Fally has an incredible story. Like the last episode, there was so much to fit in, we ended up going even longer than I usually do and I promise you it is worth the listen. Every minute is so rich – I was hanging onto her every word.

Fally has already lived through so many things — more than some go through in an entire lifetime. Some of which — like battling cancer — she speaks about in the episode and some of which she is preferring to keep private right now. When you listen to how eloquent she is, how much depth she brings to her journey and challenges, you will be blown away and if you’re like me, only want more from her.

In the episode, we speak about:

-Her battle with cancer as a teenager and what that experience taught her

-Her perspective on closure in life

-What real healing feels like

-How she worked to figure out her career and mission throughout her challenges and how that continues to evolve today

-How her connection with Hashem has deepened through her journey

-The power of breath work and how our breathing mimics the spiritual realm

-Two breathing techniques that can help you find more calm right now

…and SO MUCH MORE.

Get more from Fally on her website ⁠⁠fallyklein.com⁠⁠.

Get her book, Miracle Ride, ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

Matana went through a profound journey through anxiety and depression, which she shares with us in the episode and now she works with others who are going through similar challenges. She meets people where they are, helping them navigate anxiety and depression by implementing practical, personalized tools that support their unique healing journey.

Drawing from her lived experience, faith and years of learning from leading experts, she shares honest conversations that inspire resilience, emotional well-being and hope. Her goal is to show that healing is possible, growth is often found in the smallest steps and no one has to walk the journey alone.

This is the perfect episode to release this week, as we approach Tisha B’Av. Sometimes it’s in the pain that we find the most connection. As they say, when there are cracks, that’s where the light can come in. In Matana’s story, we’re also learning about things that could be going on behind the scenes for anyone. So much of the time, we don’t know what another person is really going through. As we work on our ahavas chinam, or love for another Jew, in an attempt to rebuild the beis Hamikdash, Matana’s story can be a reminder of that. It can be a reminder to give ourselves more compassion if we’re going through something of our own and understanding that if you feel hurt or insulted by someone else, it may not be what you think.

In the episode we speak about:

-The moment that anxiety entered her life in a real, overt way and how that changed the course of her life moving forward

-Her journey to heal — what that looked like, what got in her way and how she overcame immense challenge

-What it looks like to reach out when you need help

-What it’s like going through certain aspects of a religious lifestyle when you have OCD and how she worked through that — specifically when it comes to personal challenges like going to the mikvah

-How she dealt with resentment that came up toward Hashem or her religious lifestyle and how she was able to persevere through that

-How she deals with her challenges as a mother and all that motherhood entails

-What she’s doing now to stay mentally healthy every day

…and so much more!

To get more from Matana, visit ⁠hopetorecharge.com⁠

Follow her on Instagram at ⁠@matanajacobs⁠

Two meditations she listens to:

Morning meditation

⁠https://youtu.be/FmczMP1gQzk?is=VfKZO0zVrPAlEKCr⁠

Gratitude meditation

⁠https://youtu.be/xfD4HaBBc0I?is=tH8VHa9Hzn79hA-Z⁠

This episode is a roundup of five things that I have been doing to feel really good this summer (of course all a work in progress!) I’ve been thinking about this topic for awhile now and am so excited to get this solo episode out there — more of a rare occasion for me!

Really hope you like it and get even one thing out of it.

Here, some the other podcasts I reference in the episode:

–⁠Chai on Life Podcast with Elisheva Liss⁠

–⁠The Liz Moody Podcast episode with Laura Vanderkam⁠

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!

Aliza has more than a decade of experience helping adolescents and adults navigate anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges, and life transitions. She takes a holistic approach, integrating mind, body and soul, and uses evidence-based therapies such as EMDR, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and more.

Her work combines practical tools with deep emotional insight to help people create meaningful, lasting change that is in alignment with their values.

This conversation is all about a whole lot of that. I’ve been thinking so much about healing lately. In our social media focused world, healing can sometimes be contained to 1 or 2-minute sound bites or six-slide carousel posts when in reality, it’s hard to fit our lives in a box. While there is so much learning, community and validation that can come from social media, a lot can also be lost. Sometimes it feels like if we just did this one thing that this Instagram post is saying, we would be better — if we just read that one book or bought that one product, we would finally feel healed or have the lives we wanted. We need to remember to go outside the screen to have those real conversations and debrief and connect — there is never a substitute for that.

