80 Years Later: A Miracle in Auschwitz The heartbreaking regrets of the dying reveal an uncomfortable truth: We spend our lives seeking approval, hiding our authentic selves, and forgetting why we came into this world. Abraham and Sarah offer another way. G-d promised him a nation, a homeland, and an extraordinary future. At 137, he had no grandchildren and not even a burial plot. Yet he was blessed with everything. What did Abraham understand that we are missing? Why is a Torah portion about death called Chayei Sarah, the Life of Sarah? Because Abraham and Sarah reveal the secret of a meaningful existence: Live authentically, embrace your divine mission, stop chasing approval, and discover the serenity that comes from knowing why you are alive. This life-changing class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, Parshas Chayei Sarah, 23 Cheshvan, 5787, November 3, 2026. View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/10022

The Ugliest Man Rabbi Elazar Ever Met Was Himself: The Most Disturbing Talmudic Story When Hagar is dying of thirst beside her dying son, the Torah does not say that G-d created a well or sent an angel with water. It says something far more startling: vayifkach Elokim et eineha — "G-d opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water." The water was already there. The salvation was already within reach. She was weeping over the absence of something that was fully present — she simply could not see it. Building on the Chiddushei HaRim (quoted by the Sfas Emes) — that everything a person needs already stands before him, if only he would open his eyes to see it — this class explores the quiet miracle that is harder than any splitting of the sea: not G-d changing our reality, but G-d changing the way we see the reality we already have. From Helen Keller's awakening at a water pump, to Otto Frank discovering the inner world of a daughter he thought he knew, we confront how even profound love can fail to truly see the human being standing in front of us. The class then turns inward through one of the strangest stories in the Talmud (Taanis 20b): Rabbi Elazar, flush with Torah and pride, insults an "exceedingly ugly" man — who, the Tosafos tell us, may have been Elijah himself, and who, on a deeper level, may have been Rabbi Elazar's own soul confronting his own ego. "Go tell the Craftsman who made me how ugly is the vessel He fashioned." We learn that the soul has no shame — only the ego does; that to call ourselves ugly or worthless is to speak against the One who created us; and that real growth comes not from self-contempt but from self-respect, from seeing ourselves as we were before the trauma and before the shame. We meet people only as deeply as we meet ourselves. The same open eyes that let Hagar see the well let us finally see our spouse, our parents, our children — and ourselves. The well is already there. Our work is to open our eyes. This class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, Parshas Vayeira, 16 Cheshvan, 5787, October 27, 2026. View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/10015

As the Plane Dipped, He Stood. Would I Have Done the Same? This class, presented on Tuesday, Parshas Bereishis, 25 Tishrei, 5787, Oct. 6, 2026. explores the extraordinary, miraculous story of the FlyDubai flight, flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv, saved by the co-pilot who attempted to murder hundreds, maybe thousands. It speaks of twelve miracles that saved the day and caused a nation to erupt in praise and dance.  The class tells the story of sibling rivalry throughout Bereishis, beginning with Kayin and Hevel, ending with Joseph and his brothers. It contrasts the stories of Adam and Eve and Kayin and Hevel, who avoid responsibility for genuine leadership, which assumes responsibility. It shows the difference between Kayin and Yosef, and how that inspired Moshe to go out to his brothers and stand up when "there was no man." The class concludes with a lesson to each of us, even the simple ones, to have the courage to "storm the cockpit" and bring our plane home.  View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/10001

