Tattoos and Torah

Since she got a camera, Diane Conn started taking pictures of strangers. She never stopped, and her collection now stands at over 200,000.  This week, Diane sits down with Rabbi Iggy to discuss her recent book, Holding Hands, an uplifting collection of strangers holding hands.   Diane and Rabbi Iggy discuss the therapeutic benefits of Diane’s unique art practices, the nexus of art a...

What’s the difference between being a victim and living in victimhood?  This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on the problem of victimhood in an episode that synthesizes insights from ancient Jewish history to contemporary culture.  Rabbi Iggy invites us to take stock of our own role in creating our lives.  By identifying our patterns and habits and rethinking our response to life’s tribu...

How does trauma manifest itself in the body? That’s a question for anyone with a body—anyone whose stomach might drop at a painful reminder, whose back might ache around the time of a bad anniversary. It’s also the question that drives the work of Amy Lee Flowers, a trauma-informed Kripalu Yoga and Mindfulness educator.  This week, Rabbi Iggy sits down with Amy to discuss the relationship bet...

There is an old Jewish teaching about the month of Adar, which is just beginning: when Adar begins, we make more joy.  But how do we make more joy?   This week, Rabbi Iggy imparts his wisdom on how to better manage our relationship with happiness and joy.  Along the way, he drops deep meditations on what it means to be happy, but also many practical tips on how to squeeze more...

What kind of wisdom can be gleaned from the dark, slow days of Winter?  This week, Rabbi Iggy encourages us all to find rest, recovery, and our own pace of growth through "Spiritual Winter." Through ritual, deep listenings, observation, and meditation practices, Rabbi Iggy guides us to find opportunity in our current moment.  This episode is a call to find vitality, interest, and beauty...

What does Rabbi Iggy  really  think?   This week, for the first time ever, Rabbi Iggy is not the host of Tattoos and Torah but the guest.  Acclaimed artist (and previous guest) Naama G interviews Rabbi Iggy to dive deep on his mystifying and esoteric past.  This conversation will take you from India to old New York, from Rabbi Iggy’s early misadventures to the roots o...

Why is it that our foundational stories are so often about brokenness?   This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on the origins of our major tensions, from the story of Cain and Abel to his observations as a father.  These original schisms, breaks, and polarities can create trauma and pain, but they are also core elements of our humanity.   This is an episode for anyone interested...

Acute trauma—in the form of a sudden injury, accident, or the death of a loved one—can change our lives in an instant.  How can we transcend that trauma and find meaning in our pain?   This week, Rabbi Iggy sits down with Travis Taylor, a healer and Reiki Master Teacher, for a fascinating conversation on the parallels between physical and emotional recoveries, identity, and Travis’s...

If you’re holed up in quarantine, or maybe you just have some downtime, you might be wondering, what should I read?  This week, Rabbi Iggy offers his long-requested book recommendations.  The list is a window into Rabbi Iggy: the major influences on his thinking, the making of his spirituality, and the friends he found in books.

How can we become the person we want to be while finding the romantic partner we deserve? That’s the work of Brandon Groux, a breathwork facilitator and life coach who focuses on helping people get back on their feet after breakups. This week, Brandon sits down with Rabbi Iggy to talk about love and the value of heartbreak. Their conversation ties together the fascinating threads that ma...

The Jewish tradition is full of prescribed fasts: breaks from food, drink, and speech.  How might these intentional fasts cultivate a richer spiritual life?  In this episode of Tattoos & Torah, Rabbi Iggy considers the merits of brief and purposeful deprivations.  Paradoxically, Rabbi Iggy explains, creating room for silence can amplify the voice of our inner souls.  If you...

Through the pandemic, lines between physical trauma and emotional trauma have seemed especially blurred.    This week, Rabbi Iggy and Dr. Gulick, a neuropsychologist and fellow at Clinical Neuropsychology Associates, explore questions of trauma and identity.  How can conversations around brain plasticity and neuroscience thoughtfully converge with questions of the human conditi...

After Thanksgiving, our fridges are full of Turkey and our hearts are full of gratitude.  We can eat turkey sandwiches throughout the week, but what do we do with our spiritual leftovers?  How can we navigate the crash of our emotional outpourings and find ways to sustain gratitude beyond a single day?  This week, Rabbi Iggy ponders the more painful and confusing elements of gratitu...

