America's Top Rebbetzins

By Vera Kessler

Powerful interviews with inspiring rebbetzins who share words of wisdom designed to instill purpose in our lives. Each rebbetzin offers her own unique insights on living a life filled with clarity and... more

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FAQs about America's Top Rebbetzins:

How many episodes does America's Top Rebbetzins have?

The podcast currently has 173 episodes available.

America's Top Rebbetzins episodes:

January 09, 2025 Rebbetzin Lisa Babich--The Influence of Social Media on Adults and Children
Did you grow up with an iPhone? Were you able to message on Instagram with your best friend in middle school? Was Facebook your primary source of interaction in high school?
Many of us grew up at a time where if we wanted to socialize with our friends, we walked over the their house, sat next to them in the cafeteria at school, or called them on their landline phone from our landline phone (or maybe even from a payphone!)
Times have changed so much, and the new generation of children are growing up with iPhones, iPads, cell phones, and access to an entire array of social media sites and apps. It's not just our children who have access to these platforms, it is adults, as well. We are role models for our children in the way we use social media.
In this honest and sincere conversation with Rebbetzin Lisa Babich, the rebbetzin of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York City, we talk about both adult and child usage of social media.
As adults, we need to be mindful about the content we are posting. We also want to be balanced so that we don't overpost or overshare. Before posting anything, we need to ask ourselves, "What is the intention of my post?" or "What is my goal in posting?" We need to check in with ourselves to make sure that we are not bragging and showing off, keeping in mind that other people might get hurt or offended by what we post.
Rebbetzin Lisa shared a passage from the Torah that speaks about how when the Israelites were camping in the dessert, the openings of their tents were turned away from each other in order to give each person and family their privacy. Not everything is for public consumption.
We also have to make sure that we are not obsessed with the number of "likes" we receive for our posts. We need to have inner confidence, regardless of how many "likes" or "views" we receive. Inner confidence leads to true happiness.
Rebbetzin Lisa also spoke about having open communication and conversations with your children and spouse about social media, and setting social media limits and boundaries for kids and teens.
Contact: [email protected]
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34min
January 06, 2025 Davira Reichman Bareli--The Truth about Homeopathy
Do you suffer from back pain? Headaches? ADD/ADHD? COVID? Do you need to lose weight? Do you really want heal from anxiety and depression? Homeopathy may be the solution! And it's not new...homeopathy is actually mentioned in the Torah!
In this engaging interview with homeopath and yoga instructor, Davira Reichman Bareli, we discover what homeopathy is, and how it works to heal ourselves.
Homeopathy takes into account the entire person. It is is holistic--treating the person, not the symptoms or the diagnosis. Two people can have the same illness, but require different remedies. Before prescribing a remedy, Davira takes into account a person's symptoms, how a person thinks, how they feel, their family environment, their stressors, their physical features, their medical history, and many other things that gives the full picture of the person, so that the right homeopathic remedy can be prescribed.
In terms of the right remedy, Davira explains that LIKE CURES LIKE. For example, intermittent heat treat burns. Davira explains how!
We learn from this conversation that homeopathy uses the dormant energy in natural substances to heal a person so that they can bring out the best in themselves and perform their unique role in healing the world.
To be connected with Davira, please email [email protected]
(I'm sorry that the conversation cut off at the end due to technical difficulties.)
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45min
December 16, 2024 Malka Sima Pais-Connecting to the Light of Your Soul Changes Your Reality
There is a deep connection between our body, our mind, and our soul. The cells in our body hold our consciousness; our traumas, our negativity. Our body always tells the truth. Quite often we are so busy in our heads with our to-do lists, places we need to go, people we need to call/email/text.
Malka Sima Pais helps us to get out of our heads and into our bodies. She helps us stop surviving and start thriving. Malka Sima offers a compassionate, safe space for women, both one-on-one and in community, to tune into the wisdom of their body and soul. She is a somatic and movement therapist, certified Shake Your Soul dance instructor, and Director of the Moonlit Circle. She is also the outreach coordinator of the Purim High Council. You can reach her through her website at https://www.malkasima.com/
We start off our conversation with an empowering somatic healing technique to relax our nervous system and gets us out of our head and into our body. She speaks to us about tuning into our soul and shedding Divine light onto our consciousness. When we connect to the true light of our soul, we are able to change our reality and thereby improve our quality of life. When we listen to ourselves and to what we are feeling, we tune into the wisdom of the soul. We shine light onto our pain, and we see ourselves, really see ourselves. Healing is achieved when we shine love, light and compassion on ourselves.
