Chai on Life (Alex Segal)

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today we have a big topic to dive into: Motherhood.

For this conversation, I got connected with Yael Sunshine who is a parenting coach, special educator, speaker and yoga therapist with more than 15 years of experience. She helps parents through many different challenges that come with raising kids like behavior issues, addiction, learning disabilities, relationship challenges and more.

She is the creator of Soulful Mothering, a holistic parenting framework that supports mothers so they can manage overwhelm, trust their parenting and develop thriving support networks.

We really got into it in this conversation and covered so many different topics related to parenting including:

-Strategies to manage tantrums with a young child

-How to model the behavior we want to see in our kids

-How to avoid perfectionism as mothers

-How to make sure your needs are being taken care of

-How to help kids through a personal or family trauma they may be experiencing

-How to bring more joy into parenting

…and so much more!

For more from Yael, check out these resources:

Instagram

Facebook group

Facebook business Page

Facebook Digital Creator Page

If there's someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, send me a DM on Instagram at @chaionlifemag or an email at alex@chaionlifemag.com.

Thanks so much for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we’re diving into the deep, spiritual world of mikvah and the mitzvah of Taharat HaMishpacha, or the laws of family purity.

NOTE: While all of our podcasts are targeted to women, this one specifically is for women, as per the request of the speaker.

Also an important note, I know this is a mitzvah that not everyone may be able to participate in right now for various reasons, so if it’s a sensitive topic, that is totally okay and you can feel free to skip this one if it’s not for you.

This is a big one. Mikvah is kind of a mystical topic and has so much power.

So this week, I am speaking with Miriam Goldberg. Miriam is a renowned educator who lives in Sanhedria, Jerusalem with her husband Rabbi Yitzchak Goldberg. Both she and her husband have been involved in teaching and guiding chassanim and kallahs for more than a decade as well as providing halachic and martial counseling for married couples.

Together, they wrote a book called Wellsprings of Taharah, which is a guide complete with halachic and hashkafic guidance about this important mitzvah.

They are also the founders of the Chizuk Series website, where they offer in-person and recorded sessions for men and women in taharat hamishpacha, shalom bait, emunah and tefilah which have become popular internationally.

Miriam is actually launching a new series that goes way more in-depth into this topic starting on June 16 so if you like what you hear in this episode and want to learn more, you can join here!

In this episode, we speak about:

-Why the mitzvah of mikvah can become bland and rote over time and what to do about it

-Why it’s so important to continue learning about the mitzvah and its laws after you’re married, not just before

-Important perspective on how to love the mitzvah more if it’s one you’re struggling with

-Why the investment in the mitzvah is so important and some really powerful stories around that

-Why the mitzvah of mikvah may be harder in our generation

-Why the mikvah waters provide a unique spiritual environment to connect to Hashem

-How to get more out of your entire mikvah prep and the experience once you’re there

-Tips to make the niddah period easier if it’s hard for you

-How to connect to mikvah night after you've had an argument with your husband and feel emotionally disconnected

…and SO MUCH MORE

Miriam is just a fountain of information and a wealth of knowledge and she shares deep and powerful concepts in a really attainable and truly thought-provoking way. Hope you enjoy!

If there's a woman you want to see here or a topic you want featured, send an email to alex@chaionlifemag.com or send a DM to @chaionlifemag. Thanks so much!

Hi guys! Welcome to COL's first solo episode. Today, I thought it could be fun to talk about the backstory behind Chai on Life, why I wanted to start it, what it all means to me and some lessons I've learned along the journey. With everything that I'm doing and all the people I've been speaking to I wanted to give context about the mission and the focus of it all.

This is definitely straying from the traditional structure but it's fun to mix things up and G-d willing we will be back with an amazing new guest next week!

Thanks so much for listening.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast (or you just think would make a great guest!) email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM on Instagram @chaionlifemag.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today we are speaking with Miriam Pineles, a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine practicing in Cedarhurst, NY.

Miriam is someone who really heals from the inside out. I met Miriam almost five years ago now when I was pregnant with my first son and experiencing really horrible back pain in my third trimester. Miriam healed me in one week. I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, before going to her, I was skeptical about acupuncture and had no interest in it but afterward I was completely sold and talking about it to everyone I knew.

Throughout the last few years though, I’ve learned that it wasn’t just the acupuncture or the healing techniques she used, it was Miriam herself. She is meant to be a healer. She is someone that holds space for so many individuals and when you’re with her, she makes you feel like you are the only person that matters. 

In addition to her clinical practice, Miriam teaches “Living With The Elements,” a course she created to help women gain deeper self-awareness and foster harmony in their relationships and homes. If you want to learn more and sign up (it starts September 9!) you can do so at livingwiththeelements.com.

In this interview, we speak more about the course she created and what you will get out of it as well as:

-How she got into Chinese medicine and how it’s deeply connected to Torah and Kabbalah

-What is going on under the surface when you’re getting acupuncture or Chinese medicine treatments and why they work

-Where a lot of unhappiness and disease stem from

-How we may be passing unresolved trauma and issues onto our kids — and how you can stop that

-What the five elements of Chinese medicine are and how they connect to Judaism

-We go through each element and learn a little bit more about what each one means

-What the framework of seeing yourself and child through the elements can do for your parenting

-Practical parenting takeaways you can start today

…and SO MUCH MORE!

More about Miriam:

Miriam Pineles, DACM, is the founder of Conscious Health and Wellness, Inc., a premier Chinese medicine clinic located in Cedarhurst, NY. With a Doctorate in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine (DACM) and certification from the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM), Miriam is also licensed in Acupuncture by the State of New York.

Her extensive training includes mentorship under some of the most revered practitioners both in the United States and internationally. Miriam has mastered unique techniques in acupuncture, pulse analysis, and herbal prescription, specializing in women’s perinatal health and addressing syndromes arising from emotional trauma.

She also founded *Ayin Healing*, a non-profit organization dedicated to running holistic healing retreats that support Jewish women recovering from childhood sexual abuse.

Explore more about Miriam’s work at:

•⁠ ⁠[Conscious Health and Wellness](http://www.Conscioushealthandwellness.com)

•⁠ ⁠[Living With The Elements](http://www.livingwiththeelements.com)

•⁠ ⁠[Ayin Healing]

(http://www.ayinhealing.com)

You can also learn more about Miriam on the Chai on Life website here.

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a rating and review so more people can gain from Miriam’s wisdom. Consider sharing it with a friend, family member or coworker who you think might enjoy the episode as well. If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am speaking with Nomi of Nomi Knows Nutrition.

Cheshvan is a time when people want to put their goals into action. We reflected in Elul and Tishrei, came up with what we want our intentions to be going into this new year, and Cheshvan really is the quiet time afterward to set things into motion and make things happen.

For many, working on or maintaining good health habits is a big goal. Maybe it’s eating more whole foods, finding time to exercise, or making going to sleep earlier a priority. Maybe it’s spending less time on your phone or social media or maybe it’s even trying to be just a little bit more positive each day.

These are all things that Nomi is helping us with on today’s episode. 

Nomi is a double board-certified nutritionist and health and wellness coach, affiliated with Duke Integrative Medicine at Duke University. She holds a Master of Science in Nutrition and Functional Medicine. Her undergraduate and graduate research topics have included the psychology of long-term weight-loss maintenance and the role of nutrition in ADHD. She has a private coaching practice in Jerusalem and on Zoom, with clients from all over the world. Additionally, Nomi runs educational workshops on nutrition, healthy lifestyle essentials, and behavioral change. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Clinical Nutrition and researching the relationship between the estrobolome and female hormone disorders. She can be reached at nomi@nomiknows.com or on Instagram @nomiknowsnutrition.

P.S. Nomi is starting a new coaching group on December 1! If you are interested, you can reach out to her directly on her website or through Instagram.

Learn more about Nomi's backstory on Inspiration for the Nation.

Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am speaking with Calanit Paz Cohen, a life coach living in Miami, FL.

I met Calanit about eight years ago when I was on a trip to Israel called Meor Upgrade. I was on a part of my Jewish journey where I was nearly all in, but was holding off because I was nervous that I was going to let go of and lose myself. Calanit was the perfect role model for me at that stage of my journey — she was so herself and this wonderful religious Jewish woman. I had an emotional conversation with her on that trip that really changed things for me and how I saw what things could be — how I could be myself and bring that person into my religious life — so it’s a really full circle moment for her to be coming on this podcast now talking about living an authentically. 

