Mylife: Chassidus Applied

Addressing the Personal and Emotional Needs of Our Community and Answering the Most Pressing Questions of Our Lives — from the Perspective of Chassidic Thought MP3 recording of this class are available free of charge to members and $0.99  for non-members. Sign up HERE for your free membership. Topics: Chassidus Applied to Shelach Why recite a Maamar Chassidus when most people don’t understand? What is the difference between a sicha and a maamar? Is our yeshiva system – what we learn, how we learn, when we learn – based on the Rebbe’s guidelines? If so, what can we do if it isn’t working for many of our students? Why did the Rebbe not intervene to improve our yeshiva system? Is the main focus today on kabolas ol or on making Chassidus understandable and relevant? Follow-up (episodes 213-214): Despicable in the name of Torah My teenage friends are drowning: What can we do? Teaching students music Chassidus question: Parso’os – What is the concept of parso’os in Chassidus, its sources,

Chassidus Applied to Behaalotecho 118th anniversary of the Rebbe’s parents How can someone consider himself a chassid and not be careful with halacha? Is life in our hands or Hashem’s hands? Are special children deprived? Follow-up (episode 213): My teenage friends are drowning: What can we do? How to deal with religious OCD No intimacy in marriage Chassidus question: Why is the Omer counting not from malchus to chesed? My Life 2018 essays: What if You Cannot do a Mitzvah? Naomi Zirkind, 57, Baltimore, MD; “That’s How it Is” — Absolutely Not! How Torah Teaches Us to Think Out of the Box, Hillel Raskin, 22, Germany; Chassidus and Technology, Shiloh Yechezkel Betzalel, 20, Rechovot, Israel

Chassidus Applied to Bamidbar and Shavuos My teenage friends are drowning: What can we do? How to deal with religious OCD Are we sure that everyone has a soulmate? How to educate children about intimacy? How do we explain the words in Tanya that one has to let go of everything, including wife and children, for G-d? Follow-up (episode 212): Blessings on trees (episode 209) Giving years to the Rebbe No intimacy in marriage Healthy interaction with the opposite gender Chassidus question: What does Atzmus U’Mhus Ohr Ayn Sof mean? If we can’t define Atzmus how can we call it Ohr Ayn Sof? My Life 2018 essays: Chassidut, Polarization and the Opioid Crisis, Avrohom Karp, 22, Spring Valley; Chassidus: Revealing the True Me, Yosef Yitzchak Marneitz, 29, Beitar Illit, Israel; Overcoming Technology Addiction, Yisroel Cotlar, 36, Cary, North Carolina

Chassidus Applied to Behar-Bechukosei Is there any truth to the idea of chassidim and family members “giving” of their years to the Rebbe? Is the Torah always sensitive to people’s feelings? How can a spouse handle a relationship when there is absolutely no intimacy? What is the healthy way for a teenager to interact with the opposite gender? Follow-up (episodes 210-211): Butterflies Yarmulka Does G-d accept us for who we are? Moshiach and Geulah Was the holocaust a punishment? Chassidus question: According to this week’s Likkutei Torah, why does the Torah still call sheep כשבים (shin before beis) after Yaakov’s avodah of והפריד את הכשבים? My Life 2018 essays: Retroactive Healing: It’s in Our D.N.A., Nechama Dina Zwiebel, 45, Kingston, Pennsylvania; Is Man Superior to the Beast? Chani Tzaitlin, 34, Israel; The Chassidic Perspective on the Well-Being of the Elderly, Dror Yahav, 36, Ramat Gan, Israel

• Chassidus Applied to Chof Beis Shevat: 30th yahrzeit of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka 0:16 • Lessons from Parshas Mishpotim and Shekalim 14:40 • More tips for writing a winning MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay 18:53 • How do we determine the validity of a Torah teacher? 25:58 • Why did G-d create the world for His pleasure at our expense? 40:25 • How can we get men to be more refined in their approach to marriage and family? 46:07 • Follow-up: Chabad shul (episode 199) 53:22 • Why Don’t We Daven the Way Chassidus Expects of Us? Prayer continued 55:52 • Chassidus Question: Does the inanimate world “feel” things? 01:02:11

