Obviously when we stand as observers on the sidelines, we don’t allow ourselves the risk of being hurt, but we also don’t allow ourselves to benefit from the beauty of gaining something in a relationship either. In a way they are two sides of one coin, because if there’s no love there’s no pain and if there’s no connection, there’s no disconnection. Those are exactly the same topic.” For him, relationships and pain and suffering are one and the same. So the host, without missing a beat, said, “Those aren’t two topics. And topic number two, in that list of the top ten, at least in my experience, is pain and suffering.” I was invited to speak once somewhere and the host asked me, “So tell me, what is the main topic that people are mostly interested in hearing?”Īnd I said, “Well, the number one topic that everything is interested in hearing about is relationships, marriage, sexuality, intimacy. These are really large, million dollar questions, particularly living as we do in an age of cynicism. ![]() ![]() I also want to address the questions: Is there a spiritual root to the discord in relationships? Is there a secret to an eternal union? How can we heal marriage and introduce some form of eternity into our lives? Is there such a thing as a marriage the lasts forever? Is there such a thing as forever? Of anything eternal? When they enter into a relationship, they wonder what the odds are that anything will be maintained and wonder how long it will last. The reason I connect it to the cosmic level is that there is so much disillusionment in relationships, especially with the crisis of intimacy that we go through in our day and time with the high divorce rate, and an erosion of confidence, so that many people feel that there’s no hope. So someone suggested that we do something on the cosmic marriage its parallels with life down on earth, and the issue of marriage in general: of how we, in our personal lives, can find a relationship that’s eternal. It’s the day when G-d gave the Torah to the human race, to mankind and it’s compared to a marriage. Shavuot is essentially the holiday of the marriage between heaven and earth. In that context, the “grassroots” have stated that since the holiday of Shavuot is coming up (some of you may not be familiar with this holiday, the holiday 49-50 days after Passover), we should do something on that theme. It’s your comments and feedback that help me decide the topics of future shows. It’s part of the inherent approach of our radio show and of our website and all the other activities of the Meaningful Life Center that each of us has something unique to contribute and that you have it within you-you just have to cut away the impediments. The philosophy and the theme of this show and of the Meaningful Life Center is that you and I and everyone out there has a G-d-given divine soul that gives you legitimacy and makes you indispensable-therefore you have all the resources you need in your life to be able to find the deepest form of meaning, growth, and developing meaningful relationships, and in a sense feeling like we make an impact, an imprint on this world that changes it in one way or another.Īt the same time, the traditional system of Torah and Judaism offers us that power, not by giving us something from outside but something that comes from within. We’ve all been inundated with so many different gurus and religious systems dogmatically presenting their style and approach. ![]() We’ve been getting great emails from listeners who’ve written to me about past shows, future ideas, and in general, following the philosophy of this show, come together in a grassroots type of search for a meaningful life. We’re on every Sunday from 6-7pm, 1050AM WEVD in New York. ![]() Rabbi Simon Jacobson: Welcome back to “Toward a Meaningful Life” and yours truly, Simon Jacobson. Toward a Meaningful Life with Simon Jacobson
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |