117 episodes
Contact Chai Mishkan Chicago
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- Religion & Spirituality
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5.0 • 59 Ratings
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Contact Chai is a podcast from Mishkan Chicago, hosted by Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann. In each episode, Rabbi Lizzi explores down-to-earth Judaism in conversation. You can also find our Shabbat Replay episodes featuring sermons from our rabbis recorded live on Friday nights.
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Let’s Talk About It: A Drash on Suicide by Rabbi Steven
On March 24th, 2023, Mishkan participated in the Lakeview-wide Mental Health Shabbat. Rabbi Steven delivered a drash on breaking the silence around suicide in the Jewish community. Please be advised that this sermon contains discussion of suicide.
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This sermon is from our March 24th, 2023 Shabbat service at Second Unitarian Church. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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Sephardic Passover Traditions with Rabbi Deena
How do Sephardi families' Seder plates differ from their Ashkenazi cousins? How do different Sephardi communities' observances differ from one another? And how has American Ashkenormativity erased those differences? And what even is Ashkenormativity?!
In this very special Passover episode of Contact Chai, Rabbi Deena explores how her Sephardic heritage shaped her family's Seder traditions, and shares how you can make your own Seder unique to your background — even if you are Jewish by choice.
Mishkan Chicago's Passover Resource Round-Up
https://www.mishkanchicago.org/shabbat-holidays/holidays/pesah/
From Me to We: Virtual Passover Seder (Thursday, April 6th)
https://www.mishkanchicago.org/event/from-me-to-we-virtual-passover-seder/
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This sermon is from our March 17th, 2023 Virtual Shabbat service. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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Imagining A New Future: The Seder As A Tool Of Transformation
Rabbi Lizzi explores the spiritual technology of the Passover Seder, which, every year, forces us to reckon with our past to understand our present and imagine a radically different future.
Mishkan Chicago's Passover Resource Round-Up
https://www.mishkanchicago.org/shabbat-holidays/holidays/pesah/
From Me to We: Virtual Passover Seder (Thursday, April 6th)
https://www.mishkanchicago.org/event/from-me-to-we-virtual-passover-seder/
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This sermon is from our March 17th, 2023 Virtual Shabbat service. For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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"Getting God's People Together" — Pastah J
"God's plan all along is to get God's people together. When you get God's people together, there should be an expectation that something is going to change...Can you still be faithful even if the only thing changing is you? Your views, your perspectives, your thoughts. Hanging with people who have a different lived experience might change you. So let us get together, let us unify, and let us expect change."
At our February 24th Friday Night Shabbat service, we welcomed our friends from Lawndale Christian Community Church to services. Pastor Jonathan "Pastah J" Brooks co-led services with Rabbi Lizzi and then delivered a moving sermon about his community's perspective that the Bible is a story of God's people being called to change.
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For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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Repro Shabbat Panel ft. Sarah Garza Resnick & Elizabeth Posner
What did the ancient rabbis have to say about abortion? And how are Jewish organizers today drawing inspiration from the tradition they handed down? On Friday, February 17th, we celebrated Repro Shabbat with a panel on reproductive justice hosted by Rabbi Steven and featuring two Mishkanites with extensive experience on this issue — Sarah Garza Resnick and Elizabeth Posner.
For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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Luminous Beings: On Disability And Radical Love
At our February 10th Friday Night Shabbat service, we celebrated Jewish Disability, Awareness, and Inclusion Month. After a message on the timeless wisdom embedded in the Ten Commandments, Rabbi Lizzi welcomed Mishkanite Anna Giuliano to share her experiences as a member of the disability community.
For upcoming Shabbat services and programs, check our event calendar, and see our Accessibility & Inclusion page for information about our venues. Follow us on Instagram and like us on Facebook for more updates.
Produced by Mishkan Chicago. Music composed, produced, and performed by Kalman Strauss.
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Customer Reviews
Contact Chai for the win
The Contact Chai podcast created by the post denominational Jewish community of Mishkan Chicago provides insightful, thoughtful, and inclusive modern viewpoints on Jewish life and texts.
Inspiring
Contact Chai is an inspiring mix of reflections on both current events and timeless practices of Judaism that impact our daily lives. Its content is both practical and challenging. Mishkan rabbi’s apply Jewish philosophy and truth to politics, current events & and life milestones. Content geared to Jewish listeners but definitely applicable to the Jew-curious as well.
Fabulous conversation
These are great. Rabbi Lizzi is so cool.