• Chassidus Applied to Purim 2:50 o How was Esther allowed to be married to Achashverosh? 4:08 o Why do we make noise when Haman's name is mentioned, giving him more attention than to Esther and Mordechai? 15:01 • Evaluating hundreds of great essays in this year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest 1:42 • How do we avoid passing on our trauma to our children? 20:57 • Should one wait for a stable parnassa before getting married? 23:41 • What constitutes healthy eating according to the Torah? 29:49 • Wall of shame forever? If a person has paid his dues for violating others should he be shamed for the rest of his life? 34:00 • Follow-up: o Parental abuse (episodes 201-202) 48:56 o Recent school shootings (episode 202) 50:06 o Secular books (episode 202) 53:45 o Prayer (episode 201) 55:56 o Lying (episode 85) 56:50 o General comments 58:14 • Chassidus Question: How does Chassidus explain G-d’s “anger” and “punishment”? 59:26

• Chassidus Applied to Parshas Vayikra and Rosh Chodesh Nissan 1:33 • Lessons from the 25th and 27th of Adar 17:54 • We have reached the second tier of evaluating the essays in this year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest 25:20 • What will the world look like when Moshiach comes? 27:35 • What is the Rebbe’s opinion on bariatric surgery and laser surgery? 38:51 • What to tell children about an absentee father? 45:09 • How to deal with the feeling of lost opportunities of my youth? 53:39 • Follow-up: o Home birthing (episode 204) 1:00:32 o G-d’s goodness (episodes 201-204) 1:05:32 o Shaming someone for their crimes? (episodes 202-204) 1:04:46 • Chassidus Question: Is the world of thought more real than the world of action? 01:08:39

• Chassidus Applied to Shabbos HaGadol and Parshas Tzav 10:48 • Lessons from Beis Nissan 3:23 • Final stages of evaluating this year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essays 18:03 • Why are we holding on to new chumros which don’t seem to be part of the original Torah? 37:56 • U’ldovka bo: to what extent does cleaving to the Rebbe attach one to G-d? 20:56 • What special powers does the Rebbe have? 32:09 • Follow-up: o Absentee parent (episode 205) 55:28 o Bariatric surgery (episode 205) 58:46 o Are Lubavitchers who live in Crown Heights second class citizens (episode 204) 1:03:40 • Chassidus Question: How do we apply the Chassidic example of a king in our modern age when we no longer have monarchs? 01:09:26

• Chassidus Applied to the month of Adar 6:05 • Lessons from Parshas Terumah and Shabbos Hafsokeh 13:57 • Closing days of the MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest 3:20 • Abuse issues: o Does a survivor need to show respect to an abusive parent 30:35 o How can a survivor avoid seeing Judaism as horrific when the abuse came from a Jewish role model? 32:25 • Why is Isaac referred to as Abraham’s only son? 45:44 • Why does a divorced woman have to cover her hair? 48:51 • What is the spiritual meaning of colors? 56:33 • Is it inappropriate for a bochur to earn parnossa before marriage? 51:42 • Follow-up: o More refined men (episode 200) 57:36 o Prayer (episode 199-200) 01:01:16 • Why Don’t We Daven the Way Chassidus Expects of Us? Prayer continued 01:03:50 • Chassidus Question: If the hidden good is greater than the revealed good, why do we wish each other revealed good? 01:07:12

• Chassidus Applied to Zayin and Tes Adar 3:20 • Lessons from Parshas Tetzaveh and Zachor 22:30 • Hundreds of essay submissions in this year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest 0:15 • What would the Rebbe say about the recent school shootings? 26:12 • Isn’t the Bar-Mitzvah Maamar too difficult for our children? 35:38 • Can we understand G-d? 42:15 • How to be an emotionally warm person? 47:27 • Do you recommend reading secular self-help books? 50:13 • Follow-up: Abusive parent (episode 201) 55:53 • Chassidus Question: Why do we assume that G-d is absolute goodness? 1:03:26

• Chassidus Applied to Parshas Vayakhel-Pikkudei and Parah 4:44 • The evaluation continues: hundreds of excellent essays in this year’s MyLife: Chassidus Applied essay contest 16:46 • Should we be following US Department of Health guidelines regarding time between pregnancies? 19:21 • What is the Rebbe's opinion on homebirth? 23:23 • Is it important to the Rebbe that I live in Crown Heights? 25:05 • How do I deal with a spouse who does not share my need for emotional connection? 37:03 • How do we create balance between tznius and maintaining a strong emotional passion between spouses? 45:33 • How to ensure that a spiritual high is channeled appropriately? 54:25 • Follow-up: o Wall of shame forever? Does a person has paid his dues for violating others need to be shamed for the rest of his life? (episode 203) 58:09 o Healthy eating (episode 203) 01:02:50 o G-d’s Anger (episode 203) 01:03:33 o Reward and punishment (episode 203) 01:04:22 • Chassidus Question:

