Tisha B’Av
When a temple is destroyed we have to ask ourselves who built the bulldozers.
Tisha b’av, which is Hebrew for the 9th of Av, is a major fast day during the Jewish month of Av. The ninth of Av commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, as well as a series of other tragic historical events that befell the Jewish people on Tisha Bav. In addition to the fast on Tisha B’av, there are other laws and customs of observing the day such as observing other mourning customs, reading Eicha (the book of Lamentations), and reading Kinot. The Meaningful Life Center offers deep, yet accessible, insights into Tisha B’av. Our archive of videos and essays will help you to learn not just what the 9th of Av events were, but what their spiritual and mystical ramifications were and how the spiritual dimension of the 9th of Av can enhance your life. Based on the mystical teachings of Chassidus, the insights offered by The Meaningful Life Center about Tisha B’av offer a hopeful vision of the future redemption.
Where Is G-d?
A correspondence between Rabbi Jacobson in response to a self-proclaimed agnostic.
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Why Is the World Fighting Over the Temple Mount?
What is it about the Temple Mount that causes the whole world to fight over it? Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a short talk about the Temple Mount, and learn about its mystical and historical significance.
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Comfort My People
Left with no one else to blame, the child erroneously sees himself as the culprit. And this self-loathing and sense of inadequacy further erodes the child’s confidence. It’s not your fault. Don’t allow yourself to be invalidated. You have all the strength necessary to pick up the pieces and rebuild your life.
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Three Weeks of Pain, Seven of Comfort, & Two of Return
Cracks in our systems shake us up; but a crack also exposes what lies within. We can be demoralized by the cracks or we can attempt to look between the cracks and see an emerging larger picture.
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What Happened as the Flames Rose? Tisha B’Av Workshop
Our sages tell us that Moshiach was born as the flames consuming the Holy Temple. Learn how the Western Wall, with all its cracks, carries immortality.
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Cracks in the Wall – What Can We Do About Israel? — Three Weeks Workshop
Discover how the Israel within your soul experiences its own battles, and how your actions allow you to bring peace to yourself and to the land of Israel.
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To See Through the Eyes of a Mystic – Pre-Tisha B’Av Workshop
Take a journey into the inner worlds of reality. Gaze through the eyes of the Arizal as depicted in his mystical works.
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The Desolate Mountain: When Nothing is Everything. A Pre-Nine Days Workshop
Eye-opening Nine Days Workshop. The mightiest power lays buried in the most unglamorous places. Learn the deceptive nature of material existence.
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Back to the USSR: Dispatch from Moscow
How does Russian history affect our Jewish lives today?
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Although I am not Jewish, I always enjoy Simon Jacobson’s material. I am terribly dismayed to see that so many people can not look past the “religion” to see the deep, complex universal teachings that are practically relevant to every human life. I have learnt so much from this amazing modern scholar!
-Ismiallh