Live from the Chizuk Retreat in Cleveland, we sat down with two former DMC guests, Barrie Feld (Episode 36, “Why We all Need Chizuk”) and Slovie Jungreis-Wolff ( 44, “Finding Focus on Rosh Hashana”) for a wonderful reunion and to get some insight into how to prepare for Rosh Hashana, for real. On this DMC we discuss: The challenge of balancing the …

There's lots to prepare this Rosh Hashana with a 3-day yom tov. So whether you’re on your 6th run to the supermarket or staying up late in the kitchen cooking, we have a DMC for you. Because there’s nothing like walking into Rosh Hashana feeling like you did something to prepare for the day spiritually. We’re so grateful to have Mrs. Michal Horowit…

Life is complicated, and with life experiences come complex emotions. But embracing conflicting emotions with strategies such as paradoxical thinking can make all the difference. This is the topic that therapist, dating coach and columnist Sara Eisemann wanted to DMC with us on this episode because she knew the life-changing impact of “both/and” th…

We all know that strengthening our bitachon will improve our lives, but how do we actually do it in real life? Enter Esther Kurtz. Esther went on her own search to boost her spiritual connection and found it in the daily study of Chovos Halevavos. Now she shares the gems she discovered through learning Shaar Habitachon on her podcast, Emunah for No…

Can we be honest for a minute? Of course we can, we’re having a DMC! So let’s get real about being honest about communal issues. In other words, we know our community isn’t immune to its share of societal challenges, but is it possible to be sincere in acknowledging the issues while sincerely trying to improve them? And while we’re being honest abo…

We’ve entered the Three Weeks, and the Jewish calendar instructs us to have mourning on our mind. Yet it can be challenging to embrace the meaning of mourning smack in the middle of summer barbeques and road trips. We knew that Sarah Rivkah Kohn, founder of Links Family, would help us find the meaning in mourning. Links Family is an organization th…

Jewish women have many superpowers – talents, abilities, and mindsets. We speak with Lori Palatnik, the founding director of Momentum, to learn more about these superpowers that we can each tap into. Lori has seen her fair share of incredible Jewish women under her leadership. And it takes one to know one. Lori models strength of conviction and pas…

We often throw around the word “perfectionism”, but what does it actually mean? What’s the difference between perfectionism and being meticulous and conscientious at work or at home? What is perfectionism, and how does a person become perfectionistic? We ask all these questions and more to our guest, Dr. Danielle Dragon, a psychotherapist in Chicag…

Here’s your spiritual prep for Shavuos, DMC style. We get deep and meaningful with Shannon Nuszen, a former evangelical missionary who discovered the truth in Judaism when…wait, we won’t spoil it for you! Shannon now works with her organization Beyneynu to confront missionary influence. She recently started speaking publicly about her Jewish journe…

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT I am thrilled to announce the launch of my new podcast, in concert with The Iyun Institute (formerly Tikvah Israel): "The Iyun Podcast: On Chareidim, Israel and the Jewish People." Iyun will explore the many dynamics of chareidim in relation to the broader context of Israeli society and beyond. Episodes are now available on App…

Marriage is one of the most popular topic requests we get at DMC. So we’re thrilled to bring you seasoned educator and dating coach Debbie Greenblatt to share her insight, wisdom and experience with us. Debbie is the founder of the women’s division of Gateways, a marriage columnist in Mishpacha Magazine, and the Director of Education- Mentorship pr…

Arnon Shorr is a comic book author and graphic novelist, as well as a screenwriter, director and producer of remarkable films, often with meaningful Jewish messaging. Arnon's website: https://www.arnonshorr.com/ Arnon on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2601747/ Wayfarers on Kindle Vella: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/episode/B0C758RNCN JEWC…

Pesach is over and that means one thing (besides laundry and dentist appointments) – challah! Whether we’re making fresh new batches or enjoying the bakery’s, challah takes on added appreciation the weeks after Pesach. On this DMC, Anat Ishai, A.K.A. The Challah Mom, shares with us even more ways to appreciate challah, in addition to eating it. Her…