And, it’s no surprise that she literally makes a living now coaching others to live a more authentic, true life. 

We’re already in the final days before Rosh Hashanah and while this episode is evergreen, it’s also the perfect way to get us into a good headspace as we’re approaching the start to another year.

In this episode, we speak about:

-How Calanit figured out what her passion in life was

-What authenticity coaching is

-What to do when you don’t feel like yourself — maybe it’s around certain people or doing certain things

-How to connect to yourself more deeply and how in turn, that can connect you to Hashem more deeply

-How and why living an authentic life is living a life according to Hashem’s will

-How to approach angry, sad or confused feelings that come up in this spiritual relationship

-How we can all approach Rosh Hashanah without fear and rather with a new closeness to Hashem

…and so much more!

Special thank you to Tania Friedlander, our first podcast partner! Tania is so helpful for professionals in any area — budding entrepreneurs, business owners, seasoned employees, leaders looking to take their companies to the next level, and more.

Maybe you need clarity and direction, you’re trying to achieve better work/life balance, not sure what next steps to take in your career, you’re motivated but also burnt out, you’re realizing leading people isn’t simple or are fearful that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you are at all interested in working with Tania, you can book a complimentary call with her at TaniaFriedlander.com/contact.

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. Today, we are talking all about Moshiach. It’s Cheshvan and on the surface, Cheshvan seems like a chill, catch-up kind of month. The chagim are over, we’re back to routine and Cheshvan gives us the time to do so. But is that all Cheshvan is for? Like pretty much all things in Judaism, how things appear on the surface are well, just the surface and there is a whole world of depth underneath.

As I was researching more about Cheshvan I learned that it is soooo Moshiach centered. If you learn from the Sefer Yetzirah or the Book of Formation, which you can read about on inner.org, you will learn that the letter of the month, sense of the month, tribe and so much more are all connected to Moshiach.

To be honest, Moshiach is something I’ve struggled with over the years becoming religious and being religious. It’s something that I am taught to want, yet also something I don’t actually know that much about.

So for awhile now, I’ve been determined to learn more and really understand more and I knew Faigy Blumstein was the perfect person to do so with.

Faigy Blumstein does not call herself a lecturer, but someone who loves to share. A passionate educator and school psychologist, she is dedicated to living a Hashem-centered life. As part of the Thank You Hashem women’s division, Faigy draws on chasidic teachings and the light of the Baal Shem Tov, to inspire others. Her heartfelt approach helps women deepen their connection to Hashem, integrating spirituality into everyday life in a meaningful and modern way.

And let me tell you this conversation gets deep. We talk about how she got into Chassidus in the first place, how it can connect you in ways you never could have imagined, what Moshiach even means, how we can all work to bring Moshiach, why Cheshvan is the time reserved for Moshiach, how Israel connects to all of this and so so much more.

We also learn about the connection between Cheshvan, Moshiach and Rochel Imeinu. Tonight, Monday night, the 11th of Cheshvan begins Rochel Imeinu’s yahrtzeit and our conversation brought such a new light to Rochel that I wasn’t aware of before. It is hashgacha pratis that the podcast is coming out right before so hopefully we can all use our connection to Rochel Imeinu to feel more strength and a new kind of vitality with our Yiddushkeit.

Learn more:

Cheshvan on Inner.org

Thank You Hashem

Listen to Faigy's Cheshvan Playlist:

Spotify

Apple

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I’m speaking with Rebbetzin Sarah Feldbrand.

She is a former principal of adult education programs in the U.S. and Canada and has taught Jewish philosophy and history for decades. Her teaching evolved into 40 books on Jewish philosophy and history as well as biographies, and historical fiction for adults and children. Currently the Rebbetzin is the moderator of a Mechanchos Forum and also provides Torah counseling via email at asktherebetzin@gmail.com.

We decided to focus on her two volume series called Towards Meaningful Prayer and really get into some of the common issues women have when it comes to connecting to tefilah and how to solve them.

Prayer is something that hopefully we all do everyday. Because it’s every day it has the power to connect us like nothing else but also because it happens every day it can become rote or something we do quickly to then get on with our day versus a mitzvah that only comes one time a year.

We all know prayer has immense power but sometimes it’s just hard to seize that — you may feel like you’re lacking in connection. So in this conversation, we speak about why davening and prayer is such a powerful tool for women, how to change your practice if things are feeling rote or uninspired, how your mindset has everything to do with tefilah and how to set yourself up for success mentally, which prayers specifically may help you connect more deeply and so much more.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am speaking with Rebecca Ashkenas, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience as a therapist.

She specializes in treating teens and adult women facing anxiety, depression, and OCD. She has expertise in reproductive mental health challenges, including perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, infertility, and pregnancy loss. She serves as a clinical supervisor as well as the Director of the Women’s Health Track at Achieve Behavioral Health in Monsey, NY. Rebecca also offers compassionate therapeutic support for adolescents and adults through her virtual private practice.

In our conversation we speak about all of those things listed so if anything that she focuses on may be a trigger for you feel free to skip this episode. That being said, we get real about those topics and she gives such great advice on what to do if you find yourself going through something like infertility, pregnancy loss, or on the flip side, a difficult postpartum period or a more serious perinatal disorder.

We also speak a lot about how to support a friend in those situations. As women moving through life, we know how common all of these things are and talking more about them is the best way to be aware and bring everything to light so we’re not afraid to ask for the help we need and also offer it to someone else around us.

We also speak about the general pressure and load that women take on in any stage and how we can really work to manage all of that with our sanity intact, what true self-care may look like and ensure that we’re really living a life according to our values, not just our growing to-do lists.

Hope you get a lot out of it!

If you want to reach out to Rebecca, you can email her at Rebecca.ashkenaslcsw@gmail.com.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are speaking with Dating Coach and Former Today Show Psychologist Jackie Glaser.

I’ve known Jackie for 12 years. She was really influential on my Jewish journey. I was on a trip to Israel the summer after I graduated college which is when I met her — she taught us at the seminary Neve Yerushalayim and then she basically convinced me to stay in Israel and do another program for six weeks. That fall, after I was back, she was in New York and started a program that we called Souled — which was a weekly Jewish learning class which changed my life and introduced me to some of my best friends.

If you know Jackie, you know she is a powerhouse. She has changed so many lives with her teaching and now is helping so many through her dating coaching. She is using her psychology skills and her own experience of working on herself to help other singles do any work that could help them become more ready to meet and marry their soulmate. She also coaches married women in her courses.

In this podcast, we speak about:

-Jackie’s experience being single and how she worked on her relationship with Hashem to find peace in that and ultimately, meet her husband

-What it really means to surrender to Hashem and she shares real exercises you can do today in order to help you get there

-How to know what type of therapy is right for you and if you’re stuck in talk therapy, where you can go from there

-Why we may experience trauma and how to work through it so we can heal

-Why you should run away from someone who is trying to tell you reasons why you’re single

-How to deal with the pain of being single without turning it into suffering

-More about her course offerings and why the work she does is so powerful

-Practical tools and resources we can turn to to work on our trust in Hashem

…and so much more!

Other resources mentioned in the podcast:

-Jackie's website and Instagram (@datingbyjackieg) — follow her there for more dating advice and support!

-Listen to Jackie on The Inside Out Podcast to learn even more about her journey and get more wisdom from her

-Build your strength in Hashem with dailybitachon.com

-Watch Tzipora Grodko's content for more support

If there is a topic or person you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, send me a DM on Instagram at @chaionlifemag or send an email to alex@chaionlifemag.com.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are speaking with Yaffa Moskowitz, the Director of Education at Midreshet Rachel V’Chaya, a seminary in Jerusalem. 

Here’s a little more about Yaffa: She is a native member the Far Rockaway community and was active in that community and the Five Towns for many years. Yaffa, her husband Danny, and seven children made aliya in the summer of 2013 and now live in Mitzpe Yericho. Yaffa served as teacher and Director of Ateres Seminary for women on the Queens College Campus for 13 years and she was also involved in the Neshei Shor Yoshuv community where she gave chaburas for married women.

