Meaningful People

Nessia was a Mexican music artist who walked away from a promising music career to pursue a deeper connection to Judaism and Torah. Feeling a strong spiritual pull toward Israel, she moved there on October 6, 2023, just one day before the October 7 attacks. Through studying Torah, she completed her conversion and embraced a new life focused on modesty, humility, and serving Hashem. She also shares her personal struggles with dating and preparing for marriage, and her hope to one day use her musical talents in a way that aligns with her values and purpose.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

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► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

►Adopt a Soldier

A personal connection to an injured IDF soldier

https://adopt-a-soldier.org

► Ceremian Financial

Advice built on experience. Moshe Alpert and Ceremian Financial are fiduciary financial advisors offering wealth management, financial planning, retirement planning, and estate and legacy planning for families, professionals and business owners, so you can have real peace of mind that your finances are taken care of. Schedule your first conversation today.

https://ceremianfinancial.com/

[email protected]

718-644-1594

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

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Nachi Gordon sits down with Ben Brafman, one of the most well known criminal defense attorneys in the country and a proud frum Jew. Ben opens up about sitting with clients at the worst moments of their lives, why he says he's "not the morality police," the Otisville visiting day he can never forget, and the hardest conversation of his career, with Super Bowl champion Plaxico Burress.

They also get into the pressures and shortcuts that lead good people into serious crimes, the damage lashon hara does in our community, keeping Shabbos while representing Sean Combs, and the Brafman family legacy, from the Torah his father saved on Kristallnacht to the lives his brother, Rabbi Aron Brafman, changed at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Touro

Serious about your education and your Torah learning? Touro's Lander College for Men/Beis Medrash L'Talmud offers over 20 majors and pre-professional tracks, including finance, computer science, accounting, biology, psychology, pre-law, pre-dental and pre-med, plus honors pathways into New York Medical College and Touro College of Dental Medicine. Join the Open House on November 8.

https://lcm.touro.edu/openhouse

_________________

► Ceremian Financial

Advice built on experience. Moshe Alpert and Ceremian Financial are fiduciary financial advisors offering wealth management, financial planning, retirement planning, and estate and legacy planning for families, professionals and business owners, so you can have real peace of mind that your finances are taken care of. Schedule your first conversation today.

https://ceremianfinancial.com/

[email protected]

718-644-1594

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: "I'm Not the Morality Police"

3:29 Ben Brafman on Talking Clients Out of Suicide and an Affinity Fraud in Shul

6:25 No Mussar and No Shortcuts: The Hard Work Behind the Job

8:31 His Father, Kristallnacht, and the Torah Saved From a Burning Shul

9:39 Law School, Stand-Up Comedy, and Humor in the Courtroom

11:46 What Gets Frum Business People in Trouble

13:26 Otisville Visiting Day: "Tatti, Kum Aheim"

16:28 COVID Loans, False Applications, and Federal Sentencing

20:34 Mesira, Cooperating With the Government, and Pardons for Sale

24:34 The Chesed of the Jewish Community and Hospital Shabbos Rooms

28:26 Lashon Hara: "Be Like Ben"

31:26 Yiddishkeit vs. Career: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and a "Heart Surgery"

35:30 Making a Name: In the Zone and No Summers Off

37:58 The Hardest Conversation: Plaxico Burress

41:40 How Do You Defend Someone You Think Belongs in Jail?

43:26 Smicha Is Not a PhD: Kollel, Financial Pressure, and the Cheder in Ramat Eshkol

48:42 The Art of Cross-Examination and the Evidence You Can't Cross-Examine

54:22 No Shortcuts to Success, and Lawyers Burned by AI

56:03 Not Picking Up on Shabbos for Sean Combs

1:01:18 The Mafia Cops Case That Should Be a Movie

1:05:36 Best and Worst Advice, and Learning Daf Yomi

1:09:26 Ben and His Brother, Rabbi Aron Brafman

1:15:50 Sullivan & Cromwell and Frum Lawyers in Big Law

1:18:08 Closing and Meaningful Minute Plus

On September 30, Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was hijacked mid-air. A terrorist stabbed the pilot, the plane dropped 15,000 feet in under a minute, and for a few seconds nobody was flying it. Nachi Gordon sits down with Daniel Schlichter, who was sitting in the second row with his wife, two meters from the cockpit, and watched three Israeli passengers take the terrorist down while a dentist on board treated the pilot. Daniel handed them the headphones they used to tie him up.