Shira (Volk) Picker moved to Israel when she was 7. For the past few decades, Shira has oscillated between two worlds, the Chareidi and Zionist communities. In this episode, Shira shares what living through the Simchas Torah war, October 7th and the aftermath has been through her lens as an Israeli citizen, mother, and wife. To learn more about Shi…

Pesach is coming, and DMC is here for you with this replay of last season's pre-Pesach episode! Whether you’re defrosting your freezer or packing all the suitcases, we’re back to share conversations about the upcoming yom tov and help us get focused on the meaning of what we do. In this episode, we DMC with Esti Hamilton, a very relatable rebbetzin…

Many months ago we saw that Miriam Pascal Cohen was putting out a brand new Pesach cookbook, and we knew we had to snag her for DMC because she’d be everywhere promoting her book! But we also knew that with a cookbook called Real Life Pesach Cooking Miriam would be a perfect guest for our podcast. At DMC, we’re all in when it comes to anything “rea…

So many of us in Chutz LaAretz want to understand what it’s like for the women who are holding down the fort in Eretz Yisrael with their husbands off fighting this war. These mothers and wives are true heroes, taking care of everything without the support and presence of their husbands who are risking their lives to protect our Holy Land. We want t…

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Joseph Lieberman, z'l, a great American patriot, and even greater member of the Jewish People. We interviewed Senator Lieberman in 2017, in one of our first episodes ever in this podcast. In tribute to his extraordinary life, we present this #TBT rebroadcast from the archives. May his memory be for a blessi…

Purim is on its way, so we’ve invited who we think are two of the funniest (and maybe cleverest) ladies to grace the pages of Mishpacha Magazine, and that’s Chani Judowitz and Bracha Stein, the masterminds of The Kichels’ comics. We say that The Kichels is social commentary in its best form. They manage to point out silly things about frum life in …

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Ruth Wisse is one of the great modern scholars of Yiddish literature. A distinguished career at McGill and Harvard Universities has now led to her current engagement with Tikvah, a Jewish-conservative think tank and educational outfit. Professor Wisse has authored many books, and written widely on political affairs in addition to…

So often the situation in Israel can feel dispiriting. We want to make a difference and contribute, but we don’t know how. Meira Kolatch, otherwise known as “The Official Meira”, shares with us how out of her desire to keep her friends and family informed about events in Israel, she accidently created a following of over 35k people on social media …

We all want to lead happy lives, but what about living beautiful lives? Gila Ross shares with us her favorite relatable lessons from Pirkei Avos that help us bring meaning, joy and love into our lives – all the things we need now more than ever. In this DMC we discuss: How Gila became the person she is today Why she wrote her book Living Beautifull…

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Alexandra ("Alex") Fleksher is a multi-talented content creator and Jewish "influencer" in contemporary culture. She is the founder and creative director of the "Faces of Orthodoxy" Instagram (and other social media) presense: Along with co-host Rivki Silver, Alex also hosts the Deep Meaningful Conversations (DMC) podcast, coveri…

Tziri Preis is one of those people who is living her dream. Classroom teacher turned podcaster and “General” of the Tehillim Army nightly Zoom and livestream, she reaches thousands of children (and their parents) each night. The Tehillim Army was Tziri’s response to October 7th, and little did she know what a need it would fill and the impact it wo…

These days, it seems Geula is very much on our mind. Geula, as our guest Faigy Blumstein explains, is very much a mindset as well hat needs developing. Geula, redemption, will happen with Hashem’s help in the future, but it isn’t something that we passively wait for. Every day we yearn for the Geula, and there are things we can do right now to put …