I met Yaffa when I was a student exactly seven years ago at Midreshet Rachel and have continued to learn from her and with her since. She has such a wealth of knowledge and this conversation really turned into the perfect thing to listen to right in the middle of Elul preparing for the chagim.

During this time at Midreshet Rachel, the students learn from the sefer, Tomer Devorah, which teaches us about Hashem’s 13 Attributes of Mercy. As we learn about Hashem and understand who He is more, so to speak, we learn how we can emulate Him more in our own lives, and we used that text as the jumping off point for our conversation. 

As we spoke, we explored:

-What a “sin” actually is in Judaism (it may not be what you think) and how we can always get back on track

-How to separate ourselves from the sin and retain our confidence and closeness to G-d through the process

-How we can get to the core of what emunah really is on the most basic level and use these foundational concepts to connect to Hashem more deeply

-The restraint Hashem has with us every day and how we can apply that concept to our own lives and actions

-How to work on letting go of control

-Why we should speak to ourselves with more compassion from a Torah perspective

-When fear is appropriate in Judaism and what kind of fear that actually is talking about

-How we can continue to grow and elevate ourselves year after year

…and SO MUCH MORE!

To learn more about Midreshet Rachel V'Chaya, click here.

Special thank you to Tania Friedlander, our first podcast partner! Tania is so helpful for professionals in any area — budding entrepreneurs, business owners, seasoned employees, leaders looking to take their companies to the next level, and more.

Maybe you need clarity and direction, you’re trying to achieve better work/life balance, not sure what next steps to take in your career, you’re motivated but also burnt out, you’re realizing leading people isn’t simple or are fearful that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you are at all interested in working with Tania, you can book a complimentary call with her at TaniaFriedlander.com/contact.

Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are speaking with Dr. Hilla Aboody, an amazing teacher, mother, wife and mentor currently living in Eretz Yisrael who I invited to come on to speak about this heavy time on the Jewish calendar.

Hilla has such a beautiful way of explaining things — it’s so deep and profound yet easy to comprehend at the same time.

A little background on her:

She is a wife and mother of five, living in Eretz Yisrael after making Aliyah 7 years ago from Brooklyn, NY. She is a teacher and Em Bayit (house mother) at Midreshet Eshel, a Sephardic seminary for post High school students from around the world. Her educational background includes studying at Michlalah and receiving her bachelor’s degree from Bar-Ilan University and a Master’s and PhD in Jewish History from New York University. She has published her study on Eliyahu the Prophet in Talmudic literature and midrashim in her book, “Through the Prism of Wisdom”. As an educator and kallah teacher, Hilla dedicates her time in guiding students to creating a relationship with Hashem and tips and tools to thrive in their marriages and in life.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-What the Jewish perspective is on sadness and pain

-How we can connect to Hashem during this time and in this unique way, especially if it feels daunting for you right now

-Why this particular time period brings about more heaviness and actually the reason why we take more precautions

-The rich energy that lies in the months of Tammuz and Av — what the letters associated with each month mean, why the sense of each month is important and what we can individually and collectively take from all of that

-Why crying is actually a sign of bravery

-Practical things you can do now to get through this time with more faith, in a more connected way to yourself, Hashem and those around you

-How to deal with difficult emotions with your kids

…and SO MUCH MORE

This podcast with Hilla is basically an hour long shiur. I got chills like 17 times as I was listening to her and it’s definitely one of the most important ones I’ve done so far in terms of our spirituality.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Today's guest is Debbie Greenblatt and we are talking all about the secrets to a more connected marriage.

Debbie just released a book (Secrets of a Connected Marriage — order here!) where she breaks down profound Jewish wisdom into tangible, succinct ways you can improve your marriage. You will become more connected to your spouse and turn more into the person you want to be in the process.

In this conversation, Debbie and I speak about:

-Why marriage is such a challenge

-How husbands and wives and grow closer to each other

-How to become a great woman, using your marriage to get you there

-How we can create a more positive culture in our homes

-How to bring Hashem into our lives and marriages more

-What we can learn from relationships in the Torah, like Avraham and Sarah

...and so much more!

If you would like to get in touch with Debbie after listening, you can reach out to her at Debgreenblatt@gmail.com or through her website, deardebbie.com.

Please leave a rating and review for the podcast and reach out if there's anyone you'd like to see on! You can send a DM at @chaionlifemag or email at alex@chaionlifemag.com.

More about Debbie:

Debbie Greenblatt has been involved in teaching and counseling Jewish women for over thirty-five years.  Mrs. Greenblatt lectures across the United States on topics that include Jewish texts, Jewish thought and relationships. 

For over thirty years, her weekly class in the works of Rabbi Dessler have served as an anchor in her own life and has changed the lives of many of those who have attended. She currently gives several Middos Vaadim that concentrate on character development. Her warm and personal approach to the women she encounters has many women seeking her counsel and insight on the Torah’s approach to their personal dilemmas.

Using the unique Torah based and practical approach that she developed to help people navigate the dating process, Debbie has been successfully coaching singles for over twenty years. Mrs. Greenblatt writes a column on relationships for a large Jewish Magazine, and is regularly asked to contribute essays to a variety of publications. She is the founder of the Women’s Division of Gateways, an outreach organization.

Debbie is the Director of Education for the Mentorship Training Program of Core, and organization that seeks to strengthen the fabric of the Jewish People by building the woman of klal Yisrael and the connections between them.

Debbie’s new book, Secrets of a Connected Marriage, published by Judaica Press, gives us a glimpse into the deeper Jewish perspectives that form the basis of successful marriage, with practical applications for the woman of today.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of the Chai on Life podcast. I met my friend, Carmel Lehmann, in the fall of 2017 when we both studied at Midreshet Rachel V'Chaya, a seminary in Israel. She ended up making aliyah then and getting married shortly after. On October 7, she, like so many other women had to send her husband off to Gaza. Baruch Hashem, he is home now, hopefully for good.

*Important to note: This episode was recorded on February 15, 2023 so any details shared on the war during the podcast reflect what was going on at that time.

In this episode we talk about:

• How she decided to make Aliyah and her Jewish journey leading up to it.
• How she got over the hump to become fluent in Hebrew.
• What October 7 was like for her and her family.
• How she survived at home working full time and caring for two small children while her husband was in Gaza.
• How her relationship with Judaism and Hashem as changed throughout this process.

The whole conversation was so real and I know you're going to love it.

If you know someone who you think would make a great guest, send me a DM at @chaionlifemag or email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today, we have Gitty Normile on the podcast to talk about all things emunah.

Gitty is tackling a challenge in Judaism that I think a lot of people are subject to. Maybe you’ve been living this life for awhile now — maybe your entire life — and you’ve lost the spark of emunah or sadly, have never been taught it in a way that truly lights you up.

That was her story. It wasn’t until later in life that she really grasped the concept of emunah in a way that made sense to her and guided her toward living an inspired life. Now, she channels that energy and passion into her writing in a weekly parsha email and a book that was just released this past fall, aptly called Emunah in the Parsha.

In this episode, we speak about:

-Gitty’s journey to connecting more to Hashem and how Hashem played a big part in her career and life journey every step of the way even if she didn’t realize at the time

-Why she wanted to write a book about emunah and why specifically emunah through the lens of the parsha

-Why sages say this generation is lacking emunah more than others

-How material prosperity plays into a Torah life and how we may be getting sidetracked with it all

-Why immediate gratification creates risks and challenges with our emunah

-How to overcome fear in your relationship with Hashem if it’s present — especially with all the difficult news going on these days — and turn it into true comfort and trust

...and SO much more.

Also, Gitty was deeply involved in compiling the Hebrew names of the hostages for davening and has become quite close with so many hostage families as a result. For an updated list, visit chaionlifemag.com.

If you'd like to get in touch with Gitty or to get on her email list, you can reach her on WhatsApp at 058-413-5852 or via email at gitty1215@gmail.com.

For the Rabbi Golumbeck Bitachon hotline she mentions, call 732-719-3898. You can press 1 right away for daily chizuk and bypass the dedications - enjoy! 

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today we are so blessed to have Aleeza Ben Shalom here.

