Weekly Women's Class by Rabbi YY Jacobson

"And Yaakov Remained Alone:" As You Heal, Some Will Shun You While Others Will Embrace YouThis class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, 12 Kislev, 5786, December 2, 2025, Parshas Vayishlach, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9823

"Every Liar Has a Teacher:" Why Yaakov Had to Marry LeahThis class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, 5 Kislev, 5786, November 25, 2025, Parshas Vayetzei, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. The Medrash describes a hidden scene on the wedding night of Yaakov and Leah. Throughout the night, Yaakov kept calling the bride “Rachel,” and Leah answered each time. In the morning, when the deception was revealed, Yaakov confronted her: “How could you answer to the name Rachel? You are just like your father, Lavan—a deceiver!” Leah replied with the shocking line: “Is there a barber without students? Didn’t your father call for Esav, and you answered ‘I am Esav’?” At first glance, Leah appears to justify deception with deception—but that cannot be the message. The matriarch of Klal Yisrael wouldn’t base righteousness on revenge or moral equivalence. To understand her words, the shiur introduces a profound idea. The Torah writes “הִיא לֵאָה” (“she is Leah”) but spells it “הוּא לֵאָה” (“he is Leah”), hinting that Yaakov’s shock that morning was not simply discovering who Leah was, but discovering who he was. Leah became a mirror. When Yaakov deceived Yitzchak by dressing as Esav, he spiritually adopted the role of Esav—not in wickedness, but because Hashem needed him to carry both types of Jewish souls: those of pure light (Rachel) and those who struggle, fall, rise, and wrestle their way to greatness (Leah/Esav archetype). The moment Yaakov declared “I am Esav,” he entered the world of struggle—which meant the soulmate for that part of him was no longer Rachel alone, but Leah, who embodies exhaustion, complexity, and inner confrontation. Thus, Leah’s response was not defensive sarcasm but a deep revelation: “I didn’t merely deceive you; I stepped into the place you created. You became Esav for a holy purpose—and therefore, your Esav-part must marry its counterpart. I am the mirror of the struggle inside you.” In this view, the switch under the chuppah wasn’t random trickery. It was a continuation of Yaakov’s own spiritual journey. Rachel represents his light, innocence, and clarity; Leah represents his darkness that can be transformed into light—the hard inner work, the exhaustion, the buried pain, the shadow that must be redeemed to access deeper strength. Ultimately every Jew descends from both Rachel and Leah—both the part of us that feels aligned and luminous and the part that feels heavy, complicated, and exhausted. True wholeness comes only when both are embraced. That is why Yaakov is buried with Leah, not Rachel. His life’s completion came not only from the parts that felt easy and beautiful, but from the parts that demanded courage, mirroring, self-confrontation, and transformation. The message of the Medrash is that our “Leah moments”—our struggles, shadows, and discomfort—are not punishments but invitations to greatness. And that is the deeper meaning of the badeken: by veiling the kallah, we declare, “I am ready to marry not only the parts of you that I see now, but also the hidden parts I cannot yet see — and this commitment is only possible if I am also willing to meet, accept, and marry the hidden parts within myself.”View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9817

When You Grasp the Dynamics of Your Two Souls, You Liberate Yourself from ShameThis class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, 27 Cheshvan, 5786, November 18, 2025, Parshas Toldos, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9813

Don't Run from Your Mistakes: Why the First Jewish Child Was Named LaughterThis class was presented by Rabbi YY Jacobson on Tuesday, 13 Cheshvan, 5786, November 4, 2025, Parshas Vayera, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. Why would Sarah deny the truth that she laughed? The Torah says, “because she was afraid.” Afraid of whom? Why was she afraid to tell Abraham that she laughed? After all, she was 89 years old, and Sarah stood her own in the presence of Abraham.  Maybe the Torah means she was scared of G-d. But that is senseless. Did she believe that you can hide from G-d?  Even more strange is the response to her denial. “But He said, ‘No, you laughed indeed.’” What was this all about? A he said/she said game in the therapist’s office? She said I never laughed; he says: No you did laugh! Okay great. Now what?  The biggest question is this: When this miracle child is actually born, the name he receives is Yitzchak, which means LAUGHTER! Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me!” Strange. When Sarah hears she will have a child, she laughs. G-d gets upset over the fact that she is laughing. He confronts Abraham about her laughter. She denies it. Then Abraham, or G-d, says: No, you did laugh, Sarah! And then when the baby was born, they gave him that very name—laughter! There seems to be some strange theme unfolding here. One of the Chassidic masters, the Sefas Emes, provides a marvelous commentary. It was the moment that created the eternal and legendary Yiddishe Mamme, who will stop for nothing to protect and to believe in her children, and offer them the maternal holding, the fit of inner regulation, peace, and self-love. Cynicism undermines our feminine energy in very profound ways. It buries our trust. Our mother Sarah needed not only to avoid it, but to transform it. View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9789

The Journey from Trauma to Trust; When I Need to Cover My Eyes In Order to SeeThis class was presented on Tuesday, 6 Cheshvan, 5786, October 28, 2025, Parshas Lech Lecha, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9784

Noach Before Toldos: Showing Up for Our Children and the World from a Space of Internal CalmThis class was presented on Tuesday, 29 Tishrei, 5786, October 21, 2025, Parshas Noach, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9781

Don’t Do Teshuvah Because You Hate Yourself; Do Teshuvah Because You Love YourselfThis class was presented on Tuesday, 8 Tishrei, 5786, September 30, 2025, Parshas Ha'azinu, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9771

Coronating the King: Bringing Hashem into the Most Shameful, Lonely Parts of Your BeingThis class was presented on Tuesday, 23 Elul, 5785, September 16, 2025, Parshas Nitzavim, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. We explore the first question asked by G-d to Adam on the first Rosh Hashanah of history: Ayeka, where are you? He did not ask him why he sinned and ate from the tree of knowledge; he asked him: Why do you need to hide from me? Can you come out of your hiding place so we can enjoy the garden together? We analyze the inner fear and shame that paralyze so many of us, and deprive us of the ability to experience internal love and bliss. The coronation of Hashem on Rosh Hashanah is the invitation to bring infinite Divine acceptance into those very shameful and scary places. The life-changing experience of embracing all our parts and allowing the love to flow freely and uninhibitedly.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9767

Elul & Rosh Hashanah Without Anxiety: Is Chassidus Really About Healing Trauma?This class was presented on Tuesday, 16 Elul, 5785, September 9, 2025, Parshas Ki Savo, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9761

Can You Communicate Without Defensiveness? The Incredible Lesson of Shimon Hamsoni and Rabbe AkivaThis class was presented on Tuesday, 11 Av, 5785, August 5, 2025, Parshas Vaeschanan, at The Barn in Montebello, NY. There is a story in the Talmud, in which Shimon the Imsonite retracts his entire theory that the term "Es" indicates the inclusion of another person or item, due to a single verse in this week’s portion, “You shall fear -- Es -- the Lord your G-d.” How can we be in awe of anybody but G-d? Yet his student, Rabbi Akiva, rescues his teacher’s refuted theory. The obvious question is what did Rabbi Akiva discover which Shimon did not? Shimon could not entertain the notion of including anything in the commandment to fear G-d. For him, such a proposition would be blasphemy. Why did Rabbi Akiva, then, not have a problem of adding Torah scholars to the mitzvah of fearing G-d?  How is it that for what Shimon was blasphemy was for Rabbi Akiva perfectly acceptable, and even a mitzvah?! You were selected to win the Nobel Prize for your contribution to physics. You received your tickets to Norway to attend the lavish ceremony. You were featured on the cover of Time magazine, and have been interviewed by hundreds of journals and networks. Minutes after you received the call that the Nobel Committee had chosen you from 40 possible candidates, you went from being an anonymous physicist spending the last 45 years in a laboratory to becoming a world-class scientist whose name will be immortalized in the annals of scientific innovation and discovery. You become a household name. The world is buzzing with your praise. And then… the unthinkable happens. Hours before you go to the airport to fly to Norway, you discover a subtle mistake in one of your 20,000 equations.  It is a mistake that no eye has perceived and perhaps will not be perceived for many years. But it is a mistake. Your calculation is erroneous. You have refuted your discovery. You now have a choice to make. Will you allow the “small truth” to destroy your eternal glory? What would you do? It is such a story that the Talmud is addressing. If only we can internalize this type of integrity our lives can be transformed.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9744

When the False Moshiach Came to the Baal Shem Tov for Healing; When Unkelus Raised Titus, Baalam, and Yeshu from the GraveThis class was presented on Tuesday, 4 Av, 5785, July 29, 2025, Parshas Devarim, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. The class tells the incredible story of Unkelus, who raised three people from the grave: Titus, Balaam, and Yeshu. What the Maharal and Reb Tzadok explain about the core of the Jewish soul, and how we must never confuse our blockages with our essence. We explain the downfall of Yeshu and Shabti Tzvi, and the incredible story of the false Messiah coming to the Baal Shem Tov for spiritual healing.  We discuss how to view our struggling children and students who may be engulfed in confusion and pain.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9740

Consciousness Has Been Upgraded; Are You Ready? Learning How to Trust Your Inner Divine Voice This class was presented on Tuesday, 12 Tammuz, 5785, July 8, 2025, Parshas Balak, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.  View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9728

Moshe Was Told He Couldn’t Enter the Land, So We Discovered the Holiness of Our CravingsThis class was presented on Tuesday, 5 Tammuz, 5785, July 1, 2025, Parshas Chukas, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9720

“To Everything There Is a Season:” Learning How to Transition from “A Time of War,” to “A Time of Peace”This class was presented on Tuesday, 28 Sivan, 5785, June 24, 2025, Parshas Korach, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. What empowered Netanyahu? What was the difference between the October 7th failure and the incredibly successful war against Iran? View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9713

History Is Changing, Don’t Stand on the SidelinesThis class was presented on Tuesday, 21 Sivan, 5785, June 17, 2025, Parshas Sh'lach, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9704

When You Feel that Hashem Sees and Records Every Word with Love, You Change HistoryThis class was presented on Tuesday, 29 Iyar, 5785, May 27, 2025, Parshas Bamidbar, at a new location, The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9697

Connection with G-d Does Not Mean I’m Not Triggered; It Means I Know Who I Am and Assume Ownership of the Direction of My LifeThis class was presented on Tuesday, 22 Iyar, 5785, May 20, 2025, Parshas Behar-Bechukosai, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. The class explores three forms of acquisitions in Jewish law, reflecting three paths in our service of G-d. Selling the tree, selling the future fruits of the tree, and selling a tree for its fruits.  Generally it is assumed that there are two moral paths through life. There is the sure, tranquil path of the perfectly righteous person who has succeeded in remaking his very character and personality—a path that few can aspire to and even fewer achieve. And there is the path of the imperfect soul whose life is an endless battle—a battle in which defeat is always a possibility and, in the long run, a statistical inevitability. A path which runs along the edge of a moral precipice, in which the slightest misstep or lapse in vigilance sends one hurtling into the abyss. Is there no other way? Is there no middle ground between utter perfection and perpetual self-doubt? Is there no way to gain control over one’s life short of remaking one’s inner self? Such was the moral landscape of man until Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi wrote the Tanya and introduced us to the "banuni," “the intermediate man.”View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9691

Stories of Abuse & Triumph: The Girl Was Being Violated; They said She Was Seeking Negative AttentionThis Lag Baomer class was presented on Tuesday, 15 Iyar, 5785, May 13, 2025, Parshas Emor, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. There is no other sage in the history of Judaism who has all of the Jewish people celebrating on the day that he passed away. Why is the yarzeit of Reb Shimon ben Yochai marked in such a unique and universal way? How did Reb Shimon bar Yochai end up in a cave? It seems like a classic Jewish story and conversation. One Jew, Reb Yosei, remains quiet about Rome. Reb Yehuda praises the Romans for elevating the standards of life; and Reb Shimon is critical because he said it was for narcissistic purposes. But is there a deeper theme behind this debate? The fact that the Talmud records the details of the debate, and gives us the names of the debaters, instead of just saying that Reb Shimon criticized the government, indicates there is some depth and gravitas to this debate, and that the names are important. As it turns out, the debate on Rome fascinatingly reflects a debate between Reb Yehuda and Reb Shimon in many aspects of Jewish law. The Talmud states: Chezekiah stated in the name of Rabbi Jeremiah, who said it in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, "I am able to exempt the whole world from judgment from the day that I was born until now!” (Sukkah 45b). What is that supposed to mean? The Midrash states in Avod Derabi Nasan ch. 16: Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai would say: From this you know that Israel will never see the face of purgatory. But how can a sage say such a thing?View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9685

The Kamatz and the Patach: As We Get Closer to Redemption, Our Hearts Ache to Emerge from LockdownThis Women's Kedoshim class was presented on Tuesday, 8 Iyar, 5785, May 6, 2025, Parshas Achrei Mos-Kedoshim, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. The class explores the distinction between two identical words in Shmini and Kedoshim, "Ani," one with a Kamatz and one with a Patach. When we need to close our hearts and when we need to open it. When it comes to food and other pleasures and necessities, we must master the art of discipline and self-control. When it comes to relationships, we are capable of living with an open, confident heart.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9679

Solar Faith Vs. Lunar Faith: Why the Women Rejected the Golden Calf and Were Given the Holiday of Rosh ChodeshThis class was presented on Tuesday, Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the month of  Iyar, 5785, April 29, 2025, Parshas Tazria-Metzora, at The Barn @ 84 Viola Rd. in Montebello, NY. This text-based class explores a Chassidic discourse by Rabbi Shmuel Schneerson, the fourth Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe Maharash, L'Havin Inyan Rosh Chodesh, presented on Shabbos Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan, 5640, October 18, 1879. The discourse explains why the holiday of Rosh Chodesh was given primarily to women. We explore the reason the Jews created the Golden Calf, and the unique gifts of the feminine—its ability to embody the oneness of G-d in a visceral way, rather than in a sublime, aloof way.View Source Sheets: https://portal.theyeshiva.net/api/source-sheets/9665