Weekly Women's Class by Rabbi YY Jacobson

This class was presented on Tuesday, 21 Teves, 5785, January 21, 2025, Parshas Vaera, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

Why did Amram marry his aunt, a relationship that would be later forbidden? Moshe, who gave the Torah, was born from this flawed union? Why did Moshe, the humblest of men, say to G-d he is ready to be priest and king? Why was Saul rebuked for arrogance when he actually refused to be king and rejected the power? Why did Moshe tell Hashem, "Who am I?" Did he think G-d did not know him well? 

The class delves into the mechanism to liberate ourselves from being captive to the inner voices of fear, anxiety, insecurity, and the need for validation—by energetically discovering how we are channels for infinity.

We discuss what makes a good therapist, rabbi, teacher, leader, and mentor. When therapists or rabbis are not worked out emotionally, they can wreak havoc. Great teachers, healers, and leaders are mirrors, reflecting back to you who you really are. When these mirrors are broken, you start believing you are broken, and you become dependent rather than confident and self-reliant.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 14 Teves, 5785, January 14, 2025, Parshas Shemos, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 7 Teves, 5785, January 7, 2025, Parshas Vayechi, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

We all carry pain in our hearts. Sometimes it's an old wound that won't let go, sometimes a betrayal that's hard to forget, and sometimes a deep feeling of loneliness that no one understands. This class reveals the deep secret of Yosef—the person who went through the greatest darkness and turned it into light. How did a boy who lost his mother at the age of 8, was thrown into a pit full of snakes by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused of a false conspiracy, and spent 12 years in prison – how did he manage not only to survive but to love with so much joyful presence, happiness, and serenity? How did he remain sensitive and open rather than become cynical and stone-like?

If you are dealing with:

• Deep mental pain

• Traumas from the past

• Emotional crises

• Loneliness and disconnection

• An injury that is hard to forget

• A feeling of helplessness

This class will show you how to get out of the darkness and into the light, reconnect with the joy of life, and discover the divine power that lies within us.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 30 Kislev, the sixth day of Chanukah, 5785, December 31, 2024, Parshas Vayigash, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

The Midrash describes an odd detail in Greek persecution of the Jews during the time of the Chanukah story: The Jew’s were forced to write a renunciation of their faith on the ‘horn of an ox.’ What on earth did the poor ox have to do with this sorry chapter in Jewish history?

Pharaoh is mesmerized by Joseph's wisdom. "Can there be another person who has G-d's spirit in him as this man does?" Pharaoh asks his advisors. "There is none as understanding and wise as you," he says to Joseph. "You shall be over my house, and according to your word shall all my people be ruled; only the throne I will make greater than you."

Pharaoh says to Joseph: “I am Pharaoh; yet without you, no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

There is something strange here. It seems that Pharaoh is concerned Joseph will usurp his position and he must tell him, not once but twice, that he is working under the king. But what would trigger this concern?

If you are dealing with an unscrupulous person, we can understand this type of talk. But it is obvious that Pharaoh was impressed by Joseph’s wisdom and humility. What is more, Pharaoh told Joseph, “according to your word shall all my people be ruled.” Clearly, this is “my people.” I am their leader. Why the need to state again, “only the throne I will make greater than you."

Also the words of Pharaoh to Joseph are strange: “Only the throne I will make greater than you." What a strange expression to employ. Why does he not say, “the throne remains greater than you?” or something similar. Does Pharaoh need to increase the greatness of the throne due to Joseph’s appointment?

What is even more enigmatic are the words of the Midrash, that Pharaoh’s words to Joseph teach is that also G-d remains greater and holier than His people. This is so strange.

 was the second Rebbe of Ger, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Altar (1847-1905), known as the Sefas Emes, who presented a deeper explanation of this midrash. We also come to understand the conflict between the Greeks and the Jews embodied by the festival of Chanukah.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 23 Kislev, 5785, December 24, 2024, Parshas Miketz, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, has two dreams. In the first, Pharaoh sees himself standing over the Nile River, and then, seven fat cows emerge from the river, followed by seven thin cows. The thin cows proceed to swallow the fat ones and yet remain just as thin as before. In his second dream, Pharaoh sees seven thin, shriveled ears of grain swallow seven fat ears of grain.

None of the wise men of Egypt can offer Pharaoh a satisfactory interpretation of his dreams. Finally, Joseph is summoned from his dungeon; he interprets the dreams to mean that seven years of plenty, symbolized by the fat cows and fat grain, will be followed by seven years of hunger, reflected by the lean cows and the shriveled ears. The seven years of famine will be so powerful that they will "swallow up" and obliterate any trace of the years of plenty.

Joseph then advises Pharaoh to prepare for the looming crisis by stockpiling food during the years of plenty and then rationing it out during the famine. Pharaoh is blown away by Joseph's vision. "Can there be another person who has G-d's spirit in him as this man does?" he asks his advisors. He appoints Joseph viceroy of Egypt, and the rest is history.

A number of blatant questions instantly emerge in this story:

1) Why did Joseph proceed to give Pharaoh unsolicited advice on how to deal with the impending famine? Pharaoh summoned Joseph, a slave, from the dungeon to interpret his dreams, not to become the advisor to the king!?

2) Pharaoh was amazed by Joseph's interpretation of the dreams, which none of his own wise men could conceive. But Joseph's interpretation seems simple and obvious: When are cows fat? When there is lots of food. When are they lean? When there's no food. Why could no one else conceive of the same interpretation? And why was Pharaoh so impressed?

3) Pharaoh was also thunderstruck by Joseph's solution to the problem of the famine. But one need not be a rocket scientist to suggest that if you have seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, you should store food during the time of plenty for the time of hunger. What's the genius in Joseph's advice?

This class will explain and highlight Joseph’s true brilliance and demonstrate how it remains as relevant as ever to each of us struggling to survive our own private ‘years of famine.’

We all experience in our own lives cycles of plenty and cycles of famine. There are times when things are going very well: We are healthy, successful, and comfortable. And there are times of recession and challenges when curveballs come our way. Joseph taught us how to prepare in our years of plenty for our years of famine.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 16 Kislev, 5785, December 17, 2024, Parshas Vayeshev, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 9 Kislev, 5785, December 10, 2024, Parshas Vayishlach, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 2 Kislev, 5785, December 3, 2024, Parshas Vayeitzei, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 25 Cheshvan, 5784, November 26, 2024, Parshas Toldos, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

This class was presented on Tuesday, 18 Cheshvan, 5784, November 19, 2024, Parshas Chayei Sara, at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, NY.

What happens when we function perfectly on the outside, do everything 'properly,' but inside something is frozen, disconnected, like on an automaton? It has already become a way of life, and we are used to it, but the soul knows something more is available. This class explores one of the deepest pains of our generation: disconnect.

A surprising discovery by the Gaon of Vilna sheds light on the difference between a functional life and a real life. Through the seven times that the burial of the dead is mentioned in the parsha, we will discover how it is possible to free the heart from the prison built around it, and return to feeling - without fear, shame, and defenses.