Contact: [email protected]
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47min
December 04, 2024 Miriam Racquel Feldman--The Secret Wisdom of Your Mind, Body, and Emotions
Have you ever wondered why you keep getting migraines? Why your back is constantly in pain? Why your stomach always hurts or why your body aches? Your body is "speaking" to you through the pain...and it has a lot to say!
Miriam Racquel Feldman is a somatic healer, trauma and anxiety specialist, relationship coach, and the author of the book, Somatic Healing for the Modest Goddess. In our conversation, Miriam explains how our thoughts and emotions affect our body, and the different messages that our bodies are trying to tell us. In fact, the cells of our body can hold emotions from traumas that happened 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years ago! Those emotions manifest themselves as pain in our body!
In Miriam Racquel's book, Somatic Healing for the Modest Goddess, she starts off with a strategy for for releasing stress, anger, sadness, fear, or any other negative emotion BEFORE it has the opportunity to cause pain in the body. The strategy is called the ROAR! method. ROAR! is an acronym--R for Rip, O for Open, A for Action, and R for Release. She speaks about each of these steps in detail.
Miriam Racquel's book is divided into different sections, and is categorized according to topics such as self-care, dating, marriage, parenting, and parnassah (making money/career). In our conversation, Miriam Racquel and I talk about issues that arise in these different areas of our lives, and what we can do to prevent the stress, angst, and confusion from penetrating into our bodies and causing us harm.
Remember, we are souls in bodies. We need to figure out what messages our bodies are giving to us, and then we need to pay attention to those messages-don't ignore them! You need to dive into your feelings in order to heal them.
If you would like to purchase Miriam Racquel's book, Somatic Healing for the Modest Goddess, please click here:
https://www.amazon.com/Somatic-Healing-Modest-Goddess-Anthology/dp/1737745429/ref=sr_1_6?crid=O8ZDQO1448MG&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.M-pyaZn8t6CgTtbpbgQCtjxaHbnnlSBlaY2FWVcx251r6hoTZCRsx566o5gYYOycxe8PB5uXAtvIg6uYjLRE-VLZf937nbLPWsa0HFLgpWymi0YeF9QHEUE-OBIbvASSmZ2Pt-K_Tcf3Xvt-9iNI51DXfOwbIi1j6VJo2n6O_RyOb25YbW_W9g5p0V3BivfQ4btBesP3xKYo53RiRortK3R1xlvSj7S3FE9rU4kiBM0.8xsFwwmxD5WCZU2Ql9qGhFFYCwRUdejaS292b2TyQUI&dib_tag=se&keywords=somatic+healing+for+the&qid=1733278967&sprefix=somatic+healing+for+the%2Caps%2C86&sr=8-6
If you would like to reach Miriam Racquel for one-on-one coaching or to sign up for her newsletter, please visit her website at: https://www.miriamracquel.com/
Contact: [email protected]
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46min
December 02, 2024 Rebbetzin Chavie Bruk--My Personal Journey of Adopting Five Children
If you have ever considered (or are now considering) adopting a child (or multiple children), this is the conversation for you!
Rebbetzin Chavie Bruk, and her husband, Rabbi Chaim Bruk, founded Chabad Lubavitch of Montana in Bozeman, in 2007. Soon afterward, Rebbetzin Chavie was diagnosed with infertility. She was 23 years old. During our discussion, Rebbetzin Chavie shares her story about what it was like for her to adopt five children; how she felt when she adopted her first child, and why she and her husband decided to adopt more children. She tells us not to limit Hashem (G-d.) He is capable of giving to us in abundance. We should never decide for Hashem what He will give us or how much He will give us.
Rebbetzin Chavie also opens up about the ups and downs of motherhood, and how raising adopted children is different that raising biological children. She tells us that every parent has a unique situation, so we shouldn't compare and despair. Instead, we should find a support group of people who are going through something similar to us so that we can be strengthened by each other's support.
Rebbetzin Chavie has a fun blog called, Clear As Mud, which can be found by clicking this link: https://www.totallyunexpected.blog/
She also has a podcast called Totally Unexpected, which you can listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere else that podcasts are found.
Contact: [email protected]
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50min
November 20, 2024 Devorie Kreiman-Our Circumstances Are NOT a Mistake; It's All on Purpose. Seeing Joy Through Pain
The struggle is real! We are all going through some type of turmoil--financial crisis, health issue, dealing with difficult people, losing a loved one, or any other challenge that we are facing.
Devorie Kreiman, an inspirational lecturer and writer on the power of faith, humor and joy, lost 5 of her 8 children. Four of the children passed away as babies from a generic disorder, and her son, Yossi, passed away at the age of 23 in a SCUBA diving accident.
