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’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, 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!