The Living Jewishly Podcast

“Since I've acknowledged PTSD and what's going on, and accepted the facts, and stopped seeing it as a sign of weakness, I've made some progress.” — Wilson Taguinod Facing our challenges is the first step to healing, according to guest Wilson Taguinod. On this episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An Honest Discussion on Mental Health, host Bobby Koven has a deep conversation with Wilso...

Tu B'Shvat is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the renewal of trees in a yearly cycle. Elliott notes, the timing of the holiday on the Jewish calendar is weird, falling out in the middle of winter. If we really wanted to get into the spirit of the day, we'd send everyone out into the middle of nature, "into the wild," to experience the trees. Rabbi Yossi points out that the win...

“We age with success when we are in connection with others, it's relational.” — Sue Lantz  On today’s episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An Honest Discussion On Mental Health, host Bobby Koven has a conversation with Sue Lantz, a boomer who is hoping to live a long and healthy life, and founder of Collaborative Aging. Sue is passionate about sharing her healthcare, housing, and caregiving exp...

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains content around self-harm and suicide and brief mention of sexual violence against children. “They tried to ‘fix’ my stigmas to make me like everyone else, rather than leveraging my gifts. I said, ‘screw that, I'm gonna manage my gifts.’ And I started developing my gifts and ignoring the stigma.” — Tim Nelson In this episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An...

“Anger can be illogical and it can cause a lot of harm. But it also can be righteous and it can be rectifying something that’s wrong.” — Ganga Devi What is the role of anger in our lives? And what can we learn from our sense of it? This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of Scared Time, a podcast devoted to the healing art of the Hebrew calendar. As we bid goodbye to Chanukah, we enter Te...

“That's where I really rely on our traditional teachings because it speaks to humility, and understanding that your gifts are valuable. And everybody has gifts.” — Jillian Morris Trigger Warning: This episode makes brief mention of self harm and addiction. On this episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An Honest Discussion on Mental Health, host Bobby Koven shares a deep and open conversation wit...

“Dreaming is a necessary complement to our waking life that allows us to rest and integrate and regenerate.” — Ganga Devi As home to the holiday of Chanukah, Kislev is a time for celebration, light, and togetherness. But it is also a time for sleeping, for dreaming, and for integrating the teachings of our dreams into our waking lives. The beauty of the cyclical nature of our Hebrew calendar is th...

“Even when it doesn’t feel like there is excitement, there are our rhythms and there are our cycles.” — Bluth  After the social and structured rituals of the High Holidays, the month of Cheshvan is a period of personal contemplation during which we turn to the quieter rhythms of our daily commitments. The absence of Holy Days during this month challenges us to source our connection with the sacred...

“Life is for the living. You have to go on, and make the best you can out of your present situation and utilize your tools” — Nate Leipciger Mental health is a different story across generations, and on today’s episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An Honest Discussion on Mental Health, host Bobby K. has a conversation with Holocaust survivor Nate Leipciger about the tools he cultivated to survive. ...

“At what point in our history did our houses become ‘not nature’?” — Julia Plevin The earth is our home, our classroom, and our legacy — how can we create a nurturing relationship with the earth that allows all living creatures to thrive? Sukkot, the ancient Jewish Harvest festival, is an invitation for people of the Jewish faith to experience, celebrate, and revere the gift of our natural world....

“Do Jewish prayer services nurture us… or narrow us?” — Dr Elliot Malamet This is the first episode in a series of special Living Jewishly podcast episodes that will take a deeper look at the Jewish holidays.  As we approach Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, many of us will celebrate the high holidays by attending synagogue or shul. However, particularly for you...

“Repentance, in essence, embodies a return to our best selves, the me that each of us really wants to be.” — Dr. Elliott Malamet Is it time to change the course of your life? Perhaps this episode of The Living Jewishly Podcast is exactly what you need in order to instigate that change.  In this episode, Dr. Elliott Malamet breaks down the four components outlined in the Talmud for changing one’s c...

