolding, connecting all the dots and moving parts of your daily life?  Sadly, most of us live our lives from moment to moment, often in survival mode - just getting by and through each day. Some moments are ups, some are downs; and there are twists and turns along the way. But is there an underlying thread between all these seemingly random moments? Where are they leading us? The secret and truth behind it all is that your life is a journey. Yes, it is a journey with many layers and stops, twists and turns, ups and downs, with winding roads and obstacles in its path. But it is one glorious journey, one majestic narrative that continues to unfold. And you play an active role in the development of the unfolding drama. Furthermore, your journey -- and every leg of it -- is rife with meaning. Every step you take, every stop you make, every fork in the road you encounter, every mountain you climb, every valley you traverse -- every single moment is brimming with opportunity, filled with potent energy waiting to be released. Every detail has a purpose and is part of a bigger picture. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on this journey of discovery. Learn how to recognize the journey of your life and its deeper meaning. Discover how to actualize the tremendous potential in every detail of your daily life, which in turn will charge up and change the way you look at yourself and everything you do.

When asked, "What would you hope to witness in your lifetime?", world peace might be the most common -- and cliched -- response. But what does this really mean on a practical level? What is the secret to achieving global peace, and how can I, one of billions of people that make up this world, make a difference - or even a slight dent - in achieving this monumental objective? So many world leaders, thinkers and philosophers - especially in the last century - have been aspiring and seeking all types of methods to create a world that lives in peace. All types of attempts have been made, including the establishment of the United Nations, NATO, ambassadors and diplomatic relations, international alliances and treaties, summit meetings, etc. And while much progress has been made, there is much more work to be done; though our efforts until now have worked to some extent, the world is far from a place of peace. So what is the secret that has been evading us all this time? Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, it all begins at your doorstep, within you. World peace must begin with inner peace. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on a journey through psychology and physics demonstrating how our personal lives impact the world around us. Discover what we can do in our internal lives to create harmony and peace inside ourselves and in turn create a ripple -- butterfly -- effect that brings harmony between spouses, parents and children, families and communities, friends and strangers, and by extension, to the larger world. Despite the diversity of nations, let's find the harmony within our diversity, the intrinsic bond that connects us all on a deeper level. We are, after all, indispensable parts of one larger mosaic; musical notes in one grand cosmic symphony. And when we find inner peace between our conflicting voices and drives, we bring peace to the world. Because at the end of the day, the billions of people that make up the world are comprised of individuals like you and I. And we will be the change needed in this world.

Do you know how to communicate effectively? Are your interactions with others positive and productive or are they critical and draining? Are you able to resolve disagreements and conflicts? Communication lies at the heart of every relationship in our lives. Personal. Business. Family. How we interact and communicate with each other reflects the health of our relationships and is the basis of everything we do in life. Developing better ways of communicating will directly improve the quality of our relationships. And vice versa. Frankly, we live in a time of a communications crisis. Witness the polarization of different groups in our society. People have difficulty communicating and even disagreeing amicably. Real connections are hard to come by. This is quite ironic considering the communication and information revolution of our times. Our technologies are connecting us like never before, while our hearts and minds remain disconnected more than ever. Throw into the equation today's sophisticated marketing techniques -- crunching metrics, manipulating our emotions and selling us everything and anything -- and it's not difficult to imagine why we are often clueless as to the true meaning of healthy communication, and, by extension, relationships. No wonder that we are experiencing a breakdown in so many of our connections and attachments. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of communication. Discover the true meaning and significance of communication. How it is rooted in the very essence of your earliest connections with your loved ones, beginning in the very womb of your mother. Learn how communication is much more than language and expression -- it is the ultimate bridge between two souls. Identify the key ingredients and necessary steps to build healthy, enduring, and eternal relationships: Listen. Care. Integrity. Trust. Empowerment.

The word vacation evokes a feeling of letting go, freedom, lightheartedness and even folly. It brings to mind visions of beaches and mojitos, frolicking in the water and relaxing under the stars. Vacation is usually associated with an escape from our reality, a runaway from the daily grind and life's responsibilities. But can vacation be both fun and meaningful? Does it serve a purpose other than pure enjoyment and a respite from the routine? Today you will learn something new, a unique perspective that will change -- and enhance! -- the way you vacation. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this delightful and transformative talk that will help infuse your summer months with a deeper dimension, and discover how your vacation can have purpose, spirituality -- and of course fun! 

As we approach July 4th, we are reminded of the revolutionary principle proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, which is really the foundation of this entire country - and the foundation of the modern world today. "All men [people] are created equal." We are all equal and we all are entitled to equal rights.  But what does equality really mean? Is it another one of those buzzwords that is cited so often today that it ends up meaning nothing because it is overused to mean everything? And look around you.. Are we actually all equal? Some people are born with more intelligence and natural talents than others. Some are born into wealth and are blessed with other gifts that give them an edge. Some have strong leadership skills while others are followers. Every human being is different. So as noble as it sounds, is it realistic to claim that we are all truly equal? And is equality even a healthy goal -- are we trying to create clones, by fitting each human being into a single mold? Shouldn't we better be aspiring to allow each person to shine in his/her unique way, talents and traits?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a monumental talk on the true definition of equality as he dissects the root of the issue and offers a fresh way to look at yourself and at others. Find out how equality is not the absence of diversity; quite the contrary, they complement each other. Discover the eloquent balance between individuality and equality and learn how to thrive and become the best possible you - equal to and at the same time, not equal to any other person on earth.

Is Trauma the New Scapegoat? The phrase trauma seems to be everywhere. Statistics show that over 5,500 podcasts have trauma in the title. On TikTok, #trauma has over 6.2 billion views. A recent article title pretty much sums it up: How trauma became the word of the decade. Good question. There is a growing opinion among some that attribute all our problems to trauma. Is that true? Has the word become overused?  These days it's common to hear... I was stuck in traffic - it was traumatic! Or... I was traumatized when my baseball team lost the game! But is that trauma? Are we minimizing and desensitizing the word, watering it down and ultimately being disrespectful to what real trauma is? Are we confusing trauma with (our own need for) drama? Are we dealing with it in a healthy way? The biggest question above all is, what is trauma? And beyond everything else, what can we do about it? Are we stuck being traumatized people? Are we falling into the trap of blaming trauma and avoiding the work we need to do to grow through our challenges? Even as we heal, does our healing remain part of our trauma? Can we recreate our lives to return to and reclaim the pre-trauma state, or are we perpetually stuck in a PTSD state of being? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating and fundamental discussion on trauma and its treatment -- how it has evolved over the years, where we stand today and how we can develop healthy ways to heal the wounds. Learn about the different ways and stages people deal with difficulties -- from denial to blame to empathy. Then by exploring the psycho-spiritual and mystical roots of trauma -- all originating in the primordial dissonance of the tzimtzum -- we discover the steps to move from empathy to empowerment, healing the ruptures created by trauma by reconnecting to your very essence, and finally, transforming the very trauma itself.

Over the course of your life, are you being taught WHAT to think, or are you learning HOW to think? And what is the difference between the what and the how? Almost everyone is familiar with one of the most popular best-selling self help books titled, How to Make Friends and Influence People. Let's focus on the word influence. We can influence people, inspire people, teach people and even educate people - but above all we can EMPOWER people. Empowerment is in a league of its own. Empowering is learning how to think, with a methodology and proper tools. Empowering is the how to solve problems; not just being given answers but learning how to find the answers yourself. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this vital conversation on the secret to empowering your friends, family and colleagues and learn how to navigate whatever comes your way. "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." That is empowerment.

How do we maintain inspiration after the "honeymoon"?  In life, it is relatively easy to get excited and inspired -- but it is not so easy to keep that initial spark going. We hear a powerful speech that touches us deeply and are determined to change our life and perspective... a few days later the daily grind puts us right back in our original rut. We start a new diet with enthusiasm and a positive attitude, inspired by the "after images" plastered around social media... a few days later the initial intensity has run out and we are back to our old habits.  How does one perpetuate that inspiration; how does one stay motivated? Is there a secret method to making the excitement last? We just finished a 7 week course titled, 7 Weeks to a Better You. We examined the entire spectrum of our human emotions and diagnosed our personality and character traits; from love to discipline, compassion to tenacity, humility to bonding and dignity. But now comes the hard question: How do we ensure that all our hard work lasts? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a follow up bonus course and learn vital lessons and tips on how to maintain inspiration and integrate it into our daily lives. Discover the three-step secret process to creating permanent changes and improvements in your life. 

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don’t last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture — an “x-ray” — of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 7, you will explore leadership — the dignity and nobility within you, enabling you to be a leader in your own right. Do you find yourself being reactive? Are you a follower, waiting for someone else to lead the way? How is your self-esteem and self-confidence? Are you comfortable in your own skin? Do you feel pressured to please others, and live up to other people's expectations and demands? Let us thoroughly evaluate the faculty of malchus within us — that which makes you unique and special, the feeling of being a king or a queen, filled with courage and humility to live up to your calling and purpose in life, to illuminate and shine in ways that only you can. 

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don’t last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture — an “x-ray” — of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 6, you will explore connection — the attribute that defines bonding and commitment. Do you ever suffer from commitment issues? When faced with a serious relationship or tasked with an important project, do you find it difficult to see it through? Do you run at the first signs of unease or do you stick around and address the issue? Real connection is one of the greatest challenges of our times; the inability to be real, to deeply bond and deeply connect. Let us thoroughly evaluate and understand how to actualize the faculty of connection and learn how we can strengthen our bonds, connections and commitments.

7 Weeks To a Better You - Week 5: Humility

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don’t last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture — an “x-ray” — of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 4, you will explore endurance — the attribute that defines fortitude and ambition and combines determination and tenacity. How strong is your endurance? When you commit to something do you always see it through? When faced with challenges do you often retreat, or do you face the obstacle head on and fight until you succeed? Ambition and drive – the drive for excellence – are human traits ingrained within each of us. We all want to succeed. We all want to accomplish our goals. Yet, once the inspiration fades or we hit a setback we may be inclined to raise the white flag and move on. Let us discuss how we can improve these characteristics within us. In life even when we are committed to great things there will be ups and downs, twists and turns along the way, and it is the level of your endurance, your tenacity, that will be the key to success in achieving the objectives you set out to do.

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don’t last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture — an “x-ray” — of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 3, you will explore compassion and empathy — the attribute that defines harmony, beauty and truth. Are you a compassionate person? How do you express your empathy? Is it an extension of your own needs - caring out of guilt or with an ulterior motive - or is it coming from a deeper place? Compassion and empathy are critical components in life; we need to both give it and receive it. Let us explore and navigate this emotional attribute and learn to understand how we can improve our compassion to actualize our lives and to illuminate and warm the world around us.

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don’t last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture — an “x-ray” — of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 2, you will explore discipline, restraint — the attribute that defines discretion. What exactly is Gevurah/strength? How do we balance giving and kindness in a measured way? How do we know when to show discipline and when to hold back? Is this a defining characteristic in your personality or does this facet need to be defined and honed? Find out the secrets to properly channel restraint.

There is no person on earth who does not want to improve their lives. But how do we actually do that? We take on resolutions, make plans and embark on journeys, however they often don't last very long. Is there a formula for true and sustainable growth?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a new seven-part series, 7 Weeks to a Better You, and discover a 3334-year-old time-tested plan to evaluate and develop and your tremendous emotional potential. In this series you will learn the seven facets of your emotional attributes that define the spectrum of your personality, you will gain a clear picture -- an "x-ray" -- of your inner psyche, and how to harness and enhance the forces that make you tick. In part 1, you will explore love -- what exactly is love, how to set a high standard for the love you seek to give and receive, and a step-by-step process on how to achieve those goals. Find out the seven components necessary for healthy and enduring love.

Are you feeling trapped by any form of anxiety, fear, shame or insecurity? Are you dealing with trauma - past or present - that you cannot seem to escape? Are there forces that overwhelm and hinder your daily life? These may include loss or tragedy, pain, suffering and abuse or any type of violation of your dignity and spirit. If the answer to any of these questions is yes (and I cannot fathom that any of us mortal beings are not plagued at times with at least one of these difficulties) know that you are not alone! We all have our share of challenges -- the different constraints and inhibitions that impede our personal and professional lives. But also know that there is a way out! We are not bound and limited by our limitations.  We are now entering the Passover season, a holiday that celebrates the exodus from Egypt, which was far more than a physical liberation from chains and shackles. The Exodus was above all an emotional and spiritual emancipation, providing us with a formula - a time tested 3,334 year formula - to experience true exodus and transcendence from all forms of psychological captivity and distress (Mitzrayim, Egypt in Hebrew, means narrow straits, referring to all forms of hardships). Each one of us has a personal "Mitzrayim" within us, a place of enslavement and anguish, which constrains us and holds us back from true freedom -- from expressing our true selves, not the one shaped by others and by life circumstances.    Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this special Passover program and discover a five-step strategy that will allow you to free yourself from any of your fears and obstacles, empowering you, once and for all, to spread your wings and release your great potential. Enter the holiday by tapping into its energy and gaining a new understanding of inner and outer freedom, enabling your free spirit to sing and soar above all the vicissitudes and limitations. 

Freedom is our greatest gift; one that every human being is inherently born with. And yet freedom has not been agiven for most of human history. In fact, until the founding of the USA 246 years ago people world over did not live in freedom! Now that we have freedom and basic human rights are respected in most of the world do we truly appreciate it? Do we take it for granted? Are we aware of the sacrifices and prices we had -- and continuously have -- to pay to actually be free? Do we even know what freedom means? Think about it: Is freedom simply the ability to move about and not be bound by shackles, then why are so many of us enslaved to various addictions? These are critical questions because their answer will define the very way we look at our lives, our choices and our freedoms. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an enlightening discussion on the very nature of freedom and its benefits. Discover how to truly be free -- both from forces without and within. Learn the core concepts on how to appreciate freedom while helping it grow within us, allowing us to maximize who we really truly are.

Whether you are dealing with fear, anxiety, depression, aimlessness, or any of the many issues that plague our lives, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is, what are you passionate about? What excites your soul and fuels your energy and drive? Surprisingly, by focusing on these fundamental questions and identifying your true passions, you will be able to address the root of many negative forces in your life. Concentrating on your inner desires will compel you to recognize what you are investing your energy into it and will help you shift your focus toward positivity. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating and personal discussion on finding your passions in life. The human soul is a fire; synonymous with passion. Without passion the spirit withers. Identifying your passion will open new horizons and empowering methods to dealing with the many challenges and setbacks that life throws your way.

Addiction is one of the greatest plagues of our time. It impacts tens of millions of people - according to official statistics there are over 20 million addicts in the USA alone. And how many more are there who are not accounted for, due to denial and other factors? Addiction's impact on life is devastating - polluting virtually every facet of life: work, relationships, personal growth. How much of our potential remains trapped as we escape into our various addictions?   The very word addiction sends a shudder down our spines. Whether it's behavioral, psychological or physical, addiction reflects one of the saddest states of the human spirit: the loss of control over one’s own decisions. Becoming enslaved to a substance or behavior is the ultimate desecration and betrayal of human dignity.    But what is the root of addiction? What causes a person to allow themselves to become a slave to another entity - defying the very nature of human autonomy?! Aside from addressing its symptoms, is there anything we can do to uproot addiction at its core?   When we look back at the etymology of addiction, we find it has other meanings as well - and surprisingly! - they are not all negative. Addiction also means devotion, attachment and connection. Indeed, this can actually provide insight into what lies at the root and heart of addiction.   Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening program to discover a new, fascinating way of looking at addiction. Addiction is essentially a form of attachment disorder. The “soul” of an addict has a powerful searching energy - seeking, aspiring, yearning for love, connection and transcendence - but this force has become misdirected for various reasons. The problem is not the drive, but the objective of the drive. This class will lay out the 12-step Kabbalistic system and formula of how to deal with addiction in any form. Learn how to recognize the enormous power hidden in addiction; examine how to harness and direct it to literally change your life and the world around you.

What is driving the war in Ukraine? Who is Putin and what makes him tick? What can impact him? How will it end? What can we do? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in a live broadcast on the eve of Purim to discover the surprising answers in the story of Purim - 24 centuries ago!

Interesting stat: More than half the world prays daily. But here is the big question many of us wonder: Is anyone actually listening? Does God even care? Does praying accomplish anything? But before trying to answer these questions, we first need to rethink what exactly is prayer. Prayer is NOT about what God wants from us. Rather, prayer is about what you want from your connection to God. Prayer is not just a desperate effort of someone in crisis, or a crutch based on cultural superstitions. Nor is it merely a religious ritual. Prayer is about attachment -- attaching yourself and pouring your heart out to a Higher Reality, and drawing that power into your life. Communicating your needs, desires and requests to a higher source in your own way, be it through words, tears, pre-written prayers.. whatever talks to you. Prayer is about connecting the big picture with the small picture of your life. It is very effective. It is free, and you can do it anytime and anywhere. Join Rabbi Jacobson and discover the true essence and purpose of prayer. Once we uncover what prayer truly is, we can begin to understand how our prayers indeed do work, and someone out there actually does listen and care.

Money certainly has the power to corrupt and destroy. Just look around you -- and look back into history -- for countless examples of the ugly ways money perverts people, the extremes individuals will go to in pursuit of wealth, and how it turns people and even families against each other, often with tragic consequences. But money has also been used in the noblest ways and has built the most beautiful institutions. So which one is it? Money clearly can bring out the worst and the best in us. Is money -- and materialism in general -- the root of the problem, or is it our excessive attachment to money and material indulgences? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he challenges us to dig deeper and realize that the real question is not about the nature of money, but the nature of us humans: Are we at heart material beings or spiritual ones? To understand what money is we first need to understand who we are. Discover a new way to look at money and the material world around you -- through the lens of your soul instead of the lens of your body.

Do you know how to criticize and discipline in a constructive way? Do you rush to judgment? Does your critique demoralize or motivate? Does it break or build the other's spirit? Very often we insert ourselves into the challenging situation, and react reflexively and emotionally, without deliberating on what would be best to remedy the issue. When faced with circumstances that require disciplinary action, many of us go from one extreme to the next: we either choose to ignore it or we come down hard. Is there a healthier way of disciplining and educating -- be it your child, your student, your employee or anyone else you have influence over -- and even yourself? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses this imperative topic and discover a third approach, which balances constructive critique and productive results. Learn how to integrate discipline with love -- growing the flowers while uprooting the weeds -- in one seamless process of nurturing a beautiful and exquisite garden.

