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...
Apr 21, 2022•39 min
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 tha...
Apr 14, 2022•36 min
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 w...
Apr 06, 2022•38 min
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 y...
Apr 01, 2022•28 min
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 se...
Mar 24, 2022•48 min
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!
Mar 21, 2022•52 min
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. No...
Feb 24, 2022•31 min
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 ...
Feb 17, 2022•32 min
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 ha...
Feb 10, 2022•27 min
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 ...
Feb 03, 2022•42 min
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? ...
Jan 27, 2022•28 min
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, po...
Jan 20, 2022•36 min
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 b...
Jan 13, 2022•37 min
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...
Jan 06, 2022•27 min
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 impa...
Dec 30, 2021•32 min
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 ...
Dec 23, 2021•39 min
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 ...
Dec 16, 2021•31 min
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 appeara...
Dec 09, 2021•31 min
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 ...
Nov 25, 2021•28 min
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...
Nov 18, 2021•34 min
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? Wha...
Nov 12, 2021•35 min
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 p...
Nov 04, 2021•31 min
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 organizat...
Oct 28, 2021•38 min
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 Spark...
Oct 21, 2021•37 min
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 obs...
Oct 14, 2021•29 min
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 ince...
Oct 07, 2021•35 min
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 pe...
Sep 02, 2021•30 min
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 tha...
Aug 26, 2021•32 min
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 o...
Aug 19, 2021•36 min
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 ...
Aug 12, 2021•30 min