Devorie shares her personal story of loss and grief, and what she has learned through her own struggles. It was so refreshing to hear her humanity as she was telling her story; the ups and downs of how she was feeling. She shared the moments of laughter that she experienced among the pain. When you heal, you need to be real with yourself; the good, the bad and the ugly. You need to take time, privately, to be with yourself without distractions like food, television, music, or cell phones. It is so important to tell the story of what you went through, even if you are just telling it to yourself. You need to be real and raw. Whatever emotion you are feeling is ok.
Devorie emphasizes that our circumstances are not a mistake; it's all on purpose. There is no such thing as an accident. Hashem provides us with everything we need at all times. She notes that it is important to remember that we are souls in human bodies, and we have the struggle of two kings inside of us--the struggle of human desires vs. the struggle of the soul who constantly wants to be spiritually uplifted. We have to remember that both are important, and both are real.
Devorie emphasizes the we are all souls who came into this world to fulfill a mission. What we say and what we do matters. It's the same with our davening. Sometimes when we are grieving, and we need to feel the closest to Hashem, that is when we find ourselves pushing Him away the most. In this situation it is important to realize that the words of davening that you say right now WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. This is true even if you are not a davener; even if you have never prayed before in your life. The words of prayer that you say RIGHT NOW WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
You need to feel it to heal it!
If you would like to read Devorie Kreiman's book, Even If I'm Not, you can purchase it through this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Even-if-Not-Devorie-Kreiman/dp/B0BFJSZY7Q
Contact: [email protected]
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51min
November 14, 2024 Rebbetzin Feige Slavaticki-The Secret to Staying Happy in Challenging Times
I have a secret. It's the secret to staying happy in challenging times. Whether it's raising children with special needs, going through a financial crisis, difficulty with marriage or relationships, the secret to staying happy applies to all of the above and more.
Rebbetzin Feige Slavaticki is the co-director of the Chabad Israeli Center in Skokie, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. In addition to running a Chabad house, Rebbetzin Feige is the mother of 11 children, two of whom have special needs.
Rebbetzin Feige shares with us some powerful and poignant stories that contain precious pearls of Torah wisdom. It's the wisdom that is gleaned from these stories that shapes the way we stay happy in challenging times.
Here is a sneak peak into one of the stories that Rebbetzin Feige shares:
There is a Mosad agent (secret service agent) who gets into a taxi. Once he is inside, he sees two men in the backseat with guns pointed at his head. They take him and lock him in a prison cell. They torture him to try to get him to tell all his national secrets. He doesn't tell them anything. Then, by accident, he overhears his captors talking amongst themselves. They were speaking Hebrew. All of a sudden, he understood. Those men weren't his enemies; they were fellow Mosad agents testing him to make sure that he is strong enough to do the job to which he was assigned.
The above story is a parable. When "bad" things happen to us, we get mad or upset. We think the person who put us in this situation is bad. We think that these circumstances are awful. In reality, it is Hashem who caused that person to do whatever they did, and it was Hashem who caused you to be in those difficult circumstances.
Hashem often test us in order to bring out our strength. When we recognize that these challenges and difficulties are really tests from Hashem, that He gives to us, from a place of love, in order for us to bring out our own strengths, then we understand that we are not dealing with a captor or an enemy. Rather, it's our Father in Heaven who is strengthening us and preparing us for upcoming challenges we may face in life.
Rebbetzin Feige also shares another parable about a taxi driver that has two steering wheels in his car. One is for his toddler son who likes to "drive," and one is the actual steering wheel that he drives. This story shows us that no matter how much we think we are in the driver's seat, it's really Hashem who is driving the taxi.
Emunah (faith.) Divine Providence. Letting go and letting G-d. It's not up to you to run the world. The responsibility of controlling everyone and everything is not on your shoulders. You need to do your best, focusing on what you can do, as opposed to what you can't do, and Hashem will handle the rest.
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41min
November 11, 2024 Devorah Sisso-"WHEN I Surrendered, THEN I Started to Heal;" A Raw, Authentic Journey to Wholeness
Internationally acclaimed Torah educator, motivational speaker, and life coach, Devorah Sisso, gets real, raw, and personal, as she shares with us her own personal journey to emotional healing.
Like many of us, Devorah spent her days being busy doing for others; making meals for women who just had babies, doing chesed (acts of kindness) for friends and people in her community, life coaching, visiting the sick, teaching Torah, visiting the graves of tzadikim (righteous people), etc. She was super busy doing all the "right" things, so why did she feel so empty inside; frustrated, angry, sad?