Do you have any idea how much impact pain and pleasure have on your life? How many decisions are made and how our behavior and relationships are shaped by our drive for pleasure and our aversion to pain? Freudian psychology -- as well as other schools of thought -- places the pain and pleasure principle at the center of the psyche and its drives. Marketing and advertising seek to trigger our primal emotions by demonstrating how a product or service will bring us pleasure or prevent pain. Recent studies thicken the plot by showing that pleasure and pain stimulate the same regions in the brain, causing much speculation on the similarities and commonalities between them, and how they affect each other. How much of our pleasure is seeking to numb our pain, and how much of our pain is a result of unfulfilled pleasure -- just to name one intriguing question. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this pioneering talk dissecting the root and "soul" of pain and pleasure. Drawing from millennia old kabbalistic wisdom, discover the secret connection between pleasure and pain, and how we can transform the deepest anguish into the greatest joy.

We can all agree that a patriarchal society -- the primary model that has prevailed throughout history -- has unjustly been used and abused to control women, subjugating them to inequalities and multiple unfortunate situations. This also explains the birth of the modern feminist movement which seeks to realign the balance, reform the wrongs, and strives to provide women with equality in the workplace, in politics and in the home. The question looms: Has the feminist movement resolved the issue? Or, as some ask, has it further enslaved women, causing them to compete with their male counterparts and forcing them to play by their existing rules. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he presents a non cosmetic, non superficial solution to the "battle of the sexes''. Identify the causes, not just the symptoms of this battle, and discover how the ultimate antidote to reclaiming our masculine and feminine identities will result in true women's liberation. Learn about these important essential truths and how to navigate the model that takes us back to the very roots of this challenge. Freeing the powerful feminine energy properly can, and will transform our entire society.  

Within us we each have two primary forces -- two distinct voices -- tugging us in different directions. The drive to survive and the drive to transcend. The first is is consumed with ensuring that we get our material needs met -- food, clothing, shelter, social connections, earning money to pay for these needs. The second seeks to transcend the physical parameters of our routines and discover deeper purpose, meaning and soulfulness. This can be achieved in many different ways -- music, dance, poetry, love, romance, faith, spirituality, just to name a few. In many ways this marks the distinction between body and soul. How do we deal with the inherent dichotomy between these two extremes? Throughout the ages, two schools of thought have emerged to address this conflict. One approach is to focus primarily on our material survival, leaving some limited room for our transcendent needs. Matter takes precedent over spirit. The second approach is to disengage from the distractions of our material pursuits in order to engage in our spiritual lives, to the point of asceticism for some. Both approaches, however, have one thing in common: These two worlds of matter and spirit, body and soul, cannot coexist. Thus, most of us ultimately compartmentalize our lives, dividing our time between the two. Please join Rabbi Jacobson and discover a third approach -- one that does not surrender to a life of duality, but accesses a third dimension, beyond the corporeal and the ethereal, which allows us to integrate the two. Just as science has revealed that energy and matter are really one, and technology taps the energy within matter, so too is it with your body and soul. You can actually live a life of utter unity and harmony by learning how to tap the spirit within matter and spiritualize the material, ultimately experiencing total and seamless fusion between the two.

Every one of us has faced uncertainty and doubt in our lives. Some of us more than others. You know the one about the fellow who said "I used to think I'm indecisive. Now I'm not so sure..." At times our inability to make a decision one way or another can have a debilitating and demoralizing effect. How many opportunities have you missed due to being stuck, not knowing how to proceed. Acute and prolonged indecisiveness can also become a monster of its own, eliciting our fears, insecurities and bringing on a state of lethargy and avoidance of making important changes and moves in our lives. What can we do about this? Please join Rabbi Simon jacobson as he tackles the great challenge of indecisiveness, exploring four different approaches people take when faced with adversity -- resignation, battle, religion, escapism -- and discover a fifth, time-tested method that will change how you see yourself and open you up to new possibilities you could never have imagined.

Who, or what, is your greatest enemy? This simple question is actually quite challenging because we face many different adversarial forces in our lives. We have enemies within and enemies without. We have psychological enemies, emotional enemies and inner demons. We have enemies that are real and some that may be imagined. We have enemies that are physical and many more that are intangible.  And yet from all these adversaries, the single greatest enemy of ours is called fear. Why is fear the most dangerous obstacle in our lives, our worst enemy? Because fear is insidious, it is concealed, invisible. There is no weapon or firepower involved, no smoking guns and loud noises to announce its arrival. Fear works in a very cunning way, with silent strength and quiet power. It is undermining and paralyzing; causing lack of initiative, indecisiveness, stagnation, apathy, demoralization, resignation and so many other symptoms that it can manifest in. Fear is what holds us back from going anywhere in life. And that is the worst enemy facing a human being. Without fear we can take on any challenge, but fear freezes us in our tracks. If we are not moving forward, where are we going?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fundamental discussion on fear as he shares vital tools and practical steps needed to overcome this great but silent enemy. And once you conquer fear, all the vistas and great horizons open up for you, nothing will be able to stop you.  A new life will emerge, one of hope and excitement for the future. 

As the curtain comes down on this strange and bizarre year of 2021, we are all left wondering: What now? What comes next and how can we possibly prepare for it?  If the past 24 months taught us anything - with covid in the air, political disruptions and upheavals, unprecedented uncertainties - it is that we have very little control of what's going on in the world around us. There has clearly been a tremendous disruption in all our lives. There's practically no sector of life that hasn't been impacted by these events, whether it's work, travel, schooling, entertainment, sports, etc.  And when you couple that with so many other polarizing forces in politics, the debates, the media and modern technology amplifying everything, sometimes we are left feeling disoriented, completely lost at sea.  With all that being said, how can we possibly enter a new year with confidence and positive energy? Is there any hope on the horizon? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as we enter into the new year, and discover that the key to gaining control is: learning how to navigate the stormy and unpredictable waves. You do that by digging and uncovering your deeper spiritual resources and developing the right attitude and perspective, which in turn impacts your family and friends -- and creates the change the world needs. Together, let us welcome 2022 with open arms, empowered and excited for a future of positivity, light, warmth and global transformation.

Here is a provocative yet practical question: Why should I be humble in a self centered world? It's an eat or get eaten, survival of the fittest environment out there. So who will look out for me if not myself?  In the majority of our life's experiences and interactions, it seems that people are it in for themselves, looking how they can further their own agenda, make more money, network in higher circles, etc. If you fit their needs, they might do something for you in return, but it's primarily give and take. Yes, there are those we come across that are truly kind and compassionate, but by and large -- especially with a driven ambition, person -- it's all about me, me, me.  So the question remains: Why choose humility, why be caring and empathetic, in a world surrounded by sharks? How can we advance and be successful without focusing solely on ourselves? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover that on the contrary -- bittul and humility are actually the keys and foundation to achieving the greatest successes in life. Choosing humility will have unbelievable and far reaching implications in our lives.

Do you ever feel like a ship adrift at sea, floating around aimlessly, lost and unsure of where to go from here? Are you ever caught up in the chaotic quicksand of life, unable to really find your bearings and pull yourself out of the situation? We all have moments where we find ourselves in that situation, especially during these uncertain and unpredictable times. How can we find the anchor, the stability, needed to help us ride the unpredictable waves around us? Can there be a balance between going with the flow and yet not getting lost in the process? How do we ensure that the chaos doesn't overwhelm us, yet propels us to greater heights? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an enlightening class on how to let go and flow. Learn how to navigate every possible situation that comes your way, even the most challenging. Discover the secret of flexibility and resilience, how to adjust and adapt to any circumstance. Become empowered with tools and resources to dive into uncharted territory and embrace the unknown; face the uncontrollable and find the beauty and power in not having all the answers.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself: Who am I as opposed to what is my occupation? Do I know how to live, or only how to work? Does my personality and identity define my work or does my work define my identity? If I take away my profession, who actually am I at my essential core? Most of our adult lives are preoccupied with work. But to what end? Do you have a mission that is driving the details of your life? Is your self defined by your net worth - or by other external factors such as appearances, status etc? Often we get so caught up in what we do, we forget who we are without that. If someone were to ask "Who are you?" would you have a response other than what you do for a living? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a vital discussion on finding yourself, your true, inner self and how to use that self toward a greater purpose. Learn how YOU and your life mission must define and dictate your life and work, and not have life and work dictate who you are.

We are all seeking ways to become healthier and more productive human beings; searching for the key to loving and sustainable relationships, answers to finding deeper purpose in our lives, and methods to help us live up to our full potential. Often, the secret to achieving such fulfillment is right in front of us, presented to us by our daily life and society. We only need to notice and tap into these messages surrounding us.  Thanksgiving offers us one such vital lesson. It's a good time to ask ourselves: is this holiday anything more than simply turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie? Sitting around with family and football and food... While this all sounds fun and delicious, Thanksgiving presents us with something far far more.   Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson to discuss the powerful message of Thanksgiving, a message that provides us with a most necessary and fundamental tool in life: the tool of gratitude. Thankfulness is far more than being nice and civil. It carries the secret to personal and global transformation. Gratitude is the antidote to the very core of ego and self interest; it manifests the essential purpose of existence: To illuminate a dark universe, to refine a hostile environment, to bring goodness and kindness to a unkind culture and gratefulness to an ungrateful world.

Dreams have always mesmerized us by their sheer mystery of paradoxes – at times reflecting deeper truths and at times seemingly nonsensical. They are a most mysterious and intriguing concept. Psychologists, poets and romantics throughout the ages (dating back to Biblical times!) all talk about dreams, trying to decipher: What lies behind their mystery? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating discussion on the beauty and potential of our dreams. Discover how dreams are there to give us a glimpse, a peek behind the curtain, into our inner subconscious and superconscious psyches. Learn about a dimension of yourself that often remains concealed beneath the surface level.

What is the true meaning of Veterans Day? What are we celebrating and what personal lessons can we learn from this day? One of the most powerful and beautiful things a human being can do is put their self interests aside, their selfish needs and ego on hold, to protect and help another. Our veterans have – and continue to – put their lives on the line for something bigger than themselves. They sacrifice themselves for us. It's now time to ask ourselves: Where do we stand in servicing others? What are we contributing to the world? This is the soul, the very essence, of Veterans Day. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this special presentation honoring our veterans, and the larger lessons we learn from them: How to access the very essence and purpose for which we were sent to this earth -- to commit our lives to service, to give, protect and sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. Indeed, serving a higher cause than ourselves is what makes the self greater than it could ever be on its own. In these polarizing times, we are in dire need of a message and attitude that transcends our different opinions and viewpoints and reminds us what lies at the heart of our country -- that our higher calling is more powerful than our differences.

There is a simple and fundamental truth that many of us don't always follow: The why must always precede the what. Meaning -- before you do something, you must have a reason as to why you are doing it. Yet many of us are stuck in our habits and routines and often the what ends up preceding the why. We first act and only then do we look for a reason for our actions. We do, and then wonder why we just did that. In life it is so critical that the function precede the form. First, understand the purpose and meaning behind every action, and only then can you act on it. This defines your entire life -- Are you simply a victim of circumstances or are you controlling your life, being proactive and mindful of your actions? Which brings us to the most important question of all time: Why was the world created? Once we begin to understand the why, we can then begin to understand the what - what is expected of us, what is our purpose here and what can we do about it? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating glimpse into the very dynamics of how we work. Learn the secret as to why the world was created, and go even deeper to explore why you - yes, specifically you - were created.

Do you have a picture of what you want your life -- and the world around you -- to look like in the future? And does that drive the details of your life activities? Or is your life just random occurrences and haphazard events that keep you trekking along blindly -- a life driven by the immediate demands and needs, with no larger plan and long-term goals directing you to a greater destination?  The vital importance for a vision and mission in life cannot be overstated. Take any entity or organization. The first step in a successful and efficient business is establishing a mission and vision statement. No enterprise can succeed or function without one. And yet when it comes to our personal lives many of us never gave the idea much thought. Not due to our own fault; we simply were never taught the necessity of having a vision and mission in life, let alone -- implementing it. We often just allow life to happen to us, instead of allowing ourselves to direct our life's trajectory. We are reactive instead of proactive. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this essential and life changing discussion on developing the focal point that connects all the spokes of your life. Discover the necessity -- and even more so the power -- of a personal mission and vision statement. Learn how to craft a mission and vision, and how to actualize it in your life -- realizing your greatest dreams and aspirations.

Do you ever feel like your life is fragmented, composed of so many disjointed pieces, and lacking a common thread connecting them all? These disconnects begin to accumulate and in time become overwhelming as they tug at you and your psyche, pulling you in so many directions. Is there more to life than random occurrences and haphazard events? You may be surprised to hear this, but kabbalists and mystics address this fundamental question with a beautiful and elegant concept called The Divine Sparks. Each one of us is a book - or a musical symphony - and at birth all the different pieces and moving parts of our lives have been scattered, like torn pages of a book - or individual musical notes - and we are tasked with the mission to uncover and discover these sparks, these spiritual opportunities in everything we do. Whether it be in our personal lives, our relationships, our leisure or our work, our calling is to collect every spark and piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle - finding the deeper meaning and purpose within each fragmented piece as part of a larger picture. And only then will we witness and experience what will emerge - a unique and beautiful narrative of our lives, the harmony within diversity. Join Rabbi Jacobson for a fascinating discussion on how to find that elusive unity within -- a unity that connects the multitude of details in your daily life -- and begin to understand your life in a completely new way.

How would you gauge your confidence level? Do you feel strong and courageous to take on any challenge, or is something holding you back? Truth be told, all people have their fears and insecurities, which can impede their ability to spread their wings and actualize their aspirations and dreams. We can all use a boost in confidence. What can you do to build your confidence? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dissects the roots of our inhibitions and insecurities, and offers ways to counter these obstacles. Discover three primary factors that undermine and conceal your innate confidence, and three specific methods -- the triple A: Associates, Attitudes and Actions -- that empower you to reclaim and grow your confidence. Learn how to gain inner strength to achieve the things you always hoped for and reach your greatest goals.

Do you feel overwhelmed and inundated by the deluge of demands and expectations tugging at you from all directions? Are your personal uncertainties, fears and anxieties flooding your psyche? Are you burned out by information overload continuously streaming into your mind and heart? If you answered yes, know that you are not alone. Virtually every one of us has times — some more often than others — when we feel that we cannot get our heads above water. We may have moments of respite, but the incessant wear and tear of life’s presenting challenges and pressures – — from financial burdens to personal struggles — cause us tremendous stress, to the point of feeling that things are out of control and even hopeless. We try to divide and conquer, taking it day by day, but the longer term forecast can appear gloomy and dark. Is there anything you can do to protect yourself from the raging floodwaters drenching your life? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this vital and highly relevant presentation addressing one of the most compelling strains of our time. Discover a timeless method to insulate yourself from the torrential tsunamis surging around us. Learn how to engage in life while remaining afloat and above the fray; how to transcend the stormy seas while also riding them to unprecedented heights.

How much control do you have over your life? Conventional thinking — and in many ways, the prevalent current view — is that most of our lives are determined by circumstances out of our control. If one was born into a dysfunctional home or experienced trauma, for instance, then they will most likely have difficulties with trust and relationships. If one grew up in a toxic and unhealthy environment, that will shape their destiny. This deterministic view is quite fatalistic and frankly downright pessimistic and depressing. Are we indeed simply defined by cause and effect? Or do we have the power to transcend our circumstances? Can we create a better reality than the “hand” we were dealt? To determine whether we are – or we are not – a victim and product of our circumstances, we must first understand and define: Who am I essentially at my core, what makes me tick and what potential and inner resources do I contain? Please join Rabbi Jacobson for this important pre-Rosh Hashana talk and discover new vistas of your soul, that when tapped, go beyond the usual cause and effect forces of life. Learn how your mind and mindset have the strength to change the course of your future; how your thoughts generate energy and chemicals that can shape your destiny. And that even if you can’t control events around you, your mind and attitude can control your ability to navigate even the most difficult challenges.

Just as we thought we were getting out from under the corona cloud, here we go again. With the latest resurgence of covid related concerns, people everywhere are asking: Will life ever get back to normal?    Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses, in his disarming and inimitable way, our current disruptions. Instead of reacting to the symptoms with short term solutions, learn how to turn this challenge into an opportunity to step back and ask ourselves: What exactly is "normal" and who says that our pre-covid norm was healthy in the first place? Discover how upheavals offer us the ability to revisit and recalibrate -- and create a new paradigm in our lives. This is a time to not be a victim of circumstances, but to take control of how you navigate the uncertain twists and turns and define your own destiny.

There are 4 personality types: 1. What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine. The ignoramus. 2. What's yours is yours, and what's mine is mine. The average person. 3. What's yours is yours, and what's mine is yours. The optimal personality. 4. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine. The wicked person. (Ethics of the Fathers 5:10) Is it possible to balance a healthy ego and a healthy coexistence with others, and if yes—how? Is it merely about a logical negotiation of forgoing some of our immediate needs due to the benefit we receive from others? Or is it far deeper than that? What is more inherent in us -- our individuality, or being part of a larger whole? E Pluribus Unum - out of many, one. How is that possible? Which prevails, the many or the one? Last week we discussed "why not be selfish?" and established that in fact the most selfish thing you can do is be selfless. Transcendence, going beyond our limited boundaries - and not selfishness - is our inherent state. Tonight, join Rabbi Jacobson for a fascinating discussion and discover how there is actually a third dimension to all of this - beyond the individual and beyond the group, and when we connect to that, the magic of true seamless fusion emerges! Both the individual and group become one, harmony within diversity, not a compromise at all but a beautiful, eloquent flow that results from experiencing transcendence -- a reality greater than ourselves.

Our society is currently challenged, perhaps more than ever, by self-centeredness, a me-me-me era, in which its each man for himself, an eat or get eaten mentality. How will I survive if I am not the "fittest", putting my own needs and self first? Who will look out for me if not myself? Why should I bother going out of my way to help others? And can I have any ego, a healthy sense of self, and still be selfless?  Self interest vs the greater common good has plagued humanity from the beginning of time. The prevalent perception is that we are fundamentally driven, first and foremost, by our needs, survival and personal pleasure. Freud called it the Id; Darwin: Survival of the fittest. But is this true? Are we indeed inherently selfish? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a fascinating discussion on seflishness, selflessness and the human ego through the lens of Chassidus, Kabbala and psychology. Learn how to properly balance them all while analyzing the benefits and positive results of helping others. (Spoiler alert: by helping others, you are actually helping yourself!) Discover a new and surprising way to look at yourself and how the destructive behaviour of selfishness, while not only harming others, goes against your very essential nature and thus undermines and stunts personal development and growth.

