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Jon went to a Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah event on Sunday and made one fatal mistake: he skipped the “No Picture” sticker. A very close up photo of him, slightly spaced out, ended up front and center on their Instagram, and now everyone he has ever known wants to know if he is making Aliyah.

In this quick Drive By, Jon shares what happens when your family is quietly researching a move to Israel and the whole world finds out from one photo. It is funny, a little creepy, and a good reminder to go in with a plan.

Where are you on Aliyah? What are your Aliyah anxieties? Have you ever been caught in a photo you did not plan on? We would love to hear from you. Email [email protected] or join our WhatsApp community.

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Three years after October 7th, Jon, Asher, and Dave set aside the usual format to commemorate the day with personal reflections and two interviews about hope, courage, and Jewish unity.

The episode opens with the hosts sharing where they were on October 7th, 2023. Dave remembers getting the news in fragments from the security guards outside shul and deciding whether to go ahead with a scheduled community program. Jon recalls the next morning in shul, when an accidental alarm sent a room of parents and children to the floor and made the distance to Israel feel very short. Asher describes waiting for information with family in Israel, including parents who had made Aliyah only weeks earlier. Dave also reflects on a chesed mission to Israel, where he visited soldiers in hospitals and saw the unity of the Jewish people up close.

Sam Kramer is a longtime friend of the show and a former West Hempstead resident who made Aliyah and now lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh. On the night after October 7th, she helped start a WhatsApp group to share positive and hopeful stories. It grew into Israel Good News Only, now about 30,000 members across 26 WhatsApp communities, with a newsletter as well. Sam shares how the group began, why membership grows on the hardest days, her view on the media's portrayal of division in Israel, and how the work deepened her love for the Jewish people. She closes with a charge for listeners: look at what you already have to give, and use it.

Rabbi Ben Menorah made Aliyah as a child, served in the IDF, and became a campus rabbi at Binghamton University with his wife Ellie. He tells the story of October 7th on Simchat Torah weekend in Binghamton, the decision to fly to Israel, and rejoining his reserve unit on the northern border. He speaks candidly about the first nights waiting for an attack, the weight of leaving his family and community, the toll of the war on soldiers, and the loss of friends and neighbors. He also shares why he believes the answer for the future is Ahavat Yisrael, and recommends Nivut, an organization that supports lone soldiers and veterans.

The episode closes with the Question of the Week: How has October 7th changed you? Each host shares an honest answer, and we invite you to share yours.

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Chapters with Timestamps

2:17 Dave's Memories: News Through the Security Guards

13:13 Introducing the Two Interviews

14:30 Sam Kramer Joins the Conversation

15:01 How Israel Good News Only Began and Grew to 30,000 Members

19:11 A Recent Miracle in Israel and What It Reflects About the Country

25:50 The Stories Behind the Group: Miracles, Unity, and Soldiers Coming Home

39:36 Sam's Charge: Use What You Have to Give

44:32 Rabbi Ben Menorah Joins the Conversation

47:08 October 7th on Simchat Torah Weekend in Binghamton

51:59 Flying Back to Israel and Rejoining His Unit

55:08 A Community That Showed Up With Support

1:02:05 Walking to Shul Past the Homes of the Fallen

1:03:43 Reflections on the Beeper Operation

1:05:12 Looking Forward: Strengthening Ahavat Yisrael

1:08:08 Supporting Lone Soldiers and Veterans Through Nivut

1:10:40 Question of the Week: How Has October 7th Changed You?

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Or grab the newsletter in your email inbox. Every other week, a summary and highlights, no overwhelm: Subscribe here 👉🏻 www.IGNO.kit.com

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Chag Samayach Everyone! Dave from Flatbush counts down his top 5 Non House or Sukkah places to live... and there are some... takes. Agree? Disagree? email us at [email protected] and we'll discuss in an upcoming episode!