What does it look like to mature into our recoveries? In this episode of Tattoos and Torah, Rabbi Iggy is joined by Gary Sanders, mindfulness and meditation expert and founder of SCV Mindfulness.  Rabbi Iggy and Gary explore approaches to recovery that deviate from Alcoholics Anonymous, focusing on the use of meditation, mindfulness, and buddhism in sustaining recovery.  Their riveting a...

Our lives are full of mandates, orders, and obligations.  This week, Rabbi Iggy wonders, how can spirituality guide us through these mandates?  Rabbi Iggy’s ruminations weave through hot-button issues like the Covid-19 vaccines along with his personal history, all with an eye toward finding freedom through our burdens.  Ultimately, this is a brief and instructive guide to reclaiming...

What is the relationship between wellness and self-sovereignty?  This week, Rabbi Iggy hosts Ceasar Barajas, an award-winning singer, dancer, actor, yoga teacher, and Navy Veteran.  Their conversation pulls from Ceasar’s wide-ranging skills and experiences, meandering through complex themes of activism around mental health, recovery, and gender.  Ultimately, this is a conversation f...

Modern life sometimes has a way of disconnecting us from the complexities of our deeper feelings, emotions, and truths.  How can we prevent this erosion of ourselves?  How can we unearth our more authentic selves?  This week, Rabbi Iggy makes the case for spiritual counseling, a process that can help us examine who we are, why we are here, how we make meaning, and how we understand...

How can we overcome our shame and guilt through spirituality?  This week, Rabbi Iggy sits down with Rabbi Alfredo Borodowski, “The Bipolar Rabbi,” a trained philosopher, personality type interpreter, and therapist who specializes in the blending of spirituality and mental health.  Together, the two rabbis grapple with change and growth, personality types, and mental health. If you’re int...

How can spiritual bypassing limit our ability to provide each other support? This week, Rabbi Iggy ruminates on toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing. By acknowledging that spirituality includes all aspects of life, not just the positive, we can learn to more fully support ourselves and each other. If you want to discover tools to be supportive without engaging in spiritual bypassing, this epis...

How are mindfulness and recovery practices informed by culture, heritage, race, and gender? This week, Rabbi Iggy speaks with Meghan Stewart-Wills, a renowned mindfulness coach with Unified Mindfulness. A multi-racial Black woman based in Ottawa, Canada, Meghan's work in local school boards supports youth in anti-discrimination and wellness initiatives. Together, Rabbi Iggy and Meghan map out...

Have you ever wondered where god resides? This week, Rabbi Iggy discusses imminence and transcendence, and how to make sense of these concepts in our own lives. By investigating why some people believe god is near and others don't, he illuminates the role the divine can play in your recovery. In this short episode you can expect many questions... and maybe a couple of answers along the way. If you...

How can someone build a meaningful, enriching life out of adversity, trauma and hardship? Rabbi Iggy speaks with T'Shuvah Center's Director of Counseling, Jeremy Pool about building a life of meaning through addiction, incarceration, and family challenges. In this episode you'll learn about forgiveness: how to ask for it, how to be able to offer it, how to forgive the world and most importantly, y...

How can meditation and community guide us to the wisdom of our hearts? So much of what we do flows from our heart. HeartRise Movement founder Jessie May Wolfe has made this spiritual truth the center of a movement, focused on building a community that engages in active meditation to awaken the inner intelligence of their hearts. In this episode, Rabbi Iggy and Jessie have a heart to heart on spiri...

What is the difference between an apology and an amends? In this episode of Tattoos & Torah, Rabbi Iggy discusses the amends process, and how taking this step strengthens our connections with others (and profoundly enhances our recovery!) If you want to learn how to approach this process, from setting intentions to making plans to get started, this episode is for you!

What happens when a comedian and a rabbi meet during the ten days of awe? In this midst of the "10 Days of Repentance", Rabbi Iggy and comedian Alex Edelman discuss the intersection of comedy, social commentary, art, and general Jewish angst. They explore the complex relationship between Jewish identity, humor, and remorse, and how it informs their own approach to the high holy days. If you like t...