Homesick for Lubavitch

By Homesick for LubavitchReligion & Spirituality Judaism

Homesick for Lubavitch episodes

January 28, 2024 Ep. 20 // "But I Want A Smile" w/ Mrs. Sandy Weinbaum
Mrs. Sandy Weinbaum lives in London, England where she, together with her husband, Dr. Bunim, directs the London Jewish Family Center.

Mrs. Weinbaum's story begins sixty years ago with a shliach knocking on the door of her father's office and comes full circle today with her having raised fourteen children, many of whom are themselves shluchim.

Over the years, the Weinbaums have been involved in many of Lubavitch's initiatives in London, even if they never assumed official titles or positions.
In this episode, we discuss her journey from traditional London family to becoming a Lubavitch matriarch, how she managed to raise a large family and be involved in her many activities, and above all how she thinks about living up to what can sometimes feel like the Rebbe's impossible expectations.
1 hr 56 min
January 21, 2024 Ep. 19 // "In Defense of Gezhe" w/ R' Mendel Duchman
R' Mendel Duchman lives in Los Angeles and is a businessman, business coach and motivational speaker.

He is also, to my mind, one of today's most outspoken motivators and cheerleaders for shluchim and Lubavitch around the world.

But while R' Mendel very much lives in "today," he is also a staunch defender of the idea of "gezhe," or the value of holding on to one's past that can be traced to the old home back in Russia.

While "gezhe" has come to mean all kinds of things today, in our conversation we discuss how the past is an important part of today's story and something that needs to be better understood, even celebrated.

1 hr 21 min
January 14, 2024 Ep. 18 // “When Did We Stop Asking Questions?” w/ Rabbi Mendel Zirkind
Rabbi Mendel Zirkind has taught for over a decade in the Wilkes-Barre and Jets yeshivas.

Not having planned to become an educator, Mendel shares the lessons he's learned from his time spent in these so-called "outlier" yeshivas and how the discussions and questions taking place there have so much to teach everyone.

We discuss the seeming changes in Lubavitch regarding the asking of introspective questions, what may have led to these changes and where they leave us today.
2 hr 35 min
January 07, 2024 Ep. 17 // "To the Promised Land" w/ Zevi Slavin
Zevi Slavin is a student of philosophy and mysticism and host of a YouTube channel on this topic, Seekers of Unity.
He is also the son of shluchim in Sydney, Australia and a proud chossid.
On this episode, we discuss if and how Zevi manages the tension between his intellectual pursuits and his Lubavitch identity.
We also discuss his thoughts on the collision of Lubavitch with modernity and where it leaves each of us.
1 hr 42 min
December 31, 2023 Ep. 16 // “Growing Up a Chossid” with Mrs. Fradel Sudak
Rebbetzin Fradel Sudak was sent on Shlichus to London sixty years ago with her late husband, Rabbi Nachman Sudak, a”h.

She is also my great aunt, and I’ve wanted for years to hear more from her about my great-grandparents, Rabbi Benzion and Esther Golda Shemtov, who also lived in London after they escaped the Soviet Union.
Over the course of several hours, I heard all kinds of stories and insights about my great-grandparents, where they came from, what drove them, scared them, inspired them, and held them together.

I learned more about where I come from, of course, but also what their dreams had been, and in that sense learned about where we are all going.
2 hr 15 min
December 24, 2023 Ep. 15 // “Chabad Munt Pnimius” with Rabbi Dr. Reuven Leigh
Rabbi Dr. Reuven Leigh is a shliach and affiliated lecturer at University of Cambridge.
His recent book, “The Philosophy of Rabbi Sholom Ber Schneersohn: Language, Gender and Mysticism,” endeavors to bring the famous maamorim of 5659 (RaNaT) into dialogue with postmodern thinking.
We sat down to discuss what led him to focus on these maamorim, his relationship with Reb Volf Greenglass and other personalities in Montreal, and his lessons about Chassidus and the Chossid persona he carries to this very day.
2 hr 1 min
December 17, 2023 Ep. 14 // "Happy Place Lubavitch" w/ Leibel Gniwisch
Leibel Gniwisch is a lawyer and Ivy League graduate. He is also a good friend who lives in the neighborhood over.
Over the past year we've had many discussions about Lubavitch identity, the questions worth asking and avenues of inquiry worth pursuing. More a conversation than an interview, this episode is one of those.
We talk about Leibel's growing up in Montreal, what led him to pursue a profession in law and what lessons he has learned along the way.
1 hr 39 min
December 10, 2023 Ep. 13 // "The Other Side of Nostalgia" w/ Dr. Tali Loewenthal
Dr. Tali Loewenthal is a renowned fellow at UCL where he lectures on Jewish Spirituality. But he is also a chossid, whose continued life in academia and philosophy is strictly at the behest of the Rebbe.
We sat down to discuss his own reflections on the costs and benefits of engaging in the world of philosophy, if it can be reconciled with the life of chassidus and Emunah, and what he suggests for those who find themselves attracted to the knowledge the "outside world" offers.
Going deeper, we discuss the isolation that leads many to look elsewhere in the first place, and his very attainable suggestions that may help people feel less isolated and less nostalgic.
1 hr 27 min
December 03, 2023 Ep. 12 // “Winning in the Marketplace of Ideas?” w/ Yanki Tauber
Yanki Tauber is a writer who lives in Woodmere, NY where for over a decade he has been working on his newly released Chumash, the OpenBook Torah.
What makes his Chumash different is the confidence it has that the reader can be brought into the process of commentary, and the more the reader knows about the process the better.
We discussed his upbringing in Crown Heights and his special relationship with his grandfather, the famous poet and chossid Zvi Yair, and how this led to the manner in which he approached his Chumash.
1 hr 43 min
November 26, 2023 Ep. 11 // "The Cost of Shlichus?" with Rabbi Levi Greenberg
Rabbi Levi Greenberg is a shliach in El Paso, TX which is also where he grew up as a shliach himself.
Continuing the discussion raised in previous episodes, we discuss the challenges of leaving home for schooling at a young age, the cost of raising children in faraway cities, and the metrics of a successful shlichus.
Along the way, the conversation veers into familiar territory of the "chassidishe maase," how it has or hasn't changed over time, and what it means to realize some of our heroes, the early shluchim, were also human.
1 hr 25 min