ChabadLife.TV Street Farbrengen

Countless teachings of an unprecedented style and amount. Correspondence through letters are in the hundreds of thousands. Hours of private audience with people from all walks of life, Jewish and not. He even answers millions of people until today! Rabbi Adin Steinsalz once remarked that “the most remarkable thing about the (Lubavitcher) Rebbe - was his enormous drive. To always supercede oneself,...

What’s the process here? How is it that every year I feel like the last? What am I missing here? Can Pesach be more than a Jewish thanksgiving for an ancestral exodus? Reuven and Zacharia discuss Egypt, eating Cake, and Geulah in America...

Do you ever run your life like there is a mountain over your head?  Habits become the driver and routine becomes your chariot?  Zecharia want to know what's on Reuven's mind. "Purim", suggests Reuven, "is all about personal choice. Do I feel like I am choosing my life or do I go along with the flow?"

The essence of all Chassidic Red Letter Calendar dates is Rebbe and Chassidus. The two are united, as the Rebbe once said:  the spokesperson for Chabad is the Maamar.   Chassidus is life, not simply a theological or political platform of sorts. In this episode Zacharia and Reuven grapple with how to approach Chassidus as consciousness and not just information.

How do you define being a chassid? Is a chassid defined by who the Rebbe is or who he or she is? Sounds like a strange question. In truth it's important to know how you understand who you are in order to clarify who the Rebbe is! Reuven and Zacharia dive into the bitul of a Chassid in our generation as we come close to Yud Shevat. 

Hei Teves is a “red letter” date on the Chabad calendar. Its significance at the time was enormous. Many years later is its celebration simply adding to your personal library? Zechariah explains his unique understanding of what the day truly means for him and the rest of us. His opinion is a surprise, as is his custom:   “Hei Teves is not about the Rebbe!!!"

Reuvan and Zechariah are challenged to continue the conversation. Joined by Moshe Friedman who answers the question, "what do I do when negative emotions try to disconnect me from my relationship to G-d? What place do my emotions have in serving G-d and how far can we extend it?" Where is my safe space?

This week Zacharia and Reuven are with Dovid Losh, Moshpia at Achi Tmimim. How can we, as a moshpia, a parent, a friend, sit across the table without judgement and help each other move forward in life?  At what point do we stop numbing out our lives and finally say (yell, cry, scream) "I want to change!"

Zacharia and Reuven are with Eli Erenthal, Director Of Operations Director Of Operations of Our Village - Sober Living. "What needs to be done" explains Eli, "is creating a safe non-confrontational space for each other, a Community which  supports and nurtures."  Can a farbrengen fulfill the instructions of the Previous Rebbe “But this reproving at a farbrengen is only for such...

The cultural waves of interest and participation with , psychedelics, legal marijuana, and the long time acceptance of alcohol,  is now part of the Jewish religious culture in general and Chabad specifically. What fuels the increased use of mind altering substances in the community? What is found in psychedelics which cannot be experienced in Jewish and Chassidic life? Join Zecharia and Reuven in...

Reuven reaches the Big 65. He struggles with his Time Line. So many different decades all with their own color and hue. How do you incorporate your past with the present and the future? How do you connect the folly of youth with the maturity of your later years? Is it futile to live young, when as the great musical poet Leonard Cohen writes " my hair is gray and I ache in all the places I use...

Can you  evaluate performance and success without a  standard  to compare to? Can you be accountable without a system to do so?  Street Farbrengen invites you to join Zecharia and Reuven to join Street Farbrengen's Whats APP program Three 4  83 . Dedicated to support  develop  strategies and accountability for your  most successful year possible Three 4  83 i s a group of likeminded friends w...

We take an honest look at Elul/Tishrei Season. Why will this year be  different than what I did last year? Can we control the outcome better than ever?  Reuven and Zacharia grapple with  what to do to make this year's New Year season have more impact than ever. They both commit to planning  for the next year. You are invited  to join in. A Kasiva Vchasima Tova!