Daniel walks through every minute: the empty cockpit, the off-duty pilots who took over, the flight attendant who told them to let the terrorist go, the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia with part of the tail missing, and the first direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Israel. He also opens up about why a man who never considered himself religious now calls it a divine miracle, and what he believes all 174 people on that plane are still here to do.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: "Nobody's Flying This Plane"

1:55 Daniel Schlichter on Boarding Flight FZ1073 Home From Japan

3:36 "Somebody Is Stabbing the Pilot": The Fight in the Cockpit

8:45 Losing 15,000 Feet in Under a Minute

11:31 The Miracles That Kept 174 People Alive and What It Did to Daniel's Faith

16:06 An Empty Cockpit and the Off-Duty Pilots Who Took Over

18:59 Not Trusting the Crew and Landing in Saudi Arabia

22:52 Am Yisrael Chai and the First Direct Flight From Saudi Arabia to Israel

25:05 "Kill Me, Kill Me": Why It Was Terror, Not a Fight Between Pilots

29:10 "I'm Not a Hero": Coming Home and Searching for Why

32:57 The Indian Pilot Who Opened the Door

This is not a typical episode. Nachi Gordon sits down in Yerushalayim with Arnold Roth, whose 15 year old daughter Malki was murdered in the Sbarro pizzeria bombing on August 9, 2001. Arnold shares who Malki was, the last "I love you" she exchanged with her mother, and the twelve hours the family spent searching for her before the 2 a.m. phone call from her brothers.

But the story doesn't end there. Ahlam Tamimi, the woman who planned the attack, was sentenced to 16 life terms, freed in the 2011 Gilad Shalit deal, and has been living openly in Jordan ever since, where she even hosted her own TV show. She is the only woman on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list, with a $5 million reward on her head, and Jordan still refuses to hand her over. Arnold explains why he calls the silence of governments and American Jewish leadership a betrayal, and what each of us can do about it.

Sign the petition to extradite Ahlam Tamimi:

https://www.change.org/p/we-urge-the-president-and-secretary-of-state-of-the-united-states-to-do-everything-necessary-so-that-jordan-which-has-thwarted-this-process-for-years-finally-complies-with-its-treaty-obligation-and-with-fundamental-notions-of-justice

Learn more about the Malki Foundation:

https://www.kerenmalki.org

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Touro

Serious about your education and your Torah learning? Touro's Lander College for Men/Beis Medrash L'Talmud offers over 20 majors and pre-professional tracks, including finance, computer science, accounting, biology, psychology, pre-law, pre-dental and pre-med, plus honors pathways into New York Medical College and Touro College of Dental Medicine. Join the Open House on November 8.

https://lcm.touro.edu/openhouse

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Daily 613

Daily 613 is writing Sifrei Torah in memory of the victims of October 7th. Every letter is a letter of remembrance, and the more that is raised, the more Sifrei Torah will be written. Be part of the next one.

https://causematch.com/daily613

_________________

► Nishmasi

A new project from Rabbi Efrem Goldberg to strengthen your emunah. Eight WhatsApp communities, including shidduchim, fertility, finance, illness and more, with daily messages from Rabbi Goldberg tailored to your chapter in life. Find your community and join today.

https://nishmasi.org

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: Not a Typical Episode

3:53 Arnold Roth on Who Malki Was and Her Last Summer

9:05 August 9, 2001: The Sbarro Bombing

11:19 Twelve Hours Searching for Malki

16:26 The Shiva and Silence From the Israeli Government

19:48 A Zionist Let Down: Ahlam Tamimi Walks Free in Jordan

24:16 How Tamimi Planned and Carried Out the Attack

29:49 The Arrest, 16 Life Sentences, and a Secret Court Transcript

32:31 No Real Interest From the US as Tamimi Becomes a Prison Celebrity

36:12 The Shalit Deal: Tamimi at the Top of Hamas's List

39:22 Tamimi's TV Show in Jordan and Arnold Roth's Trip to Washington

43:35 2017: The US Charges Tamimi and Posts a $5 Million Reward

46:33 Jordan Declares Its Extradition Treaty Invalid

49:11 "A Foremost Priority": The Biden Administration Letter That Went Nowhere

51:58 If the US Really Wanted Tamimi, They Would Get Her

53:26 Billions for Jordan and the Silence of American Jewish Leaders

1:00:36 Everyone Knows Where Tamimi Lives, and the King of Jordan's VIP Treatment

1:03:06 "A Betrayal": What Arnold Roth Would Say to Tamimi

1:04:42 What Justice Would Change, and Losing Son-in-Law Naftali

1:09:58 The Malki Foundation and Nachi's Call to Sign the Petition

The shidduch system says stay in your lane: same hashkafa, same schools, and wait for the shadchan to call. Rivkah Fox thinks that's exactly what's keeping so many people single. With Blind Fate, the matchmaking platform she started on Instagram, she's throwing out the boxes and labels with anonymous bios, blind video dates and caricature resumes, and setting up couples the system would never put together, like a yeshivish guy with smicha and a modern Orthodox Ramaz grad who are now married with kids. Hundreds of singles in eight countries have gotten married through her setups, and instead of pushback, rabbanim and even a Rebbe's gabbai are calling her for help.

