Jacobson was born in Brooklyn, New York. He studied in the United Lubavitcher Yeshiva and the Rabbinical College of America, and did his Post-Graduate studies in Central Tomchei Tmimim. He married on February 21, 1983 and has two children.

He worked in close association with the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In 1979, he headed a team of scholars known as Vaad Hanachos Hatemimim that memorized and transcribed entire talks that the Lubavitcher Rebbe gave during the Sabbath and holidays (as writing and tape recording are not permitted on holy days). This team published more than 1,000 of the Rebbe's talks. He also headed the research team for Sefer HaLikkutim - an encyclopedic collection of Chassidic thought anthologized from the works of the Tzemach Tzedek (26 volumes, published 1977-1982).

Jacobson heads The Meaningful Life Center called a "spiritual Starbucks" by The New York Times. He is a sought-after speaker in the Jewish world today. He has lectured to diverse audiences on six continents and in forty states on psycho-spiritual issues and applying Jewish thought to contemporary life. He has been interviewed on over 300 radio and TV shows, including CNN with Larry King, Charlie Rose, and the CBS News Show “The Best of Us.” In 2010, Rabbi Jacobson appeared in the award-winning film, The Human Experience.

Jacobson is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life, a William Morrow publication that has sold more than 300,000 copies to date and has been translated into Hebrew, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, German, Hungarian and Czech. Jacobson is also the publisher of the Yiddish English Weekly, The Algemeiner Journal. Many of his writings are syndicated in sites all over including Chabad.org and AskMoses.com.

Books

• Toward a Meaningful Life, 1995 ISBN 978-0-9612088-1-3
• Spiritual Guide to Counting the Omer, 1996 ISBN 0-06-051190-7
• 60 DAYS: A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays, 2003 ISBN 1-886587-24-8