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As the High Holidays approach, Jon, Asher, and Dave slow down for a more reflective conversation, though not without the usual chaos first. Asher recaps a passive-aggressive flag football sideline standoff (WhatsApp texts only, naturally), the ongoing Tisha B'Av beach chair debate, and a genuinely great bit about Dave's new "I Already Davened" personalized shirt, born from Dave's guilt about being seen walking past shul during Mincha without going in.

Happy birthday shoutouts go out to Asher's daughter Ayelet and Dave's daughter Tzivi, both born the same week, with a sweet story about Tzivi getting her whole class hooked on the podcast without even telling them her dad was one of the hosts.

Then the conversation turns toward the season itself. The guys share the chazanim who live permanently in their heads during the Yamim Noraim, from childhood cantors and grandfathers to the ongoing Menachem Brick versus Yossi Brick debate. They get into a genuinely funny and surprisingly heated ranking of holiday niggunim (Machnisei Rachamim is controversial, "the good Chamol" is sacred, and there is exactly one correct opinion on all of it), plus their personal pre-Yamim Noraim rituals: mikvah trips, shofar traditions passed down from grandfathers, and Asher's streak of listening to Rabbi Fran's Erev Yom Kippur drasha.

The tone shifts into something more personal as each of the guys shares an honest resolution for the new year, from increasing Torah learning and davening for others by name, to simply reaching out more to the people they love. It's funny, it's real, and it closes out the way this show does best: humor and heart in the same breath.

Plus: the great Slichos start-time debate (does 9pm count?), the Announcer's Test performed in full from memory, and a genuinely moving reflection on what Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur mean across the Jewish people.

We want to hear from you: what has been your favorite part of this season? Reach out and let us know, and while you're at it, reach out to someone else too.

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⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps

0:22 — Welcome Back From Vacation (Sort Of)

1:46 — The Flag Football Sideline Standoff

7:36 — Happy Birthday Ayelet Dworetsky

7:46 — Happy Birthday Tzivi Tannenbaum, Secret Podcast Recruiter

17:23 — The "I Already Davened" Shirt Origin Story

20:32 — Setting the Scene: Heading Into the Yamim Noraim

21:38 — The Chazanim Who Live in Your Head: Grandfathers and Childhood Shuls

33:53 — Pre-Season Rituals

42:38 — New Year's Resolutions

50:16 — The Big Question: Is This Season Joyful, Scary, or Both?

59:51 — Question of the Week!

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Dave from Flatbush is. Ack to defend his vacation pet peeves, but what doesn’t he want his doc to know? It’s the Drive By!!!

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Asher addresses his vacation pet peeves from last episode. Did they play out as he expected? Was Dave more right than we all thought? Find the answers here on this short Drive By update episode!

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Vacation Pet Peeves That Drive Us Crazy

Special episode alert: Asher is joined in-studio by his son Gavi! Before getting into the main event, the guys catch up on end-of-summer chaos: Dave's house felt eerily quiet with his family away at Camp Kaylie for the month (he may or may not have kept score during ESPN Jeopardy), and he surprised his daughters with a fully renovated shared bedroom, split into two separate rooms, managed top to bottom by friend of the show Tzvi Goldgrab while the family was away. Asher is off to Niagara Falls for the family's first real road trip, with a Shabbos stop in Monroe along the way.

Then it's time for the main event: an ode to the beloved School of Mock podcast, done mock-draft style. Jon, Dave, and Asher each draft their top vacation pet peeves, and the results are equal parts hilarious and painfully relatable. Kids throwing up in the car. The mysterious ten-minutes-before-you-get-home meltdown. Vacations that are somehow busier than real life. Kids who refuse to carry a single bag into the house. Resort fees. And a uniquely Jewish entry: the vacation Mincha guy who insists everyone daven together, whether you want to or not.

Plus: Dave's unexpected Buddhist monk era, an incident involving an unbuttoned shirt at a bar mitzvah, Asher's stance on GPS-checking Mincha compass guys, and Jon's surprisingly controversial pet peeve about anticipating the school year a little too much.

Question of the Week: What are you most looking forward to as summer winds down?

📩 Email us your own vacation pet peeves at [email protected], or better yet, join the WhatsApp community and tell us there.