Nachi Gordon pushes her on all of it: whether crossing hashkafa lines puts someone's Yiddishkeit at risk, why she calls image the biggest problem in the shidduch world, how she gets paid without becoming a debt collector, and the week an entire family turned on her over one green check on the Loop app.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Shopify Guru

Store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru's Daniel gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change. Call 732-534-1404 or go to shopifyguru.io.

https://go.jcn.io/sgmp

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

In this special throwback episode,Nachi Gordon sits down with Rivka Shotkin, a 16 year old from Passaic and the youngest guest in Meaningful People history. On January 31, 2021, a family ski trip in Tannersville ended when Rivka missed a turn on her last run of the day and went straight into a tree, breaking 11 bones, puncturing both lungs, and severing her spinal cord. She walks us through waking up in the ICU nine days later, three months of rehab during COVID without being able to see her family, and landing back in the hospital with septic shock just five days after finally coming home.

What makes this one special is how Rivka talks about all of it. She opens up about how unhappy she was before the accident, the strange sense of peace she felt that weekend, why she now calls her injury a gift, and what she wants the community to understand about treating people in wheelchairs. It's funny, honest, and genuinely inspiring.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Shopify Guru

Store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru's Daniel gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change. Call 732-534-1404 or go to shopifyguru.io.

https://go.jcn.io/sgmp

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: Meet Rivka Shotkin, MPP's Youngest Guest Ever

4:02 Welcome to the Studio and Growing Up in Passaic

7:23 The Ski Trip to Tannersville That Changed Everything

10:10 Airlifted to Albany and Waking Up Nine Days Later

13:20 Learning Rivka Was Paralyzed and Eli Portell's Advice

15:49 Anger, Dark Humor, and Taking It in Stride

18:04 Three Months of Rehab During COVID

22:07 Punishment, Test, or Gift?

23:33 Coming Home, a Wedding Cake, and Septic Shock

27:29 How to Accept What You Never Signed Up For

29:45 Unhappy Before the Accident and a Strange Premonition

31:57 Choosing Happiness and Strength From Rivka's Parents

34:59 Brain Surgeon Dreams and How to Treat People in Wheelchairs

38:20 Emunah, Hashgacha, and Not Being Afraid of the Pain

42:36 Rivka's Second Rosh Hashanah

46:17 Camp Simcha and Rivka's Support System

49:06 Poetry, Dreams, and Determination

Nachi Gordon hosts a live panel on sexual abuse in the frum community, recorded at an event presented by Ray of Hope and Amudim right before Rosh Hashanah. He's joined by Amudim founder Zvi Gluck, Amudim's Director of Education Avi Landa, Amudim Clinical Director Dr. Miriam Lankry, and Ray of Hope founder Zelda Brody, who opens the evening by sharing her own story of abuse and the years of silent suffering that led her to build Ray of Hope. Using live audience polling throughout the night, the panel works through how well the community actually handles abuse, how young the conversation about bodies and boundaries with kids should start, and what to say and what never to say when someone discloses to you.

From there the conversation moves into harder territory: which warning signs actually mean something, why going to a rav first is often not the full answer, when police need to be the first call, and how survivors navigate marriage, dating, and family relationships with relatives who still stay close to their abuser. Zvi, Avi, Miriam, and Zelda spend real time on why so many people still stay silent out of shame, push back hard on the idea that abusers often get more communal support than their victims, and close out the night on what they'd want every survivor in the room, and everyone listening at home, to walk away knowing.

This week, Nachi Gordon sits down with Charlie Harari for a wide-ranging conversation about what it actually means to love someone, honor your parents, and do teshuva. Charlie unpacks how modern therapy culture has replaced the role of a rebbe for a lot of people, and argues that real love isn't validation, it's pointing someone toward Hashem even when that's uncomfortable to hear. From there the conversation moves through honoring parents even when the relationship is hard, why teshuva is really about identity rather than behavior, and why tragedy seems to shake people awake to Hashem faster than blessing does.

