A mere minutes before the MyLife: Essay Contest ended, hundreds of essays streamed in from around the world. Essayists ranging from 15 – 85 years old, from all types of backgrounds and from over the globe, composed essays explaining a concept in Chassidus and applying it to solve a contemporary issue or problem.
As the dust and excitement over the contest settles, stories about the far reaching impact of this year’s MyLife: Essay Contest are also streaming in. Notably, MLC has received reports of how the essay contest has transformed Yeshivas and Seminaries worldwide by inspiring students to apply chassidus.
A bochur reported that the essay contest created quite a stir among his peers at Yeshivas Lubavitch of Manchester, inspiring many to study Chassidus with a whole new perspective. The evening before the essays were due, bochurim stayed up through the night working feverishly to complete their essays before the 12 AM deadline in New York.
Rabbi Yaakov Wagner inspired his class at Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim in Morristown, NJ to participate as well. All his students were expected to write an essay on the maamer being studied rather than take a test. “Although a test demonstrates the students’ knowledge of the material, the essays showed a much deeper level of their connection to the chassidus studied,” explained Rabbi Wagner.
At Seminary Chaya Mushka and Machon Alte in Tzfas, Rabbi Chaim Rosenfeld introduced the contest to the students and encouraged them to take the concepts that they were learning in their Chassidus classes and write essays applying them to address personal struggles. The young women excitedly took to the idea, and many composed essays for the Essay Contest.
A mother of a student essayist called the process of writing “transformative”, explaining that the project not only brought her to a new understanding of Chassidus, but also engaged her entire family. “The discussion at the dinner table turned from current events, to our own lives and how Chassidus impacts us. Once I began looking I started to see the relevance of Chassidus to so many aspects of my life. This contest has changed the way I view everything from my marriage, to the carpool line at my children’s school.”
“It’s really inspiring to see so many entries from the younger generation. These bright applicants represent the future leaders and innovators of Lubavitch. We wish them the best of luck in the next rounds of judging. But regardless of the final official winner, from my point of view all the entrants are winners,” said Rabbi Simon Jacobson, Dean of the Meaningful Life Center (MLC) and conceiver of this unique project.
“Indeed, the biggest winner is Chassidus itself and our Rebbeim who dedicated their lives to teach us Chassidus. The mere fact that hundreds of people invested their time, energy and ingenuity to study and apply these teachings is simply astonishing.”
The Essay contest is now in the Judgement Phase. Every essay will be judged anonymously; the judges have no knowledge of the author’s identity or age. The Meaningful Life Center will be announcing the winner on or around 2 Nissan (April 10). The first place essay will be awarded $10,000. The second place and third place essays will be awarded $3,600 and $1,000 respectively. The winning entries will be published and publicized.
For more information, visit meaningfullife.com/contest.
Yashar koach to Rabbi Simon Jacobson and his team for the weekly Sunday night questions and answers and this essay contest, both of which have breathed new life, excitement and clarity into our lives.