If you have a Netflix account or have heard her speak in the Jewish world, then you’re already familiar with how personable and wonderful she is. But if not, we are going to introduce you. She was featured as the matchmaker on the Netflix show, “Jewish Matchmaking,” which reached millions of viewers across 130 countries and has been translated into 37 languages.

Outside of that, she continues to work as a matchmaker, dating coach, speaker and published author. She is the host of her own podcast, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker” and is coming out with a book of the same name in early December, although it’s available for pre-order now.

She has helped more than 200 people get married and has trained over 350 matchmakers and coaches. She and her own husband just celebrated 21 years of marriage together.

We talk about everything from dating advice, ways to keep your marriage fresh and vibrant, how to judge others more favorably and nurture your ahavas chinam, or baseless love for other Jews, how to handle negativity and live in the moment and so much more.

Resources she mentions:

Preorder her book, "Matchmaker Matchmaker."

Listen to her podcast.

Join her Elul Course, "40 Days of Connection."

Special thank you to Tania Friedlander, our first podcast partner! Tania is so helpful for professionals in any area — budding entrepreneurs, business owners, seasoned employees, leaders looking to take their companies to the next level, and more.

Maybe you need clarity and direction, you’re trying to achieve better work/life balance, not sure what next steps to take in your career, you’re motivated but also burnt out, you’re realizing leading people isn’t simple or are fearful that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you are at all interested in working with Tania, you can book a complimentary call with her at TaniaFriedlander.com/contact.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. Today we are talking all about Kislev.

I am honored to be joined by Chaya Sora Jungreis-Gertzulin, who is the daughter of Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis a”h. She is a mother, grandmother, and teaches for HINENI, the organization in Manhattan that Rebbetzin Jungreis started. She has lectured for shuls, kiruv organizations and schools in the Metropolitan area and beyond. Chaya Sora also writes a weekly parsha commentary that you can get through Hineni’s email as well as columns in various Jewish newspapers including Jewish Vues, Monsey Mevaser, Jewish Voice and London Jewish Tribune. Her writings can also be found on Torah AnyTime.

This conversation is so important because Kislev, as we all know, falls out during the darkest time of the year. The days are getting really short and the cold is settling in. Israel has been fighting a war for more than a year now and it’s truly unfathomable that so many hostages are still in captivity. Antisemitism is rising around the world in tragic ways and it’s normal to feel fear.

Chaya Sora is going to help us work through all of that. Even though it’s dark in Kislev, we all also know it’s the month of miracles. It’s when Chanukah starts and the name, Kislev, itself comes from the meaning “security” or “trust.”

We are in a time when we need miracles. We need to deepen our trust in Hashem and maybe, we all need a little bit of a boost. 

In the episode, we speak about the power we all have to leave a powerful legacy behind, how little things we do can really add up and change the lives of others, what was behind her mother’s magic when it came to connecting with other Jewish souls, the strength we can get from Kislev specifically when we are feeling low or burnt out, how to cultivate happiness from within and so so much more.

Hi everyone, welcome back to The Chai on Life Podcast! It feels really good to say that after the holiday hiatus we've had. The holidays were so nice, and I feel so blessed that I was able to take that pause to fully focus on Hashem, my family and other connections in my life and now feel even more energized coming back to the podcast and all of the conversations and guests I have lined up for this year.

Today’s episode is on somatic healing with Rena Reiser. While we recorded this before the chagim, it feels like such an important one coming back into everything. We had time and space to turn off, to disconnect from technology and the news and reconnect to the things that matter most.

More about Rena:

Rena is a Polyvagal-Informed Focusing Trainer. She trains female leaders and healers to facilitate embodied change in the lives of those around them. In other words, Rena helps them understand how their clients’ autonomic nervous systems impact their behaviors and emotions and how to use the Focusing technique to explore and shift these behaviors effectively.

Rena has more than a decade of ongoing training including Focusing, Polyvagal Theory, Non-Violent Communication, and Inner Child/Parts work that she uses in her own life and that of her clients. Together they forge a uniquely empowering approach that allows clients to shift their behaviors at their source in a compassionate and embodied way.

In this episode, she speaks about why we are so stressed and overwhelmed today, how we can get to a place of menuchas hanefesh, what menuchas hanefesh actually means, exercises we can do to achieve more calm right now, why that may be the prerequisite to other spiritual growth and so much more. She even goes through one of her modalities with me in real time so you can get an idea of how things work. It’s Cheshvan, it’s the time to put all of our spiritual growth into action and this episode is the perfect way to set the stage to get you into the best mental headspace in order to achieve your goals.

To learn more about Rena, you can visit her website at renareiser.com. Check out her own podcast called The Embodied Jewish Women and follow her on Instagram @renareiser.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am speaking with Mrs. Rivka Segal, a leader in adult Jewish education who has taught Torah to women and girls of all ages for more than thirty years. 

Before making Aliyah from Baltimore, MD, she taught in Bais Yaakov High School and Maalot Baltimore and was the director of the Women’s Institute of Torah. After moving to Israel in 2005, she founded the L’Ayla Women’s Initiative in Jerusalem. She is a sought-after speaker, known for her creativity and ability to excite and engage audiences of all ages. For the past fifteen years, she has made Tehillim come alive for thousands of people. She is currently in the process of completing a five-volume series entitled Living Tehillim. To date, three volumes have been published and let me tell you they are so good and will change the way you see and understand the Tehillim that you’re saying or even inspire you to start saying them.

I interviewed Rivka nearly four years ago for the Chai on Life website and the article we did together continues to be the top performing article today. I think it’s because people are searching for more connection in their prayers. They want to connect, they want to daven, they want to fee, to bring Redemption into this world and they’re looking for more answers.

In the episode, we speak about how Rivka got into Tehillim and how it became a new purpose and passion in life, why Dovid HaMelech was the one who wrote Tehillim and what we can all learn from his greatness, how to connect in your native language to the words of Tehillim, the special connection between Tehillim and Chanukah and really so much more.

To find out more about the “Living Tehillim” initiative or to register for her online zoom series, visit her website at www.livingtehillim.com. 

Learn more from Rivka in our previous interview.

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and I am so excited about this conversation with Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. We’re in a difficult time for the Jewish people. We just marked 180 days since October 7 —  six whole months since Israel and the Jewish people were attacked on Simchat Torah. It’s hard to believe. It’s so hard to know that every single day, 134 hostages still remain in captivity, our soldiers are still fighting and our people are at risk

There is increased antisemitism around us. Incredible gaslighting about what Israel is doing in self-defense and just to survive and protect its people, our people. It’s truly a painful moment and it can be confusing to know where to turn or where to find hope. This conversation with Rebbetzin Golshevsky, I hope will help you find some comfort.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-Rebbetzin Golshevsky's path to becoming a profound Torah teacher

-How to connect to Nisan and Pesach during this unique time we're in and how we can extract so much meaning out of it

-How to become joyful at this time

-Why things may look so gross and ugly on the outside right now and what that means for the Jewish people

-The process of redemption — what we can look to for hope

-How to free yourself from something personal you're working on

...and so much more!

If you would like to learn more about Rebbetzin Golshevsky and SHIVITI and get on the school's mailing list for classes, visit https://shiviti.org.il/.

To reach out to Rebbetzin Golshevsky directly, you can email her at Yehudis@shiviti.org.

More about Rebbetzin Golshevsky:

Rebbetzin Golshevsky founded and is the director of SHIVITI, a school in Jerusalem for women. She holds primary and secondary teaching certifications from Yavne Teacher's College in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a BA from SUNY Buffalo in Classics-Judaic Studies. Rebbetzin Golshevsky has been a well-known Torah educator in Jerusalem and abroad for twenty-five years, with students all over the world. She is also published author, editor, and translator.

To nominate a woman for the podcast, please send me an email at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM on Instagram at @chaionlifemag.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are speaking with Rena Cohen, a registered dietitian and behavior change coach.

Food is a big topic. For me, learning more about food and the way the items that I choose impact my body is something I’ve gotten really into in the last year. I actually worked with Rena last summer, a year after I had my second child and was just really confused about the best way to feed myself after my body had changed a lot and I was readjusting after birth. 

In the last year, I’ve only expanded my palette, introducing new and exciting foods that I hadn’t really had regularly before. I’ve added more movement, more sleep, more time to de-stress and I feel like I’m honestly the healthiest I’ve been maybe ever because of it — and I still eat dessert and french fries!