Words have always been powerful -- more than we imagine. But they have never been as potent as they are in today's information age and communications revolution. There was a time when our words reached only the people we spoke with or wrote to. Our conversations were limited to those around us, and they were not recorded for posterity. But today, with the explosion of technology -- internet, social media, smartphone -- every word we say or write has been amplified beyond anything anyone could ever have envisioned. Our words are streamed and broadcast to the entire world; they can go viral reaching millions if not billions of people; and they remain etched forever in cyberspace and beyond.  Posts on today's platforms can incite a mob, destroy a person's reputation as well as spawn a revolution. On the positive side, a kind word can inspire and comfort large numbers of people. But is our sensitivity to the words we utter up to par with their exponential reach? As our platforms and methods of communications have expanded, have we developed deeper care, respect and empathy to ensure that our words are being used in the best possible way? Are we appreciating the gits we have today? Do we understand the implications of our words -- and their impact? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and explore the deeper roots of our power of speech and communication. We can take for granted our ability to speak with each other. Discover how your words are actually connectors and interfaces between your inner soul and faculties and the people and world around you. The better we understand how speech communicates our ideas and feelings the better we will connect with each other. Learn how your words are streaming energy into the environment around you; how they create a vibe that shapes your surroundings and the people you are speaking with. And above all, how what you say is what you get -- how the energy of your words echoes back to you and defines the response you will receive from others.

The recent controversy about orthodoxy and unorthodoxy is nothing new. It reflects the long-standing debate about the role of God in our lives -- and even the very existence of God. For centuries now, battles have been raging between science and religion, reason and faith, modernity and belief. But before we enter the fray, should we not first be defining the actual meaning of God, religion, faith and spirituality? Without fully understanding these terms, how can we know what we are disagreeing over and whether we are truly in disagreement at all? As one great mystic told the self-proclaimed atheist: The God you don't believe, I don't believe in either. What, for example, is the difference between religion and spirituality? Can one be complete and healthy without the other? What is God like and why is He relevant to us? Does being religious automatically make one a fundamentalist? Can I be "orthodox" and live a life of happiness and freedom? Can faith and modernity be reconciled and balanced in today's society?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects these critical issues, digs into their very core roots and comes away with a surprising and refreshing take on God, faith, religion -- and its far reaching implications in our lives.

More than oxygen, more than food and drink -- humans need love and connection to live and thrive. But what exactly defines connection? And why is it so vital? Above all, how do we build healthy, meaningful and sustainable connections and relationships? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover how true connections are forged in our souls. Travel on a fascinating journey into the five dimensions of your soul, reflecting five levels of connection, and learn how to build deeper bonds on each of these levels.

One of the most powerful sights to behold is the regeneration of a forest after it has burned down. Few things are more astounding to witness than renewal after hopelessness and rebirth after death. How have you reacted to the scars and schisms in your life? Have you given up? Do you feel like damaged goods? All of us will experience a crack in our lives -- a broken relationship, a shattered dream, an unfulfilled promise, a betrayal of trust. For some devastation comes as a result of abuse and trauma -- causing one to feel like something was '"killed inside of me." How you respond and rebound after something has been lost or destroyed will define your life. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this fascinating presentation on how to create regeneration after fires have ravaged your life. If you have experienced any type of loss or destruction -- this class is for you. It will give you a new perspective and hope on your losses and offer you actionable exercises to discover deeper resources in coping and growing through your challenges. Like the Biblical phoenix arising from the ashes, and the new moon reborn each month, like new life sprouting from an eroding seed and the newborn chick emerging from a cracked egg, learn ways to experience a metamorphosis in your own life -- empowering you to transform destruction into resurrection.

Are you free? Most people instinctively reply: Of course I am free. We live in a free world. In contrast to centuries past, today the citizens of the USA and most of the countries in the world are guaranteed inalienable rights -- freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. Today we have the freedom to move about and make our own decisions about virtually every aspect of life, unlike in days of old, when monarchs and despots ruled the world with absolute authority. But do these rights alone define true freedom? You can be technically free, unbound by chains and authority, and yet be completely enslaved by your fears, insecurities, addictions and a series of other forces that encumber your ability to spread your wings. Take technology: is it freeing you or ensnaring you? Are you in control of your life, or do other voices and expectations define and control your decisions? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening and "freeing" presentation, as he introduces a deeper way of defining freedom -- not just the freedom to do "whatever you like," but the freedom to be yourself -- to express your unique voice without any outside imposition. Discover how true freedom is not the absence of subjugation, but experiencing the full expanse of life. It is not merely the shedding of external chains, but unlocking the internal chains that stop you from living up to your infinite potential.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the lives buried under the rubble of the collapsed Surfside towers, and we extend all our support to their families to stand strong in this difficult time. At the same time, this heart wrenching tragedy offers us powerful lessons about the sanctity and dignity of every individual life, and how hope is never extinguished. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he honors the living and those taken with an impassioned talk about the eternal flame that burns forever even in the deepest darkness. No matter what challenges and difficulties we may experience in life, a spark always remains alive, which provides us with hope and strength, and upon which we can build and rebuild.

Summer has finally arrived. After what we have been through in the last 18 months, we all can use a well deserved vacation. Just kickin' off our shoes, laying back and relaxing. With no pressures, let's just BBQ and have some fun. But is that enough? Can the human spirit really survive on animal bliss alone, without some measure of healthy angst and restlessness? When we're on the fast-paced merry-go-round or roller coaster of our lives, it's difficult to step back and see our lives in perspective. But when we experience a transition -- from winter to summer, from covid to post-covid, from gloom to hope -- we have a break, an opportunity. As we enter the summer vacation season -- vacation from the word vacate, to empty and be free -- this is an excellent time to revisit the very nature of your life and its purpose. What is work and what is vacation? What exactly are we vacationing from? Please join Rabbi Jacobson and experience a new type of "vacation" by using the breezy summer energy to probe deeper into the quality of your life. Do you live to work, or work to live? Does what you do define who you are or the other way around? Are you a physical being on a spiritual journey, or a spiritual being on a physical journey? (Or a physical being on a physical journey?) What is your mission in life? What better time to take a midsummer night's dream -- one that you will never forget.

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more  🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...   Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate.    #MeaningfulLifeCenter #AppliedKabbalah

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more  🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...   Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate.    #MeaningfulLifeCenter #AppliedKabbalah #Masterclass #PleaseStandUp

Many people are alarmed by the recent rise of anti-Semitic threats and attacks. Whether this is connected to events in Israel and the general racial unrest and polarization in this country is debatable. Regardless, any accelerated anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence is certainly a cause for concern for all of humanity. Unequivocally, like the "miner's canary", hatred toward Jews has historically been a harbinger of troubles for all innocent people. Over the years, a school of thought has developed that we should indeed be concerned with history repeating itself, the argument being that Jews are never safe. While there may be temporary lulls of peace and calm, as in the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry or pre-World War Europe, anti-Semitic violence always comes back to rear its ugly head.  However, there is another school of thought. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he passionately takes on this critical issue, and presents a radically different approach: While we need to be vigilant, and take strong measures to protect and defend ourselves, we must also realize that the world has become a better place for Jews and for the entire human race. This approach will guide us to discover ways to eradicate the root of anti-Semitism and all forms of hatred once and for all, enabling us to look forward to a brighter future -- a future of personal and global redemption.

Do you ever feel like you're trapped in a dark tunnel. with no way out? It may take the shape of confusion and uncertainty; of general resignation and "quiet desperation;" or of deeper depression and hopelessness. Every one of us, at times, will experience the fear and anxiety that comes with a sense of being stuck in our lives. Please join Rabbi Jacobson and discover ways to navigate through the "tunnel vision" of our lives and find the light at the end of the tunnel. Learn the cosmic and mystical roots of life's shadows, and not only how darkness leads to light, but also the divine nature of darkness itself. 

As our hearts tear over the senseless loss of lives in the latest outbreak of violence in the Middle East, one can’t help but wonder: Will it ever end? What will it take to achieve peace in the Holy Land? Most, if not all, politicians, analysts, pundits and commentators — and nearly everyone else — have long given up hope on any comprehensive solution. After all we have witnessed, after all the attempts at peace, one need not even be a cynic be to be skeptical about the prospects. And yet, has everything truly been tried? The Western world in general rejects seeing this war between Israel and Arab/Muslims in any religious context. Many feel that in our “enlightened” and “scientific” age, religion is not and should not be a factor. Rational people can sit down and negotiate, as they would any business transaction or merger, and come up with a mutually acceptable compromise. And then move on. However, faith and religious passions don’t work that conveniently. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this provocative presentation of a radical new approach. One that combines peace out of strength and a bold vision of the future. The true battle, he argues, is not with missiles and ammunition, but in the homes and schools that control and shape the impressionable minds of the next generation. Acknowledging that this may be a “naive” approach, Rabbi Jacobson contends that if enough of us can create a grassroots revolution, which challenges the status quo of the powers that be, we can indeed create true and lasting change, and ultimately establish a permanent peace.

Just as some of us thought that the situation there was stabilizing, the peace accords showing promise of a brighter future for the region, we suddenly are rudely met with this barrage of rocket attacks and violence shaking the holy land... And all this in the wake of the Meron tragedy, in which 45 souls were ripped away from us. What is going on? How are we to react? You won't want to miss this special pre-Shavuot presentation by Rabbi Simon Jacobson, as he addresses both the larger picture and historical roots of this crisis, as well as how it informs the smaller, immediate picture of the here and now. Did you know that these conflicts go back over 3800 years? That they are based on deep ideological and spiritual tensions? Only by understanding the broader context of these battles can we hope to diffuse them and find a permanent solution.  Take a journey back 3333 years ago to Sinai, and come away with a new clarity and perspective, as well as practical things we each can do to help the situation and ultimately bring true peace to all.

Is your life predestined and predetermined? Or do you have control over your destiny? Do you have free will? So much of your life seems fixed in place without any of your input. Beginning with your very nature, personality and genetic makeup, followed by the influences of your home, family and education that shaped you and your attitudes, and finally different life experiences -- all factors that defined you and your life long before you became an independent adult (if there is such a thing) and were able to make choices. It then would seem to logically follow that we are products, if not victims, of circumstances. Well, not so fast. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and a discover a new perspective that has the power to change the way you see yourself and your life. Explore deeper mystical truths that will take you beneath the surface of our fixed structures and deterministic universe and reveal nondeterministic forces, containing a vast range of possibilities, which when tapped into, allow you to transcend your defined life and influences, and exercise true freedom. Learn how you control your destiny -- you determine whether to will be a product or a creator of circumstances. Find out how to travel beyond the stars and experience new vistas and possibilities.

Is this wishful thinking? Do we deserve a second chance? Can we have a second chance? Conventional wisdom would seem to dictate that time travels in only one direction: forward. The past is the past, and you can do nothing to change it -- as much as you may want to. This is how we have been trained to think. Today's culture often takes it a step further: Get real and stop having illusions of grandeur. Come to terms with the fact that bygones are bygones. Shattered dreams, broken promises, love betrayed -- this is all part of reality. There are no second chances. As the cynics or the pessimists say; the more things change, the more they stay the same. Ecclesiastes puts it this way: A generation goes, a generation comes, and there is nothing new under the sun. Basically, lower your expectations and don't expect any great changes in your life. If something was damaged, there's nothing you can do about it. We are victims of circumstances. Period. But is this true? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he challenges conventional thinking and offers us a radically different approach that will transform the way you think about your past and your future. Discover how to look at yourself in a new way. Learn how your sincere longing for a second chance can open up new channels, allowing you to indeed turn past mistakes into tremendous opportunities and actually create second chances in life.

On a routine day do you find yourself being reactive or proactive? Are you responding to forces around you -- in your personal, social and professional life; the needs of your home and family, the demands at work, the expectations of friends? Are there other voices tugging at you and dictating your behavior? How about fears, inhibitions, habits and addictions that may be controlling your life? Do you feel that you have become a product (if not a victim) of circumstances? It's time to change that. And we begin by changing the way we run our daily lives. Please join Rabbi Jacobson on an eye-opening journey into your daily schedule, offering tools to evaluate your day and to implement changes that will enhance every aspect of your experiences. Discover ways to look at your life from the inside out instead of the outside in -- a day driven not by external needs and demands, but by an inner calling. Learn how to develop a mission-centric perspective, by introducing spiritual exercises that will infuse every detail of your day, even the most trivial and mundane, with deeper meaning, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Do you believe in love forever after? Or is that just a matter of fictional fantasy, fodder for books, songs, poems, dreamers and suffering romantics? After all, nothing in this material world lasts forever. Everything physical -- the food we eat, the money we make, our looks and health -- is impermanent, and subject to erosion and decay. Why then should love be different? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening presentation, dissecting the anatomy of a relationship, and offering surprising insights into the inner workings of love. Beyond the three levels of physical, emotional and intellectual compatibility -- which all undergo change -- discover the lesser known fourth level called spiritual compatibility, which contains the secret to a lasting and eternal relationship.

By the time you are old enough to make independent decisions most of your life has been determined by others -- your home and parents, your education and culture, your environment and social status. All these factors and forces -- especially those impacting your formative years -- have shaped who you are. Take into account the circumstances we have no control over -- your joys and pains, your health and life experiences -- it seems that your life has been all but predetermined.  Each of us is thus presented with the big question: Do you have any control over your destiny? Is there anything we can do once we have been dealt a certain deck of cards? Please join Rabbi Jacobson and discover a fascinating four-step plan how to gain control over your life. Learn how to separate yourself from your experiences, with specific tools how to navigate the coordinates that have defined your life and anything that comes your way. Remember: Even if you don't control the events around you, you totally control your attitude and your manner of dealing with them.

Are you seeking to become more productive in your life? To actualize your potential and dreams? How often do you have a great idea but find it difficult to implement? Or the other way around: You may be good at execution, but find it challenging to find an exciting idea to embrace. Some people are visionaries; others at bringing a vision into reality. Is there a method to bridge the two -- and have the best of both worlds: function and form, soul and body, the big picture and the details? Now, for the first time, discover a powerful, life transforming Kabbalistic model which lays out the four vital steps to realize any concept and idea; a methodology to develop a successful project and build a lasting structure of every type -- from establishing a healthy relationship to perfecting your communication, from writing a book to composing a song, from crafting a business plan to building an edifice. These four steps will help you in every aspect of your life. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in a unique 4-part series, in which he deciphers these four steps and applies them to help you reach your goals. Learn how to harness the power of the four spiritual "worlds" in manifesting new ideas and projects - from concept to fruition, from form and structure to end result. Step 1: Atzilus; Vision Step 2: Beriah; Outline Step 3: Yetzirah; Shape Step 4: Asiyah; Finalize This week's program covers the last and final Step 4: Asiyah -- finalizing the full dimensional production. It addresses not just how to put on the finishing touches and polish your project, but how to add the intangibles that make your end result shine and reflect your driving vision. Whether you are a "big idea" person, a project manager or looking to think in a more organized way and be more efficient, you won't want to miss this series.

Are you seeking to become more productive in your life? To actualize your potential and dreams? How often do you have a great idea but find it difficult to implement? Or the other way around: You may be good at execution, but find it challenging to find an exciting idea to embrace. Some people are visionaries; others at bringing a vision into reality. Is there a method to bridge the two -- and have the best of both worlds: function and form, soul and body, the big picture and the details? Now, for the first time, discover a powerful, life transforming Kabbalistic model which lays out the four vital steps to realize any concept and idea; a methodology to develop a successful project and build a lasting structure of every type -- from establishing a healthy relationship to perfecting your communication, from writing a book to composing a song, from crafting a business plan to building an edifice. These four steps will help you in every aspect of your life. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in a unique 4-part series, in which he deciphers these four steps and applies them to help you reach your goals. Learn how to harness the power of the four spiritual "worlds" in manifesting new ideas and projects - from concept to fruition, from form and structure to end result. Step 1: Atzilus; Vision Step 2: Beriah; Outline Step 3: Yetzirah; Shape Step 4: Asiyah; Finalize This week's program covers Step 3: Yetzirah. It addresses how you carry over an outline into fleshed out details. Armed with a clear picture and a general outline, you meticulously develop and define every aspect and nuance of the entity, like a fine-tuned diamond shaped out of a stone in the rough.  In this third step you will learn the importance of shape and form and of every last detail, and ensuring that its aligned with the vision and outline. Whether you are a "big idea" person, a project manager or looking to think in a more organized way and be more efficient, you won't want to miss this series.

Are you seeking to become more productive in your life? To actualize your potential and dreams? How often do you have a great idea but find it difficult to implement? Or the other way around: You may be good at execution, but find it challenging to find an exciting idea to embrace. Some people are visionaries; others at bringing a vision into reality. Is there a method to bridge the two -- and have the best of both worlds: function and form, soul and body, the big picture and the details? Now, for the first time, discover a powerful, life transforming Kabbalistic model which lays out the four vital steps to realize any concept and idea; a methodology to develop a successful project and build a lasting structure of every type -- from establishing a healthy relationship to perfecting your communication, from writing a book to composing a song, from crafting a business plan to building an edifice. These four steps will help you in every aspect of your life. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in a unique 4-part series, in which he deciphers these four steps and applies them to help you reach your goals. Learn how to harness the power of the four spiritual "worlds" in manifesting new ideas and projects - from concept to fruition, from form and structure to end result. Step 1: Atzilus; Vision Step 2: Beriah; Outline Step 3: Yetzirah; Shape Step 4: Assiyah; Finalize This week's program covers Step 2: Beriah. It addresses how you begin implementing and executing your vision. Armed with a clear picture you start by creating an outline -- a skeleton and infrastructure, which will then be fleshed out in the next steps. In this second step you will learn the importance of having a good outline (and the the pitfalls of not having that in place,) and how to actually build a solid outline, one that serves as a vital interface between your vision and your final product.  Whether you are a "big idea" person, a project manager or looking to think in a more organized way and be more efficient, you won't want to miss this series.

