Human & Holy

A conversation with Chana Kalmenson: shlucha of Chabad of Belgravia in London, poet, and teacher of Jewish mysticism, on the Sefirot of the Omer.

Chana walks through each of the seven emotional Sefirot: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. What each one is, how they relate to each other, and how they show up in everyday emotional life. The episode also covers how the months of Nissan, Iyar, and Sivan mirror human development from childhood to maturity, why the inner work of the Omer is what prepares us to receive the Torah at Sinai, and how to approach the counting without falling into perfectionism.

The conversation goes especially deep on three Sefirot: Hod (humility, gratitude, surrender), Tiferet (compassion, holding paradox, the antidote to shame), and Malchut (dignity, agency, authentic expression). Chana shares what she learned about humility from her father-in-law, the Chassidic teaching on the soul's forgetting at birth, and how to step out of comparison with others.

A grounded, accessible introduction to the Sefirot for anyone counting the Omer or wanting to understand the Kabbalistic map of the inner life.

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Opening reflection: loved into existence, loving me as me

00:31 Tonia's Intro

01:58 Welcome, and Chana on women's circles

05:25 What is Sefirat HaOmer, really? Pesach as emergence, Sinai as the destination

11:38 Nissan, Iyar, Sivan — the child, the teenager, the partner

17:45 Walking through each Sefirah: Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, Malchut

22:10 Why we use consciousness to look at the inner emotional life

29:17 When perfectionism hijacks the practice (and what to do instead)

33:03 On Hod: humility, gratitude, the quiet power of the left leg

40:33 What Chana learned from her father-in-law about humility

46:10 The trauma of forgetting at birth, and the long work of remembering

50:37 On Tiferet: holding paradox, growing up, why compassion is truth

56:09 Self-compassion as the antidote to shame

1:00:14 On Malchut: dignity, agency, and what emerges when everything inside has a voice

1:09:33 Soul to soul

A live Human & Holy Women's Open Mic Night in Jerusalem, exploring the theme "I Am a Dreamer". A deeply moving evening of poetry, prose and song about dreams fulfilled and dreams shattered, on the dreams laid to rest and the ones held onto with quiet persistence, on the courage to keep dreaming. Listen for an expansive, heart opening hour of soulful art that will dare you to your own dreams.

Thank you to Sara & Joel Halpern for hosting this evening in Jerusalem.

Featured in this episode (in order of appearance):

Mazal Zaikin

Zeesy Gurevitch

Rivka Mazal Tauber

Chanah Rothberg

Hindel Swerdlow

Estee Silberberg

(30:07) Name Missing

(32:28) Name Missing

Ariella Seltzer

Shani Pollack

Miriam Sebbag

Leah Katz

Keren Vardi

Devorah Rutner

Chana Bennett

Tonia Chazanow

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To join our virtual Tanya class, click here: https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclassTo inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Join our virtual Tanya class here:

https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclass

Chana Bennet grew up in the religious system, but found herself searching for something from a young age. With nowhere to turn, she turned to God. In this conversation, Chana discusses the concept of devekut (attachment to God), the role of a Tzadik in awakening the soul, and what it actually looks like to live in daily relationship with Hashem.

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

A personal essay about motherhood, the way it awakens my childhood self, and a fleeting, luminous moment where I allowed myself to experience its simplicity.

Sharing this as we enter into an immersive Pesach season, as an invitation to let yourself feel these moments when they come.

Read the essay here: https://open.substack.com/pub/toniachazanow/p/let-it-be-simple?r=c8uie&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Meet Ricka Razel, the Israeli musician who has been leading thousands of women in monthly Rosh Chodesh gatherings across Israel during one of the country's darkest times. In this conversation, Ricka shares how she experiences music as prayer, why she and fellow musicians became the "Brigade of Joy" visiting evacuated families in hotels, how music became therapeutic catharsis for Israeli women processing trauma, and how it can connect Jews from around the world.

Listen to Ricka's music here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc5vxWffKI_5qf8mhtYG0Ng

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6aZPpCSaYpDLkk4nfOESdz?si=iBbP7LRVT2alZ8Ylbjbl4A

Find her on instagram @ricka_razel

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Join our upcoming virtual Tanya class! We will be hosting a live, four part Tanya series, a space to explore the text through shared study, poetry, curated illustrations, songs, and guided reflection. Link to join us here: https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclass

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 - Opening

0:47 - Introduction to Ricka Razel & Israel Series

2:22 - Family, Music & 8 Kids

3:58 - Why Rosh Chodesh is the Women's Holiday

5:41 - The War Experience: Nova Festival, Evacuations & Loss

7:34 - The Power of Music During War

9:35 - The "Brigade of Simcha" - Bringing Joy to Hotels

12:29 - Sitting Shiva in a Hotel: Meeting a 24-Year-Old Widow

14:45 - Holocaust Survivor Grandparents: 2.5 Years in Amsterdam Attic

17:20 - The Miracle: How They Survived

19:15 - Why Ricka Returned to Music at 42

21:30 - From Real Estate to Crave Restaurant to Music

23:45 - The Biblical Energy of Women's Song

25:10 - Miriam the Prophetess Leading Through Music

27:00 - Monthly Gatherings: 600 Women Singing in Jerusalem

29:20 - The Therapeutic Power of Song During Trauma

31:40 - Women Who Couldn't Cry Until They Sang

33:15 - The Nova Festival Tragedy in Her Community

35:00 - Young People in the Army: Every Day Hearing News

36:45 - Funerals, Missiles, and Living Through War

38:20 - The Song That Became October 7th's Anthem

39:49 - "Achenu Kol Beit Yisrael" - Prayer for Captives

41:10 - The Concert That Didn't Happen on October 7th

42:49 - Jewish Family Connection: What Makes Us Different

43:36 - Israeli vs. American Jewish Music: Bridging the Gap

44:05 - Contemporary Jewish Artists

44:24 - "Still I Wait" - Song of Hope During War

44:33 - Closing Message: Bring Your Light to the World

45:27 - Outro

Nissan, the month of freedom, is an invitation for personal freedom. Today, we explore the many dimensions of personal freedom: lack of external attachments, knowing our life force, taking a leap, finding the words, allowing ourselves to feel the bitterness of our slavery, and being able to tolerate the uncertainty of what comes after our own personal exile.

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Based on Pesach teachings from the Maharal, Sfas Emes, Chidushei Harim, Arizal, Lubavitcher Rebbe, and Alter Rebbe.

To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

Sivan Rahav-Meir has been on Israeli television since age six, and became religious at fifteen after a chance encounter with three girls who simply said, "Bo l'Shabbat." In this conversation recorded in Jerusalem, Sivan shares how she's channeled three decades of journalism skills toward teaching Torah, why she sees a massive post-October 7th hunger for practical Jewish doing (not just inspiration), and why she believes Jewish identity is our real protection.

She's candid about the gap between her public influence and her private reality, and how she is guided by the Lubavitcher Rebbe's paradox: always happy, but never satisfied. She notes the Jewish world's blindspot as the 85% of unaffiliated Jews outside the organized community bubble, and calls every connected Jew to the same simple shlichut that changed her life: invite someone in.

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Sivan Rahav-Meir is a media personality and lecturer. Married to Yedidya, the mother of five. Lives in Jerusalem. Went on shlichut with her family 2019-2020, when she served as World Mizrachi's Shlicha to North America.

She works for Israel TV news, writes a column for Yediot Aharonot newspaper, and hosts a weekly radio show. Her lectures on the weekly Torah portion are attended by hundreds and the live broadcast attracts thousands more listeners throughout the world. Sivan lectures in Israel and overseas about her personal story. the Jewish world since 10/7, Judaism and new media.

She was voted by Globes newspaper as most popular female media personality in Israel and by the Jerusalem Post as one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world.

Learn more at www.sivanrahavmeir.com Find her podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/6OlPTHjKBnNwDrNNalxD9jFollow her on instagram @sivanrahavmeir

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected] support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

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[00:00] Introduction

[02:04] Welcome Sivan

[04:00] The problem with news media

[05:10] The role of Torah in making sense of chaos

[06:42] Sivan's origin story

[07:50] The two words that changed my life

[10:05] Building a relationship with Shabbat gradually

[11:00] My personal political transformation

[13:20] Political peace and inner peace

[13:53] Communicating Torah accessibly

[15:30] Using professional skills in a holy direction

[16:45] What has changed after October 7th?

[17:30] People want something tangible

[18:39] Responding to the enemey

[20:10] Omar Shemtov's testimony from the tunnels

[20:56] Why Sivan doesn't call herself a Rebbetzin

[24:30] Where does her energy come from?

[25:00] The real Avodat Hashem happens in my home

[26:15] "Always happy, but never satisfied"

[28:10] Resilience & drive as a framework that doesn't contradict joy

[28:45] The private work of a public person: young motherhood and the test of patience

[31:30] Immediate gratification culture vs. long-term spiritual investment

[32:10] If you didn't post it, did it happen?

[33:00] Sivan's own social media guidelines

[36:00] What worries Sivan about the Jewish world

[37:00] Building Jewish identity from within

[41:10] Our blindspot: the 85% of unaffiliated Jews outside the "bubble"

[44:00] Israeli expats in America

[45:30] What I want my legacy to be

[46:10] Self love as the basis for loving another

[48:30] How Sivan remembers thinks about her connections

[50:45] Favorite verse in Tanach

[51:00] One book everyone should read

[51:20] How I nourish myself

[51:55] A daily habit that can transform your life

[52:15] My message to the Jewish world

[53:30] Closing

[54:15] Host outro

The Medrash teaches that every person has three names: the one our parents give us, the one our friends give us, and the ones we make for ourselves. In this episode, we dive deep into a single verse in Parshat Vayakhel to explore what it truly means to name ourselves, and why the greatness of our ancestors only becomes relevant once we become a person in our own right.

