Chai on Life

Hi everyone, welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today I’m speaking with Katia Bolotin, the author of Making it Relevant: Timeless Torah Wisdom for an Ever-Changing World which came out at the end of last year.Katia is an author and speaker as well as a pianist, songwriter and composer of contemporary classical music. She is known for inspiring audiences with teachings that are both deeply rooted in Torah as well as being contemporary. Her writing is warm, clear, and emotionally resonant — grounded in real experience rather than theory.As I moved through her book, I really felt that. Each chapter focuses on a different parsha and is relatable and easy to read. It makes the parsha approachable and offers at least one practical takeaway or exercise you can do to really bring the Torah’s teachings immediately into your life. It could be fun to learn with a friend or chavruta for that purpose as well and really motivate each other.In the episode, we speak about:-Why she decided to write a book on parsha specifically-How we can use the Torah as the greatest self-help book-Why life is more like a ladder and less like a bridge and what that ladder can teach us -How Katia grounds herself through Torah-The dangers of comparing oneself to others and how to work on that in both a physical and spiritual way-What the duality present in the Torah can teach us about the world-What masculine and feminine energy look like through a Torah lens-The best way to transmit Torah to our children...and so much more!Get Katia’s book here.Follow Katia on Instagram here and through her website here.If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!

Today, I am speaking with Batya Sherizen, who is the author of the newly released book, “Dying to Be Me,” which speaks about her personal journey through a harrowing life-threatening condition she was diagnosed with when she was pregnant with her sixth child.During the pregnancy, she had to be on bed rest for months, live in the hospital for a month at a certain point and ultimately, give birth via C-section in an incredibly scary and truly dangerous surgery that she almost didn’t survive. This book speaks about that experience and so much more. She explains it as an “eye-opening memoir about self-acceptance, love and embracing the present.”I don’t have favorite episodes because I truly love all of the guests and conversations I have yet this one left a particularly strong impact on me because of its depth and the vulnerability Batya shared when telling more about her story and all she went through.In the episode, we speak about-The type of person Batya was before this experience and how she has evolved since-How she lived with the idea thinking death could be coming and how it changed her day-to-day world-What “living up to her potential” now means to her and how that view differs from the past-What it was like going through this experience while also being a mother to five other children — we go really in depth here into the reaction her kids had, what it was like when she couldn’t physically be present for them, the self-love and acceptance she went through as a mom, woman and so much more-Her relationship with Hashem and how that has completely evolved and grown-Her relationship with her husband throughout this experience and how afterward, they both went about working through all that happened…and so much more!To get Batya's Book, click here.

Hi everyone! Welcome back to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. This episode is one that is long awaited for me to release. It is my birth story from my third son that happened over the summer.As I share in the podcast, with Chai on Life we often speak about self-growth, spirituality, connection to Hashem, self-love and compassion and more all along those lines, so it feels like a missed opportunity not to share how I have grown through the experience of giving birth for a third time with all its struggles, fears and emotions. This episode is giving a real glimpse into where my brain was at both then and now and how my relationship with Hashem has grown and changed throughout the last six months. They say that when you give birth, you're not just giving birth to a baby but to a mother. I believe that happens anew each time. So here, my story.If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. See you next week!

Hi everyone, welcome back to The Chai on Life Podcast! I’m so happy to be back after a postpartum hiatus. Baruch Hashem I am so grateful for the little miracle baby that I now have in my life and so grateful to have had the quality time with him and now so grateful to be able to focus back on the podcast a bit more. Gd willing, I will be doing a full episode on the birth story and some reflections from that, so if that’s interesting to you stay tuned. But now, I’ve been busy working on some interviews with really incredible people and I am so excited to share them.Today’s episode is with Shoshana Judelman. I got connected to Shoshana through Midreshet Rachel — she is a teacher there now and has always been passionate about teaching Torah and Jewish History. She holds a Bachelor’s in History and a Master’s in Jewish History. She made aliyah with her husband and six children to Efrat in 2013. In addition to teaching at MRC, Shoshana teaches Chassidus for the Shirat David Community in Efrat as well as for BeOr Panecha in Elazar. She is a guide in Poland with JRoots and co-leads inspirational trips to Ukraine and around Eretz Yisroel. Shoshana has also been a guide at Yad Vashem since 2014.In this episode, she is sharing so much about her connection to the world of Chassidus, what we can learn from it and how we can connect to Chanukah more deeply through its teachings. She speaks about:-How she got into Chassidus and became a baal teshuva-What the difference is between Chassidus and other perspectives on Torah-How we can interpret the world through the lens of our human soul and Gdly soul which was a really interesting and helpful teaching-What it really means that just a little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness (with a really great mashal included in that)-How to cope when it feels like the darkness is getting darker, whether in your own personal world or in the world at large-How you can personally connect through the lighting of the Chanukah candles and practically a great tip if you have a busy household and it’s hard to focus when your family is lighting together-Her own personal struggle at the moment and how she’s dealing with it and becoming closer with Hashem in the process. This was so beautiful I was really getting emotional …and so so much more!To daven for Shoshana, her full name is Shoshana Yonah bat AidelLearn more from Shoshana here.

[This episode originally aired on July 29, 2024] Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of The Chai on Life Podcast. I’m Alex Segal and today, we are speaking with Dr. Hilla Aboody, an amazing teacher, mother, wife and mentor currently living in Eretz Yisrael who I invited to come on to speak about this heavy time on the Jewish calendar.Hilla has such a beautiful way of explaining things — it’s so deep and profound yet easy to comprehend at the same time.A little background on her:She is a wife and mother of five, living in Eretz Yisrael after making Aliyah 7 years ago from Brooklyn, NY. She is a teacher and Em Bayit (house mother) at Midreshet Eshel, a Sephardic seminary for post High school students from around the world. Her educational background includes studying at Michlalah and receiving her bachelor’s degree from Bar-Ilan University and a Master’s and PhD in Jewish History from New York University. She has published her study on Eliyahu the Prophet in Talmudic literature and midrashim in her book, “Through the Prism of Wisdom”. As an educator and kallah teacher, Hilla dedicates her time in guiding students to creating a relationship with Hashem and tips and tools to thrive in their marriages and in life.In our conversation, we speak about:-What the Jewish perspective is on sadness and pain-How we can connect to Hashem during this time and in this unique way, especially if it feels daunting for you right now-Why this particular time period brings about more heaviness and actually the reason why we take more precautions-The rich energy that lies in the months of Tammuz and Av — what the letters associated with each month mean, why the sense of each month is important and what we can individually and collectively take from all of that-Why crying is actually a sign of bravery-Practical things you can do now to get through this time with more faith, in a more connected way to yourself, Hashem and those around you-How to deal with difficult emotions with your kids…and SO MUCH MOREThis podcast with Hilla is basically an hour long shiur. I got chills like 17 times as I was listening to her and it’s definitely one of the most important ones I’ve done so far in terms of our spirituality.If there is someone you want to see on The Chai on Life Podcast, email me at alex@chaionlifemag.com or send me a DM @chaionlifemag. Thanks again, see you next week!