Applying the four-step Kabbalistic model to actualizing your dreams Are you seeking to become more productive in your life? To actualize your potential and dreams? How often do you have a great idea but find it difficult to implement? Or the other way around: You may be good at execution, but find it challenging to find an exciting idea to embrace. Some people are visionaries; others at bringing a vision into reality. Is there a method to bridge the two -- and have the best of both worlds: function and form, soul and body, the big picture and the details? Now, for the first time, discover a powerful, life transforming Kabbalistic model which lays out the four vital steps to realize any concept and idea; a methodology to develop a successful project and build a lasting structure of every type -- from establishing a healthy relationship to perfecting your communication, from writing a book to composing a song, from crafting a business plan to building an edifice. These four steps will help you in every aspect of your life. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in a unique 4-part series, in which he deciphers these four steps and applies them to help you reach your goals. Learn how to harness the power of the four spiritual "worlds" in manifesting new ideas and projects - from concept to fruition, from form and structure to end result. Step 1: Atzilus; Vision Step 2: Beriah; Outline Step 3: Yetzirah; Shape Step 4: Assiyah; Finalize This week's program begins with Step 1: Atzilus. It addresses the first necessary step: Having a vision. Before building anything you need a clear and crystallized vision of what you want to achieve -- an overriding concept, a birds eye view which connects all the details, allowing you to see the forest from the trees. Imagine what it would be like if a builder started laying bricks before there was an architectural plan... if actors began to rehearse before a story line was conceived and written... if a design preceded purpose. Whether you are a "big idea" person, a project manager or looking to be think in a more organized way and be more efficient, you won't want to miss this series.

What would life be like without art and music and other creative expressions? Are the arts simply a form of sensual stimulation and entertainment, a type of escape from the doldrums and monotony? Or is there something more to it? Please join Rabbi Jacobson on a fascinating journey into the innermost dimensions of your soul and supra-conscious, and discover new forms of expression that resonate with and reflect your inner core. Learn how conventional language expresses only your surface, superficial life, while the arts open up your deepest transcendent states. Partake in this powerful presentation and come away with a new appreciation for the power of art to transform your life.

How can we balance individuality and the greater good of the whole? Do we need to compromise ourselves for the benefit of the community, or the other way around? How do we avoid diversity turning into divisiveness and conflict? -- a question that is particularly pronounced in these polarized times. Can diversity work in harmony with inclusion? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this poignant presentation in which he outlines a psycho/spiritual model -- based on Kabbalsitic mysticism -- of discovering the secret of inter-connectivity amidst diverse multitudes. Through demonstrating the parallels between the human body, nature and metaphysics, learn how every healthy organism and system is driven by the paradox of finding harmony within diversity.

Every one of us has developed armor and defense mechanisms to protect ourselves from hostile and predatory forces around us. But what often happens is that your armor becomes so thick, and the masks you wear become so strong, that it gets difficult for you to let anyone in and to let yourself out. Even worse: at times your armor becomes your identity, and you may even lose sight of your own inner gentleness. This is especially true for one who has suffered sustained abuse and pain. The wounds cause us to lock up to avoid any further distress. We lose our trust in people and in ourselves; fear and insecurity can dominate our lives. And the implications can be devastating: With our walls up it becomes increasingly difficult to build trusting, intimate relationships. But all is not lost. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses ways to preserve your tenderness even as you protect yourself from threatening forces around you. Discover how to access -- and maintain -- the softness of your heart and soul in an often difficult and challenging world. You have incredible reservoirs of beauty within yourself. It would be a shame if it remains trapped beneath the layers upon layers of protective gear. It''s time to reclaim yourself; to celebrate your vulnerability; and to reunite with that beautiful, soft side inside of you, waiting to be freed.

Child rearing is fraught with challenges. Every parent will be faced with difficulties, many of which will be unexpected, in bringing up a child. Children are also different from one another, as are parents. All of us have our shortcomings and weaknesses as we have our strengths. Humans also fluctuate. And there is no such thing as a professional parent; all parents are amateurs learning on the job. With all these variables, how can we become better parents? What methods can we employ to produce the best possible children? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses specific ways you as a parent can incorporate to both preempt problems as well as address them as they arise. Discover an all encompassing formula coupled with principles and specific skills to deal with any given challenge in a healthy and balanced way, to create an exquisite home and beautiful children.

If our homes are our gardens and children are their fruits and flowers, parents are the gardeners. Like gardeners, parents are charged with the vital role of creating a fertile environment, providing all the nurturing nutrients and protecting from toxic pollutants, to nourish and ensure that children will blossom and flourish. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in The Sacred Mission of a Parent, where he addresses the special gift and responsibility parents carry in shaping healthy and productive children, with practical methods that every parent can employ to be the best possible gardener he or she can be.

Children are our most precious commodity. Every good parent wants to bring up the best possible child. Children also represent our future. How we raise our children will impact how they will raise their children. Therefore, our parenting has perpetual, generational implications. But the big question is this: How do we raise healthy, wholesome children? What can we do to assure that our children will grow up in the best possible way -- confident, kind, focused on the greater good -- living up to our highest standards? This is particularly challenging in our turbulent times, faced with so many options and distractions. In this first of a three-part new course, How to Raise Happy Children, Rabbi Jacobson addresses the root of it all: what is the true nature of a child. After all, we cannot produce healthy and happy children if we don't first define the very psyche and soul of a child. Once we appreciate what makes a child tick, the unique personality of a child and his/her needs (in contrast to those of an adult), we then can identify what we must do to nourish, nurture and invigorate the child to thrive, flourish and blossom into a healthy adult. Like a flower seed that requires water and fertile soil, providing the nutrients for the plant to grow, a child needs psycho/spiritual and emotional nutrients to ensure its growth and actualization of its great potential.

Do you ever feel that your compulsive desires are controlling your life? Like a force that entirely consumes you,  leaving you feeling helpless in its tentacles? Would you like to curb, or even free yourself of these powerful urges and drives?  Here is a webinar you don't want to miss.  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of compulsive behavior, and offers methods to help you weaken and defang the toxicity of your compulsions. Discover a step-by-step process to untangle yourself from your habits, harness your impulses and redirect your energy toward fulfilling your life's calling.

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more  🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...   The fourth human temperament is earth. Earth reflects the grounded, down to earth personality type. Earth is the foundation of life -- the solid, unwavering bedrock that provides the security and trust upon which all life thrives. A tree's growth and expansion is dependent on it being firmly rooted in the ground. Like Your home and family, especially in your early, formative years serves as your unshakable nest, protecting and nurturing you in its unconditional love and  embrace.  These qualities also have their challenges. The earthy personality can at times be too grounded, too predictable -- lacking imagination and spirit, vibrancy and spontaneity of truly living life to its utmost. Or too materialistic -- consumed with survival, while losing sight of the sublime heaven and beyond. It can also be heavy and melancholic -- leading to sluggishness and depression.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson on this grounded journey through earth and its roots. Discover how to redirect even your melancholy toward positive ends. Learn how to keep your feet firmly planted on the ground, yet have your head, dreams and aspirations in the sky.  Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continu

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more  🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullifecenter?sub_confirmation=1   The second of the four human temperaments is water. Water reflects the calm and relaxed personality type. One that is fluid and soothing. The water archetype is love, which surrounds and nurtures us in its embrace. We begin our lives submerged in the embryonic fluids of our mother's womb. Love moisturizes everything it comes in contact with. Like water, it makes things grow and is the source of great pleasure.  On a deeper level, the Kabbalistic mystics explain that water manifests the supra-conscious, and teaches us how to be submerged in and absorbed by a reality greater than ourselves, where subject and object fuse as one  Please join Rabbi Jacobson and explore this water feature in your life. Learn how to cultivate and build the nurturing powers of water, harness its strengths and temper its indulgences. Discover how to create the proper balance and harmony between the fire and water within your psyche and soul. Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy0Ut8L2ycl_BHV8C7Mre3QnDarBWOHkR Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful.life.center/   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfullifecenter/   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjacobson1/   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaningful-Life-Menachem-Schneerson/dp/0062846485/ref=dp_ob_image_bk) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate.    #MeaningfulLifeCenter #AppliedKabbalah #Masterclass #KabbalahOfWater #HiddenWorlds #FourElements

The consensus today -- in most of our secular world -- is that each of us, every organism, every entity, every human, even every gene is inherently selfish. The Selfish Gene is the way Richard Dawkins titled his best-selling book, arguing that everything about existence is driven by the need for its own survival. Even altruism is another form of selfishness, since it help the organism grow and thrive.  Is this true?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this fascinating Chanukah lecture in which he presents an alternative perspective, based on the very nature of light -- as understood by the mystics and recently confirmed by modern physics. Discover how the properties of light, so powerfully reflected in the Chanukah flames, teach us the essence of who we are and who were meant to be: Transparent channels of a higher reality.

Do you know your personality type? Would you like to learn how to harness your strengths and channel your weaknesses? How to maximize your potential and become the best you can possibly be?  If you want to discover and actualize yourself in new ways, please take advantage and tune in to this new free 4-part course: Four Elements Within You, with Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Each of these four session lays out one of the four archetypes which define every one of us: • Fire: Passion, Illumination, Warmth, Transcendence, Restlessness • Wind: Breath, Flexibility, Lightness, Interconnection, Change • Water: Moisture, Sensitivity, Growth, Immersion, Selflessness, Humility • Earth: Grounding, Foundations, Roots, Security, Steadfastness   Each class explores the positive and negative facets of each element, and offers methods and tools to evaluate yourself, together with practical exercises to implement an action plan. This first part, The Kabbalah of Fire, focuses on developing the power of fire -- cultivating the positive forces of passion and the fiery personality, while also taming the negative fires of burning rage and aggression. 

As far back as history goes the male/female dynamic has been at the core of human relationships. Love, intimacy, family, home — the very perpetuation of our species — is build upon the connection between the two genders. The health of a society can be measured by the way they interact. Men and women in harmony produce the most beautiful fruit. When they are at war the ugliness is hard to bear. Is there a secret formula for creating a healthy union between the two? If there is, it remains as elusive as it is mysterious. Can men and women ever see eye to eye? In a materialistic world driven by power and control the question will always loom: who is running the show — men or women? Laws and regulations only go that far in trying to create equality; at best they only curb behavior. But they don’t change the sexual, political and psychological dynamics that seem inherent in gender relations. The challenge then is: can we create a better world than that? A world where control and dominance is not the driving force? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening presentation and learn the secret to creating just such a world – a spiritually driven existence defined by the ultimate harmony between men and women. Explore the spiritual roots of masculine and feminine energy. By retracing our steps to the genesis of these archetypes and of the gender split, we discover ways to realign our identities, and realize how the two forms of energy are really part of one unifying reality. You will never see men and women the same way again.

Many are lamenting the fact that Thanksgiving 2020 will not be the same as usual. Due to Covid concerns, we will not be able to gather and celebrate with our entire families; travel restrictions will keep close ones apart. People are concerned what impact this will have on our psyches and moods. It's not easy to spend a holiday alone or with just a few loved ones. Loneliness and isolation can have a devastating effect on us. Of course, this only adds to the  the ongoing anxieties created by the lockdowns during the last eight months.  But do these circumstances all end up as disappointments and frustrations or worse? Is there any redeeming element to quarantine? Please join Rabbi Jacobson and discover the surprising and illuminating opportunity that Thanksgiving offers you this year -- an unprecedented gift allowing you to appreciate your life, your loved ones, your values in unprecedented ways. Develop a new understanding and respect for the power of gratitude and giving thanks, elevating the way you live your life, and transforming your very being and your relationships.

What impact does technology and social media have on our lives? Is it freeing or enslaving us? Is it helping us become greater and freer? Are we controlling it or is it controlling us? Much has been written and argued about on this topic. Two futuristic scenarios have been posited -- one in which machines end up ruling us, and the other in which we rule the machines. The latest popular Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, sounds the alarm about the way technology today controls us -- manipulating how we think, act, and live our lives. What can we do about it? How can we regain mastery over our lives while still using technology?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson for a fascinating new way of looking at the events of this world including social media -- through the eyes of your soul. How does your soul see the commotion and turbulence of physical existence and all its institutions and technologies? How does it experience information overload and sensory over stimulation? Discover powerful tools and methods to reclaim your destiny and live a life from the inside out instead of the outside in.

Do you take care of your soul as much as you do your body? Do you address your emotional, psychological and spiritual needs in a reactive way (responding to problems, crisis, trauma, fear) or in a proactive way (bolstering your spirit, and preempting issues)? In the United States alone over $350 trillion is annually spent on health care. $250 billion of that is spent on mental health. The real numbers are certainly higher than that. And these are just the financials. How about the amount of time and energy we invest in taking care of our bodies?! Now let’s ask ourselves: How about our souls — how much time and energy do we spend on our spiritual needs? The investment we make in our soul care in contrast to our body care couldn’t be more staggering. No wonder inner happiness and peace is so rare and elusive. Can we do anything to change that? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this penetrating talk which probes into the inner workings of your soul. Your soul is made up of ethereal components just as your body is made up of physical ones. Discover how to get an x-ray of your soul and identify which parts need strengthening. Learn exercises and “vitamins” that nourish and nurture the “muscles” of your soul’s different faculties. Imagine what your life would be like if you were working daily on actualizing and growing your soul’s hidden resources.

In a year filled with uncertainties — caused by the current pandemic and social upheavals — we now have another unknown on our hands: the results of a bitterly fought presidential election. After months of a nasty and polarizing campaign, exacerbated by partisan media, we all hoped that we finally would arrive at some resolution, if not peace of mind, with the election night results declaring a clearly defined winner. But no. We have not been allowed even this one brief reprieve. We don’t even know when we will know who the next president will be. And even when the winner will be announced, how will that impact our country and the world? What is going on? How do we explain the unknowns piling up one after another? Just nine months ago life seemed to be sailing along relatively smoothly, traveling on a pretty reliable trajectory. Our schedules and plans were in place; our institutions were stable (with the usual ups and downs of the ebb and flow). But then Covid-19 and its collateral impact disrupting every segment of society, with no clear path ahead. Doubt and uncertainty are very unsettling and disconcerting. They unnerve us and undermine our sense of security. How can we find some balance and equilibrium amidst today’s chaos and confusion? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this timely and relevant post-election talk and learn how to look at the unknowns of our lives with a new bird’s eye view perspective. Discover how to use disruption and unpredictability as a springboard to forge a visionary path into the future.

Many battles sadly become an end in themselves, and drag on with no true winner. This can be due to a conflict losing sight of its initial objectives, or never having healthy objectives in the first place. Consider certain ugly litigation or divorce proceedings. At some point, these fights become trapped and entangled in emotional extremes with the only obvious winners being the high paid attorneys... It may not be the first time, but the 2020 presidential election seems particularly nasty and distasteful. Just listen to the comments of representatives of both parties, and of pundits on dueling media platforms. It's like two different universes. You would think that life is all black or white, good or evil, you're either totally right or totally wrong -- with absolutely no room for nuances, subtleties and the grey areas that define true life. Is it even possible that each side has some legitimate argument? When following current events -- hyped up by biased media on all ends -- many of us feel defiled and frankly, even violated. It's tempting to ask: If others want to fight "bloody" battles like wrestling gladiators, why do we need to be part of this spectacle? What true difference will the outcome have on our personal lives? What long-term collateral damage will all this acrimony create? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this refreshing discussion and discover ways to rise above the fray and ensure that no matter who wins the election, you and your family and friends come out as winners.

What will the next few months bring? When will the pandemic and its effects come to an end? What long term impact will they have on our lives? Where are we headed? Our future has always been uncertain, but never has it been felt more than now. Among our many challenges today, uncertainty is perhaps the most debilitating one. And the conflicting messages inundating us from all directions only adds to the confusion. All the doubts and unknowns are very disconcerting. The conventional "responses" to coping with uncertainty are either 1) denial and escapism, burying your head in the sand and ignoring the unknowns, 2) retreating in fear, remaining stuck, to the point of paralysis, or 3) seeking (sometimes desperately) unrealistic magical solutions, crystal ball gazers, fortune tellers or psychics to help foretell the future. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he offers a 4125 year-old, time-tested formula for riding through the waves of uncertainty. Discover surprisingly simple methods and tools to build an "ark" that can protect and carry you -- and even help you grow -- when faced with the raging floodwaters of the unknown. Learn how to look at uncertainty in the face (without denial, retreat or fantasy) and not only not be overwhelmed, but come out stronger than ever. 

What feelings are evoked when you hear the word "vulnerability"? For many vulnerability is associated with being weak, powerless, fragile, defenseless, exposed. Does vulnerability make you feel threatened? That would seem to indicate that being vulnerable is hardly an optimal state. Indeed, in a hostile and dangerous world, driven by the survival of the fittest, it would make sense that vulnerability is a liability.. But is that true? Is there anything positive about vulnerability? Would you be surprised to learn that vulnerability is actually -- and counter intuitively --  the secret to indestructibility?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in a discussion that will upend your entire view on security, resilience and lasting strength. Discover an alternative way of looking at life; how your essential nature, and the very nature of existence, is a place that should not frighten us, a place where vulnerability should not be feared. Quite the contrary: It should be embraced and celebrated. And by doing so, learn how vulnerability becomes the source of invincibility.

Did you ever wonder what your core would look like if you were stripped of all the outer layers, projections, defense mechanisms and armor acquired through your life experiences? We are all shaped by the attitudes and influences of our parents, educators and peers, as well as by society and the media at large. Life's demands on us, coupled with other people's expectations of us, further define our choices and behaviors. With all these forces impacting and imposing themselves upon us, can you cut through the shrouds that often conceal what lies within, and discover the "real" you? The inner you? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this not-to-be-missed pre-Yom Kippur program, including a special Yizkor memorial service, honoring and immortalizing the souls of our loved ones. Learn about the five dimensions of your soul, and how you can usually access three conscious levels -- the behavioral, the emotional and the cognitive -- but on one unique day of the year you have the ability to reach and actualize your very essence.  Find out how you can indeed transcend your past and discover yourself like never before.

A year like this does not come very often. Disruption on every front. Health. Economic. Political. Leadership. Travel. Leisure. Uncertainty hanging over us like a dark cloud. Tentativeness in the air. What will the fall bring? What will the future be like? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this special pre-Rosh Hashana talk offering powerful lessons and tools to face our current challenges. What will the new year bring? As we approach the New Year, discover how it provides us with a new perspective on today's events, and how our experiences during the past months can guide and empower us in forging a new reality.