In the episode, Rena and I talk about:

-How she got into nutrition and its importance in our lives

-Why our psychology is so messed up when it comes to food and how we can start to fix that

-One thing you can add in today to make a huge difference in your health

-Getting more in touch with mindful eating

-Helping our kids create a better relationship with food and not pass down negative mentalities or patterns

-How to actually start doing the positive habit you have been dreaming to add to your life like meditation, a morning walk, exercise, or anything else.

…and SO MUCH MORE!

Food is supposed to be our fuel. When we are fueled and feeling good, we’re able to do all the other things we need to do with such a greater state of simcha, or joy.

If you want to learn more from Rena, visit her on Instagram @thesanctuaryrd, Facebook or on her website sanctuarycoaching.ca.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today I’m so excited to be speaking with home management and organization expert, Leora Blumenthal. 

Leora is one of those women who has her life together. Not that the marker of a good life is how well you run your home by any means but it just feels so good when your life is running efficiently.

Speaking with Leora made the whole process of managing a home feel way less daunting. She has a way of breaking things down that really simplifies everything and once you take that time to focus, everything can change.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-How Leora got into teaching others about home management, which by the way is her side profession — she has a completely other full time job

-Why home organization is so important and how it can impact our lives in other ways

-Why good home management and organization is the truest form of self care

-Why having good systems in place can actually allow you to accept more help

-Her grocery shopping routine

-Her Shabbos and weekday meal planning hacks

-Ways to tackle the neverending piles of laundry so you don’t lose your mind

-How to get kids more involved with home maintenance

…and SO MUCH MORE.

If you would like to get in touch with Leora for private coaching or to stay up to date on her next course, you can email her at leorablum@gmail.com or contact her by phone at 718-705-8662. (Please note, she is on an Israel time zone!)

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today we have Mrs. Devorah Kigel on the podcast! I am so excited to speak with Devorah, it really feels like a long time coming. I have known Devorah for maybe close to 11 or 12 years now and she definitely made a big impact on my own religious journey as she has for countless others speaking about her experience in the dating world and on other Jewish-related topics like her journey to becoming observant and dressing modestly.

Now, Devorah is a successful dating and marriage coach (she has helped well over 300 women marry their bashert) a sought-after Kallah teacher, and continues to be a popular speaker. She holds her B.A. from Hamilton College, where she majored in French and minored in women’s studies, and her M.A. in French from Middlebury College. Mrs. Kigel spent more than two years living in Paris and wrote her masters thesis on anti-Semitism in France. 

Devorah just released her brand new book this fall called “Marry a Mensch: Timeless Jewish Wisdom for Today’s Single Woman” and in this conversation we are going to speak about all of that and more.

She has been featured in Newsweek, The Jerusalem Post, Meaningful Minute, Torah Anytime and on aish.com.

In the episode, we get into her journey to becoming a dating coach, have her answer real listener dating questions like what happens when you can’t find someone on your exact religious level, how to know you’re ready or not ready to start dating, trusting your gut, why you should never settle and more.

We also speak about marriage in the latter half of the episode — the one change that has made the biggest difference in her marriage, how to create better communication, how the 5 love languages can help all of us, and more there too.

Plus, at the end we get into a really interesting conversation about working versus stay at home with your kids. Devorah has spoken openly about this in the past including a time early on when their kids were young and they were going through immense financial struggle and it was really insightful to get into a deeper discussion about her choice to stay home and how it’s impacted her life now. 

Just a disclaimer: This in no way is telling anyone what to do or how to live their life, that is a personal choice and I really believe something that is so unique to each individual situation and there is a whole spectrum in between but as a mom myself and as someone who knows many other mothers who struggle with the balance of managing so many things, it’s always an interesting topic to delve into further.

For more on Devorah and to get in touch with her, visit www.devorahkigel.com or on Instagram @devorahkigel.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today, we are talking all about friendship.

I’ve wanted to do a podcast on friendship for awhile now and this conversation was sooo cathartic and therapeutic. A lot of what we discussed are topics that I think are on a lot of our minds yet hard to speak about openly.

Laura Marder was the perfect person to have this conversation with. She is a trained clinical social worker and the Director of the Circles Facilitators at CORE, an organization aimed at fostering meaningful relationships between Jewish women through authentic conversation and connection.

As a note, reference Shasta Nelson’s Ted Talk on friendship, coined as "Frientimacy," in the episode, so if you’re looking to watch that entire video, you can click on the link in the show notes.

Whether you’re trying to make new friends, working to nurture or deepen existing friendships, wanting more time for friendship in your life, or anything else in that realm, this episode is for you and I am so excited for you to hear it.

If you want to get in touch with Laura, you can email her at LMarder@coretorah.org.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today we have a really exciting episode to gear up for Shavuot with Esteemed Educator, Speaker and Kallah Teacher Nalini Ibragimov.

If you know Nalini, you already know how special she is. I had the privilege of meeting her nearly 12 years ago now when she co-founded a group called Souled, which was a weekly class for young professional women who had been on Israel trips or other programs and wanted to continue their learning while working in New York City. She is a role model to maybe thousands of women at this point through her work on college campuses, as a kallah teacher, someone who prepares brides for their upcoming wedding, Souled and other Jewish organizations.

Here’s some more formal info for those who aren’t familiar with Nailni and her work:

Nalini Ibragimov attended Barnard College and Moreshet Institute and studied Jewish history in Touro’s master’s program. She lived in Israel for four years where she taught in various institutions. 

For the following five years, she and her husband worked at Brooklyn College for JLIC, a joint program of the OU and Hillel, where she taught and ran various programs for Jewish students on campus. Nalini taught in Ateres Naava seminary in Brooklyn for 15 years until moving to Long Island a few years ago. Additionally, Nalini has taught hundreds of kallot and is a speaker for My Gift of Mikvah. She is also part of the educational staff of Core. 

Today, Nalini is the director of the Olami Women's House, which provides a living space for young professional women who seek to live in a nurturing, Torah immersive environment. If you want to apply to live there, click here!

If you're a young professional woman, you can also hear Nalini speak Wednesday nights at Safra Synagogue on the Upper East Side at 7:30 p.m.

Nalini resides in Woodmere, New York with her husband and takes great pride in her six children and the families they are building.

Now, let’s talk about our episode. In our conversation we speak about:

-Nalini’s Jewish journey and how she got to where she is today

-How she manages and balances all of the work she does with being a wife and a mother of six children

-How she decides what professional responsibilities to take on

-What Shavuot really means and the perspective we can have going into it

-How we can manage the heaviness all around us right now and channel that pain we’re still feeling into the holiday and use it to create even more connection with Hashem

-What a miracle actually looks like and how we can see more of them in our daily lives, right now

-How we can use the time we have left before Shavuot to prepare for the holiday — and why the process and the preparation are key

-How to connect on Shavuot when you’re home with little kids and not going to learn all night

-How the holiday of Shavuot is like a wedding and a beautiful lesson that we can all infuse into our marriages and our relationship to all of klal Yisrael

…and SO MUCH MORE

If you have any questions for Nalini, you can reach out to her at Nalini419@gmail.com.

If there's someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast or a topic you want featured, send me an email at alex@chaionlifemag.com or a DM on Instagram at @chaionlifemag.

Thanks so much, see you next week!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast, I’m Alex Segal and today we are so privileged to have Rachel Tuchman, licensed mental health counselor on our podcast.

Rachel has worked with many diverse populations including incarcerated women at Riker's Island Correctional Facility, kids and adults with developmental delays, kids with behavior issues, overwhelmed parents looking for skills and support, teens struggling with the pressures of adolescence and life in general, adults going through difficult life circumstances (divorce, infidelity, phase of life challenges), individuals struggling with their relationship with food and their bodies and women experiencing infertility.

Rachel is a Health At Every Size aligned clinician and dedicates a lot of her time out of office to educating parents and kids on the importance of body respect and the behaviors that truly honor our health. 

