Meaningful Life Skills with Rabbi Simon Jacobson

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

1 Maj 202052min

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.

23 Apr 202050min

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.

2 Apr 202051min

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.

26 Mars 202050min

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.

19 Mars 202034min

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.

12 Mars 202045min

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.

5 Mars 202042min

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.

27 Feb 202044min