In dealing with our current crisis, virtually all discussions are about masks, social distancing, the search for a vaccine, economic relief programs, opening or closing of our cities, business and schools, and so on. While all these are vital, they can be summed up as defensive measures. Damage control. Attempts to put out or minimize the burning fires. Are there any offensive measures that we can take? Can we become proactive instead of reactive? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he proposes ways to become proactive and take the initiative in leading your life and the life of those around you to a greater place. Discover a secret antidote to upheaval and disruption -- tools that can help you take complete control over your attitude and behavior even when events around us are not in our control. How you can find inner certainty and direction even in uncertain times.

God. That three letter word is fraught with more opinions, definitions, disagreements and implications than perhaps any other word we know. Much of the world and its nations have been shaped by religion and faith. Wars have been fought, people have been discriminated against and killed in the name of God or against God. Battles continue to rage until this very day about the existence of God and His role in out lives. This includes the battles between reason and faith, science and religion. There is virtually no area in life where God does not come into the picture, and where we cannot find a consensus. We can't even agree whether G-d's existence can be proven.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this engaging talk as he challenges us to ask the biggest question of all: before we try to prove God's existence we must first establish: How do we define God? What is considered to be legitimate proof? What role do our subjective life experiences play in our attitude to God, for good or for bad? How do our prejudices, biases and preconceived notions and stereotypes impact the way we look at God. Discover a fresh new way to look at the oldest and most fundamental topic of all: God.

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more: 🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullifecenter?sub_confirmation=1   Social media and technology in general have transformed the way we communicate and interact with each other. Has it improved or worsened our lives and relationships? It definitely has its benefits, and has opened up new opportunities. But it also presents us with many challenges: online addiction, escapism, living vicariously. And of course, the dark and horrific side of social media: an easy platform for predators to exploit the vulnerable and the young. The very blessings of technology can also become curses; just as it amplifies and accelerates the positive , it can do the same for the negative and malevolent.  Is social media emancipating or enslaving us? Are you controlling it or is it controlling you? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dissects the pros and cons of social media, and introduces an oft overlooked dimension in the equation: Your personal role and responsibility in using technology, and for that matter, any object or force in existence.  All of life is defined by the triad of time, space and man, or as the  Kabbalists put it: time, space and soul. Does time, space and circumstances control you? Learn how to put your soul back in the drivers seat, to navigate and control your use of social media, rather than the other way around. How can we teach our children to properly use social media, in ways that will only help them grow? Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLy0Ut8L2ycl_BHV8C7Mre3QnDarBWOHkR Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful.life.center/   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfullifecenter/   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjacobson1/   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaningful-Life-Menachem-Schneerson/dp/0062846485/ref=dp_ob_image_bk) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate.    #MeaningfulLifeCenter #AppliedKabbalah #WeeklyMasterclass #SocialMedia #ViceOrVirtue

Your body serves as a vehicle to carry your soul through life. Just as you would not harm another person, you should not harm your own body. It is your duty to eat well, to rest, to stay in shape, and to treat your body with respect in every way. Physical fitness is not arbitrary or optional; it is part of your responsibility to yourself. On the other hand, worshipping the body is destructive. The body is a vehicle for the soul; its value lies there, not as an end unto itself. Many people today are health-conscious. We understand that being healthy makes us feel better, makes us more productive, and ultimately lengthens our lives. We realize that when we are healthy, we can concentrate on family and work, and the other things that are important to us. But most significantly, a healthy body allows you to concentrate on your soul, enabling you to fulfill your divine mission in this world and live a meaningful life.  Remember that the health of your body is dependent on the health of your soul. And it is your responsibility to nourish them both. When your body or soul cries out, recognize the symptoms for what they are: an urgent request for you to address their needs, be they spiritual or physical.

Do you control your destiny or is your life predetermined? Is the Zodiac real or a myth? Do its signs play any role or have any significance in our lives? These are not theoretical questions. If our lives are predestined, then we must wonder whether we have any free choice. And the answer to that question has far reaching implications in our lives. If your destiny has already been determined then what meaning does your life have and how invested will you be in your choices and decisions, which can't change your outcome? What hope is there for someone who is predestined to suffer? A life that is controlled by forces beyond ourselves essentially renders us powerless. All these issues are acutely amplified in these disruptive and uncertain times, when we are clearly not in control of of schedules and futures. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this vital talk about the very meaning of our lives -- about the essence of our beings and our contributions. Are we pre-wired programmed machines, like the entire universe, governed by the deterministic laws of nature? Or do we humans have the ability to transcend the parameters of our defined structures? Discover how your soul has the power to break free of the confines of existence and of your predispositions -- and how you can indeed control the unfolding drama of your life. How you hold in your hands the destiny of your life and the destiny of the world.

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more: 🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...  Good and evil has always intrigued and mystified us. Each one of us has both a beautiful and ugly side. It may be called light and shadow, noble and cruel, selfless and selfish -- whatever terms you use -- these two forces are real within you and I. And they are in perpetual battle: Which voice will prevail? But there are deeper and critically important questions about the good and evil potential within us.  Are you primarily one or the other? Or are they equal powers? Are some of us wired to be better and other wired the other way? Can we separate between the good and the bad, or is every move we make a combination of the two? Is there good without bad, and bad without good? And perhaps the biggest question of all: What exactly is evil? Can we harness and transform the bad? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this fascinating exploration of the roots of good and evil. The journey begins by tracing our way back to the story of the mysterious Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. What type of tree was this? What is wrong with eating from a tree that allows you to know good and evil? What were the consequences of this event and how do they impact us today? Since God is all good, where does evil originate from? In this powerful presentation -- using Stevenson's classic about Dr. Jekyll's experiment to separate his kind and his ugly nature -- discover the inner soul of good and bad, and its application to our lives today. Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate.    #MeaningfulLifeCenter  #AppliedKabbalah #WeeklyMasterclass

Is there hope after loss? Rebuilding after destruction? Love after betrayal? Life after death? Too often we give up after we have experienced hurt and disappointment, especially when the abuse is repeated and sustained. Once our trust has been breached, it becomes increasingly difficult to trust again. After being invalidated and rejected time after time, a demoralized child tragically begins to lower his/her expectations, to the point of feeling resigned that s/he does not deserve to be loved and nurtured. As the child grows into an adult this lack of confidence haunts the development of healthy relationships. What can be done about this? Can you grow beyond your traumas and pains? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this special Tisha B’Av program, and discover how this saddest day of the year paradoxically contains the secret to the most fundamental truths in life: How to rebuild trust after betrayal and regain hope after loss. Learn methods how to rise and grow from the ashes even when your “structures” may have burned down. How the deepest redemption is born in the flames of destruction. Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate. 

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more: 🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...  It's beyond absurd to witness the man-made problems we are creating today due to our divisiveness and inability to civilly communicate with each other -- especially evident in the looming presidential election campaign. It's bad enough that we are have on our hands a global pandemic destabilizing and disorienting the citizens of the world -- something which we did not bring upon ourselves. Why, in the world would we then magnify and complicate matters by bringing upon ourselves this maddening division, even to the point of hatred?!  One would think that when we are all facing a national and international health crisis and all its disruptive effects, threatening us all equally, we would come together to serve our common and mutual interest. Instead, as bizarre as it sounds, the problems are only being amplified and exacerbated many times over by the politicization of the issues and the resulting polarization -- tearing our country and the world apart! Where are our leaders?! Our politicians and media (with a few exceptions), instead of displaying unity, are in many ways at the "helm" of this great divide. Today's media has become, in many ways, a form of "entertainment," offering "gladiator"-style duels and showdowns, feeding into our basest instincts and lowest common denominator. Imagine a family member falling ill, and instead of joining together to help their loved one, a family feud breaks out arguing over who is in control or other petty issues...   Our political process has been rendered into a literal battle between elephants and donkeys, leaving so many of us simply disgusted, and even cynical, about the entire system. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this eye-opening talk, as he finds insights and direction from a most surprising place: the very origins of the political parties association with the donkey (Democrats) and elephant (Republicans). What began in 1828 an insult to Andrew Jackson, ironically turned into a "proud" symbol of the Democratic party. In this fascinating presentation Rabbi Jacobson offers a refreshing -- and even revolutionary -- take on current events, and come away with a new perspective and approach to our polarized society. Discover how to reintroduce the human spirit back into the mud-slinging wrestling match between the elephants and the donkeys. And above all,  practical advice and guidelines how you and I -- each one of us -- can do things to be part of the solution (and not part of the problem) and help remedy the situation. 

For the first time in our lives, virtually all public entertainment venues are closed down -- stadiums, concerts, theaters, preforming arts, museums, clubs, amusement parks, galas and parties. This unique situation presents us with a rare opportunity to step back and ask ourselves: What role does entertainment have in my life? What happens when many of my entertainment options are not available: I don't have Wimbledon to look forward to; I can't go watch my favorite baseball team play a competitive game with its arch-rival? Every deprivation allows you to see deeper truths about yourself: What are you like without the things you usually depend upon? What impact is it having on your life? How dependent are you on outer stimuli? Do you live vicariously through your heroes and stars? Do you know how to find inner inspiration? How do you strike a healthy balance between inner and outer stimuli? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of entertainment and examines the root causes of its powerful effect on us. Why are we drawn to various forms of entertainment and how does it stimulate us? What part of your psyche does it impact? Is there a difference between healthy and unhealthy forms of entertainment? How can you assure that others inspiring you does not replace your need to inspire yourself? How can we find alternative ways to awaken passion and excitement from within?

Everybody is now asking the big question: When will life go back to normal? What will the new norm look like? Will anything change? But the bigger question we should be asking is: What exactly is "normal"? Is "normal" defined by the usual routines and patterns we are accustomed to? How do we really know that the conditions we consider to be "norms" are actually true and real? Perhaps they are just a result of our own subjective perceptions and experiences? "Normal" for some people can even be unhealthy and toxic. Shouldn't the current disruptions and upheavals serve as an unprecedented opportunity to question and challenge our assumptions about what is truly important, valuable and... normal? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he, in his inimitable style, challenges our "comfort zones" and our very definition of "normal" and other assumed truths. Discover how revisiting preconceived notions opens up surprisingly new perspectives and deeper truths. The upending of our previously-held givens in these times of crisis allows you to see the bigger picture, and recognize a far more expansive "normal" -- and reclaim yourself in the process.

It's hard to imagine most people acknowledging that they are judgmental. We usually find explanations and excuses for criticizing and judging others. "I am not judging that person, all I am is pointing out their faults." "It's not about me, it's about the truth and upholding higher standards."  "God has a problem with that person, not me." These are some of the most common justifications for being judgmental. And yet, there are many judgmental people on this planet. More than we would like to admit. Are you one of them? Remember, you can also be overly judgmental of yourself. The big question to be asked is: why? Why is it so easy for a person to judge another? Who gave us that right? And what compels us to do so? Just because you disagree with someone, does that mean that you have to judge him? If you witness or hear about someone behaving in a way that seems wrong, how can you jump to a conclusion and judge that person without further investigation? And even if you establish that a wrong was done, how does that translate into judging the individual, not just the action, as if his behavior is emblematic of his entire person? And if you judge others out of a sense of moral one-upmanship, ask yourself: who appointed you as having a monopoly on morality? Is it possible that judging others is a defense mechanism; a way of elevating ourselves and feeling superior? Is being judgmental ever appropriate? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses a topic deeply relevant to our times of personal and cultural upheaval. Discover how to look at yourself with a new set of eyes, and what questions to ask that help you identify the roots of judgmentalism, and distinguish between genuine respect for higher standards and rejection of negative behavior, while not resorting and stooping to judgment. And above all, learn how judgmentalism is a product of shallow and superficial attitudes, and at the end of the day, coming in touch with your core essence builds your self-esteem, which in turn helps you recognize the core essence of others, allowing you to see them in a positive light.

How Do You React Under Pressure? The Rebbe’s revolutionary message for our turbulent times Crisis and pressure brings out the best in some people and the worst in others. Many lose their composure and confidence when squeezed. They get overwhelmed and can even crumble under pressure. And there are those that maintain their balance and calm; some even rise to the occasion in stressful situations.  Is this difference wired or acquired? is the way we deal with challenging situations based on our natural innate resources, is it due to parental and other formative influences, or can we be taught new ways how to cope with pressure? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this special program, as he honors his great mentor by presenting methodologies that each of us can employ to access deeper resources within ourselves to face even the most daunting circumstances. Discover how pressure can actually draw out your greatest potential, your deepest and strengths. Remember, only extreme pressure turns carbon into diamond; only when you press an olive does it produce oil; and like a teabag, you don't know how strong you are until you find yourself in hot water...

With all the incessant and unrelenting talk addressing the upheavals of our time, one critical element is glaringly missing in the conversation: The utter lack of visionary leadership.  Can you recall one -- even one -- memorable and inspiring talk delivered by any of our so-called leaders, giving us hope and confidence, calling upon our noble spirits, offering us a clear and focused long-term vision. Someone who invokes our past history of resilience under pressure, discovering greater strengths in times of crisis, learning how to grow and thrive -- not just survive -- through the greatest difficulties. The "leaders" of our time -- in politics, business, academia, education, even religious leaders; not to mention our celebrities, in film, music, sports and entertainment -- have at best taken a reactive posture, addressing -- some better than others -- the presenting challenges on the ground.  Some are completely silent. Others are speaking up, but very often pandering and politicizing positions in our polarized climate.  We cannot minimize the crucial role of our health community, the selfless heroism of our first responders, and the overall efforts of so many in helping save lives. Different government leaders have risen to the occasion offering us advice on containing the virus and protecting ourselves and others, through quarantine, masks, when and how to reopen our institutions and economy,  and other (hopefully) sound guidance during this pandemic. But a leader is much more than a firefighter, a proficient administrator and an expert manager. He is not just someone who can flatten the curve and contain the burning fires -- the fires of Covid-19 or the fires of racial unrest.. A true leader provides a higher purpose to life and its challenges.While addressing the immediate crisis and mobilizing the best and most efficient possible teams to handle the challenges on the ground, a real leader offers the people a long-term vision, a strong and resolute voice, resonating with moral and spiritual clarity.   So where are our leaders? For whatever reason, that story-line has not appeared. You don't want to miss this important talk by Rabbi Jacobson, addressing the underlying reasons for our leadership vacuum, and what we can do about it.  An excerpt: "Leaders reflect the times and the generation in which they live; they mirror the people, their standards and social attitudes. Leaders are an excellent litmus test of our values, goals and aspirations. if you want to know the priorities of a community or a nation check out the leaders they embrace. It's a myth to believe that our leaders are removed from, and can be expected to live up to, higher standards than we ourselves value. "What do we see when we look at our generation? We have lived for some time in  a vacuous material world, where success and leadership is defined by superficial matters; sports, entertainment and glitz (e.g. Academy Awards), and the biggest event of the year is the Super Bowl. We have become spoiled. Our success and prosperity has dulled our senses and caused us to become apathetic to higher core values. What leaders do you expect in a world like this?"

Why does the unknown unnerve and frighten us?  Just witness the way people are struggling with the uncertain future created by the pandemic, coupled now by the racial unrest raging in our cities. The disruption of everything we usually relied on - our schedules, our plans, our work, our children's activities, our travels -- virtually every one of our otherwise dependable routines, is shaking us all up. So much about life is unknown. Indeed, whatever we know is just a fraction of what is unknown. The more we learn about the universe and about our own bodies, the more we recognize how much more there is to learn and discover. Scientific breakthroughs in quantum mechanics and neuroscience (to name just two examples) have shown us that when we peer into the building blocks of existence, we discover that we have barely pierced the surface. As we have discovered molecules, and beneath that atoms, made up of subatomic particles, we wonder how many further layers lay beneath? How far down does the "rabbit hole" go? How many sub-sub-sub-sub... dimensions are there? The same with DNA and other microscopic forces. The deeper we dig, the deeper are the depths that emerge. The higher we climb, the broader the horizons. True knowledge includes knowing the unknown. As the sages teach us,"The ultimate knowledge is knowing that you don't know," which means knowing that there is much more to know, to the point that you come to know the unknowable. So then why is it so difficult and unsettling to deal with an unknown and uncertain future? Is it possible that we have become so accustomed and attached -- even addicted -- to our knowable and predictable comfort zones, that now, when they are disrupted, we cannot easily embrace the unknown? Has our prosperity and high standard of living distracted and caused us to forget the awe of the unknown? Is our need for control a result of deeper insecurities -- relying on impermanent things for safety?  Do you know how to let go and celebrate your vulnerability? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson on an extraordinary journey into the deeper mysteries of life, and learn how to embrace the mystique and grandeur of the unknown. Discover how we gain true control when we let go of control. How the unknowable works hand-in-hand with the knowable, as the unconscious works hand-in-hand with the conscious -- weaving together an exquisite and exhilarating picture of true reality.

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, another pandemic has taken to the streets. Cities are burning across the U.S., filled with people protesting racism, including angry mobs looting and violently attacking police and innocent store owners. How should we be reacting to all of this? We are all appalled at the blatant killing of George Floyd by a police officer. But what is a healthy and legitimate response? Besides for demanding justice, is it justifiable to disrupt entire communities? Should violence be met with violence, crime with crime?  How do we fight racism and oppression? Do we wage war or do we surrender? Do we pray or do we escape? Is there a long-term solution to prejudice and discrimination? The best answer for any dilemma, especially one as serious and long-term as this, is to look back at history and see how hatred and persecution was addressed in the past, who was successful at dealing with it, and what results it yielded. The Jewish people are the best model to turn to in such times. Close to four millennia the Jews suffered every possible form of oppression and abuse -- enslavement, forced labor, discrimination, expulsion, extermination. From the Egyptian bondage to the destruction wreaked by the Babylonians and the Romans, from the Crusades to the Inquisition, from the Middle Age massacres to the pogroms to the Holocaust, there is barely a period in which Jews weren't under attack. How did they survive? How did they thrive? How did they endure and outlast all their persecutors, and become the great nation they are till this very day, influencing the world far beyond their numbers? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson is this critically important and timely program and discover what 3800 years of time-tested history and wisdom teaches us about growing through oppression, and becoming the greatest possible people we can be.

