Let's talk about God. What does God mean to you? Is God real or superstition? Do you have a personal relationship with God, or is God simply part of the culture and home you grew up in?

This three-letter word "God" evokes perhaps more conversation and debate than any other word.

And the debates continue to rage. There are firm believers, firm non-believers, firm agnostics -- and those not so firm in their beliefs. Everyone has an opinion on the matter. The battle between science and religion continues to impact society to this day. With the advent of the Enlightenment, known as the Age of Reason, free and open inquiry challenged absolute religious authority. Many felt that science would replace religion. But has that happened? Are faith and reason compatible? Is God a contradiction to an open, questioning mind? Is God necessary?

What is most interesting -- and bizarre -- is that while we argue over God, we may not even agree or know what the word means! Before we agree or disagree - before we say whether we believe or don't believe - shouldn't we first define the meaning of the thing we are discussing? Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev once told a self-proclaimed atheist: "The God you don't believe in, I also don't believe in." Think about that!

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this important conversation that has an impact on everything and anything we are involved in. Let's talk about God and discover what God truly means. And then we can determine whether God is relevant to our lives.

Love - we all need it and yet we find it so difficult to attain. It is perhaps the most elusive of all experiences.

What is love? Is is real or just a chemical reaction? Is it just another physical/psychological aspect to our being or is there something deeper, a spiritual/ethereal component to love?

Schopenhauer notoriously wrote, “Love is based on an illusion and represents what is an advantage to the species as an advantage to the individual.”

Is this correct? Is love simply a way of nature tricking and deceiving us in order to perpetuate the species? Are we simply being fooled into “loving” in order to survive?

Or is there something more transcendent, something deeper going on?

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this vital conversation and discover that not only is love real, it is actually the key to turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, the mundane into the sublime. Love is our ability to bring eternity into our impermanent lives; infuse immortality into our mortality; fuse the infinite and the finite.

Think

Importance

Mission

Energy

Is time your friend or your enemy?

On one hand we’re always trying to beat the clock and meet deadlines. The pressure of time - the constant tik tok, tik tok - can be overwhelming and even downright scary. Our time is limited, every minute that passes can never be reclaimed and it keeps on moving no matter what. We literally cannot do anything physical to stop time and the aging process.

On the other hand, time keeps us moving, motivating us to make the most of it. It reflects our full life journey - the past, present and future. It defines our milestones and achievements. It’s the way we function and get anything and everything done. Time is the fuel that keeps our life on track.

What exactly is time? Is it real or imaginary? Does it have a soul? How should we best utilize our time and manage it most efficiently? How can time become our ally?

Join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for this critical discussion on the very nature of time. Discover four steps -- reflected in the four-letter acronym of T.I.M.E. -- that will empower you to tap into the energy of time and enhance your life. Learn how to maximize your time in fulfilling your very mission in this world.

How would you rate your self esteem? And how do we even define self worth? What do we consider valuable? Is it how much money you have; how many possessions you own? Is it how many friends you have; how much love you have in your life?

And who defines self worth? Do we define it ourselves? Or do others define it?

We live in a world where we are inundated from every direction by all types of voices trying to sell us something. If you buy this, you'll look better and you'll feel more valuable and more worthy. But is our worth so surface based, so superficial. Additionally, we are faced with constant demands and expectations -- from parents, educators, employers and employees, family, media, politicians and more -- competing for our attention, time and energy. No wonder that we find it often difficult to discover ourselves -- to appreciate who we are and our own inherent value, independent of all these forces. Can others give us our worth or should our worth be generated from within?

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson as he discusses this critical topic that affects us all. Discover how to recognize your true value -- that which makes you truly indispensable. Learn how to build inner security and confidence, enabling you to make healthier choices and decisions, and helping you actualize your greatest potential.

Do Spiritual People Live Longer?
What is the secret to living a long and healthy life? Much has been said and written about the importance of maintaining physical fitness -- balanced diet, regular exercise, ample sleep, avoiding toxins, and so on. But how about our emotional, psychological and spiritual health? What effect does, say, anxiety and stress have on our welfare and longevity? How much do our fears and insecurities drain and erode our immunity systems? 
Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for a dynamic discussion on the virtues of living a more meaningful and spiritual life. Discover how to introduce transcendence into your daily routines, how to build and embrace eternal foundations and values, and how that will help free you from the stresses and pressures that take their toll on your health. Learn how to unleash forces in your soul that will allow you to live a more fulfilling and a longer life, quantitatively and qualitatively.