Rachel also does speaking engagements for schools, synagogues, and various community organizations.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-What managing your mental health looks like right now in a post October 7 world and how we can do more of that

-How we can feel closer to each other through feeling this collective pain

-How we can deal with any survivor’s guilt we may be feeling living our day to day lives when some of our brothers and sisters are in such a horrific situation

-How to deal with the influx of difficult news that comes at us regularly

-How to deal with the uncertainty of life in America and what a better mindset might be

-How to manage anxiety you may be having right now, work on getting rid of it and working on not passing it down to your kids

-Practical things we CAN do to take action when we’re feeling helpless, or just to boost our mental and emotional state

-How to create better boundaries in our lives to actually live the life you want to be living

…and SO MUCH MORE

It definitely turned into an important conversation and an emotional one — maybe have some tissues nearby. I cried, Rachel cried, I cried again while editing it but it was one of those good cries where you’re allowing your emotions to come to the surface, so I’m excited for you to hear it.

For more from Rachel, follow her on Instagram at @rachel_tuchman_lmhc.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! I'm so excited for you to listen to my episode with Rivkah Fox (@rivkahfox). She's a matchmaker who has set up tons of couples and is at your service!

In this episode, we talk about:

-How Rivkah got into matchmaking

-How she made her first match

-How she organizes her matches

-The do’s and don’ts of working with a shadchan

-How often to reach out to a shadchan and what to say

-How Rivkah decides who to match up

-How to make the best first impression on your matchmaker

-How to ensure a matchmaker remembers you

-How the time we’re in has affected her job as a matchmaker

-How Rivkah met her husband and what you can learn from her story

-How to plan the perfect first date

If you want to reach out to Rivkah, you can WhatsApp her at 

516-666-2465. Send her a bio, a few photos of yourself and a dating resume if you have one.

If you have a guest you'd like to see on the Chai on Life podcast, email alex@chaionlifemag.com or send us a DM at @chaionlifemag. Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am so excited to be speaking with leadership and high-performance coach, athlete and all around amazing human, Tania Friedlander.

Tania is an ICF and Gallup Certified Global Strengths Coach who specializes in leadership & high-performance coaching. She has worked with more than 350 executives and emerging leaders from Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Neiman Marcus, Morgan Stanley, and The Federal Reserve among other leading companies.

A former champion athlete and attorney by training, Tania is driven by her passion for helping individuals break through their professional or personal challenges to find clarity and direction, leverage their strengths, achieve their goals, and become the best leaders and professionals they can be.

Full disclosure — I am actually working with Tania as a coach and she has been so instrumental in the launch of this podcast and honestly my mindset around the whole experience.

So this episode is here to now help you. In our conversation, we speak about:

-How she got into coaching and why she made the switch from a law career

-How she helps people understand their yearning for more and actually do the thing they’ve been dreaming about

-Why you may be experiencing overwhelm and how to work through it so you feel more in control of your own life

-How your limiting beliefs may be holding you back and what to do about it

-What to do if you’re experiencing imposter syndrome

-What so many people regret at the end of their lives and how you can make sure not to get to that place

-The biggest lesson she took away from her years as competitive athlete

…and SO MUCH MORE.

You can learn more about Tania's work on her LinkedIn page and website. If you'd like to get in touch, you can email her directly at tania@higherworkcoaching.com.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM on Instagram @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life podcast. I'm Alex Segal.

Trigger warning for this episode: We speak about pregnancy, miscarriage and diet and nutrition so if any of those things may be triggering for you, definitely feel free to turn off the episode, I completely understand.

Now let’s learn about our amazing guest, Lauren Allen. Lauren is a former sugar addict turned Certified Nutrition Coach who specializes in women's hormonal health and fertility. After being diagnosed with PCOS after struggling with infertility, Lauren discovered the power of using food as medicine to heal her body, balance her hormones, and eventually get pregnant naturally. Lauren believes that all women deserve to harness the power of eating foods that help balance their hormones and optimize their fertility without feeling deprived or restricted. She is the creator of the Balance Your Hormones 101 program and The Empowered Path to Pregnancy program to help women learn how diet and lifestyle changes can help them balance their hormones and optimize their fertility. She coaches women privately as well.

In this episode, we speak about:

-How Lauren got to where she is today, working through a sugar addiction to become a health coach and conceive two children naturally

-What a hormone is and what its role is in your body

-What vital organs in your body do and how the food we eat can affect them

-What balancing our blood sugar means and how to do so effectively

-How to improve out diets to add in more nutrition, in a way that’s not overwhelming

-What it actually means to be “born with all your eggs” — it’s not what you think!

-The best things to eat during the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and postpartum periods to optimize your health and your baby’s health

-How to make time to take care of ourselves

…and so much more!

If you want to learn more from Lauren, you can follow her on Instagram @laurenallennutrition and visit her website laurenallennutrition.com — there are tons of awesome recipes on there (I highly recommend the chickpea chocolate chip cookies!) She also has her own podcast called “About Health and Hormones” which you can learn more about here: laurenallennutrition.com/podcast. For more information on her courses, you can also visit her website.

If there is a guest you would like to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, send a DM to @chaionlifemag on Instagram or email alex@chaionlifemag.com.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we’re talking all about Israel. If you’re a Jew right now, Israel has constantly been on your mind since October 7th (and probably for awhile before that too!)

Those of us outside of Israel are experiencing violent protests from those who seem like they will stop at nothing to terrorize the Jews. When we’re living in such scary times, we’re reminded even more how badly we need Israel. We think of the Holocaust, of all those souls that weren’t able to leave or didn’t have a place to go.

As we continue to navigate the stressful climate we’re in, thinking about Israel and its significance is an important one. So today, I have my friend Izzy Sakhaie on the podcast to speak about all of the questions and points of inner conflict we may all be thinking about.

In this episode, we cover:

-How she became religious and got more deeply connected to Israel

-How her career trajectory evolved along with her Israel journey

-How she decided to make aliyah and the process of doing so

-What it’s actually like living in Israel

-How Izzy dealt with the challenges of life in Israel and how she took advantage of the positive aspects

-Why she decided to move back to America when the war broke out

-Tools she uses to connect to Hashem in her everyday life now

-What we can all pray for when we’re feeling stuck

-What those of us outside of Israel right now may need to be doing

-How she is connecting to her soul’s mission and what we can all learn from that

It was an amazing, inspiring conversation that I hope you can take something from.

Izzy’s Bio:

Izzy is a New York native who officially made aliyah in December of 2020. Although she returned to America right after the war began, one of her personal passions is shedding light on Israel through her documentary series “My Israel Narrative.” This project aims to unpack the myriad questions our current reality is presenting. Izzy focuses on unpacking two major ideas: “What is home?” and “What is Israel to me, on both a personal and collective level?” With Hashem’s help, this project will hopefully bring to light some real answers in what's certainly a confusing and challenging time for many.

In addition, Izzy manages Olami’s Zero Tolerance Campaign. Zero Tolerance is a national, student-run initiative helping to create a campus culture of zero tolerance for antisemitism. Their goal is to transform the culture on campus from one of intimidation, resignation, and apathy to one of zero tolerance to antisemitism and all forms of discrimination.

Izzy also seeks to capture the beauty of Israel through her photography (25% of proceeds go to causes supporting Israel).

Follow “My Israel Narrative” on Instagram, YouTube and Spotify.

Learn more from Izzy at myisraelnarrative.com.

If there’s a topic you want covered or a woman you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM on Instagram @chaionlifemag.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today I am so excited to be speaking with Alyssa Goldwater, a self-proclaimed plus-size advocate who also refers to herself as “your Orthodox Jewish friend.” She creates content for social media that gives followers an inside look into an Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and is open about her journey with eating disorder recovery and how she has grown and continues to grow to love and accept her body as it is.

This conversation is a powerful one. As I said in an episode on eating before this, if you are a woman in this world you have most likely experienced some sort of thoughts on your body and the food you’re putting into it. It’s something we can’t avoid. Even if you had parents who spoke about everything in the healthiest way, there is diet culture messaging that is pervasive elsewhere and it seeps into our brains, often at an early age.

I’m so passionate about this topic because often, it’s something we still need to work on in our day-to-day lives and Alyssa really helps with that and also, if you are a parent and raising the next generation it’s something that we’re thinking about in terms of how to teach it and we can do that so much more effectively when we feel good about it ourselves.