Where does heaven meet earth? Can we rise and transcend our physical limitations and social distancing? is it possible to fuse matter and spirit? Can a mortal creature experience immortality? Can a finite being touch infinity? Do we have the ability to unite with the divine in our homes as we do in our synagogues? An event took place 3332 years ago, which changed the world forever and contains the answer to these and many more fundamental life questions. And this event is relevant today more than ever.  As we remain restricted or quarantined in our homes, one may think that our confined state limits our ability to manifest the unlimited divine. Sinai teaches us that nothing can be further from the truth. On the contrary: The earthshaking and life transforming Sinai revolution married heaven and earth, and empowered us to connect our fragile mundane existence with eternity, and manifest the Divine Essence itself in our individual homes, hearts and souls. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this special pre-Shavuos class and Yizkor program and discover how this year, we have a unique and unprecedented opportunity to bring Sinai home and transform our lives like never before. In the moving Yizkor program learn how to connect to the eternal souls of your loved ones. Where does heaven meet earth? Right at your doorstep. Share this video with a friend:  💌 https://youtu.be/G0aS0Pua--4  Watch the Weekly Global Class Playlist:  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate. 

Quarantine has challenged us in so many different ways. What are you like when you can't go to work, school, ballparks, theaters, restaurants, vacation spots and all your regular destinations? What part of us emerges when we don't have our usual outlets? In times like this, one of the most important questions to ask yourself is this: When your physical movements are limited, what happens to your soul? When our usual routines were in place, some of us may have not given our souls much thought. But whether you have been in touch with your soul or not, now is an opportune time to think about and get to know your soul. What distinguishes your soul from your body? How different are their functions and perspectives?  Do they see and experience the world in the same way? Is your soul contained by space and time -- and other parameters -- that limit physical matter?  How do we define the parameters of a soul? Can a soul be quarantined? Can it be trapped and enslaved?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson on a fascinating journey -- the journey of a soul, the journey of your soul. Unconfined by the trappings of the body, discover how to unleash the free spirit of your soul and soar to unprecedented heights. Learn how to look at life through the lens of your soul instead of the lens of your body, and, in the process, transform you and everything about you.

Subscribe to the Meaningful Life Center YouTube Channel for more  🔔 https://www.youtube.com/meaningfullif...  Quarantine does strange things to people. It can bring out the best or the worst in us. For many of us, being locked down at home has evoked a new appreciation of our loved ones, strengthened bonds and connections, revealed new strengths and creativity. But sadly, for others it has intensified stress, fear and insecurity. Pressures, imposed limits and constraints, push us to our limits and amplify or expose cracks and  wounds. Add addiction into the equation... What impact does all this have on addiction? When our usual routines and structures are disrupted, when we're isolated and have fewer outlets of escape, the loneliness and the inner void could drive many -- especially those who have suffered from past addictions -- to seek relief through unhealthy and destructive substances and behaviors. Unfortunately, the rise of addictions would seem inevitable during such times and begs the question: If addictions are notoriously, perpetually difficult to break, how much more difficult does this prove to be when we face today's challenges? Can we -- and how can we -- free ourselves? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this timely talk, as he dissects the anatomy of addiction. What is addiction? What is it that drives us to addictions that wrest away control of our lives, in the first place? No one sets out with a goal to become... an addict. Which healthy person would want to become a slave, utterly dependent upon a foreign force, essentially at war with themselves?! Discover how the root of addiction is driven by the need for love and connection. Human beings crave attachment. When we lack healthy attachments, we turn to unhealthy ones. Learn how to transform the dysfunction into the functional; how to gain relief of emptiness and demons by redirecting and channeling cravings toward transcendent goals. You can turn the intense energy of addiction into powerful devotion; commitment to the most noble and lofty of goals, and convert that powerful energy to being the best you can be. Share this video with a friend:  💌 https://youtu.be/G0aS0Pua--4  Watch the Spiritual Antidote Playlist  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...  Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate. 

Quarantine is exposing us like never before. Stripped of so many of our otherwise conventional support systems -- our workplaces, our social circles, our cafes, restaurants, theaters, stadiums, our travel plans and vacations -- we are left now to our bare internal resources searching for stimulation. Just a few months ago, we could avail ourselves of endless places and outlets to escape feeling alone. We were able to share with others "a cup called loneliness, because it's better than drinking alone." Our external togetherness concealed our lonesomeness. But today -- among many other challenges --- we face the prospect of being alone, in solitude, alienated in isolation. Today, in virtually every aspect of our lives, the pandemic lock down is challenging us in numerous ways, challenging our very identities. Without external structures to depend upon, the question stares us in the face: Am I all alone? Does anyone care about me? Do I have any value while locked in at home? Do I know how to be alone? Loneliness can be quite terrifying. We thrive on love and connection with others. From our earliest childhood, and even in our mothers wombs, our very psyches are shaped and defined by human touch and nurturing. Feeling all alone can be devastating. Every pain and trauma can be endured when you feel cared for; when others are in it with you; when there is a measure of hope. But to suffer alone is an unimaginable hell too difficult to comprehend.  Yet, counterintuitively, quarantine also opens up new and unprecedented opportunities. It compels us to experience our very selves, who we are at our core, unhindered by the dazzle and glitz of our ornate vestments. It reveals the ultimate prize of being alone: Your uniquely beautiful and precious self.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he explores the positive side of being alone. Discover the  truly inimitable and indispensable you. You were born an original; don't become a copy. Reclaim your exceptionalism and embrace what you - and only you - can accomplish in this world. Share this video with a friend:  💌 https://youtu.be/G0aS0Pua--4  Watch the Spiritual Antidote Playlist  💻 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...  Let’s connect:  🌐Website - http://www.meaningfullife.com/   📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/meaningful....   👍Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/meaningfulli...   💼LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco...   📧Email – [email protected]   💬WhatsApp – 347-766-7558  Rabbi Simon Jacobson is a pioneering speaker, educator and mentor to thousands. He is the Dean and Founder of The Meaningful Life Center, coined "The Spiritual Starbucks" by the New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life (💎 https://www.amazon.com/Toward-Meaning...) which has sold over 300,000 copies and been translated into 13 different languages. With his keen insight into the human condition, and over 35 years of experience, he has the unique ability to offer clarity and direction especially in difficult times.   Rabbi Jacobson and the MLC have been lauded for creating non-stop programming nourishing people's hearts and souls.  Please donate or sponsor a class, to help us continue and expand this life-affirming work 💓 https://www.meaningfullife.com/donate. 

Among the many challenges we face today, one of the most important is: How to speak to our children? What should we be telling them when so much of what we relied on has been disrupted? How do we provide security and reassure our children, both emotionally and psychologically, amid a climate of fear and uncertainty? In this time of crisis and upheaval we actually have an unprecedented opportunity to shape, educate and inculcate into our children indispensable strengths and tools that will serve them for the rest of their lives.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he presents L.E.A.D.E.R. -- a novel and dynamic program that promises to train our children to become leaders instead of followers, proactive instead of reactive, initiators instead of "waiters" -- to face adversity with courage and fortitude, and build a far better world. L.E.A.D.E.R. Long Term Empower Act Determine Empathize Redeem

Just a few months ago very few of us were concerned with the question of how to balance our work life and our home life. Even if we were concerned, we didn't do much about it. The conflicts and tensions between our vocations and our homes, between our careers and our families, were usually "resolved" (or better said: unresolved) through either denial, compartmentalization, compromising our homes in face of our career climbing and social status, or a combination of the above. Foundations are invisible to the eye, and are often overlooked and overshadowed by the glitz and drama of our "upper floors." But now that our workplaces and public squares have been closed down, and we have been quarantined in our homes, we are compelled to ask ourselves: What does home mean and how vital is it for our well-being? What is the foundation, and what should be the priority, of our lives?  What is the means and what is the end? Where should our energies be focused for maximum impact? Why are we here? Both historically and personally, on a macrocosmic and microcosmic level, home was always the base and core -- the nest and foundation -- of our existence. From the beginning of time the home was the center-point of our lives. In the pre-modern and pre-industrial age, work was seen as menial labor, only as a means to provide for our homes and families to build and grow. At some point in the last few centuries the focus shifted from our homes to our workplaces and social environments. The same is true on a personal and psychological level: For every one of us to grow into healthy and secure adults we first need nurturing and loving homes to build out confidence and self-esteem. But at some point as we mature into adults, we can often lose and forget the vital importance of our homes and families. What would you be like without a solid home and unconditional love? Would a bird have the courage to fly if it had no nest? Our new and unexpected state of affairs, with essentially all our previous life "centers' disrupted or suspended, offers us a rare and unprecedented opportunity to revisit the role and centrality of home in our lives, and answer critical questions that until now were buried beneath our demanding schedules and routines. Please join Rabbi Jacobson on an eye-opening journey into the core of our beings, and the importance that home - both literally and figuratively -- plays in the shaping and success of our lives. Discover the emotional and psychological significance and power of your home. A home is much more than a shelter and respite from the hostile world. A home is a nurturing womb; a comforting hearth -- a launchpad that allows you to spread your wings and soar to unprecedented heights. Learn how to use this strange and difficult time to appreciate your gifts like never before. You will never look at your home and family the same way again.

Security is a vital need in every person's life. Children need secure homes, dependable parents and reliable schedules to grow into self-confident adults. Adults spend their lives building security for themselves and their families. Virtually every aspect of a wholesome and successful life requires solid and unwavering foundations, like a deeply rooted tree. But what happens when our conventional security blankets have been stripped away from us? Besides for feeling disconcerted and unnerved, we are challenged to ask ourselves: What indeed defines true security? Is it our health, our jobs, our money, our equity? Can anything in the material world assure us of permanent safety? After all, everything material is impermanent and perishable; everything mortal erodes and ultimately dies. How then can we find security in an ephemeral reality? What will provide us with everlasting and trustworthy safety, and what can we  truly depend on? As part of our new Corona series offering empowering resources in these challenging times, we are pleased to offer you a special program in which Rabbi Jacobson addresses the question on all our minds today: Where can I find security and safety in a time when all our usually reliable systems and schedules have been upended and disrupted? The answer lies in discovering deeper resources that perhaps have never been accessed. When your conventional outer world has been destabilized, you can find permanent and enduring security within your inner self.

Today's global pandemic has upended people's entire realities. Whatever we thought was real and reliable just a few weeks ago, has now been destabilized and stripped away from us. Our schedules, our jobs, our economy, our plans, our vacations, our children's routines -- virtually every aspect of our lives is no longer what it was. And what will tomorrow bring? When our pre-existing realities are no longer serving us, we can either allow these earth-shaking events to unnerve and demoralize us, or we can view them as an opportunity that challenges us to ask what indeed is real: Our perceived realities of the past, or perhaps something far more grand and beyond our usual ostensible experiences? Please join Rabbi Jacobson, in this must-view presentation, on a journey into an inner and higher reality -- one that is far beyond our common superficial perceptions. Learn how to use this time, when our our existing systems and realities are under question and even crumbling, as an opening to experience a deeper reality. Discover new unprecedented horizons, and how to integrate them into your life and the life of your families and relationships.

The unprecedented global Coronavirus pandemic - Covin-19 - is effecting literally every person on earth, and disrupting every sector and industry. We turn to the medical community and our political leaders to do whatever they can to contain and ultimately eradicate the disease, as well as mitigate its economic and other effects on our lives. But how do we address the emotional and psychological toll this is taking on our psyches? Every day things change, and the unknown future is driving fear and panic into people's hearts. With schools closed, travel all but ended, public events banned, people working from home, the stock market plunging - with virtually every detail of our lives rattled -- how can we prevent this craziness from not driving us all mad? In many ways, demoralization and fear can be even more debilitating than the virus itself. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he presents a 3800-year-old time-tested formula for becoming stronger and more powerful in face of crisis and upheaval. Discover what we can learn from the endurance of the Jewish people throughout history despite all the oppression and suffering they experienced. What deeper significance does the Coronavirus have, and what spiritual antidote can counter its impact on us? We may not be able to control the worldwide spread of the virus, but we can control our attitude to it. And when we do, we can define our destinies and come out stronger than ever.

Often, to appreciate a gift, we need to imagine what life would be like without it. What would our lives be like without joy? Without happiness? Even with the capacity for joy life can be quite difficult. Devoid of any joy, it would simply be unfathomable to imagine how unbearable existence would be.  But if joy is such a necessity, why is it at times so difficult to access? Is there anything we can do to become happier people? Before we can answer these questions, we first need to understand what exactly is joy and what role it plays in our lives. Many of us confuse joy with pleasure, and think that we become happy through gratifying our desires. With such a distorted perception of joy, no wonder we aren't becoming happier people. Don't miss this eye-opening -- and heart-opening -- talk by Rabbi Jacobson, which dissects the anatomy of joy and the essential nutrients it provides us. Discover how joy is actually the experience of transcendence. And like oxygen for the body, the transcendent power of joy is absolutely necessary for a wholesome, successful and fulfilling life.

Can every one be happy? The way some people describe their negativity and even hopelessness, you would think that not everybody is blessed with the capacity to be happy? But that is not true. Happiness seems to be inherent to the human condition. Look at children. They are naturally happy people. Buoyant and enthusiastic. So then, how do happy children become sad adults? When and how do they lose their positivity? How do calm children become anxious adults? And how can we retrace the steps and reclaim our inherent joy? The answer to these questions carries the secret to happiness Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this journey into our core beings and discover the natural spring of joy flowing in the inner chambers our hearts and souls. Yes indeed, beneath and within layers upon layers of your assumed personality and collective experiences lies a live reservoir brimming with optimism and happiness. And it's waiting to be released. Learn how to access and actualize the natural joy that is your birthright.

Happiness is as elusive as it is cherished. We all want to be happy. Joyous people are healthier and more productive. And yet, it seems so challenging to find inner joy, especially in trying circumstances. Is there a formula for happiness? Perhaps we have to begin with the questions: What exactly is happiness? And how can we acquire it? John Stuart Mill famously said: "Ask yourself whether you are happy, and you cease to be so." "Those only are happy who have their minds fixed on some object other than their own happiness; on the happiness of others, on the improvement of mankind, even on some art or pursuit, followed not as a means, but as itself an ideal end." So then what should we fix our minds and hearts on to achieve happiness? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses how the fundamental nature of happiness is directly linked to the very core of the human being: understanding who you are and your higher purpose in life is intrinsically connected to your level of happiness. Discover the two dimensions of your psyche -- your outer you and your inner you. Learn how the inner you is always happy but the outer you needs to often be coerced to dance and celebrate. At times you may need to fake it till you make it; but then  you come to recognize in the process that you are not faking it at all; you are simply "fooling" your outer you, allowing it to access your true innate happiness.

Psychology - the study of the soul - is not a modern phenomenon. It is an inherent part of the human condition. As long as human beings have been in existence, we have been seeking and struggling to understand what makes us tick. What forces shape and define us and our behavior? How much potential do we contain? Are we intrinsically selfish or selfless? How much of our lives is controlled by pre-wired circuitry and how much is in our control? Can we overcome fear, insecurity and distrust? What is love? Obviously, the more we understand our inner workings -- the DNA of our psyches and souls -- the more we can grow and improve the welfare of our lives and our relationships; the more we can transcend our fears and anxieties. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this fascinating journey into the earliest origins of human psychology. Plumb the depths of the psyche and the roots of human consciousness and beyond. What defines a healthy psyche? What is the genesis of dissonance and duality? Is consciousness our ultimate state? Are we doomed to living fragmented lives? What can we learn from a newborn about our natural selves? A remarkable analysis of the Tree of Knowledge story in Genesis reveals for us the core of our beings, what is our calling in life, how we should look at ourselves, even when we betray ourselves, and how after we have wandered off, we can retrace our steps to regain a state of seamless fusion with our purest essence.

Why be honest when we see deception everywhere we turn? We all consider truth and honesty as true virtues, and no one likes being called a liar. So why is it that so many people lie? And why is it so easy to lie? Is deception a natural part of the world order, or is it an aberration? Can we maintain our integrity and succeed in a duplicitous world? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he, in his inimitable style, digs into the core roots of deceit and deception. If all of existence and each single being began as one unified, seamless entity (one cell), how did duality and dissonance come to be? By understanding the origins of duplicity we learn how to counter its far-reaching effects, and discover ways to deceive deception and bring unity, honesty and truth into a false world

Six Revolutionary Principles that Can Transform Your Life Become a LEADER Long Term/Mission Empowerment/Initiative Actualization: Potential opportunities; Action oriented Determination/Persistence Empathy Redemption Applied to and Impacting: Relationships・Education・Personal/Emotional Issues・Technology・Religion

Fear is one of the most powerful and misunderstood forces in our lives. It's formidable impact on virtually all our decisions, and lack of decisions, is compounded by the fact that fear is invisible and silent. You can't see or touch it. And you certainly can't measure it. Even though we feel, at times, palpable fright, most of fear's effects on our behavior cannot easily be traced to fear. We often justify our indecisiveness and lack of commitment with other reasons and excuses than fear, even though fear may be the root cause of our tentativeness. Can we quantify how much fear impedes our ability to grow and succeed? How can we overcome our fears? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he takes us on a journey into the roots of the abyss called fear, where does it originate and how can we reverse its effects on us. Discover ways to counter fear and develop the courage embedded within your spirit to free yourself of fears tentacles. Learn how you are never alone, and that there are powerful forces that travel with you even into the darkest shadows.

Many of us carry painful memories of hurtful experiences in our pasts. Some of these memories remain etched in our psyches, at times even haunting and disrupting our lives -- in ways that we are aware of, and often unaware of. How many of our emotional fears, insecurities and trust issues are a result of old scars? How then can we move on from these deep wounds? Can we free ourselves from the tentacles of difficult past experiences? Is it possible to forgive if you cannot forget? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he tackles these big questions, and offers a method and formula for not allowing painful memories define who you are; not allowing your past define your future. Discover the power of forgiveness -- how it is not just about forgiving another, but forgiving yourself; how it allows you to transcend your experiences and achieve closure even if you may never forget what hurt you. Learn how to access dimensions within yourself that help you liberate your spirit from the forces that keep it trapped, and spread your wings to scale new heights.

Lying at the heart of all relationships -- personal, social, professional, political -- is communication. The manner in which spouses, parents and children, neighbors, friends, co-workers, employers, employees, communities and nations speak and listen (or don't) to each other carries the key to thriving, lasting, and healthy connections. Even when there is concern and love between different people or groups, very often they are lacking the tools to properly express their feelings. In effect then, mastering the art of communication is the defining blueprint that leads to family, domestic, national and global peace, harmony, and tranquility. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this important, fundamental talk on the secret to true and effective communication. Discover that communicating is more about connecting and building trust than it is about expressing thoughts; speaking is more about listening than about voicing opinions; more about empathy than data; and the most successful way to be heard is to listen. Remember, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Ahh. Comfort zones. They sound so... comforting. Do you anyone that likes to leave their comfort zone? And yet, every form of growth is dependent on going out of comfort zones. As long as you stay safe in your predictable and conventional routines, nothing new will be born. That is why it is so difficult to change and break out of our habits and patterns. The inertia of the status quo generates enormous force. But being an invisible power, concealed in lethargy, we grossly underestimate its impact on holding us back from movement and change. Is there a way to motivate and propel yourself out of your comfort zone and reach great new heights? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this inspiring lesson offering methods and tools to break out of your trappings and discover new openings and possibilities. And not just on a temporary basis, but in a consistent and sustainable fashion. Find out how you carry within yourself inherent strengths that can challenge your tendency to stagnate. Learn how to spread your wings and soar to unprecedented horizons.