Charlie also talks about Kelil, the app and upcoming book he co-wrote to help people work through jealousy, honoring parents, and other areas of avodas Hashem that are hard to figure out on your own.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Values Over Valuables

A campaign encouraging people to live a value based life instead of buying whatever they can afford. Watch the video and take the pledge.

https://valuesovervaluables.org

_________________

► Bench

American-style food, treats, and gifts from vendors across Jerusalem, delivered straight to your kid in Israel. A taste of home when you can't be there yourself.

https://benchjlm.com

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

As we mark 25 years since September 11, we're revisiting Ari Schonbrun's extraordinary story of survival. Ari worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower. A series of seemingly ordinary delays left him running late that morning, placing him on the 78th floor when the first plane struck. Thrown to the ground by the impact and surrounded by smoke, fire, and chaos, Ari began searching for a way out.

That search brought him to Virginia, a severely burned coworker who begged him not to leave her. Ari made her a promise and helped her down dozens of flights of stairs, refusing to abandon her even as they fought to escape with their lives. In this deeply moving conversation, Ari recounts the decisions, strangers, and extraordinary moments of Divine Providence that led them out of the tower, and how surviving September 11 forever changed his faith, his priorities, and the way he understands why he was spared.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

1:04 Not Taught in School

4:50 A Beautiful Tuesday Morning

11:25 First Plane Hits

14:08 A Woman Screaming for Help

17:03 Finding a Way Out

19:04 A Phone Call in the Stairwell

21:36 Is There a Paramedic in the Building?

25:32 Finds Out it's a Terrorist Attack

29:20 Breaking Down in His Brother's Arms

32:38 Go Hug the People You Love

34:40 Twenty People, A Hundred Messages

35:45 Daddy's Got to Work

38:00 One Mitzvah at a Time

43:33 Only Four Survived

47:20 The Smoky Taste the Next Morning

50:44 Find Your Mission

57:33 Can You Come In at 11?

59:30 Cantor Fitzgerald's Promise

1:01:19 Whispers and Bricks

This week, Nachi Gordon sits down with Yudi and Chumi Herzberg to talk about the life, story, and legacy of their daughter Charlotte, who passed away in a car accident on June 2. Yudi and Chumi walk through what made Charlotte so uniquely herself, the note she left her mother the night before the accident, and how they found out and told the rest of their kids. They also talk candidly about the ups and downs since then, including recognizing the driver as a close family friend, and how they came to see the tragedy as coming entirely from Hashem rather than from any person to blame.

The conversation turns toward Shalom for Charlotte, the movement Yudi and Chumi built out of the accident, aimed at inspiring people to make peace in their own relationships. They share some of the thousands of stories that have poured in since Charlotte passed, from decades long feuds ending to siblings reconnecting, and talk about what it has meant to watch their daughter's legacy grow into something so much bigger than themselves.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_____________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_____________________

► Aura House

A sleek, flame free cold air diffuser that fills your home with a five star hotel scent, with no parabens or phthalates. A perfect wedding gift. Use code MEANINGFUL15 for 15% off.

https://aurahouse.com

_____________________

► Values Over Valuables

A campaign encouraging people to live a value based life instead of buying whatever they can afford. Watch the video and take the pledge.

https://valuesovervaluables.org

_____________________

► Voice 37 by Isaac Honig

An all natural vocal booster made with organic herbs that lasts 12 to 24 hours, made for singers and especially for chazzanim heading into the Yomim Noraim. Available on Amazon.

https://clyor.com/voice37

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N26UG0V/

_____________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_____________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_____________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

3:48 Charlotte's Personality and Big Feelings

8:55 The Note Charlotte Left the Night Before the Accident

15:49 Reliving June 2: How the Accident Unfolded

19:27 Yudi's Hope at the Scene and the Ride to the Hospital

23:19 Telling Their Other Children What Happened

25:27 Hatzalah, Neighbors, and the Community's Response

29:20 Recognizing the Driver as a Close Family Friend

33:18 Being on the Same Page as a Couple

35:09 Grief During and After Shiva

44:46 Seeing Hashem Clearly Through the Tragedy

47:46 Why They Chose the Name Shalom for Charlotte

52:18 Adjusting to Life After Shiva Ended

1:00:18 Turning Their Story Into Chizuk for Others

1:04:57 Rabbi Robino Eisenberger's Message on a Predestined Life

1:13:35 Stories of Shalom Pouring In From Around the World

1:20:29 The Goal of 100,000 Acts of Shalom

1:25:02 Visiting Charlotte's Grave

1:27:03 Preparing for a Simcha and Living Life Fully Today