As I spoke to Aliza, I realized that with all the chasing, there also has to be recognition of what is being accomplished every day, there has to be space for emotion — all of them — for the duality of what makes someone human. Becoming healed isn’t a destination that you stay at, but a vibrant journey that continues to bring us to new levels of growth. Aliza is so good about breaking down some of the big concepts we see or hear about and making them understandable and really feel doable.

In the episode, we speak about:

-How healing itself can become an addiction

-What DBT and CBT are — the differences between them and how we can utilize them for growth

-How to live more in alignment with our values

-What to do when uncomfortable emotions arise

-How we can work to reprogram our nervous systems to feel more calm

-How to live life with more intention

-How to break free of comparison culture and a consumer-based society

-How to make friends as an adult and why it feels different than it may have before

-How to work on building self-esteem

-The power of integrating spirituality in your healing journey

…and so much more!

To learn more from Aliza or to work with her, visit ⁠Heartfulmentalhealth.com⁠

Find her on Instagram ⁠@alizathetherapist⁠

Email her at ⁠Aliza@heartfulmentalhealth.com

Katia is an author and speaker as well as a pianist, songwriter and composer of contemporary classical music. She is known for inspiring audiences with teachings that are both deeply rooted in Torah as well as being contemporary. Her writing is warm, clear, and emotionally resonant — grounded in real experience rather than theory.

As I moved through her book, I really felt that. Each chapter focuses on a different parsha and is relatable and easy to read. It makes the parsha approachable and offers at least one practical takeaway or exercise you can do to really bring the Torah’s teachings immediately into your life. It could be fun to learn with a friend or chavruta for that purpose as well and really motivate each other.

In the episode, we speak about:

-Why she decided to write a book on parsha specifically

-How we can use the Torah as the greatest self-help book

-Why life is more like a ladder and less like a bridge and what that ladder can teach us 

-How Katia grounds herself through Torah

-The dangers of comparing oneself to others and how to work on that in both a physical and spiritual way

-What the duality present in the Torah can teach us about the world

-What masculine and feminine energy look like through a Torah lens

-The best way to transmit Torah to our children

…and so much more!

Get Katia’s book ⁠here⁠.Follow Katia on Instagram ⁠here⁠ and through her website ⁠here⁠.

Since summer is finally here, I’m sure we all want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time in the sunshine and Guila is helping us with just that. She is spilling all her tips to cooking more efficiently whether it’s for Shabbat or weeknight dinners.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-How she got started as a food blogger

-How her Moroccan background influences her cooking today, and also how it doesn’t

-Where she gets the inspiration for her recipes and how you can do the same

-How to plan out your weekly meals in a way that is not overwhelming and makes it feel so easy

-Her Shabbat planning and cooking process broken down

-Why challah has become a mitzvah she feels really connected to and how she makes time for it

-She takes us behind the scenes of her content creation process from how long things take to film to the editing and even answering messages

-How she brings cooking into her motherhood journey with her kids — from helping them become less picky eaters to bringing them into the kitchen with her when they’re interested in learning

…and SO MUCH MORE

Some of the things we discussed in the episode:

⁠Recipes from Guila with 9×13, sheet-pan ideas and freezer tips⁠

Quick-meal links:

⁠Easy 9×13 Chicken and Rice⁠

⁠9×13 Kids Pasta⁠

Follow on Instagram:

⁠@Tastyandhasty⁠

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

The reason she is back is to discuss her brand new book, ⁠8 Seconds to Connect with Hashem: Mitzvah Mindfulness⁠ for Women. The whole idea of the book is about turning everyday actions into moments of connection. With clear guidance and short intention statements, even routine tasks―like drinking water or doing laundry―can become meaningful mitzvos.

I was blessed to hear about this concept from Rebbetzin Rigler on one of her classes through Jewish Workshops and after reading an early copy of the book, tried practicing it on my own. As you’ll hear more about in our interview, it’s truly a transformational idea. In a really small way, you can change your whole relationship with Hashem for the better.