As we enter 2020, the third decade of the third millennium, many of us are wondering what the future holds. We are currently experiencing plenty of changes. Polarization and upheaval is in the air. The road ahead will certainly offer us many opportunities while also presenting us with many challenges. But we are often trapped by nearsightedness, in which we only see the here and now and cannot see beyond our noses. What will the next decade bring? How will our future look? Are we entering a new world order? Can we identify signs and patterns that help us forecast the world of tomorrow? What methods can we employ to help us navigate the terrain of the coming years. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in part two of this 2020 workshop as he takes a birds' eye view on our unfolding lives and evolving world. By looking at the big picture with a panoramic lens we can discover a broader perspective of our lives and destinies. We can learn to recognize the inner narrative and choreography of today's events, which in turn informs the details of our small picture, and allows us to make better decisions and plans. What better way to enter 2020 with a lens that helps us see things with 20/20 vision?

As the curtain comes down on the second decade of the third millenium (2019), and we prepare to enter its third decade with the year 2020, many of us are wondering what the future holds. We are currently experiencing plenty of changes. Polarization and upheaval is in the air. The road ahead will certainly offer us many opportunities while also presenting many challenges. But we are often trapped by nearsightedness, in which we only see the here and now and cannot see beyond our noses. What will the next decade bring? How will our future look? Are we entering a new world order? Can we identify signs and patterns that help us forecast the world of tomorrow? What methods can we employ to help us navigate the terrain of the coming years. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this 2020 workshop as he takes a birds' eye view on our unfolding lives and evolving world. By looking at the big picture with a panoramic lens we can discover a broader perspective of our lives and destinies. We can learn to recognize the inner narrative and choreography of today's events, which in turn informs the details of our small picture, and allows us to make better decisions and plans. What better way to enter 2020 with a lens that helps us see things with 20/20 vision?

Nothing triggers our emotions like going home and seeing our parents and families. Etched in our psyches, for good or for bad, are all that we experienced in our impressionable childhood years. During this holiday season, when many of us spend time with our families, all types of feelings arise. For some, it’s a beautiful time, evoking the warmth and love of our relationships. Others, at the other extreme, dread going home. Their toxic and dysfunctional families make them anxious and fearful. Many others have mixed feelings, fluctuating from the brighter to the darker. But one thing is certain: no one is neutral when dealing with their home and family. Please join Rabbi Jacobson and learn how this season offers us an excellent opportunity to probe and examine ourselves and our emotional lives. Discover tools how to become a healthier, more secure and confident person, and develop greater strengths to actualize your potential. Whether you grew up in as nurturing home or in a challenging home, this time of year can help you grow your love and self-esteem, and build strong immunity to unhealthy forces in your life. You have tremendous resources, and it’s time to access and express them.

The million dollar question: What is the secret to finding a healthy and enduring relationship? What criteria should I be looking for? How can I know if someone is compatible with me? What defines compatibility? How can I identify my true soulmate? You may be surprised to know that the mystics mapped out the soul in five dimensions, which in turn offers us a blueprint for finding your compatible soulmate. You don't want to miss this program with Rabbi Jacobson, in which he lays out these five levels of compatibility and presents a practical approach and specific guidelines to finding and building a beautiful, lasting and thriving relationship. Discover parts of your self that may be concealed, and tools to recognize in your date his/her deeper soul dimensions -- all adding up to creating a true soul connection.

You would think that the aspiring soul would be seeking to become more awake and aware, to heighten its cognizance and consciousness, not to learn how to... fall asleep. Yet sleep contains fascinating secrets and mysteries of regenerating our psyches and our souls. Learning how to sleep -- and how to fall asleep -- can teach us how to become more awake and more aware. What is sleep? What happens when we sleep? What can we do to have a more restful and peaceful sleep?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he probes the mysterious world of sleep and its effect on our souls. Discover the journey of your psyche during sleep, and how to tap into the inner forces that rejuvenate your inner being, and truly begin a fresh new day. Learn how sleep can bring you alive -- psychically and spiritually -- in unprecedented ways, enhancing your life and your relationships.

Inside each one of us there is a place in which we are all alone. Even those that love us and those we love, even those we trust and open up to, cannot fully enter that core center of our beings -- the space that defies words, expressions and definitions. After all our relationships and interactions, after all our partying and fireworks, even when we may not feel all alone, at the end of the day a part of us walks alone. Is that alone space an asset or a liability? Does it reflect our uniqueness and exclusivity, or our inadequacy and lack of self-esteem? What does feeling alone tell you about the state of your spirit and psyche? Ostensibly, loneliness may manifest as one who does not have any friends, family, or acquaintances. It may also take on the form of emotional loneliness, which stems from someone feeling no meaningful relationships or connections in life. However, there is a loneliness that exists even in the face of healthy personal relationships. It may be called existential loneliness or spiritual loneliness. It is the sense of longing that cannot be achieved through any type of social interaction.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this penetrating talk on the essential essence of our beings. Are we fundamentally social creatures or lonely ones? Discover how to distinguish between different types of loneliness, and how to harness negative loneliness and transform it into a transcendent experience. Learn ways to celebrate your loneliness -- and even the loneliness of others; how to love in new ways, loving not just the things that you have in common with your beloved, but also the things that make you unique. Find out how to connect with another's loneliness, and become alone... together.

Do you feel that you matter? That among 7.7 billion people on earth, and trillions of other forces in the universe, you are indispensable and your life is vital? This is not a small or academic question;  every decision you make, every move you take, is effected by how much you value your life. If you  feel that your life doesn't matter much, then all your life choices and relationships don't matter that much either. If your life is negligible then everything you do is also negligible. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses this single most important question: Do you matter? Discover a new approach to looking at yourself and your role in the world -- a fresh perspective which has the power to transform your life, your choices and commitments.  Learn that your are indeed unique, necessary and irreplaceable -- not just to you and your family but to all of existence!

Morality is a big word, which means different things to different people. What exactly is morality? Is it absolute or relative? Are moral values something we can all agree about, or are there different opinions on what constitutes a moral act? Can certain behavior be considered by some as moral and by others immoral? If so, how do we determine what is the moral standard to abide by? And if we all have our standards, how can we create a universal co-existence? The list of questions goes on and on. And they aren't mere academic exercises. Morality and its meaning has far reaching implications in virtually every area of life -- personal, familial, communal, education, business, national and international relations. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dives into the heart of the matter, and dissects the definition and evolution of morality at its core. Tracing it back its roots in the Bible, we discover how morality is an intrinsic component in the development of every aspect of society and civilization. Why should we be moral? Is it simply a way for us to coexist? How does it reflect and express the nature of our very psyches? Does morality make us healthier people? What connection does morality have with spirituality? How can we come away with a moral compass and code that can help us each actualize ourselves and grow, as well as enhance our relationships and interaction with the world around us?

What do you see when you look around you? Do we all see the same thing? Ostensibly it would seem that all healthy eyes observe the same empirical reality. The fact is, however, that what you see is not (usually) what you get. Observation is not just what is visible to the naked eye, but far more than that.  Despite knowing that fact, here is a mysterious paradox: We all understand that there is more to everything we see than meets the eye. And yet, we are easily seduced by externals, to the point that we can ignore the inner "soul" within things. One of the most misleading cliches is "don't judge a book by its cover." People constantly judge books by their covers; that's why book cover design and packaging -- and general beauty products, including make-up, skincare, hair care, fragrances and cosmetic surgery -- are a multi-billion dollar industry! How many mistakes have we made, how many people have been hurt, due to our prejudging or misjudging the value of something based on its outward appearance alone? How often have we been wronged by others judging us by our covers? Can we learn to look deeper and see things for what they really are instead of what they appear to be? Is it possible to achieve that kind of awareness on a consistent and positive basis? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening discussion on mastering the art of observation. Learn to heighten your awareness and see yourself and the world around you through a new lens. Discover tools, techniques and methods to help you look beneath the surface of things and experiences and recognize their inside story -- the deeper forces that shape reality and the inner choreography of the narrative, teaching us to recognize and actualize the true potential in everything we encounter, and internalize lessons from all that we experience.

Manifestation? "What exactly is that," you may be wondering. Well. in short it's about being present -- about "showing up" and being immersed and invested in your life experiences. How often do we have our foot halfway our the door, afraid to commit due to the risks involved? How often are we not fully present in a relationship or even a conversation? It may be for good reasons -- lack of trust, fear of being hurt, past disappointments and wounds. But we can also be trapped in our patterns and "comfort zones", not allowing us to fully engage. We all have our defense mechanisms and escape hatches to run to for protection when we feel threatened. We have our masks and suits of armor. But have our masks become our identities? When important opportunities and healthy love can we be missing out on because we don't know how to fully manifest and engage? How can we improve our being present? The surprising answer to these questions comes from an unexpected source: Kabbalah. The mystics map out two dimensions in Divine expression and cosmic energy: One that transcends existence, and one that manifests in existence. The mysterious mechanics of these two dimensions and how they interact contains invaluable insights and lessons for us. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he examines the parallels between Divine manifestation and human manifestation, and presents methods and tools how the former can teach us how to become more comfortable in our own skin, and more present and manifest in our lives and relationships. WHERE TO FIND THE MEANINGFUL LIFE CENTER: WEBSITE: http://www.meaningfullife.com FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/MeaningfulLi... INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/meaningful.... TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/MeaningfulLife  LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonjaco... YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/Meaningfullife PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/meaningful EMAIL US: [email protected]

We all have, at some or another, wronged or hurt another person -- a loved one, a friend or a stranger. What can and should we do about it? Are we aware of the full impact and effect our behavior has on ourselves, others and the universe in general? And do we appreciate the potency contained in correcting our errors? One of the most noble and courageous human acts is to ask for forgiveness and make amends over damage we may have caused. And this is the best time of the year to do so.  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this pre-Yom Kippur talk on the importance and power of making amends, and how to actually do it in the best possible way. Learn what practical steps to take to repair a relationship. And discover how you -- and everyone around you -- become healthier when you ask for forgiveness and correct any mistakes you may have committed. How making amends unleashes new reservoirs of potential within you.

At one or time or another, many of us feel stuck in our lives. Unable to move forward. It can take on the shape of resignation, hopelessness and even depression. It can be more subtle as in feeling old and worn out, without the energy to create change. And it can even manifest in cynicism, as in the more things change the more they stay the same.  What causes us to feel stuck? Are they objective or subjective causes, meaning are they true external obstacles or only ones in our mind? Is it perhaps fear? Einstein is famously credited as saying that we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. How then do we change self-defeating attitudes? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this pre-New Year talk addressing the great dilemma of getting unstuck in your life. What can we do to free ourselves from whatever it is that making us feel trapped and unable to truly move forward. As we enter a New Year, the mystics tell us that a new unprecedented energy enters into our lives. How can we tap into it and how can we make sure that our past despondence doesn't haunt and curb our ability to allow new hope and new possibilities to manifest in our lives? How can we truly begin anew?

"Do you believe in miracles?" is one of the most common questions asked. But before we answer that question, we need to first define the meaning of a miracle. Is it a fantastical, nature-suspending event (like the parting of the sea), or is it an awesome and unique event (like giving birth)?  Our sages teach us that one experiencing a miracle often does not recognize the miracle that has transpired. Other scholars say that nature is simply a "continuum of miracles" whose repetition make them seem like common "natural events." Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he explores the anatomy of a miracle, and its role in our lives. Discover surprising facts about the "natural" forces that define the parameters of your experiences. Learn how to tap into deeper reservoirs of energy in your soul, and in the process find out how you can easily detect hidden miracles inside and around you.

Some of the most silent, yet demoralizing forces in our lives are boredom and monotony. They may seem innocuous, but lifeless routines create breeding grounds of toxicity. What can we do to infuse vitality and passion into the pedestrian day? How can we spice up our humdrum lives? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he presents a dynamic approach of how to spiritually charge up your daily quotidian, and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

What is depression? Why do we get depressed? And what can we do about it? Many answers have been posited to these pressing questions, with suggested interventions ranging from medication to therapy, and various alternative methods. What has been less explored are the spiritual roots of depression. After all, a soulless body does not get depressed. Is depression a spiritual or physical malady? How does spirituality impact depression and can a heightened spiritual life help decrease depression? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dissects the DNA of depression and the core of the soul, seeking to identify where the two intersect and how they affect each other. Learn new insights into the nature of depression, and ways to use spiritual tools to help treat depression. Nourishing the soul by adding a healthy spiritual diet to traditional treatments can open new channels of hope and confidence. The joy of the soul in turns weakens the debilitating fear and demoralization of the depressed psyche.

When things are not going well, especially when they get desperate, people often fantasize about starting life over. This also happens when we have regrets over grave, irreversible errors we may have committed, or serious traumatic experiences that have injured our psyches and worn us down. "If only I can turn the clock back." "If only I had a second chance." "If only I would be born into another body to another family."  Is there indeed any hope after experiencing serious loss? Can we rebuild after betrayal? Are we doomed by our pasts, or is it possible to start life over? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening talk and discover surprising cosmological and mystical insights on the very nature of life and the ability to renew your life, despite past experiences. Life can be seen as a series of routines, with "nothing new under the sun." However we have another option: to travel "above the sun" and beneath the veneer, where you can tap into new and powerful reservoirs of energy and strength, which allow you to recreate your life and your relationships. Pretty exciting, no?

Despair is one of the worst possible human conditions. It's one thing to experience pain and suffering, it's quite another to give up hope. Even the most trying circumstances can be faced when you have hope. Even the most difficult challenges can be addressed when you have confidence, and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But when you give up on life and its possibilities, then what's left to work with? Please join Rabbi Jacobson and travel into the heart of the abyss, and discover the spark that lays even in the darkest corners of the psyche. Learn methods to employ when all seems lost and you want to give up. Find out how to uncover a "new" self with new hope even when your familiar old "self" has lost hope.

 Have you ever found yourself staring at the moon at night? There is something about the haunting lunar sphere in the sky that mystifies and mesmerizes us. What lessons does it teach us?  What can we learn from the lunar cycles and from the full moon? Is there any deeper connection between us and the moon? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he explores the "psyche" of the moon -- and its parallels in our personal lives. Discover how to moon -- and the full moon --  can empower us as we face our own emotional and psychological challenges, and can help us build healthier lives and relationships. 

 How much of our lives do we take for granted? How often do we step back and appreciate the gift of every breath we take and every move we make? Do we recognize the sanctity of every moment and every space we traverse? Many of us see ourselves as "victims" of time and space -- always trying to beat the clock and maneuver the places we occupy. Can we learn to control space and time instead of them controlling us? Living life to its fullest means valuing every fiber of our beings -- every second of time and every inch of space. The question is how do we manifest and express that value, in ways that enhance our lives?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of space and time and teaches us how to master them instead of them mastering us. Discover how to tap into the energy of every moment and location, and harness it toward fulfilling your dreams and aspirations. Find out how to create sacred space in your life. 

The very word death fills our hearts with dread. We consider it as unfathomable as it is inevitable. But what exactly is death? What happens at that moment when soul and body separate? In truth the mystery of death is one with the mystery of life: What happens at the moment of conception when soul and body meet and join? Medicine and science deal primarily with the causes of illness and death -- and ways of battling it, to help  prolong life. They address the definition and symptoms of health, life and death in biological terms. But there is clearly so much more. Why do body and soul need to separate in the first place? Where does the soul go to after death, and where was it before birth? Cam we connect to souls after their passing? Do our love and relationships live on after death? The questions are many. The answers few. Please join Rabbi Jacobson for a fascinating journey into the mysterious world of life and death and discover secrets of your own life journey. The soul's journey never ends; it simply goes through different stages and states. By understanding the deeper meaning of death you gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for life. 

 What defines healthy masculinity? This question has emerged. perhaps more than ever before, in our generation. Is masculinity about power, aggression and strength -- the historical view of the man as the unwavering pillar that the family and community rely on for security and confidence? Is vulnerability in men a weakness, as in true men don't cry? Or is that an unhealthy stereotype and expectation that has developed over time, one that has evolved into a male hierarchical society with men taking advantage of their superior physical strength and subjugating women under their control? This in turn has caused the rise of feminism rebelling against this unfair balance of power, which has also challenged men, especially with the recent rise of the Me Too movement to reassess their healthy role in society, sexuality, relationships and family life. Some even argue that as a result men have gone too far to the other extreme. They have become emasculated and lost their sense of strength and confidence, turning wimpy and weak as the male stereotype is under assault. And as the vicious cycle continues, we are also witness to a backlash of men trying to regain and reclaim their raw manhood, through male-bonding programs that encourage strenuous work, sweating  and learning to grunt again. No wonder there is so much confusion about gender roles and sexual identity, whether it be male or female. How are we to discover the healthy masculine identity? What is natural and inherent and what is acquired and superimposed by parental, social and other influences? And how are parents to raise their boys to become real, productive and healthy men? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he first retraces the roots of the original male archetype, then identifies the factors and causes that has distorted the masculine role, finally coming away with practical and actionable methods to realign the boy or man you are today to your natural template -- a balanced combination of strength and sensitivity, power and vulnerability, confidence and humility,. Discover how to become the best man you could ever be and nurture your boys to become the best men they could ever be. 