In the episode, we speak about:

-How she got to this place in her social media career where she shares so openly about her struggles

-Why and how she’s reclaiming the word “fat”

-Why dressing for her body is so important to show online AND how it’s so much more than just clothing

-The difference between accepting your body and loving your body and why you don’t have to love every single thing about it

-How she deals with mean comments on her social media posts

-How she practices self-care and maintains her mental health on a day to day basis

-How she speaks to her kids about food so they can develop a healthy relationship with it — I loved her messaging here

-How her relationship with Hashem has helped her throughout her eating and health journey

…and SO MUCH MORE

This conversation was so meaningful, so profound in a lot of ways and honestly, very cathartic for me. I hope you get a lot out of it and can’t wait to hear your thoughts. 

More about Alyssa:

Alyssa Goldwater is a wife, mom and the Digital Influencer behind the lifestyle brand, A Glass of Goldwater (@alyssagoldwater). Merging motherhood with humor, A Glass of Goldwater has become a community and support network of more than 200,000 women across the world. By having hard conversations about difficult topics such as mental health, the dangers of diet culture, and the unspoken struggles of motherhood, Alyssa not only keeps people laughing with her sarcastic take on life, but also helps women feel part of something bigger - that they aren’t alone in this crazy world.

Alyssa has made it her life’s mission to “take back the word fat.” Society has turned, what is a regular descriptor word, into an insult that incites feelings of ugly, bad, unhealthy, unlovable, unworthy, etc. Diet culture and the anti-fat bias have demonized every body that doesn’t fit the perfect, “thin is best” mold. It has turned unrealistic beauty standards, and unscientific health standards, into a multi-billion dollar industry that preys on the insecurities and vulnerabilities of people who believe their bodies aren’t acceptable.

For as long as someone cannot accept, and learn to respect, the body they live in, they will never be able to live a truly fulfilling life. Alyssa is breaking down the walls of diet culture by helping women live confidently in their bodies, as they learn to love themselves again.

Along with other movers and shakers in the Anti-Diet Culture and Eating Disorder Recovery movements, Alyssa is helping to redefine beauty standards and pushing the boundaries of what society deems as “acceptable”.

Every body is worthy, lovable, acceptable and houses a holy soul inside. Through education, plus size fashion and advocacy, Alyssa helps women internalize and access those feelings of self acceptance and love, as they work to live full and meaningful lives.

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Meet Ellie Azerad, the author of Frum Minimalism. This episode is ALL about decluttering your home to make it a more pleasant place for you to live.

In this episode, we dive into:

-How to start decluttering your home and why it will benefit you

-How to make this process last and not allow your home to get cluttered again

-How your connection to Hashem and spirituality fit into this process

-How to deal with it in regards to kids — how to get them involved and deal with the amount of stuff they bring into the home

-PESACH: How to get ready in time for Pesach so you can arrive at the holiday calm instead of stressed and anxious

-Letting go of the scarcity mindset

And SO much more!

To get in touch with Ellie and to find more resources from her, visit frumminimalism.com. 

If you have a guest you'd like to see on the Chai on Life podcast, email alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM at @chaionlifemag. Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today I’m speaking with Shira Fruchter, a social worker and Internal Family Systems certified psychotherapist who holds a private practice in Jerusalem. 

Shira counsels couples and individual women specializing in relational trauma and interpersonal conflict. She also runs IFS mini workshops for personal development and growth.

Shira also released a book at the end of last year all about IFS, speaking about the therapy through the lens of Torah and helping others in the observant world connect more deeply to the modality.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-What IFS is and how it works

-Why Shira wanted to write a book for the Jewish community about it and how it makes the modality more accessible

-What parts we are all made up of and how to use those to better understand yourself and how to heal

-How this all connects to Judaism and Torah...and more!

To demonstrate the work of IFS, we actually go through a real simulation where I am the patient and share a little bit about one of my parts and she walks us through how I can understand that in a different way and not feel threatened by it. Instead, she taught me how certain questions you can ask yourself can change the way you look at it and treat both yourself and certain situations with more compassion, ultimately approaching life in a healthier way.

Full disclosure, I have really felt a change in myself since our conversation. It sounds crazy but I have begun to question my insecurities or overthinking tendencies since going through the modality with her a little bit more in the simulation and it’s changed the way I think about certain situations. Instead of ruminating. I’m really amazed by what just a little bit of IFS work can do and so grateful that I have this tool now in my back pocket.

Shira can be contacted through email at shifruchie@gmail.com or WhatsApp at 347-255-3514.

You can get her book on Amazon here.

Thanks for listening, see you next week!

Welcome to the Chai on Life podcast! 

I’m Alex Segal. I’m a writer, editor, wife, mom and inspired Jewish woman. As I’ve gone through life, I’ve become so much more connected to my Jewish identity. I’ve fallen in love with what it means to be Jewish. As I’ve become a Shabbat-observant Jew, and taken on many other mitzvot, it was really important to me to not to lose who I was throughout the process. I would not be where I am without the women who have guided me and shown me what’s possible. They have taught me that my unique self can only shine brighter through this life I’m choosing.

That being said, as we move through our day-to-day tasks, it’s easy for life to become well, routine. We need to maintain our inspiration, connect with each other, and through that, we thrive. This is a podcast dedicated to both of those things — an inspired Jewish life and the power women behind it all. The goal? For all of us to become more "chai on life."

Want to nominate a guest? Email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today, we are kicking off our Elul Energy series with the ever-inspiring Aliza Bulow.

In the episode, we speak about:

-Where she comes from and what guides her mission in life

-Her genuine relationship to Torah and why she calls it a “transformational treasure trove”

-Why she started an organization revolving around women and what we can all take from that

-Why we are lonelier than ever now when it comes to real friendships and connections and what to do about it

-How you can actually achieve the dreams and goals you have for yourself

-How she nourishes her emunah, or faith and how she finds comfort in Hashem, without fear

-Her advice and experience building a healthy and strong marriage despite many differences

-How to keep your mind on the bigger picture

…and honestly SO much more.

More about Aliza:

Aliza Bulow is the Founding Director of Core, an organization that connects, develops and supports Orthodox women who engage in Jewish communal work. She is also an author, educator and mentor to Jewish communal leaders and lay people around the world. Before founding Core, she directed Ner LeElef’s North American Women’s Program for 11 years where she coached rebbitzens and provided strategic development for outreach organizations in Canada, the US and Mexico.

Her love of Jewish texts and philosophy was developed at Michlelet Bruria, Hebrew University and Hunter College where she graduated with honors in Hebrew and Jewish Studies. In her early career, she worked for Partners in Torah and The Jewish Experience. Even before entering college, Aliza’s passion for strengthening Jews and the Jewish community led her to campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry and build settlements in Israel while serving in Nachal. That early passion has only grown with time. Over the past four decades, Aliza has worked with hundreds of women in over 50 cities and 5 continents, strengthening the social fabric of the Jewish People. More information is available on her website: ABiteOfTorah.com or about Core at CoreTorah.org.

To learn more about Aliza, you can listen to her here:

18Forty — Aliza and Ephraim Bulow: When a Spouse Loses Faith

Empowered Jewish Living: Women's Empowerment, Grief and a Never-Ending Quest for Greatness

Deep Meaningful Conversations: The Power of Sisterhood

Inspiration for the Nation: A Mother's Will to Build After Suicide

Special thank you to Tania Friedlander, our first podcast partner! Tania is so helpful for professionals in any area — budding entrepreneurs, business owners, seasoned employees, leaders looking to take their companies to the next level, and more.

Maybe you need clarity and direction, you’re trying to achieve better work/life balance, not sure what next steps to take in your career, you’re motivated but also burnt out, you’re realizing leading people isn’t simple or are fearful that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you are at all interested in working with Tania, you can book a complimentary call with her at TaniaFriedlander.com/contact.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are diving into the month of Shevat, specifically focusing on Tu B’Shevat which is coming up THIS WEEK. It is on Thursday — Wednesday night to Thursday and if you’re anything like me, Tu B’Shevat is kind of a holiday you acknowledge, but maybe gloss over on a deeper level. This year, I am putting a stop to it.