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else, is the greatest accomplishment.” — Dr. Elliott Malamet In this special SOLJ (School of Living Jewishly) episode, Dr. Elliott Malamet brings us a conversation about the most important prayer Jewish people revisit each year at Rosh Hashanah, Unetanah Tokef.  Rosh Hashanah is a time to reflect on the year that has just p...

“I'm getting better and better at just saying, okay, that's just today.” — Judy Singer When major health challenges face us, it is crucial to gather friends and family around for support. That is what today’s episode of What’s In Your Toolbox: An Honest Discussion on Mental Health is all about. In this episode, Bobby talks with Judy Singer about her cancer diagnosis and treatment, and ho...

“When you live in an environment that's out of control, you latch onto something that will make you feel like you're stabilized.” — Brian Robinson Working in a world that values and reveres constant work has led society to increased numbers of burnout and workaholism. But is workaholism really “a thing”? Rest is an essential part of life, and when we don’t give ourselves the opportunity...

“These holidays are such an opportunity for us to be looking at our lives, to be stepping in fully with humility and with honesty, and with care for each other and for the Earth — to find the capacity to forgive so that we can renew.” — Bluth This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of Sacred Time, a podcast devoted to the healing art of the Hebrew calendar. In this episode exploring the s...

“Sometimes life's better understood backwards rather than forwards.” — Jane Enright Life changes constantly – but what happens when three incredibly sudden rapid changes occur in just 12 months? And more importantly, what are the best tools to use to cope with life’s unexpected twists and turns? This episode of No Magic Bullet’s is an instalment of What’s In Your Toolbox, a podcast about ment...

“With all the evil and all the suffering that is in the world and that Jews have undergone throughout history, as a people, we've always been focused on being a moral and creative force in the world. And if Jews are about anything, we're about the faith in what could be faith in the future.” — Dr. Elliott Malamet In this Special School of Living Jewishly podcast for Tisha b'av, Dr....

“Judaism advises not just sexual passion and a partnership, but constant physical encouragement with the one you love.” —  Dr. Elliott Malamet What is Tu b’av and why do we celebrate it? In this Special School of Living Jewishly podcast for Tu b'av, Dr. Elliott Malamet shares the history and symbolism of this romantic holiday. This holiday dedicated to love has long been seen as a day for mat...

“Trauma is undigested experience” — Ganga Devi This instalment of Living Jewishly is an episode of Sacred Time, a podcast devoted to exploring the healing art of the Hebrew calendar. Tammuz is the fourth month of the year in the religious Jewish calendar. It is one of the heated months of the calendar, and it holds and commemorates the memory of a lot of the pain, trauma, and destruction that we h...

“When you’re having fun, when you’re laughing, and you have something that makes your heart sing, your life is so much better.” — Julie Starr What does it mean to be an empath (or “super-feeler”)? And how does having a higher-than-average level of empathy affect the way that you move through the world and react to its challenges? This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of Wha...

“When you live in an environment that's out of control, you latch onto something that will make you feel like you're stabilized.” — Brian Robinson Working in a world that values and reveres constant work has led society to increased numbers of burnout and workaholism. But is workaholism really “a thing”? Rest is an essential part of life, and when we don’t give ourselves the opportunity...

“Consumptive culture cultivates covetousness.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet The holiday of Shavuot marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer after Passover, and celebrates the revelation of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. As we come up on Shavuot, a permanent question remains: how might a contemporary Jewish person hear and interpret the voice on Sinai today ? As human beings, it’s in our nature to crave m...

“How do we move forward in a way that both integrates and sustains whatever it is that we want to carry with us?” — Rabbi Bluth This episode of the Living Jewishly podcast is an instalment of Scared Time, a podcast dedicated to exploring the healing art of the Jewish calendar as it relates to our lives today. This episode focuses on the month of Sivan, the third month in the religious calendar. Sh...

“I’m still exploring ADHD as an adult.” — Nancie McLeod While neurodivergence has historically been seen as something linked to males, it has started to be recognized more frequently in women over the last decade, finally giving them the answers and tools that they need to make sense of their differences. This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an instalment of What’s In Your Toolbox?, a p...