Zacharia and Reuven continue the discussion on Chesbon Hanefesh - evaluating who you really are is  a behavior check list or something different?  Who are we anyway? Does my behavior define who I am?  What if what I am doing on a regular basis is not who I really feel to be?  Is finding my  true identity a " Mission Impossible".

It is Zacharia’s birthday!  This means its time for a farbrengen. It is time to make decisions, soul level decisions for the next year. Time for making accounts, ‘ taking inventory’ on where you are at, and where you wish to be this upcoming year. Reuven and Zacharia take an inward dive into “ why am I here” and 'what will I now do? ‘ in real time, as Zacharia works on a birthday cheshbon han...

What do we walk away with after Yud Beis, Yud Gimmel Tammuz. Venerate : regard with great respect; revere. Generate : cause (something, especially an emotion or situation) to arise or come about. Are you in the habit to venerate your Chassidic life or generate it?  Zaharia and Reuven continue to drill down on the idea of living from your core. In the words of the 12 Step program: Do I look for a G...

The ultimate work is to inject light into darkness, or in Chassidic terminology " enclothing light in vessels. How do you bind together two diametrically opposed states? The Rebbe explains there is a meeting point . Zacharia and Reuven struggle to apply this to Gimmel Tammuz. Can Gimmel Tammuz be light rather than what it appears to be ? 

We live in a generation filled with confusion.  Often times we hear one thing and see what is being done  is an entirely  different matter. What does it take to live and walk in clarity? Can we give our children and students a clear message, that is honest, authentic and leading in the right direction?  Singer songwriter Moshe Feiglin joins Zacharia and Reuven on Street Farbrengen. He jumps into S...

The natural step  is to identify what you love, pursue it and the journey makes you happy. Why then is the tradition to the Shavuous blessing "  Mekabel the Torah b'simcha U'bpinimius, accept the Torah with Joy and b'pnimius , first joy and then what you relate to! Zecharia and Reuven grapple with the foremost issue that every parent is challenged with - the uninterested or reb...

Do you feel you live in a world void of the spiritual mentor you wish you had? In this segment of Street Farbrengen Zacharia shares his formula for connecting to a mentor for any area in your life.  Meanwhile Reuven shares his struggle with "doing Chitas and Rambam."  Zacaharia says no problem. Just visualize your Chitas mentor. Reuven takes the challenge.   We would love to hear what yo...

The RaMBam writes: Every one is endowed with free will; if one desires to bend toward the good path and to be just- it is within their  power to reach out for it, and if one desires to bend to a bad path and to be wicked- it is within the power of his hand to reach out for it. And, this matter is great and integral, the very pillar of the Torah and its precepts, as it is written: "See, I have...

On the 28th of Nissan The Rebbe told an audience standing in 770 ( and thousands afterwards ) that the efforts of over 40 years were vain, and the proof? The Chassidim were dissociated from themselves (a galus Pnimi) in service of G-d. So just look! You cry about how much longer must we stay in Galus? ( Ad masai ) is only because I tell you to.  The task is to come to the table of your Jewish Mosh...

The Chabad world marked the 120th birthday of the  Rebbe with public celebrations and  renewed commitments. Continuing from Street Farbrengen Episode Real Rebbe Reality Rebbe, Zacharia and Reuven tackle the 4th explanation describing a relationship between Rebbe and Chassid.  In Likutei Diburim the Previous Rebbe calls it " Shiner  and light". The difference is between  expecting events,...

This week we celebrate Yud Aleph Nissan.  There are four levels a Chassid can connect to a Rebbe. For some it is through the book shelf. For some, it is a source of caring, a source for voicing pain and asking for healing. Some mirror the Rebbe. And the highest level is Sun and sunlight.   What really does it mean to be a Chassid of the Rebbe today?

Chassidim have been challenged since the movement began. Chabad Chassidim have a double task. Live with Geulah and spread the lifestyle around. Is this practical?  There are bombs falling on the Ukraine!! Does it make you scream "get a life and be real."