Yehudit Refson (@the_jerusalem_farmhouse) is the director of grounds, arts and renovations at Neve Yerushalayim. She is an amazing person who has totally transformed Neve’s campus in the time since she moved over there. We actually did an interview nearly four years ago for the Chai on Life website which I am linking in the show notes where you can learn more about how and why she got into the entire gardening journey and how she transformed the earth into a space that was beautiful already, but now is bursting with plant and animal life.

Now, the girls at Neve don’t just learn Torah inside the classroom, they really enhance their learning outside of it. Instead of just learning about shemitta, they’re living it with the plants around them. On Rosh Hashanah, they’re touching actual pomegranates and other simanim from their own garden. They’re doing tashlich in their own pond. They plant the arba minim for Sukkot. It’s really a full interactive experience that undoubtedly leaves you with so much more than you would get just from hearing about these things.

In our conversation, we go even deeper:

-She speaks about the land’s connection and parallels to women

-The root word of land in Hebrew, adamah, and how the word itself shows our connection to the earth

-We talk about the power of being in nature in regards to our five senses and the impact on our mental health as a result

-We go deep into Shevat as I referenced and how the energy of this time is all about renewal

-At the end, we discuss practical ways to live a cleaner, greener life and how to just jump into gardening

I left our conversation feeling really excited and invigorated to get started with something when it comes to gardening and actually being with the earth and I have a feeling you may feel the same way afterward. I love this episode so much and can’t wait for you to hear it.

Resources:

How to make a Tu B'Shevat Seder via Aish.com

Follow @the_jerusalem_farmhouse on Instagram

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast! I’m Alex Segal and today I am so excited to bring you this episode with Chana Deutsch. 

Chana lives in the Old City in Israel and is currently devoted to helping women feel their best and create their best marriages. She is a mom, a wife, a relationship expert and coach. She specializes in helping women in relationships (and not-yet-in relationships) foster the connection, intimacy and love they desire in their marriage and in their home.

Chana teaches down-to-earth strategies designed for women to get in touch with, and bring forth, their authentic and vulnerable feminine self through her coaching program, Absolutely Feminine.

She has become a beacon of light for women around the world who want to transform their relationships from a state of disconnect, frustration and lack of understanding to one of mutual respect, happiness, intimate communication and connection.

Chana is also the host of the popular With All Your Heart Interview Series: The Jewish Woman’s Path to Experiencing Joy and Fulfillment in Love where she speaks with other experts all about building new patterns and habits for greater connection in their relationships. She just launched this year’s series which is going on until May 30th — a new interview is sent out every day. If you want to check it out, you can visit withallyourheartseries.com.

In this interview, we speak about—

-How she ended up living in Israel and meeting her husband at 19

-What challenges came up and how she learned to work through them

-What a “normal” marriage actually means and entails

-If religious dating versus secular dating makes a difference in how the marriage ends up down the road

-What she offers in her “Absolutely Feminine” course

-A real life example and how she would guide someone through it

-How we can help our children develop the skills they need to succeed in and build a beautiful marriage of their own

…and so much more!

Get a free class from Chana all about creating a playful and passionate marriage. You can access it at chanadeutsch.com/passion.

Listen to Chana's podcast on Spotify called: Coffee and Connection.

If you want to reach out to Chana, you can email her at absolutelyfeminine@gmail.com or Chana@absolutelyfeminine.com.

Thanks for listening!

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, I am speaking with Orit Esther Riter, an Emuna Energizer (I love that), a Renowned Inspirational Speaker, Author and the Practicing Founder of the First Haskamah-Approved Torah-Centric Energy Therapy Program.

After being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 19 years ago, ​emuna was the answer to Orit Esther’s healing, growth, and building of a solid foundation with Hashem. So much so, she redirected her culinary chef career to a more meaningful path of spreading ​emuna. Orit Esther believes that every soul is beautiful and holds positive energy and light that deserves to shine​ and therefore single-handedly began an emuna ​movement worldwide​ devoted to helping others heal from trauma and pain. Her teachings are based on the work of the Holy Ba’al Shem tov and focus on practical strategies to restore emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual health​.

In this episode, we go deep into Orit Esther’s story — staring way before her diagnosis, and how she persevered through all of the challenges along the way. We learn how she found Hashem in different ways at different points along the journey, and how relationship grew and matured as she did.

The ups and downs are vast, yet the way she cultivated emuna and real healing in it is the most inspiring. It’s impossible to hear this story and not feel inspired to work on your emuna and really grip it with all that you have.

In a time now, in Kislev, and in the world when we’re experiencing darkness, Orit Esther’s story will bring you back to the light. Her story will invigorate you and remind you why we’re doing all of this, what the grounding force is when you live a life with Hashem, and how and why to consistently get back to it.

I’m so honored to have powerful woman on the podcast and so excited for you to hear her message. So now, let’s get into my conversation with Orit Esther.

Gain more from Orit Esther below:

oremunaenergy.com

Get her books on Amazon:

Turn Around 180 Degrees in 180 Days

Turn Around Your Emotions

Turn Around Your Life with the Ba’al Shem Tov

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today I am so excited to have Ruchi Koval on to speak all about her latest book, Soul Purpose.

Ruchi is a parenting coach and motivational speaker who has inspired personal transformation in thousands of people. She is the co-founder and Associate Director of the Jewish Family Experience, an innovative shul and outreach community in Cleveland, Ohio. She has been a Jewish educator for two decades, leading self-development mussar groups for adults and teens, and mentoring educators around the world. Ruchi is also a musician, author, mother of 7, and grandmother. She is a Momentum Educator, inspiring thousands of women on their journeys in Israel. She is also the author of three books: "Conversations with God," “Soul Construction,” and her newest book, “Soul Purpose,” as we mentioned which was just released a couple months ago. 

Find Ruchi on Instagram; on her blog at outoftheorthobox.com; and her two podcasts. Download her “Ruchi Koval” app to listen to many of her lectures online. 

Soul Purpose takes the teachings of Pirkei Avot and makes them way more approachable. Each day in the 365-day daily reader takes a line from Pirkei Avot and explains it in layman’s terms, helping anyone understand its meaning more coherently and effectively. Each entry ends with an intention so you can really go into your day thinking about the idea further and applying the teaching to your own life in a practical way.

If you want to listen to Ruchi read each entry, you can join the WhatsApp group she mentioned here:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/FSylDrVqdFRBpw0bkF2qyX

If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal, and today we have a REALLY exciting guest — Danielle Renov, the recipe developer and cookbook author of the brand, Peas, Love & Carrots.

Danielle has been a dream guest of mine for many reasons. One, being that I absolutely love her recipes and they are fully a part of my weekly rotations, but mainly because of her ever-inspiring simchas hachaim and unwavering bitachon.

She lost a child — a baby boy named Yaakov Rafael, Z"L — more than six years ago and despite the unbearable pain, continues to be a beacon of light for Klal Yisrael.

This episode is of course coming out at a powerful time. It’s not only the aseret yemei teshuva, or the ten days of repentance but it’s also October 7th. Danielle’s words will help us get through the darkness and the unknown with a renewed dedication to Hashem, and that of course, is everything.

In the episode, we speak about:

-How she got started with Peas Love & Carrots

-How she balances motherhood with her work

-What it meant to rely on Hashem when her world went dark after the loss

-How she builds her bitachon muscle daily

-Where her simchas hachaim comes from and how she works to cultivate it

-How she handles life with small children — how she gets through the tough moments and still finds time for herself

-How she balances posting about her life on social media and staying present in real life

-What's next for Peas Love & Carrots

...and SO much more!

She also leaves us with a message about getting through this year’s Simchat Torah that deeply resonated with me and I will definitely be thinking about as we head into what will G-d willing be a beautiful yet difficult day.

NOTE: We will be off through Sukkot but G-d willing back in Cheshvan with all new episodes! Wishing everyone a meaningful rest of the chagim.

Special thank you to Tania Friedlander, our podcast partner! Tania is so helpful for professionals in any area — budding entrepreneurs, business owners, seasoned employees, leaders looking to take their companies to the next level, and more.

Maybe you need clarity and direction, you’re trying to achieve better work/life balance, not sure what next steps to take in your career, you’re motivated but also burnt out, you’re realizing leading people isn’t simple or are fearful that you don’t have what it takes to succeed.

So, if you are at all interested in working with Tania, you can book a complimentary call with her at TaniaFriedlander.com/contact.