It's been almost five years of DMC, and we are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share so many inspiring, entertaining, moving and thought-provoking conversations with you. It's time for us to close the mics on the podcast, but our past episodes are always available to listen if you need a little dose of DMC. Thank you all for listening, f…

Episode 79: Frum Minimalism with Ellie Azerad In response to today’s oversaturated consumerist society, the pendulum has swung and Minimalism is a thing. A minimalist lifestyle involves intentionally living with fewer possessions, focusing on what truly matters and rejecting unnecessary clutter and consumerism to achieve simplicity and intentionali…

Is it true that behind every great man is a great woman? Naama Malinowitz, busy mother of 9 in Jerusalem, would agree, but has a tweak to make: “Behind every great man is a great woman…rolling her eyes.” In this episode, we talk with Naama Malinowitz about what it’s like to be married to a man who devotes his life to Klal Yisrael. Naama’s husband i…

We all go through dark moments, trying times and painful episodes in our lives. Our guest, international lecturer Raquel Kirszenbaum, shares her personal story from darkness to light and provides profound insights into how to stop hurting and start healing. Her honesty, wisdom and vulnerability in this DMC will enter your heart. If you’re seeking p…

Negotiating is a tool we use in all our relationships to get what we want or meet somewhere in the middle. Often we think of negotiation as purely a business tool, but it’s so much more. And drop the notion that negotiation is an aggressive tactic. And the stereotype that women aren’t good at it. Because negotiation is a way for us to get what we w…

How do we find not just our life’s purpose, but our soul’s purpose? Is our purpose fulfilled by our achievements and accomplishments in the world, or is there something deeper to it? Our dear friend Ruchi Koval, parent coach and motivational speaker, joins us for this DMC to unpack this idea, which is also the title of her third book, Soul Purpose,…

How do we break the mold? How do we change our bad habits, attitudes and self-perceptions that aren’t serving us and redefine how we show up in the world? Is self-transformation even possible? Raizy asked these questions when she embarked on a personal journey of self-discovery. She recorded it and her takeaways in her new book, The Anatomy of a Ye…

Happy Chanukah to all our DMC listeners! Chanukah is all about miracles, and the Jewish people have witnessed miracles of biblical proportions this year. These open miracles have reminded us that Hashem is in control and will never break his promise to the Jewish people or Israel. And while these miracles have often strengthened our belief and emun…

What is femininity? While so close to our hearts as Torah observant women, the concept of femininity may also be clouded in our minds by secular influences – think, in particular, the entertainment industry. How can we reconnect to the essence of what femininity means? Enter well-known kallah teacher and intimacy coach Faigy Pollock who helps us un…

So often in relationships, we’re looking outwards – at the other person with his or her flaws & what needs to be fixed. But what if the key to fulfilling and meaningful relationships lay inwards – with the self? What if we truly understood ourselves? Chany Rosengarten believes this type of empowerment gives women peace, joy and confidence – in them…

Food should be all about nourishment and joy and satisfaction, right? But why is it often about guilt and shame and restriction? Our relationship with food often is more complicated than we think, and we’ve invited Rachel Goodman, RDN to explore the topic with us on DMC and help us stop the food guilt. Because we really want food to make us feel go…

One of the modern-day challenges of parenting is knowing which parenting method to apply when! Parents today typically have various tools, tips and tricks at their disposal. But sometimes it all gets overwhelming and confusing. What if there was a chart you could stick on your fridge that would give you all the guidance you need? Well, there actual…

Live from the Chizuk Retreat in Cleveland, we sat down with two former DMC guests, Barrie Feld (Episode 36, “Why We all Need Chizuk”) and Slovie Jungreis-Wolff ( 44, “Finding Focus on Rosh Hashana”) for a wonderful reunion and to get some insight into how to prepare for Rosh Hashana, for real. On this DMC we discuss: The challenge of balancing the …

There's lots to prepare this Rosh Hashana with a 3-day yom tov. So whether you’re on your 6th run to the supermarket or staying up late in the kitchen cooking, we have a DMC for you. Because there’s nothing like walking into Rosh Hashana feeling like you did something to prepare for the day spiritually. We’re so grateful to have Mrs. Michal Horowit…

Life is complicated, and with life experiences come complex emotions. But embracing conflicting emotions with strategies such as paradoxical thinking can make all the difference. This is the topic that therapist, dating coach and columnist Sara Eisemann wanted to DMC with us on this episode because she knew the life-changing impact of “both/and” th…

We all know that strengthening our bitachon will improve our lives, but how do we actually do it in real life? Enter Esther Kurtz. Esther went on her own search to boost her spiritual connection and found it in the daily study of Chovos Halevavos. Now she shares the gems she discovered through learning Shaar Habitachon on her podcast, Emunah for No…

Can we be honest for a minute? Of course we can, we’re having a DMC! So let’s get real about being honest about communal issues. In other words, we know our community isn’t immune to its share of societal challenges, but is it possible to be sincere in acknowledging the issues while sincerely trying to improve them? And while we’re being honest abo…

We’ve entered the Three Weeks, and the Jewish calendar instructs us to have mourning on our mind. Yet it can be challenging to embrace the meaning of mourning smack in the middle of summer barbeques and road trips. We knew that Sarah Rivkah Kohn, founder of Links Family, would help us find the meaning in mourning. Links Family is an organization th…

Jewish women have many superpowers – talents, abilities, and mindsets. We speak with Lori Palatnik, the founding director of Momentum, to learn more about these superpowers that we can each tap into. Lori has seen her fair share of incredible Jewish women under her leadership. And it takes one to know one. Lori models strength of conviction and pas…

We often throw around the word “perfectionism”, but what does it actually mean? What’s the difference between perfectionism and being meticulous and conscientious at work or at home? What is perfectionism, and how does a person become perfectionistic? We ask all these questions and more to our guest, Dr. Danielle Dragon, a psychotherapist in Chicag…

Here’s your spiritual prep for Shavuos, DMC style. We get deep and meaningful with Shannon Nuszen, a former evangelical missionary who discovered the truth in Judaism when…wait, we won’t spoil it for you! Shannon now works with her organization Beyneynu to confront missionary influence. She recently started speaking publicly about her Jewish journe…

Marriage is one of the most popular topic requests we get at DMC. So we’re thrilled to bring you seasoned educator and dating coach Debbie Greenblatt to share her insight, wisdom and experience with us. Debbie is the founder of the women’s division of Gateways, a marriage columnist in Mishpacha Magazine, and the Director of Education- Mentorship pr…

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…

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…

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 …

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…

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…

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 …

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Let’s say we’re struggling with a challenge in our life. We can weather the storm on our own, or we can reach out to someone for help. But who? Sometimes it’s a family member or friend. Other times a rebbetzin or rav is our first avenue of support. Or a mental health professional. Or all of the above. In our modern world, many seek advice via socia…

What can we learn from the wisdom of the Eishes Chayil that can be applied to our modern lives? Our guest today is Shira Hochheimer, author of Eishes Chayil: Ancient Wisdom for Women of Today. On this episode, we explore the connotations the Eishes Chayil has for us, and the implications it has on our lives. We discuss: The backstory behind how Shi…

Pesach is coming, and DMC is here for you! 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, the most relatable of rebbetzins, to give us some chizuk and inspo for Pesach. …