There are so many high-quality Jewish podcasts available that it’s hard to imagine how anyone could find any new angle to cover that would draw in a new audience. Yet every year, new Jewish podcasts go on air and many of them turn out to be real winners – so let’s put down your Red Stag Casino fun for now and check these out.
What are some of the best podcasts to entertain, challenge, inform and motivate?
That’s an Issue
That’s an Issue, part of the Living L’chaim podcast network, is hosted by Dr. Tara and Yoni Klestzick. The shows bring together some of the world’s top mental health professionals and others who have had experiences and perspectives that can give insights that help listeners construct healthy emotional frameworks for themselves and their families and friends.
The podcasts cover subjects like:
- ADHD and how to identify the signs and symptoms and manage solutions
- First-person account of surviving sexual abuse with tips and tactics for learning how to heal
- Relationship advice
- Managing in an era of social media
- Escaping porn addiction
- Red flags in dating and relationships
- Eating disorders
- Labeling people
- How to make religion positive
Stories to Inspire
Rabbi Yoel Gold has taken his collection of inspirational stories to a new level by gathering them in one easy-to-access podcast space where listeners can hear at any time. Rabbi Gold himself collects inspirational accounts of unexplained occurrences and seeming miracles that changed lives but how he has begun to ask other rabbis and other Jewish leaders to submit their own stories. .
The stories include accounts of amazing events that are designed to force the listener to sit back and think. Some of the stories come from history and some highlight survivor stories from the Holocaust. Most stories, however, showcase how everyday events may have unexpected impacts in the future. Examples include:
- How an unexpected cancelled event that upset the scheduled presenter resulted in the presenter being able to save a young boy’s life only because he had not traveled to the event
- How commitment to Jewish laws and values saves lives and promotes success
- Miracles that have occurred when people didn’t abandon hope
- Miracles that have occurred due to requests for forgiveness
- Stories of mesirus nefesh and kiddush hashem
Meaningful People
Nachi and Momo interview a wide range of Jewish personalities who discuss how they became who they are today. The interviewers leave no stones unturned nor sensitive questions unasked as they dig deep into how the Jewish world’s meaningful people accomplished what they have set out to do. Some of the most inspiring interviews include:
- The Bochners, a Hassidic couple that experience infertility and how they turned that heartbreak into the Bonei Olam organization which is, to date, responsible for more than 9000 Jewish births
- Rabbi Gavriel Aryeh Sauders, an evangelical Christian who converted to Judaism and has now become a leading voice in fighting against Christian missionaries who target Jews for conversion
- Ari Schoenbrun, 9-11 survivor who helped a co-worker down 78 flights of stairs in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center on September 11 2001 and has gone on to speak publicly about faith and what it means to live a meaningful life.
TeNak Talk
Wil’liam Hall hosts a wide range of Jewish thinkers who provide the tools and information needed to confront evangelicals who are increasingly proactive in targeting Jews for Judaism. Hall has a roster of many of the leading thinkers in anti-missionary activity including Rabbi Tovia Singer, Rabbi Chaim Koffman, Rabbi Michael Skobak, Rabbi Moshe Shulman and Rabbi Stuart Federow.
Some of the broadcasts involve teaching sessions while others provide forums where listeners can call in and ask questions so that they can better understand the “proof verses” and scare tactics used by missionaries as they target Jews with misquotations, mistranslations and out-of-context scripture.
Not Your Typical Podcast
A new podcast, this content features Charlene Aminoff who chit-chats about family, Judaism, Hashem and life in general from the perspective of a ba’alat tshuva. .One day she can be talking about her journey to Orthodox Judaism and the follow-up broadcast might involve tips for parents about how to turn chaos into calm on Purim. Shows include:
- Discussions about controlling anger
- Tips for a healthy Jewish marriage
- How to face your regrets
Simcha Jacobovici
Simcha Jacobovici is a Canadian film director, producer, writer and free-lance journalist who hosts The Naked Archaeologist on VisionTV in Canada and The History Channel in the United States.
Over the years, Jacobovici has explored a wide range of historical mysteries including the authenticity of the Exodus from Egypt, the Jews of Ethiopia and the possible current locations of descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes. He explores trials and evidence that are often ignored by other researchers in an effort to find the truth about events that some call “myths.”