 We often hear about listening to the voice of your soul. Allowing your spiritual aspirations to express themselves. Some call it: Freeing your spirit. But did you know that your body too contains many messages for you? Remember, your body and soul have been traveling together through your life. And just as your soul has memories so does your body. Your body silently watches and absorbs every one of your life experiences. These experiences become etched into the crevices of your body, and from time to time your body will remind you of them. It may be through blushing or goosebumps (more superficial bodily reactions), or it may be through your body stiffening up and feeling anxious. Do you ever feel like you are "in knots," or have "butterflies in your stomach?" The body has many ways to communicate with us. It may be through trembling or freezing up in certain situations, or it may be through a racing heart and feelings of panic. Even certain itches, tics, fluttering eyes, or other contortions and knee-jerk reactions reflect deeper experiences -- many of which we may not be aware of. How often do we have a physical reaction to something, with no clue as to why? Someone may bring up a topic, or even express an opinion, and your body lock up or reacts in another way. It's like someone getting close to a raw nerve, which you only become aware of when you feel the touch. Body language is a very profound communicator -- and barometer. Please join Rabbi Jacobson's fascinating class as he dissects the inner story of Balaam and his... donkey -- and derives from it powerful lessons how to listen to our body language. Discover how your body (not just your soul) can save your life, protect your psyche and even free your soul... 

Trust is a vital component in life. Healthy relationships and bonds are built on trust. Without trust, almost everything is compromised if not outrightly destroyed. But which criteria define trust? How do we gauge whom to trust? Which traits and behaviors engender trust?  Can these characteristics be acquired? Many of us have been hurt and are justly wary of trusting another, or sadly, may have totally lost trust in others. Is it possible to rebuild healthy trust after betrayal? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy, and delves into the mysterious world of trust. Learn how to identify trustworthy characteristics, and discover ways of becoming both more trusting and more trustworthy in building safe environments and enduring relationships.

If you were to list the five most important things you want to accomplish in your life, what would they be?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this special tribute to his mentor -- the Rebbe -- in which he discusses five foundational principles he learned from his teacher, which radically transformed his life, and can transform your life as well. Discover how these principles can guide you in creating your personalized list of goals you want to achieve in your life, which in turn will help you focus all your activities and interactions toward a cohesive plan of fulfilling your calling in this world.

Do you ever find yourself feeling uneasy that your life is kind of empty and aimless? Believe it or not, that feeling is the beginning of a spiritual awakening. Every epiphany, every wake-up call, every transition, starts with a state of discomfort, as you move from one paradigm to another.  What other signs are there that indicate the opening of new opportunities? Are we missing these signs due to our dismissing them as just temporary nuisances or setbacks? If you're stuck in a rut, how do you get yourself out of it? Are there ways to generate change and growth in your life when you're trapped by your daily routines and habits? How do spiritual awakenings happen and how do you get started and maintain that awakening? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this intriguing discussion on navigating the twists and turns and ups and downs of your life journey. Learn to recognize those moments when a new opportunity presents itself -- including seeing disappointments as springboards -- and how to take advantage and turn it into an awakening to a higher state of awareness and consciousness. Discover methods to expand your horizons and open up new channels of blessings in your life and in your relationships.

Last year medical researchers discovered a new body part, called the interstitium -- a network of fluid-filled spaces in connective tissue across the body that hadn't been seen before. Previously, it was thought that these tissue layers were a dense "wall" of collagen — a strong structural protein found in connective tissue. But the new finding reveals that, rather than a "wall," this tissue is more like an "open, fluid-filled highway," said co-senior study author Dr. Neil Theise, a professor of pathology at New York University Langone School of Medicine.  With all that's known about human anatomy, you wouldn't expect the discovery of a new organ in this day and age. But now, doctors  say they've done just that.  What is the significance of this discovery, what lessons does it teach us and what insights does it offer us in understanding ourselves and the cosmos? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he travels "under the skin" and explores the fascinating parallels between the interstitium and the Kabbalistic map of the human body and soul. Discover the role of this "fluid filled network" in your psycho-spiritual life and how it can help you improve your well-being and your relationships. 

 It may seem like a silly question, but does your life truly matter? With 7.7 billion people on this planet, what possible significance can one person have?   This is not a small issue: If you feel that you don't really matter, then your life choices and decisions also don't really matter. What type of life can you live when all that you do has no true value? No wonder that many of us feel unmotivated and uninspired.  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he presents a fresh new approach to finding meaning and passion in life. Discover the real reason that you and your actions truly matter. Not just you, but the entire world -- and the cosmos themselves -- are dependent on your choices. You indeed have the power to change the world. 

 Have you ever behaved like a coward? Do you regret any situations when you neglected from acting out of fear? Would you be brave enough to acknowledge such behavior? Cowardice and fear impact much more of our lives than we imagine. How many of our decisions are driven — and how many opportunities are lost — due to cowardice? But what do we know about this force that effects us so deeply? What makes some people more cowardly than others? Is courage inborn or acquired? Can we do anything to become less cowardly and more courageous? Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he dissects the anatomy of courage and cowardice and its impact on our lives. Through this lens, discover new insights into yourself, and come away with methods and skills to build up your courage live up to your greatest potential and beliefs. 

 The ancient mystical teachings of Kabbalah — once obscure and unknown — has recently become popular and even fashionable. Or has it? Do we really know what Kabbalah is? What does the word even mean? What do these teachings offer us? Tonight is Lag B’Omer, the anniversary of Rabbi Shimeon Bar Yochai’s passing. Rabbi Shimeon, or Rashbi, is the “father” of Kabbalah. He authored the Zohar — the classical esoteric work, which is the foundation of mysticism, laying out a blueprint of the divine and the spiritual framework of the universe and beyond. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this special Lag B’Omer presentation, as he explains the surprising meaning of the word Kabbalah. Once we know its true definition, we can then take a journey into the mystical and mysterious chambers of our psyches and of the cosmos — and come away with a new way of looking at life and new methods to achieve transcendence and live the most fulfilling life possible. The inner workings of Kabbalah — as first taught by Rashbi, and further developed in subsequent generations — opens for us up enthralling vistas and unparalleled opportunities to build glorious lives and relationships, always brimming with unexpected possibilities.

 There are no parenting schools. So where and how do we learn to parent? We learn it 1) from our own mothers and fathers — we emulate how they parented us, and 2) above all we learn it on the job: When a couple is blessed with a child/children, trial and error and hard earned challenges, and their natural instincts — shaped by the attitudes we picked up from our parents — teaches them how to parent and educate, for better or for worse. But how do we know whether our parenting methods are sound? And that we are not making serious errors in raising our children? Without schooling and with flawed parenting models, for all we know we may be perpetuating dysfunctional parenting skills? Without an objective parenting model, how can we know whether we are doing our best to bring up healthy children? Would you be surprised to know that there is indeed a healthy time-tested paradigm of parenting — one that goes back thousands of years, and has been documented and implemented, and has produced generations of healthy children and adults. Let us call it The Spiritual Parenting Model — timeless parenting principles from the Bible and Kabbalah. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he presents, in his inimitable manner, this proven formula for raising wholesome, confident and actualized children, who can focus their lives not on fighting fear and insecurity, but on using their faculties and resources to grow and transform the world around them.

We have always been mystified by the moon -- it's haunting presence shimmering in our night sky. We have studied the moon and its effects on life on earth, we have spent trillions to travel to, land on and explore our lonely lunar sphere. From romance to music and science fiction, the moon with its pale glow captures our imagination. What lies behind this fascination?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he "launches" a lunar probe  --exploring the "soul" of the moon -- the cosmic and spiritual forces that energize the moon. The moon has been with us since the beginning of time. It is a living witness to every event in history. What secrets does the moon harbor? What messages does it have for us? What can we learn from the lunar cycles? How can it empower us as we face our own personal and psychological challenges? How can it help us build healthier lives and relationships? You won't want to miss this lunar exploration as you discover and appreciate new and fascinating insights into our relationship with the moon.

 Good people are always mystified by what drives a "regular" person to plan and execute the deliberate and premeditated cold-blooded murder of innocent people, let alone in a house of worship. What is going on in this person's twisted mind and dark heart as he attacks men, women and children of faith during their prayers and celebrations?! How can a human being stoop to such obscene hate and cruelty? Our hearts are shattered as they go out to the husband, daughter, family and community of Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was cruelly murdered by a terrorist in a heinous attack on Jews gathered in prayer at Chabad-Lubavitch of Poway last Shabbat, the final day of Passover. But within the tragedy and grief -- and the demonstration of the ugliest within humans -- another story has emerged, one that is more powerful than the senseless crime perpetrated: The story of the best within humans. Lori Kaye gave her life to save her Rabbi and others in her shul. Rabbi Goldstein through his actions and words, exhibited the noble majesty and dignity of a soul’s capability: not focusing on himself, but on his calling and mission. Millions, if not billions of people are being gripped by the heart-wrenching, yet formidable words of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the Rabbi of the Poway community who survived the attack. In articles and interviews, from his hospital bed and at the funeral service, Rabbi Goldstein is relentlessly focusing neither on his pain and loss, nor on fear and anger, but on his determination to transform this tragedy into a force of goodness and kindness. Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he discusses this tragedy and the lessons it provides us about both the worst and best in human beings, and above all -- what we can do in face of such darkness, both short-term and long-term, in preventing such travesties from happening ever again. 

 Evil is a word thrown around a lot. But what does it mean? What exactly is evil? Does evil exist? Are there any things that are inherently evil, or is evil man-made -- the injustices and crimes one perpetrates against another? Is evil a subjective or objective reality? Is it just in the eyes of the beholder, or is there more to it? And if there is such a thing as evil how do we protect ourselves from it? Without defining evil we certainly cannot take measures to secure ourselves against its impact on us. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this pre-Passover workshop dissecting the anatomy of evil and darkness, and discover its fascinating (and painful) parallels with black holes. By traveling into the belly of the beast, we find surprising insights that help defang the enemy and transform its liabilities into assets. Passover teaches us how to enter the abyss and come out stronger than ever. 

 When asked "who are you?" most people show you their business card. But that's what you do, not who you are. Yet, with time many of us, sadly, lose sight of who we are and become what we do. when it should be the other way around; Who you are should define and direct what you do. With all the factors that have influenced you -- parents, education, job -- it can be very difficult to figure out who you really are. Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and learn provocative methods and effective tools to get beyond the forces that have shaped you and discover who you truly are. Wouldn't that be an achievement -- to live your life from the inside out, in which your inner identity guides your choices and actions, instead of living outside in, in which your circumstances control your life and identity. 

What is intuition? Is it cognitive or emotional? Based on intelligence or instinct? Where do your gut feelings and instincts come from? Can you trust them? Can you hone and improve your intuition, or are some of us just wired with more intuition than others?  Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this eye-opening Purim workshop as he probes the inner workings of human intuition and the deeper recesses of the psyche. By peering "under the dashboard" of the human mind, you discover where your conscious meets your supra-conscious, and your mind meets your heart. Learn how to sharpen your intuition, and allow it to inform your conscious reasoning, which in turn will enhance your sensitivity and elevate your decision making process. 

 What is the role of government? Ostensibly, this question may seem irrelevant to our personal lives. On further thought, however, it's quite clear that the welfare of a government directly impacts the welfare of every one of its citizens. Yet, with so much distrust in our governments today, with the polarization of our political parties, and accusations of corruption being hurled in all directions, no wonder many of us have become quite skeptical if not cynical about the function of government. Nevertheless, it would be wise, especially when government is in question, to revisit the premise on the role and responsibility of government. Is it merely to legislate laws and serve as a referee to maintain the peace and coexistence of its peoples? Or does government have a deeper and more spiritual responsibility? Just as government impacts people, people impact government. A government and its citizens are interconnected and interdependent -- they need and reflect on one another. It is therefore imperative to understand how to build the best possible government -- one that will serve the highest aspirations of its constituents, and help them build the best possible future. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this thought provoking talk as he retraces the historical roots of government and dissects its very purpose and function. Discover fascinating insights into human nature and its drive to build societies and bodies to govern their lives. Learn how we are not victims and products of our governments; quite the contrary: we have the ability to shape government. Come away with a new confidence and appreciation of the power we have to create a better world. And that yes, even something as technical or mundane as government, has a transcendent role to play.

 Many of us justify, for various reasons, the need to not be completely honest with others about our feelings. We may be judged or misunderstood. We are dependent on them and can't therefore always candidly express our true sentiments. To survive in this self-interest driven world, the argument goes, we need to wear a variety of masks and veils to please, placate and interact with others. When swimming with sharks we need to become a shark.  But what about being honest with yourself? Have you become so accustomed to wearing masks, that they now define you? Do you even know what you look like at your core? Have you betrayed yourself in the process?     Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this piercing talk on how to be honest with yourself. Learn tools how to uncover the shrouds that cloak the true you. Build up the courage to get to know your inner self in ways you never could have imagined. With all the things we are learning all the time, it's about time to look in the mirror and find out who you really are. You may be surprised at what you discover..  

Having a broken heart is one of the most debilitating, yet powerful, and overwhelming experiences one can encounter in life. Can one possibly avoid heartbreak? Can one heal from it? Are there ways to recover from shattered emotions, and grow from them? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he dissects the heart and its mysterious secrets in this - well - heartfelt talk on the nature of love and vulnerability. Learn powerful tools to mend the cracks, suture tears, and discover that nothing is truly as complete as a broken heart.

Our relationship with nature is as fascinating as it is underappreciated. On one hand, we, our entire survival, is completely dependent on the intact health and balance of nature’s harmony. On the other hand, we are almost completely oblivious of this dependence. There was a time — particularly in the agricultural age — when we were acutely aware of our reliance on nature: we knew, for example, that our very sustenance was dependent on rainfall; the seasons regulated life activities. But today, technology has desensitized us. Nature hums quietly along, doing its thing to maintain the universe, without us even noticing. Is that healthy? What are the implications of our detachment from the natural order in which we live? Are there deeper, psychological and spiritual dimensions to our connection with nature? How could we benefit from them? Please join Rabbi Jacobson, in this New Year for Trees workshop, as he uncovers the hidden roots and origins of our symbiosis with nature, and ho

Can we trust humans? In his new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress, Steven Pinker gives sole credit to humans for all our progress. "The Enlightenment is working," he writes. In his opinion people do not "need to believe in magic, a father in the sky, a strong chief to protect the tribe, myths of heroic ancestors." "Our ancestors replaced dogma, tradition and authority with reason, debate and institutions of truth-seeking. They replaced superstition and magic with science. And they shifted their values from the glory of the tribe, nation, race, class or faith toward universal human flourishing... Secular liberal democracies are the happiest and healthiest places on earth." On the other hand, many survivors of the Holocaust and other travesties perpetrated by man, have declared, that these tragedies have taught us that we no longer can believe in humans; we can only trust G-d. With all the human corruption and selfishness we have witnessed an

Common perception holds that introverts are inferior to extroverts. As recently as 2010, the American Psychiatric Association even considered classifying “introverted personality” as a disorder by listing it in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), a manual used to diagnose mental illness. Is this true? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he analyzes the personality of the introvert. Learn what defines an introvert and about different types of introverts. Discover surprising benefits and advantages of introverts over extroverts, and how each of us have an introvert within -- and how accessing it can transform your life and relationships for the better.

One of our great challenges is to protect our relationships and children from the traumas and negative experiences that have misshaped our lives. We want to avoid projecting and passing on our fears and insecurities; we don't want them to cloud or pollute our existing and future relationships. But how can we achieve that? As subjective people who are prejudiced by our life experiences, how can we transcend them and not bring them into our interactions? How can we give our children and spouses the best of us, unmuddled by our pasts? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he teaches us how to navigate from a darkened past into a brighter future, from a dysfunctional childhood into healthy relationships. Discover methods to separate the silver from the dross, to learn from our challenges -- to get beyond the ghosts and skeletons in our closets and build powerful, dynamic and wholesome relationships.

Do you ever feel lost and overwhelmed by the accelerated pace of modern life? With information streaming at us from all directions at dizzying speeds, it's hard to avoid the overload and over stimulation of our senses. Can we even measure the impact and consequences of all these "rush hours" on our psyches, and the amount of stress and anxiety it triggers in our lives? With so many forces tugging at us, what can we do to find space, tranquility and repose that our souls so desperately need? How do we prevent becoming splintered and burned out from this unceasing barrage? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he prsenets a simple but powerful exercise that can help each one of us find focus, clarity and purpose in our increasingly high-charged turbulent world. Discover some of the secrets that make your soul work at its best. Learn how a moment of silence each day can transform your life, dramatically improve our homes and our schools -- and even make them safer -- and help raise our social

Whatever your opinion is about the best ways to prevent school shootings, it's impossible to ignore and not be touched by students around the country rising up demanding action be taken to prevent violence in our schools. When an approximate one million young people, from kindergartners through high-school seniors, take to the streets, we all should take pause and ask: What lessons can this teach us? What is it about the young that makes them so idealistic and so fearless? What can we learn from them, especially from their ability to forever alter mountains that otherwise seemed unmovable? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this empowering discussion on the psycho-spiritual power of our young -- our most precious commodity and the ones who carry our future destiny -- and discover how we can harness this enormous energy into a force for change. Learn how the purity of youth – unadulterated by the cynicism of material life – has the power to change worlds. We’ll call it the youth revolutio

Trust is one of the most fundamental ingredients of a healthy life. Trust of parents, siblings, family. Trust in marriage and relationships. Trust in business and social interactions. What would our lives be like without trust? And yet, we most likely will meet people we don't necessarily trust. How do we deal with such individuals? Or worse: We may encounter experiences where trust was breached. Situations in which someone you trusted -- or should have trusted (like a parent or other family member) -- has betrayed and hurt you. What do we do then? How do you face such people when you have no choice and must engage with them? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses, in his unique style, this vital matter, and learn new life skills and tools to cope with trust issues. Can trust be regained after it was lost? How do we learn to trust, especially after we have been hurt? Can a relationship be mended after it has been fractured? What things can we do to engender and build trust i

Many argue that a narcissist cannot be healed. Obviously, there are degrees of narcissism, but overall the attitude is that it's best not to have a relationship with a narcissist. Narcissistic Personality Disorder has even become a diagnosis. The reasoning is: because people with this condition present with a great deal of grandiosity and defensiveness, which makes it difficult for them to acknowledge problems and vulnerabilities. Is there hope for those with NPD and the people who love them? Is there anything we can do if we see early warning signs or actual diagnostic criteria besides end the relationship? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this important lecture, as he dissects the deeper roots of narcissism and offers a surprising new approach to treating this condition based on seeing the human psyche in a new light. Our general attitude and confidence in correcting a personality disorder is in direct proportion to our understanding the depths and powers of a personality in the

Why do some people become overwhelmed or unhinged under pressure, while others remain perfectly calm? Is this due to nature or nurture? Are we wired differently? Is there a method to keeping composed and collected in stressful situations? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he analyzes and dissects the underlying causes for stress and anxiety, and learn new tools to maintain your equilibrium. Discover the secret of finding inner calm and serenity even in the most trying of circumstances