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0:30 — Welcome Back, Featuring Special Guest Gavi

1:35 — Happy Birthday, Jon!

3:10 — Round the Horn: Dave's Quiet House While the Family Was at Camp Kaylie

8:26 — Jon's Pet Peeve Preview: School Supply Season

18:45 — The Fake Potty and the Portable Toilet Debate

19:54 — Intro to the Vacation Pet Peeve Mock Draft, Ode to School of Mock

21:16 — Draft Order Set: Jon Leads Off for His Birthday

55:56 — Question of the Week: What Are You Most Looking Forward To?

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The Drive By: What's Your Take on Camp Tipping?

Camp season is winding down, which means one thing: it's tipping season. In this Drive By, Jon and Asher tackle one of the most debated end-of-summer questions in the Jewish community: what is the right way to tip camp counselors?

Asher, who works in camp himself, makes the case for consistent, thoughtful tipping. Counselors are the surrogate parents for your kids all summer long, and undertipping as a statement isn't just cheap, it's genuinely insulting. Jon pushes back on the scale of it, noting that some sleepaway camps hand parents a list of 50 different staff members to tip, turning a gesture of gratitude into an overwhelming financial obligation on top of an already expensive tuition.

The conversation moves into the real debate: pooled tips versus individual tips. Should camps collect everyone's tips and distribute them evenly, or should counselors get exactly what their specific families give them? Jon floats an alternative: a flat salary with a merit-based bonus at the end of the summer, removing tipping from the equation entirely. Asher shares a genuinely painful story about a camper who spent all summer promising a $100 tip from his famous musician father, only for it to never materialize.

This one is homework for the listeners. What is the right camp tipping policy? Pooled? Individual? Salary plus bonus? The guys want your take.

📩 Email your answer to [email protected] or join the WhatsApp group! There are prizes!!!

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Please rate and review The Carpool Guys!

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Follow us on Instagram @carpoolguyspod

Send us a question, a comment, birthday wish, shoutout, or anything else fun and positive, and maybe we'll feature your addition on the next episode of The Carpool Guys Podcast!

Send us Fan Mail

Tech Trouble Can't Stop Us

Twelve tries. That is not an exaggeration. This episode nearly did not happen at all, with mic failures, internet outages, and enough technical chaos to make the guys question whether the pod was cursed. But true to form, nothing stops The Carpool Guys, not even the internet itself apparently breaking on them mid-record.

Jon opens with a wild vacation story: his first trip away with his wife in 18 years of marriage, interrupted by a 2am call that a tree had fallen through their roof mid-storm, flooding the house while they were away. Thankfully his in-laws and a roofing company with an unbeatable name saved the day. He also recounts a cliff jump into a pool that Dave and Asher are determined to make sound far less heroic than Jon remembers it.

Then Dave tells one of the wildest stories this show has ever aired: a golf outing where a friend sliced a ball so badly it hit a groundskeeper in the head, followed days later by Dave going viral after calling into WFAN and discovering the trivia question being discussed on air was about him, from a contest 19 years ago. The math on that coincidence alone is worth the listen.

Asher brings a genuinely relatable rant about school and camp nurses over-diagnosing kids to get them out of the office, sparking a real debate about where the line is between caution and convenience. Plus a full and extremely honest conversation about backwash, kids' germs, drinking from their water bottles, and where everyone draws their personal hygiene line.

Also in this episode: a Hatzalah call mistaken for a celebrity motorcade, palate expander pill struggles, suppository home remedies from a father in law who was a pharmacist, an unfortunate Shabbos bathroom emergency involving a clogged toilet and a lucky pocket full of tissues, and the debate over whether Dave should have shouted out the podcast during his viral radio moment.

Happy Birthday to Jon's wife Nechama. And Happy early National Middle Child Day to Asher, who considers it the most important day of the year.

Question of the Week from Dave: It's 8pm, you have no internet, what are you doing?

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0:57 — Twelve Takes In: The Craziest Tech Difficulties Ever

1:32 — Round the Horn: Jon's Vacation and the Tree on the House

9:28 — Dave Went Viral On WFAN Last Week!