Welcome to episode 51 as Season 3 of DMC comes to a close! It’s time for a little recap of our year as we reflect on our experiences as the hosts of Deep Meaningful Conversations. We released 23 episodes this year and have had over 120k downloads. We’ve had on average 4000 listeners per episode. So thank you to all our loyal DMC listeners! Here’s t…

Merle Saferstein is a longtime educator with an expertise in Holocaust studies. In her early thirties, she discovered the cathartic pleasure of journaling, and in nearly 50 years since, has filled over 380 notebooks (!) with her chronciles and musings. Already a published author, Merle eventually decided to excerpt many of these journals and presen…

We hope all our listeners had a wonderful Chanukah! With any holiday or yom tov, there is that week after when we’re trying to get bedtimes back to normal, work schedules back to normal, and our eating schedules back to normal. But this year, we haven’t really had the luxury of “getting back to normal.” Nonetheless, taking care of ourselves during …

Uri Alon is a pioneering farmer and lover of the land of Israel. Like so many in the South, on 10/7/23 he suffered many personal losses. He also is unable currently to welcome guests to The Salad Trail, an oasis of beauty and Israeli ingenuity in the depths of the desert. The farm requires support - both financial and physical - during this difficu…

We all know the frightening reality facing Jewish students on college campuses today. The stories are horrifying and unbelievable. We want this episode to be somewhat uplifting as well, and that’s why we’ve invited Mariel Goldstein to speak with us. Mariel is the director of women’s education at MEOR Maryland, a campus-based organization dedicated …

The topic of processing our emotions applies at all times, but it’s especially relevant now. We know that there are ways we as individuals process our emotions in a healthy way, and process our emotions in an unhealthy way. Disclaimer: for anyone who is going through acute trauma due this war, this episode is not designed for you. This episode is a…

In honor of host Ari Koretzky's recent kidney donation, we are re-releasing this "blast from the past" episode, #145, from February of 2021, featuring Renewal founder Mendy Reiner. Renewal is a premier facilitator of live donor kidney transplants within the North American Jewish community, supporting both prospective donor and recipient along this …

Sharon Koifman is a business owner - founder of Distant Job - and expert on remote hiring. He is also an extremely passionate advocate for Israel, integrating cutting edge AI tools and the science of persuasion to craft a new model of making the case for the Jewish Homeland. Sharon's venture, Israel Activists, is poised to reshape the way young Jew…

We’re thinking about all of our listeners during this extremely challenging time for the Jewish people worldwide, and here at DMC, we’re committed to providing content for you that will be helpful and hopefully uplifting. There are many heroes in this war, and some of them are the special individuals in Eretz Yisrael who have done whatever they can…

Enjoy this special bonus CROSSOVER episode - Ari Koretzky's appearance on the "On Principle" podcast, part of the IDT podcast network.Ari Koretzky

Like everyone right now, no matter where you live, our everyday lives are not the same due to the tragic unfolding of events in Eretz Yisrael. Certainly, our brothers and sisters in Israel are facing the most formidable challenges. Those of us watching and davening from afar are challenged in different ways, but challenged nonetheless. Eretz Yisrae…

Welcome to a special 200th episode of Jews You Should Know. After a long summer hiatus, host Ari Koretzky returns, but in a different role, as the guest, interviewed by 18Forty podcaster extraordinaire Rabbi Dr. Dovid Bashevkin. We cover a variety of topics, including the interview process and goals for the podcast. But most vitally, we take a crit…

Yom Kippur is our most serious and arguably most important Yom Tov in the Jewish calendar. But what happens if our feeling of overwhelm about the seriousness of the day (and the practical physical requirements of the season) robs us from feeling truly connected? More broadly, how does our mental health impact our Torah observance in general? When w…

Rosh Hashana is approaching and we want to give you some deep and meaningful content to think about in addition to the delicious meal planning! That’s why we invited Rebbetzin Slovie Jungreis-Wolff to DMC with us about finding focus this Rosh Hashana. Slovie herself is a well-spring of knowledge and inspiration and in this DMC, she shares her Rosh …