The Living Jewishly Podcast

“In Ontario, it’s interesting to know that, when it comes to visitor policies, patients don’t have rights.” — Sharry Aiken The health ramifications of the Covid-19 pandemic haven’t been limited to the unfortunate people who have been infected by the virus — or to the tragic deaths of those who have succumbed to it. The enormous stress and emotional toll experienced by their families and caregivers...

“Real rest is the act of rejuvenating the inner person… the soul.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet While we stay indoors during the cold, dark months, we must remember that the time of winter rest is crucial for the blossoming and ripening of spring. The month of Shvat is a period of subtle renewal, and Tu B’shvat (often referred to as the Israeli Arbor Day) celebrates our beautiful and lifegiving friends, t...

“The key trait of this era that we’re in is the immediate collapse of whatever the subject is into a conversation about semantics and linguistics.” — Aja Romano Being woke. Cancel culture. Politically correct. These have become very loaded and often antagonistic terms, and not just online. Different groups interpret and use these terms to mean different things. Wokeness especially has become polar...

“The rabbinate is often a precarious place to be, from an emotional and psychological point of view.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet Burnout is an issue that may affect people across all types of occupations, but people working in  high-stress professions, such as doctors, nurses, teachers, and mental health workers, tend to get the most attention when it comes to wider discussions of burnout. While not as...

“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...

“In pre-modern discussions of Judaism, identity is almost inextricably linked to observance. The whole notion of Jewish identity… it’s like a modern idea.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet The 1960s were about more than hippie fashion and flower power. Divisions over the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the beginnings of second wave feminism sparked civil unrest, fearmongering, political handwringi...

“Chanukah is fundamentally an ambiguous holiday.” — Rabbi Yossi Sapirman When we think about the Festival of Lights, the word “controversy” generally isn’t the first thing to come to mind. Yet the history of this holiday period does raise a few questions... Two well-known stories help to shape our understanding and celebration of Chanukah. The first story is the miracle of the oil that kept the li...

“One of the stories of Jewish modernity is that faith in — as well as the practice of — Judaism can no longer be taken for granted.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet When you’ve been entrusted with the religious education of an Orthodox community’s young people, how do you navigate doubts, criticisms, or differing interpretations arising from modern Jewish thought? This episode of the Living Jewishly podcast...

“This time of year is not the end of life… times of rest and integration are just as much a part of life as times of momentum and activity.” — Ganga Devi In a period of darkness, sleep, and retreat, what can we learn from our dreams? And how can we integrate these teachings into our waking lives?   This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of Sacred Time, a podcast dedicated to the healing...

“Hanukkah is not always right around Christmas... yet the two holidays have kind of become analogous to one another in the US.” — Rachel Greenblatt In an atmosphere where Christmas steals the spotlight and occupies the airwaves, can Hanukkah find appreciation as a meaningful holiday that explores multiple powerful themes relevant to our modern world? Does the religious fusion practiced by interrel...

“We’ve kind of lost our way within what is Shabbat.” — Susan Osher Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays can be joyous occasions during which we spend time (and feast) with loved ones. But can the heavy focus on ritual foods and eating serve a purpose apart from bringing us together in a way that strengthens our faith? To put it another way, is the role of food in Judaism meant to fill a hole left by...

“We’ve kind of lost our way within what is Shabbat.” — Susan Osher Hanukkah and other Jewish holidays can be joyous occasions during which we spend time (and feast) with loved ones. But can the heavy focus on ritual foods and eating serve a purpose apart from bringing us together in a way that strengthens our faith. To put it another way, is the role of food in Judaism meant to fill a hole left by...

“What's sacred? What's meaningful? What's important to you at this moment?” — 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, Bluth and Ganga Devi discuss the month of Cheshvan and the many ways that we can develop structures and systems to reconnect us with our true priorities in...

“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....

“There’s a stability, I think, that everyone can find in relation to the calendar.” — Ganga Devi As we exit the period of Rosh Hashanah and venture further into the month of Tishrei, we transition from a time of serious contemplation and teshuva into the time of our joy.  What should we be bringing with us into this period — and what should we be taking out of it?  This episode of Living Jewishly...

“All relationships depend on forgiveness… How, in our deepest relationships, can we forge ahead from pain toward healing, from sadness to renewal?” —  Dr Elliot Malamet Is there a relationship in your life that needs mending? This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of Crossing the Sea, a podcast that explores Judaism and mental health. Yom Kippur is a time of atonement in which we challen...

“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...

“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...

“It took me many years before I started to pick up on the power of food, almost… like a drug.” — Rabbi Yossi Sapirman Why does our society treat larger bodies with such disdain? And what effect does that have on our mental health? This episode of Living Jewishly in an instalment of Crossing the Sea, a podcast that explores Judaism and mental health. Food isn’t just necessary fuel for survival. It...

“This month holds inside of it the whole process of taking responsibility and paying your dues, and then moving along and enjoying the flowering.” — Idan Lumi 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, Ganga Devi, Bluth, and guest Idan Lumi explore love of self, love of others, and love of the divin...

“The art of loving is hard to learn… and even harder to master.” — Dr. Elliot Malamet When you are part of a religious community, the acts of loving and being loved can be surprisingly complex, requiring a delicate balancing act between personal freedom and external expectations, and between sexual pleasure and religious duty.    Singlehood is seen in the community as a problem to be solved — part...

“You can’t just apply the rules as if they’re always going to be the same.” — Professor Anthony Lang    You might think that “ethics of war” is a contradiction in terms. But although the vast majority of us would prefer it did not exist, warfare is a rich subject when it comes to discussing ethical considerations.    This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of What Would You Do?. In this e...

“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...

“The shift focused from the world bullying me to me bullying myself… I literally thought my life was coming all together, and then I realized I was gay in the timeframe.” — Micah Thau While depression, self harm, substance abuse, and suicidal thoughts can affect anyone, they’re more common among the LGBTQ population — especially those members who come from a religious background. This episode of L...

“We have lots of great social and political mechanisms for integrating people into the new society that they moved to.” — Fabio Rojas Is immigration a basic human right? Or is it a privilege? This episode of Living Jewishly is an instalment of What Would You Do?, a podcast about ethics. In this episode, we explore the borderlines making up the ethics of immigration. Immigration to Western countrie...