• Chassidus Applied to Isru Chag 0:51 • Lessons from Parshas Shemini 15:07 • What lesson can I derive from a negative Seder experience? 23:42 • How do we correct wrongs if we can’t speak loshen hora? 29:19 • Aren’t we all shluchim? 35:09 • Shlichus follow-up (episodes 204; 206) 35:09 • Chassidus Question: What is the correct definition of the word bittul used in Chassidus? 57:00 • Reviewing My Life 2018 winning essays: o Top 3 winners: Reclaiming Vulnerability, by Leibel Gniwisch, 24, Montreal, Canada, Teacher, Lamplighters Yeshivah 1:02:35 5 Steps to Dealing with Perfectionism, by Chana Hendel, 18, shlucha, Athens, Greece 1:06:48 And Choose Life, by Shterny Tubul (nee Fogelman), 22, Natick, MA and Brooklyn, NY, Teacher, Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy. 01:08:10 o Student winners. Cognitive and Emotional Faculties, by Menachem Mendel Yeshayahu, 16, Haifa, Israel, Student, Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim Lod 1:11:10 Plus new bon

Chassidus Applied to Yud Alef Nissan; Yud Gimmel Nissan 0:29 • What is the connection between the Rebbe as the leader of the seventh generation and malchus? 8:03 • How do we reconcile the paradox of malchus – that it has no power of its own and that it,s all powerful? 9:56 • What does the Rebbe want and expect of us? Is shlichus the only option? 16:02 • What is the history of the Rebbe’s view on bochurim getting semicha? 23:48 • Lessons from Pesach 35:31 • Can pregnant woman drink four cups of grape juice? 38:26 • Why doesn’t Chabad sing or say the piyutim like Chad Gadya and Echad Mi Yodea? 39:15 • Follow-up: o Healthy anger (episode 204) 43:18 o Minyan that davens fast (episode 199) 47:08 o Parnosso before marriage (episodes 201; 203) 52:04 • Chassidus Question: o What is the differences between the kelipah of Mitzrayim, Midian and Amalek? 53:16 o Why is Golus Mitzrayim not include in the four goliyot (exiles)? 54:44 • Announcing the winners of thi

• Chassidus Applied to Iyar and Beis Iyar 1:45 • Lessons from Parshas Tazria-Metzora 16:54 • Why don’t we see Chassidim being scrupulous about making blessings on trees? 32:03 • Does negating secular education mean that we have to be ignorant? 35:33 o Are we obligated to teach our children a trade and how to make a living? o Should we not be teaching basic English and math skills? • How can I connect emotionally and not just intellectually? 47:26 • What is the Jewish perspective on chakras and the third eye? 54:26 • Follow-up: shlichus (episodes 204; 206-207) 59:22 • Chassidus Question: How do you explain in palatable terms the idea of a metzora according to Chassidus, as one lacking the bittul of “ohr abba”? 20:48 • My Life 2018 essays: The Holy Cow Diet, by Levi Teldon, 34, Shliach, San Antonio, Texas; Chassidic Emotional Intelligence, by Shraga Crombie, 37, Chabad House at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; HACK Your Addiction: Chassidus for the Smartphone Era

• Chassidus Applied to Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim and 13 Iyar 12:38 • What is the story with the Rebbe’s brother, R’ Yisroel Aryeh Leib? 0:57 • Why is there a discrepancy between the Torah reading in Israel and in the diaspora? 20:52 • Why are many women on a mitzva-based walkathon dressed not tzinus’dik? 29:30 • Chassidus question: What resides on the right side of the non-Jews’ heart? 35:21 • Are butterflies included in the Rebbe’s directive not to show children impure animals? 45:18 • Why do you wear a knitted yarmulke? 49:59 • Follow-up: o Blessings on trees (episode 209) 55:48 o Where to find a teacher to help understand Chassidus? (episode 209) 56:30 • Chassidus question: What is the deeper meaning of the Omer counting and the refinement of each of the 7x7 emotions? 59:16 • My Life 2018 essays: Head or Heart? A Study of Dealing with Conflict, Aidel Cohen, 23, Brooklyn, NY; Sefiras HaChochma: The Solution to Our Postmodern Crisis, Avrohom Goldshmid, 22, Brooklyn;