Meaningful Life Skills with Rabbi Simon Jacobson

You can't live with it; you can't live without it. If ever this expression applies it certainly applies to the ego. Without an ego we lose our personality and self-confidence, not to mention our natural instinct for self-preservation. Too great of an ego can hurt us and others. But how much of an ego is healthy? And above all: How big is your ego? Are you able to answer that question when your ego...

Glaringly missing from all the controversy and debate raging around now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious confirmation hearings is the underlying issue that lays at the heart of the matter: Sexuality. Or in legal terms: Roe vs. Wade - the 1973 landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman's constitutional legal right to an abortion. In a twist of irony, the last-minute...

Balance is the healthiest and most coveted approach to life and the challenges we encounter. Extremes usually lead to undesired consequences. When we act desperately, without disciplined composure and presence of mind, we usually make mistakes and go too far in one direction or another. Yet there are times when extreme measures are warranted. How does one determine when to exercise an extreme appr...

We all want a good life. But what does "good" mean? Does it signify anything more than a platitude? The traditional New Year greeting is to be blessed with a "good and sweet year." What is the difference between "good" and "sweet'? Why are these specific terms used? Please join Rabbi Jacobson is this pre-Rosh Hashana talk and discover how the two dimensions of "good and sweet" capture the primary...

How high can we reach and how do we reach there? These two questions lie at heart of life's "big" questions. Some argue that we mortals are quite limited and cannot reach very far. Others add that even if you were able to reach to the stars, you wouldn't know how to or you wouldn't be able to find a vehicle that can take you there. These perspectives hardly leave us with much hope to discover grea...

How many of today's marriages are healthy and successful? What even defines success in marriage? Is it simply two people getting along, or is there more to it? While failed marriages can be difficult to measure, current statistics show up to a 50% divorce rate. And that does not take into account dysfunctional marriages and emotionally divorced couples who remain only technically married. So we ar...

We usually associate great power with sheer size and strength. A while back the strongest army was the one with the most military personnel and the largest weapons and arsenal. But as science has increasingly demonstrated, it's not quantity but quality that wields the greatest potency. The splitting of a microscopic atom can deliver far more energy than the largest weapon. Same with the human body...

Do you consider yourself ordinary? Who would you describe as being extraordinary? What defines a hero? Who are the people you admire most? Are they also your role models? What are our criteria for greatness? The standards for excellence in our modern culture are quite confusing. The idols we worship today -- superstars in sports, Hollywood, TV and all our other cultural symbols -- deeply skew and...

Some of life's greatest lessons can be derived from the cosmos. We can learn much just from just looking up at the heavens and seeing the celestial bodies in space. This is especially true of the moon, which continues to mesmerize the human race. Its close proximity to earth, its haunting glow, its phases and effects on our tides and plants -- have, and continue to feed romance, science, religion...

Fear is one of the most debilitating -- and invisible -- forces that we need to contend with in life. How does one find courage to face fear? It seems like a catch-22 situation: Fear is the antithesis of courage. If you have fear, how can you muster up courage to fight fear; and if you have courage, then you have no need to fear the fear. Is there a way our of this quagmire? All this gets more com...

Why is it that we an't seem to free ourselves of our pasts even when we determine to proceed on with our lives? What is it about the past that keeps us down and even trapped? Why can't we just shake off previous experiences and move forward? In this powerful class Rabbi Jacobson uncovers the mysterious power of inertia created by our pasts, and teaches us how to loosen its hold. Learn how to unclo...

Independence Day seems to be a good time to take stock of your own state of independence. Do you feel free or do you feel subjugated to forces controlling your life -- your job, expectations of others, your inner fears? Is your spirit light and soaring like a bird, or are you weighed down and drained? Perhaps this compels us to ask the bigger question: What actually is true independence? Is it a p...

Integrity is a critical component in virtually every aspect of existence. From infrastructures to relationships, from nature to medicine, from education to leadership - when integrity is compromised the entire entity is jeopardized. Integrity engenders trust and builds confidence and stability. Nothing, frankly, can be relied upon if their is no integrity. And yet, most of us can agree that we liv...

With high profile celebrity suicides in recent news, this painfully tragic issue has returned to the fore. Perhaps the single most dreaded and shame-filled act, suicide remains one of the darkest deeply hidden secrets in a family's life. Citing statistics about something so alarming, seems callous and insensitive, yet this unfortunate data can hopefully serve to propel us to action with increased...

"Trust me" is one of the most untrustworthy statements one can make. Would you trust someone simply because they ask you (or tell you) to trust them? Trust must be earned. This is especially true in a situation -- and an environment -- in which trust has been violated, and people have been hurt by those they trusted. But how does one earn trust? Trust is the single most important ingredient in any...

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...

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 c...

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...

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...

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?

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 vulnerabil...

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, th...

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...

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...

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...