My Journey to Open My Heart; The Teshuvah of Coming Back to Myself In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi YY Jacobson, one of the foremost online teachers of Torah, about how each of us can experience redemptive consciousness by feeling Hashem's infinite love and presence in this moment. In this episode we discuss: —Why has there been a shift in the way we approach publicly sharing Torah? —What is the nature of the Torah approach to vulnerability? —What are we trying to achieve with our own teshuva? Tune in to hear a conversation about the pain of existing seemingly separately from the Divine. Rabbi YY Jacobson is a Chabad rabbi, teacher, and scholar of Torah and Jewish mysticism. He is the founder and dean of TheYeshiva.net, where his classes reach thousands of students around the world. A sought-after speaker, Rabbi Jacobson draws on Torah, Chassidic thought, Kabbalah, and Jewish philosophy to explore contemporary questions of faith, spirituality, relationships, and Jewish life. References: The Dance of Teshuva by David Ebner. Likkutei Torah. Ben Porat Yosef. The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein M.D. To Live with an Open Heart: Tanya through the eyes of a Psychotherapist by Devorah Leah Nussbaum. Talmud Daily. Tzidkat HaTzadik.

The Life You Planned vs. The Life G-d Has Planned for You: Why Surrendering Control Is the Beginning of Your Deepest Love and Truest Self The life you planned vs. the life G-d has planned for you: Why surrendering control may be the beginning of your greatest freedom, deepest love, and truest self. This class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on 9 Cheshvan, 5787, October 20, 2026. We tell the story of the plumber who entered a cockpit and saved an airplane, the story of Pharaoh’s daughter who stretched out her arm to reach the unreachable, and a captive in Gaza who prays for rain, and it saves his life.

Rabbi YY in Conversation with Dr. Stuart Ablon: How Do We Avoid Power Struggles & Frustration Between Parents and Children? How do we helping our children and ourselves during a time of crisis and fear? How do we discipline children in a positive way? How do we avoid anger, power struggles, and frustration between parents and children? How do we inspire our children rather than control them? A conversation between Rabbi YY Jacobson & Dr. Stuart Ablon. This webinar took place on Friday 4 Kislev, 5784, November 17, 2023 & was facilitated through Yochanan Polter & Tova Korn of "FreshStart" https://jewishfreshstart.com/home Fresh Start Retreat Our flagship program, Fresh Start Retreat, is a 7-day intensive retreat helping participants understand their past to create a brighter future.

Why Did Rivka Want to Deceive Her Husband? A Revolutionary Interpretation to the Perplexing Story Why would Rivka, one of the great matriarchs of the Jewish people, instruct her beloved son Yaakov to deceive his father Yitzchak? Did she really believe that Yitzchak would not recognize the difference between his two sons? In this fascinating women's class on Parshas Toldos, we explore an extraordinary interpretation presented by Rabbi David Fohrman, suggesting that Rivka's intentions were far deeper than they initially appear. Perhaps Rivka was not asking Yaakov to become Esav, but rather challenging him to discover something about himself that he had never recognized. Yaakov was gentle, spiritual, introspective, a dweller of tents. Esav was bold, aggressive, confident, a man of action. But Rivka understood that Yaakov could not fulfill his extraordinary destiny if he remained confined to only one dimension of his personality. He needed to discover that within his own soul lay the courage, assertiveness, strength, and capacity to engage the world that he associated with his brother. The goal was not to abandon his authentic self, but to uncover its full depth and power. And this brings us to one of the most haunting and transformative questions in the entire Torah: "מִי אַתָּה בְּנִי?" — "Who are you, my son?" This is not merely Yitzchak's question to Yaakov. It is the question life asks every single one of us. Who are you, my daughter? Beneath your fears, defenses, insecurities, expectations, wounds, and the identities you developed to survive, who are you really? Every journey we travel, every relationship we encounter, every disappointment, every betrayal, every triumph, and every moment of confusion can become part of a sacred process of discovery. Sometimes life challenges us precisely because we have become identified with only a fragment of ourselves. We think we know who we are, but Hashem sees infinitely more. Our struggles may be calling forth dimensions of our soul that have remained dormant for decades. The purpose of our journey is not to become somebody else. It is to finally discover the person we have always been, in the deepest recesses of our being. Perhaps the most important question we can ever answer is not "What have I accomplished?" or "What have I endured?" but "Who am I, really?" This class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, Parshas Toldos, 30 Cheshvan, 5787, November 10, 2026.  View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/10025