How to Plan for an Unknown Future

When faced with a dilemma do you usually find yourself stuck between two stark options - yes or no, right or wrong, hold or fold, proceed or retreat? Do you tend to look at things in black and white? Or in extremes? Do you see people in terms of being either friend or foe? When someone hurts you, do you write them off? When you run into an obstacle, do you easily give up? So often, we only see two options before us. Whether this is due to social conditioning or lack of training, this myopic view on life -- that things are either good or bad -- can seriously limit us from achieving our goals and beyond, as well as impede the great potential in our lives and our relationships. Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this fascinating presentation, which offers a new approach to dealing with virtually every challenge and confrontation in life. We shall call it The Third Option -- one that looks beyond the immediate and the obvious two dimensional perspective, and finds a third way to see things.

11 Juni 201855min

How would you define civilization? Do you think that the standards for a civilized society have changed over the years? Would we consider, say, ancient Greece as civilized? How would they consider us? Which words would you use to describe civilized: cultured, educated, ethical, enlightened, refined, sophisticated, advanced, or something else? Are there even objective values with which to measure civilization? Please join Rabbi Jacobson in this pre-Shavuot class as he presents a surprisingly new definition of civilized life based on the 3330-year old Sinai experience. Discover how this revolutionary event radically changed the universe and introduced the true meaning of a healthy civilization to the world. Learn how it offers us a blueprint for personal and global transformation and redemption.

24 Maj 201852min

How much energy and time do you expend on fighting your inner fears? The catch-22 is the more you dwell and obsess over your demons the stronger they become. Is there a way to 1) protect yourself from negativity in the first place? 2) fight your dark thoughts once they consume you? Please join Rabbi Jacobson as he addresses this urgent and crucial issue, which is all-pervasive, impacting virtually every aspect of our lives. Discover tools and methods to dispel fear and anxiety. Learn how to preempt and prevent negativity from entering your psyche, and how to free yourself from it after it has attacked. Find out how you can spend more time and energy cultivating your flowers instead of uprooting weeds.

24 Maj 201850min

How many partners are there in a relationship? Some say that there are at least six people -- the two spouses, and each of their parents, whose attitudes shaped (and often continue to shape) the lives of their children. When you consider past relationships, then you can throw in more partners -- since a previous relationship often continues to impact (or haunt) a present relationship? On the other end of the spectrum, some cynics argue that there really are no partners in a relationship; that ultimately a "relationship" is nothing more than a self-absorbed relationship with yourself, and your partner and all others are simply "props" to enhance the self. Now let's rephrase the question: How many partners are there in a healthy relationship (with emphasis on the word healthy)? Relationships are difficult enough without bringing into the mix parents and previous connections. So how many partners are necessary to create a robust, growthful and mutually enriching relationship?

14 Maj 20181h 2min

How important is respect in life? How would you rate the level of respect in society today? Is it strong, average or weak in our homes, schools and workplaces? And what are the consequences of a lack in respect? What impact does it have on us, our children and our world?

7 Maj 20181h 8min

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.

29 Apr 20181h 19min

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

29 Apr 20181h 19min

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

29 Apr 201849min