Does Astrology Align With Traditional Judaism?   In this episode, Mendel tells Chavie about his first encounter with astrology on a random night in Brooklyn. A man read his chart and he was fascinated by how accurate the reading was. That set him on a journey to learn everything he could about astrology and the human psyche. Mendel also shares about how he became interested in farming as a young boy in Israel. He decided to turn his dream of farming into a reality, and to revive the ancient...

Chavie and Chana begin by connecting over their shared Chicago connection and their mutual appreciation for living in the mountains. Chana shares how she immediately felt at home in Tzfat, Israel after attending seminary there. They also bond over embracing a variety of personal and professional talents, rather than conforming to societal expectations of sticking to a single lifetime career path. Chana then gives a detailed, minute-by-minute account of the events of October 7th and its...

Chavie and Elisheva begin by discussing the challenges and benefits of creating free content on social media. Elisheva shares how her love for words started at a young age and how she always aspired to be a therapist. She eventually specialized in relationships and sexuality after noticing that very few were addressing this topic within the Orthodox Jewish community. They also highlight the importance of normalizing biologically accurate language around body parts and intimacy. They then talk...

Sara Miriam Smith has a master’s degree in special education and is the author of, ”Are You My Mother?” Chavie and Sara Miriam talk about how they met on social media and then transitioned into friends in real-life. They discuss how hard parenting is and that and instead of beating ourselves up when we make mistakes, we should believe in ”our own goodness.” Then, Chavie and Sara Miriam dive deep into Sara Miriam’s journey with loss, grief, and her relationship with G-D. Sara Miriam talks...

I love people and I love hearing their stories. I want to know who they are, how they got there, what didn’t go as expected, and what they did about it. That passion and curiosity led me to create “Totally Unexpected!” I’ve had my own fair share of unexpected twists and turns; a permanent infertility diagnoses, five adopted children with varying degrees of challenges, and co-directing Chabad-Lubavitch of Montana with my husband. I embrace all these parts of who I am, as challenging as that is...