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Join our new virtual Tanya class! We will be hosting a live, three part series on the divine soul, through Chapter 2 of the Tanya, a space to explore the text through shared study, poetry, curated illustrations, songs, and guided reflection. Link to join us here: https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclass

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

A deeply personal and Torah-rich conversation on facing darkness from within. Kiki opens up about her own journey with anxiety and depression, sharing how she moved from resenting the darkness she experienced to believing in its inherent blessing. Drawing on biblical stories, Kiki weaves profound insight with raw personal honesty. She explores what it practically means to face darkness, professional help as a prerequisite to faith-based tools and the belief that our inner light is inextinguishable, no matter what darkness we are facing.

Kiki is a Chabad Shlucha for a community in Israel, teaches weekly Chassidus and Kabbalah classes in person and online. She is a bridal educator and mikvah attendant, and is passionate about learning and teaching chassidus.

Find her classes on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/@kabbalahwithkiki

Find her classes on Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/6uscGnRqwgd2j8qwkk542M?si=FIxIy73QQNWw7qVSbDYRUg

Email her at [email protected] and find her on instagram at @kabbalahwithkiki.

* * * * * * *

Join our new virtual Tanya class! We will be hosting a live, three part series on the divine soul, through Chapter 2 of the Tanya, a space to explore the text through shared study, poetry, curated illustrations, songs, and guided reflection. Link to join us here: https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclass

* * * * * * *

To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

* * * * * * *

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction

01:43 — Today's topic: Torah wisdom on facing inner and outer darkness

02:14 — Why this is personal: Kiki's journey with anxiety and depression

03:30 — Showing up to teach even on the hardest days

05:14 — Biblical context: Abraham, Yaakov, and descending into Egypt

06:00 — The Kabbalistic purpose of exile:

07:38 — Descent before ascent

08:20 — Yaakov wrestling with the angel

10:00 — What blessing is this bringing me?

11:15 — The blessing is not external

13:13 — Practically speaking: what does facing darkness actually look like?

15:00 — The Hillel model: lighting one candle when the darkness feels overwhelming

16:50 — Going outward as a tool: moving out of yourself to find light

18:35 — The fear of being swallowed by darkness

20:30 — Balancing inward processing and outward giving

23:10 — Designating time for pain

25:00 — When mental health requires medical treatment first

26:24 — Yosef vs. his brothers: two worldviews on how to live in a dark world

28:30 — The brothers' approach: protect holiness by withdrawing from the world

29:30 — Yosef's approach: engage with darkness and elevate it

30:45 — Galus as a dream: the power of opposites coexisting

35:00 — Two kinds of dreams: exile's confusion vs. Yosef's redemptive vision

40:50 — What happened to our dreams?

43:00 — Changing "if only" to "only because"

46:00 — Two approaches to supporting people in their darkness

48:00 — Yaakov's model: sometimes when you're in the pit can't climb out alone

50:00 — Yosef's model: the power of presence

52:30 — Just sitting with someone is enough

54:30 — Kiki's personal postpartum depression

56:30 — The inextinguishable light

58:30 — How to support someone in darkness

59:26 — Soul-to-soul closing message

The power of having our blindspots revealed to us, why seeing ourselves clearly (both our flaws and potential) is the beginning of all growth, the spark of Moshe in each soul that allows us to experience an unfiltered version of our soul's descent, and the subtle movements we make in our lives that initiate a much larger expansion.

Source: Maamer Vekibel Hayehudim 5738

Join our new virtual Tanya class! We are hosting a live, three part series on the divine soul, through Chapter 2 of the Tanya, a space to explore the text through shared study, poetry, curated illustrations, songs, and guided reflection. Link to join us here: https://humanandholy.mykajabi.com/tanyaclass

* * * * * * *

To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at [email protected]

To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.

Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨

Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 – Intro & Tanya Class Info

01:15 – Part One Recap

02:02 – A Life of Learning

03:00 – Seeing Your Inner Gap

04:50 – Two Types of Enemies

06:18 – Blindspots and Honest Self-Awareness

08:40 – Humility

09:10 – A Spark of Moshe Within

11:01 – The Soul's Descent

13:27 – The Purim Story

15:38 – The Gift in Response to Our Initiation

17:54 – Shema Yisrael: Witnessing G-d's Oneness

19:00 – God As Our Shadow

20:17 – Accepting the Torah from Within