In our conversation, we speak about:

-Why she wanted to write this book

-Why this action creates so much more love for and with Hashem

-How to do this when things feel tough and you’re going through challenges in life

-The importance of doing a mitzvah with simcha

-The two things that might get in the way of doing this practice effectively — and how to both watch out for and overcome those

-Why you can apply this concept to literally anything you’re doing throughout the day — even serving Hashem with your yetzer hara

…and so much more!

For the most up to date information, you can go to the book’s website, ⁠8secconnect.com⁠.

To listen to the first episode with Rebbetzin Rigler, click ⁠here⁠.

More relevant links:

⁠Order the book on Amazon⁠

⁠Sararigler.com⁠

⁠Hello Habit app⁠

She works with couples to create clear, practical systems at home so they can raise children with healthy money habits and avoid the patterns that lead to entitlement. She also guides engaged and newlywed couples through the early financial decisions that shape their future, helping them get organized, communicate well, and start off on the same page. 

Drawing on her background in accounting and years of hands-on experience, Rivky focuses on giving families both clarity and tools—so they can feel confident in their finances and in the example they’re setting for the next generation.

I loved speaking with Rivky because money is one of those things that is still a bit taboo and nice to speak about with a real professional, someone who has seen a lot and can speak from that experience.

In the episode, we speak about:

-How she got into financial coaching

-The language we can use to speak to our kids about money even from a young age so they develop a healthy mindset around it.

-How to speak to teens and older kids about money in a way that makes sense to them and teaches them the value of it

-How to deal with money differences that come up in marriage, which almost always happens as each person comes in with their own money styles, backgrounds and triggers

-How to develop more emunah and bitachon into your money mindset

…and so much more!

For more from Rivky or to work with her, visit ⁠rivkyrothenberg.com⁠.

She has a degree in elementary education, but explains she has learned the most about children by raising them. She has become a treasure trove of wisdom and has turned her teachings into a Substack newsletter called Mother 2 Mother where she shares insights from her two decades of motherhood. It’s both practical and spiritual, relatable yet inspiring and it has been such a pleasure to be a part of her community and learn from her writings.

We are approaching Mother’s Day — at least in the States — and while it may be a holiday you gloss over, it’s also a good opportunity to simply reflect on all you do as a mother. As we speak about in our interview, there’s so much invisible work when you’re a mother, keeping things running on a day-to-day basis — and it’s important to make the invisible visible whether it’s with your spouse, with your kids or without anyone else involved — just to yourself.

In our conversation we speak about:

-How Rebbetzin Katz found and connected to Orthodox Judaism

-The crazy story of how she met her husband

-How to figure out what we really need when it comes to our unique mothering journeys

-How we can place more value on our role as a mother, if it’s not something that comes easily to you

-What a deep connection to Hashem can look like through mothering

-How to feel better about the mental load motherhood comes with and ways to reframe it

-Something you can do at home to cultivate more gratitude

…and so much more!

To reach out to Miriam, you can email her at Miriamkatz613@gmail.com.

For more than 35 years, Esther has guided students of all backgrounds in Torah learning. Along the way, she became increasingly aware that even well-educated learners were often working with over-simplified explanations or incorrect ideas about the core ideas of Judaism and the unfolding story of Am Yisrael.  Critical tools for navigating today’s complex world were therefore missing.

Because of this, she created an entirely new program called Torah Unlocked, and its upcoming flagship course, Reishis, where students will take a fresh look at the story the Torah is telling. Esther’s approach allows the many Torah ideas we have all learned to fall into place within their true context, and many longstanding questions begin to resolve on their own. The result is renewed pride, enthusiasm, clarity  and devotion to the role one can play right now in Am Yisrael’s story.  

While Reishis is not out yet, it is launching in the next couple of months, so if you visit estherwein.com, you can sign up for updates and get notified once it’s officially out.

In this episode, we speak a lot more about:

-The course Esther created

-Some of the core conflicts of the Torah and how they relate to what we’re going through both as a people and individually today.

-The religious world — both as a way to focus more on its positive attributes and recognize what we can all work on to create growth and improvement. 

-What we can take from the Pesach story as she reframes the it in a way that will change how you view the entire Jewish people and our place in this world. 

-The Omer period — what is really going on at this time that we are in and how practically, we can maximize its potential.

-The one thing that brings more bracha to Am Yisrael than anything else.

…and SO much more.