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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We all want to be more resilient, to bounce back during times of stress and upheaval. But is resilience just about bouncing back to who we were before we experienced adversity, or is it more? On this episode of DMC, we sit down with Professor Leslie Gutman, author of Resilience: A Jewish Guide to Facing Adversity, Fostering Strength and Living your…

Being happy is an aspiration that is thrown around so easily and often, we wonder if it’s really even a goal in life. But happiness is crucial for healthy children, and we’re going to be talking all about it with our guest, Beth Perkel. Beth is an author, freelance writer and essayist. Her recent book is called Light At the Beginning of the Tunnel:…

This episode of DMC is about spiritual self-care. This means, what are we doing to take care of our neshama? What are we doing to invest in our connection to Yiddishkeit and Hashem? Because if we don’t take care of our spiritual side, we know what happens. It’s the same with when we don’t take care of our bodies, or our relationships, or our linen …

It’s the Three Weeks, and we knew we wanted to provide something meaningful for us all to help us get in the mindset of this unique period in the Jewish calendar. As we’re leading up to Tisha B’Av, we really should be thinking more about mitzvos bein adam l’chaveiro since sinas chinam, baseless hatred, is the reason given for the destruction of the…

Nechama has been chained to a dead marriage for the past 9 years. She spent years trying to fight for her freedom. Recently, after 2 years of persistence, Nechama obtained a psak, an authoritative ruling on halachic matters, that permits Nechama to obtain the get through force. Now, Nechama turns to us to join her in the fight, not only for her fre…

On this DMC, we’re talking about tefillah, prayer. We want to get real, we want to get practical and we want to get inspired. Our guest is Sara Blau. Sara is passionate about tefillah and making prayer relevant. Her brand is providing inspiration for the Jewish woman, so she’s a perfect guest for DMC. Sara’s a public speaker and the author of 29 bo…

We get a lot of feedback from women that they’d like to hear more episodes about marriage and parenting. So this episode is devoted to the topic of marriage and we’re DMCing with a very special person, Rivke Gardner. Rivke is “a marriage mentor for mentors” – and a marriage coach for everybody. She went on her own quest to improve her marriage afte…

It’s fair to say that every Orthodox woman has her own unique relationship with tznius. There are many factors at play that determine the nature of her relationship: education, upbringing, societal and familial influences, peer dynamics, and religious background, amongst others. Whether tznius is your favorite mitzvah or your biggest struggle, it’s…

Summer 2023 UpdateBy Ari Koretzky

Whatever “chizuk” means to you, we all need it. Whether it’s inspiration, validation, support or cheerleading, chizuk is what keeps us going when the going gets tough, or when we’re just not feeling it. Chizuk isn’t just for those of us who may be struggling religiously. We all can use a boost of strengthening to help us get through our daily lives…

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman has been a longtime scholar, pulpit rabbi and Jewish communal leader. In his latest role, as President of Yeshiva University, he is guiding this flagship bastion of higher learning into a bold and dynamic future, by building on the values and personalities of our illustrious past. -------------------- ABOUT T…