Mishpacha Covers Rabbi Jacobson

By COLlive reporter

Renowned orator Rabbi YY Jacobson, one of the most sought-after speakers in the Jewish world, is the subject of the cover story of Mishpacha Magazine’s January 15, 2016 edition.

Titling him and the article “Master of soul-speak,” the article by Contributing Editor Yisroel Besser says that Rabbi Jacobson “has a message that can ignite the genuine seeker inside us all.”

“Listen and you’ll hear notes of Chassidim huddled around the oven at the Russian inn, sharing vodka and wonder stories; but you’ll also hear the quiet hum of the scholar draped in his tallis as his mind soars far beyond the confines of his room,” the subtitle reads.

Rabbi Jacobson, dean of online study website TheYeshiva.net, formerly served on the team of choizrim (reviewers) of the Rebbe‘s public talks and was the rabbi of Cong. Beis Shmuel Chabad in Crown Heights.

He currently lives with his family in Monsey, NY, and delivers regular classes and lectures at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim and other institutions in the city, some of which are aired on COLlive.com.

“He can do a lot of things, maybe because he is a lot of things — an Ashkenazi who’s really a Sephardi, a master of the mussar works who’s really a chassid; he can explain a shtickel Reb Chaim with the same eloquence as a piece of Tanya. His calendar is dotted with appearances in Lakewood, Kiryat Joel, and Yeshiva University,” Besser writes.

“The Tzemach Tzedek wonders why children have such an easy time forgiving while adults cannot move past a perceived wrong,” Jacobson told Mishpacha in the 14-page profile. “It’s because children would rather be happy than right, while adults prefer to be right. Even if it means they won’t be happy…”

Rabbi Jacobson spoke about making every second count in one’s life, saying: “Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400, but it carries no balance from day to day. Each evening, you forfeit whatever you didn’t use. Of course, you would draw out every penny every night. Well, everyone has such a bank. It’s called time. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off the moments you failed to invest to good purpose.”

He also discussed helping people who were victims of abuse in their lives. Trying to help one bochur for many years and not succeeding,”I finally asked, ‘Maybe you’ll tell me what’s really wrong?’ He didn’t turn around, but he said, ‘I was molested for four years. You’re the first person I’m telling.’ It was a lightning bolt. I, the big chacham, had totally missed it. I had worked with him and advised him and yes, judged him, based on his words. But I had never heard the kol shofar, the unarticulated cry inside of him. I had missed the kol shofar…”

“To address a crowd in so much pain isn’t easy,” he added. “Moshe Rabbeinu was instructed to remove his shoes when he stood before the Sneh, the burning bush; it was on fire, but it refused to be consumed, like a person in pain who fights back. That’s why it was holy ground. I stand here not to philosophize or offer expert advice, but with complete humility, recognizing the holiness of your pain…”

Rabbi Jacobson told Mishpacha that “The Ostrovtzer Rebbe and Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky both ask: What did Yaakov learn by Sheim and Eiver that he did not learn from Yitzchak? Their answer is: ‘Toras hagalus.’ He learned from them the Yiddishkeit he would need to sustain him for 20 years by Lavan.

“Today we need to learn the Torah of geulah— the Torah that sees no schism between Heaven and earth, between body and soul, between ruchniyus and gashmiyus, between health and spirituality, between self-esteem and avodas Hashem,” he explained.

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