Contact Chai
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Contact Chai episodes

  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Lizzi — Parashat Terumah

    New day, same inspiration! Join R'Lizzi every Wednesday for music, thought-provoking conversation, and insights into this week's Torah portion.

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan.  You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

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    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    43 min
  • Rabbi Lizzi's First Sermon Post-Sabbatical

    She's back! Today's Shabbat Replay comes from our February 9th service when Rabbi Lizzi took to the bimah for the first time since her sabbatical.  In a wide-ranging sermon, R'Lizzi addressed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and called on all of us to do the difficult work of believing that a peaceful future is still possible.

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    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    24 min
  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Steven — Parashat Yitro

    The Children of Israel are known for being "stiff-necked" G-d wrestlers. So why are the newly-freed Hebrews so quick to accept G-d's commandments before even hearing them? 

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan.  You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

    ****

    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    18 min
  • To Remember To Forget

    Today’s Shabbat Replay comes from our Friday Night Shabbat service on January 26th. In this week’s parshah, we meet Amalek, an unknown enemy who come out of nowhere to attack the Hebrews as they escape from bondage. We are commanded to both erase the memory of this dastardly foe and to always remember how they targeted the most vulnerable among us. How are we to remember and forget? And how can we destroy the Amalek in our own world today without giving in to hate ourselves?

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    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    15 min
  • The Mitzvah of Hope

    Today is Tu B'Shevat, the New Year of the Trees when we celebrate the bounty of our leafy friends. But in a place like Chicago, there isn't a lot of greenery to go around. So how can we hold onto hope in dreary months and dismal times? How can plant the seeds of a future so far off we may not even live to see it?

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    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    11 min
  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Steven — Parashat Bo

    We've all wondered why G-d hardened Pharaoh's heart. But have you ever wonder why G-d didn't harden Pharaoh's courtiers' hearts after saying G-d would? And what does "harden" really mean? We got into it in today's Morning Minyan held on January 18th.

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan.  You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

    ****

    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    16 min
  • Stories That Make Me Cry

    Today’s episode is from our service on January 12th when Rabbi Steven delivered a powerful sermon processing the rising death toll in Gaza amidst the ongoing war. As we grapple with our own loss, how can we open our hearts to compassion for others’ suffering? How can we hold all the stories that make us cry?

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    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    17 min
  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Steven — Parashat Va'era

    Today's episode is from our Morning Minyan on Thursday, January 11th when we discussed Parashat Va'era. G-d steps in to save the Hebrews from bondage, but Rabbi Steven is left with a big question — why now? Did G-d forget about them? Or maybe there's something more psychological going on...

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan.  You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

    ****

    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    23 min
  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Steven — Parashat Shemot

    Today's episode is from our lively Morning Minyan discussion on Thursday, January 4th about Parashat Shemot. Who is this new pharaoh in the opening of Exodus? Just some fallible, faulty figurehead pushed around by a fearful populace?  Or is he an impossibly long-lived, inhuman monster?

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan.  You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

    ****

    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    20 min
  • Minyan Replay with Rabbi Steven — Parashat Vayigash

    Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. Our Thursday sessions are hosted by Mishkan's Founding Rabbi, Lizzi Heydemann. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Contact Chai.

    https://www.mishkanchicago.org/series/morning-minyan-summer-fall-2023/

    ****

    For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.

    Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.

    Transcript

    24 min

About Contact Chai

From the publisher's feed

Contact Chai is Mishkan Chicago’s podcast feed, where you can hear our Shabbat sermons, Morning Minyans, interviews with Jewish thought leaders, and more.

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