11:42 — The WhatsApp Poll: Would You Laugh?

19:52 — Asher's Turn: The School Nurse Rant

23:12 — Jon's Story: The Nurse Who Questioned His Parenting Authority

28:23 — The Water Bottle Debate: Would You Drink From Your Kid's Bottle?

32:05 — Dave's Suggestion Goes Too Far Too Fast

35:50 — The Shabbos Tissue Emergency: A Clogged Toilet and a Snake Situation

39:12 — Question of the Week: No Internet at 8pm, What Do You Do?

41:12 — Happy Birthday Shoutout to Jon's Wife Nechama

41:50 — National Middle Child Day: Asher's Favorite Day of the Year

44:14 — Closing: Like, Subscribe, Join the WhatsApp Group

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Shabbos Ground Rules: Whose Side Are You On?

The whole team is back together, and Dave was not going to let his absence go unnoticed. He missed the guys so much he had major FOMO from his own podcast, and he is here to make sure everyone knows it.

The guys kick off with a proper What Are We Thinking About segment, catching up on WhatsApp group energy, a wave of positive feedback from the Imposter Syndrome episode, and a very unfortunate JetBlue saga that left Jon's 15 year old daughter stranded in LA after a canceled flight. Shout out to NCSY Give West staff for stepping up when JetBlue fumbled completely. Asher recaps a beautiful Shabbos and a truly heroic attempt at watching the World Cup finals, which he did not enjoy even a little bit and has some thoughts about.

Then the guys get into the real topic of the night, and arguably the most important unspoken debate in Jewish community life: Shabbos meal etiquette and ground rules. What is the appropriate end time for a Shabbos meal? Is there a statute of limitations on re-inviting someone who has said no twice? Is it acceptable to drop a potluck commitment for a better offer later in the week? Can you ask to bench early because you want to take a nap? The guys poll their WhatsApp group, argue passionately, call in a wife for a live ruling, and somehow still do not fully agree by the end.

Also in this episode: the group chat name "Tannen GONE," sponsored voice notes as a business idea, indoor soccer nostalgia, a hockey stick fight in yeshiva that ended in an awkward equipment return, the potluck versus real invitation hierarchy, and a legitimately deep question from a camper about celebrity status that Asher refuses to answer.

Question of the Week: What level of celebrity do you think we are?

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⏱️ Chapters with Timestamps

1:05 — Dave's FOMO Over Missing an Episode

2:40 — The Voice Note Debate Continues — Dave Says He's Getting 20x More Now

3:35 — Shout Out to the WhatsApp Group and First Raffle Winner Naftali Pfeiffer

6:01 — Great Feedback on the Imposter Syndrome Episode

8:03 — Dave's Month at Camp Kaylie Training the Intern Program

11:28 — Jon's JetBlue Nightmare: Daughter Stranded in LA

14:46 — Asher's Honest World Cup Review: The Most Boring Sport in the World

21:50 — Main Topic: Shabbos Meal Ground Rules and Etiquette

26:12 — The Poll Results: What's the Acceptable End Time?

28:03 — Jon's Real Question: How Long Do You Wait to Re-Invite Someone Who Said No Twice?

31:17 — Dave's Confession: The Fear of Being Invited Back by People You Don't Want to See

32:42 — Asher's Devious Idea: Inviting Someone the Week of Their Simcha

35:19 — The Potluck Downgrade Rule: Can You Drop a Potluck for a Better Offer?

35:36 — Calling in the Wives for a Live Ruling

38:00 — The Yeshiva Hockey Fight Story and the Awkward Stick Return

40:47 — The Couch Sleeping Debate

42:51 — Can You Ask to Bench Early Because You Want a Nap?

44:10 — Question of the Week Setup: The Camper's Celebrity Question

Please rate and review The Carpool Guys!

You can email us at [email protected]

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Send us a question, a comment, birthday wish, shoutout, or anything else fun and positive, and maybe we'll feature your addition on the next episode of The Carpool Guys Podcast!