Devorah was doing what many of us do--we keep ourselves busy taking care of everyone and everything else, and we ignore ourselves. We literally ignore ourselves because we want to avoid feeling our deepest pain and sadness. When we are busy, we don't have time to feel sad. We don't have time to address what is bothering us deep down inside. It could be abuse (past or present); it could be something hurtful that someone said or did; it could be a strong unfulfilled need that we have no idea have to fill. And to be honest, we don't want to feel the hurt or the pain or the disappointment. We don't want to feel it, so we busy ourselves with everything else in the world, and we don't focus on ourselves.
Often, when we go our whole lives running away from ourselves, there comes a breaking point where we finally get angry with Hashem (G-d) for "putting" us in the situation that we are in; feeling this emptiness, this void. This is the start of the beginning; the start of our journey to emotional healing and wholeness.
Devorah shares with us her journey to healing. She emphasizes the truth that "we need to feel it to heal it." We need to stop doing, and just start feeling. We need to feel whatever feelings we have inside, even if they hurt us so much that we cry. We NEED to cry. We need to get out our emotional "yuck." We need to do an emotional detox. We need to slow down, feel our feelings, scream, yell, cry, journal, or do anything else that we can to get those feelings out of us.
Devorah shares with us the different healing modalities that she did, and continues to do, in her healing journey. She talks about breathwork, EFT tapping, talk therapy, body massage, sound baths, vibrational healing, rebirthing, and even psychedelic experiences.
You will be blown away as you find yourself personally identifying with Devorah's own journey. You will see her life mirrored in yours. You will also see hope that there is a way out. There is a way to heal.
To contact Devorah, and learn more about her Breakthrough Program, email her at [email protected]
You can also email [email protected]
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58min
November 07, 2024 Chaya Sara Gurewicz--Awakening Your Soul from Within: Creating Deep Shifts in Trauma Healing
What is your story?
Were your parents abusive to you? Did someone abandon you? Were you bullied? Did you suffer financially? Did you grow up in a dysfunctional family? Did your husband cheat on you?
What was your trauma?
DO YOU WANT TO HEAL YOURSELF NOW?
In this authentic conversation, Chaya Sara Gurewicz and I speak about the healing that is happening all around us. We are living in an age of healing. We are becoming more aware of the different healing modalities that are being used to heal hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. Chaya Sara talks about some of these modalities, as well as her unique healing retreat, called, Awakening Within. The staff at the retreat are committed to meeting each participant as they are. They give whatever type of healing is required, including a technique called rebirthing. (Chaya Sara describes it in detail toward the end of our conversation.) The goal of the retreat is to be present for the participants and to provide them with the personalized healing they need in order to create permanent shifts in their healing.
After the retreat, participants meet at regular check ins to maintain the progress they made. As old patterns are broken and new patterns are put in place, healing continues on a deep level, in a supportive environment.
These retreats are available to men and women, separately (they are not co-ed retreats.)
For further information on the Awakening Within Retreats, please email me at [email protected]
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47min
October 28, 2024 Rebbetzin Zahava Angster--From Bais Yaakov to Chabad: One Woman's Personal Journey
Oregon State University and Corvallis, Oregon are home to a brand new Chabad house run by Rebbetzin Zahava Angster and her husband, Rabbi Menachem Angster.
In this eye-opening conversation, Rebbetzin Zahava tells her own personal story of growing up in the Bais Yaakov school system and then going to a Chabad seminary that changed her life. Rebbetzin Zahava talks about WHY Hashem (G-d) recreates us every moment of the day; He recreates us because each and every one of us has a specific mission and purpose that ONLY we can fulfill.
Rebbetzin Zahava shares examples with us from her own life about how we can all be a light in the world for others. Chabad was looking for emissaries specifically for Corvallis, Oregon for 10 years, and it was Rebbetzin Zahava and her husband who were chosen for this very important mission. By their openly Jewish presence, they elevate Corvallis. By elevating the physical, we bring Hashem down into the world. Who we are and what we do has a tremendous impact on our environment and also the whole world. We matter. Our actions matter. What we say and do matters. Each one of us is here for a reason. Rebbetzin Zahava's story is proof of that.
For further information, please email [email protected]
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35min

FAQs about America's Top Rebbetzins:

How many episodes does America's Top Rebbetzins have?

The podcast currently has 173 episodes available.

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