One of the greatest challenges in life is how to rebuild after loss, how to reclaim dignity after we've been violated, how to experience rebirth after we've been traumatized, how to find resolution after something may have been destroyed.

Tonight is Tisha B'Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, when the Temple was destroyed. This day represents and personifies destruction on all levels, global, communal and personal.

However, the good news is that within the destruction and within the challenges, lies the birth of hope, reconciliation and building something even greater that what was there before.

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this vital conversation on how to comfort others and how to be comforted yourself. Discover the 5 R’s - five steps to build empathy: Reconnect. Recognize. Rebirth. Rebuild. Renewal.

Life is often fraught with challenges and difficulties. Yes, there are many times where life is thankfully filled with celebrations, joy, happiness, beautiful events and experiences. But there is no person on earth who hasn’t also been affected by the other part of life, the pain and suffering, the distress and anxieties – everybody has dealt with this in their own personal lives.

Which brings us to the age-old question: How can a good G-d allow bad things to happen? If G-d is just, how can injustice occur? Why are good people made to suffer?There are those who have rejected G-d for this precise reason. But does a G-dless life make it easier to suffer? The fact is that each of us – no matter who you are – feels pain when we see innocent people senselessly suffer. If we did not have a sense of justice and compassion, why do we expect goodness to be rewarded? Why are we troubled when good people suffer? For many people G-d is actually their only solace and source of hope in difficult times. But the question still looms large: how can a good G-d allow bad things to happen?  Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this engaging class tackling the difficult questions of theodicy, reconciling a good and just G-d with a life where evil and bad things happen. What is the healthy way to face pain and suffering? Can we understand G-d’s ways? How do we remain strong and grow through challenges?

Do you feel alive, truly alive? Is your life filled with enthusiasm, energy, passion and excitement?

We all go through ups and downs in life; there are times that we are sluggish and can feel unmotivated, uninspired, apathetic, and even zombie-like. And there are times that we feel like we are burning on all cylinders, making the most of our time and actualizing our potential.

What state do you generally find yourself in? Is our energy level simply based on our moods and vicissitudes? Is it dependent on how we are wired: Are some people just more spirited than others? Or are we all able to achieve high octane levels to feel fully alive? And if so, what can one do to stimulate this state of being not only biological alive, not merely surviving, but living life to the fullest -- with spirit, energy and passion?

Imagine what it would feel like to wake up each morning and jump out of bed with powerful anticipation, a mindset to seize the day and accomplish great things!

And imagine being able to do so day after day, at full speed without burning out. Of course we all need moments of respite to reboot and recharge, but overall how wonderful it would be to generate and initiate that type of energy?

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson and discover powerful methods to invigorating and electrifying your life, making the most of every moment and unleashing your tremendous potential. Learn the five levels of your soul -- each one brimming with more energy than the next, and how to harness these dimensions to infuse into your life passion, fervor and inspiration and begin living a life that is truly alive.

What power and potency do our words carry?

Words are everywhere. Books, media, video, marketing, talk radio -- the list goes on. Words inundating us from every direction. And of course, the words we use endlessly. Words we think, speak and write. Do we even know how many words we utter a day? How many words we text? How many words we communicate?

Do our words matter? How many of them are meaningful and how many are insignificant, even nonsense? How many of our words are hurtful and destructive?

To speak comes so easily that we often take it for granted. Being that we have no quota for how many words we can say in a day we just talk, talk, talk…

At the same time words contain tremendous power. Language is the basis of all communication and transmission of knowledge and experience; conversations between people who love each other, between strangers, between spouses, parents and children. Words create relationships, connections and attachments. Kind and loving words bring us together; healthy discourse leads to collaborations; the written word over generations allows us to build on accumulated knowledge, transforming our lives. And hateful language can bring terrible destruction.

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson for an eye, ear and mouth-opening conversation on the power of our words. Words -- speech, language -- are a gift we have been blessed with. It's time to pause and become more deliberate about the words we use. To step back and ask ourselves: What exactly am I doing with my gift of words? What words am I expressing, to whom and to what end? If you had a quota of words you can say on a given day, what words would you choose?