In this milestone episode recorded exactly 24 years after their arrival at Brandeis University, Rabbi Peretz and Chanie Chein introduce their revolutionary new initiative: Chabad Brandeis 360°. Joined by Koby Gottlieb, a senior, they discuss this comprehensive educational program that transforms the traditional Chabad house model from hospitality-focused to education-centered.

Key highlights include:

• The 360° Program Structure: A three-pronged approach combining enhanced Shabbat dinners, weekly learning sessions focused on integrating Jewish values into daily life, and structured mentoring
• A Radical Shift: Moving from free programming to a partnership model where families invest financially ($5,000/year) in their students' Jewish education, with scholarships available for every student who desires the program—ensuring finances are never a barrier
• Educational vs. Hospitality: The evolution from viewing Chabad as a place for meals to recognizing it as a comprehensive educational institution
• Post-Graduation Preparation: Equipping students with tools and perspectives for "the Monday after graduation" - growing Jewish identity and values in adult life
• Student Perspective: Koby shares honest feedback about initial concerns regarding cost and social dynamics, while acknowledging the program's potential for deeper friendships and personal growth

The conversation addresses practical concerns about exclusivity, scholarships, social implications, and how this model differs from traditional Chabad House on Campus operations. The hosts emphasize that this isn't about creating barriers but rather inviting intentional commitment to Jewish growth and learning during the formative college years.

This episode offers valuable insights for students, parents, and Jewish educators about innovative approaches to campus Jewish life and the evolving role of Chabad in higher education.

Chanie and Peretz reflect on their hiatus and discuss how the demanding nature of their work limited their ability to engage in podcasting. They emphasize the need for individuals to internalize wisdom rather than simply consuming external ideas, highlighting the transformative power of meaningful conversations.

As they share insights from their experiences and interactions with students, they illustrate how a shift in approach can foster deeper connections and understanding. This episode sets the stage for a journey of exploration into the dynamics of personal development, curiosity, and the joy of learning together.

Takeaways:

• Chanie and Peretz discuss the importance of resuming their podcast on the occasion of Peretz's birthday.
• They emphasize the significance of internalizing knowledge rather than merely outsourcing wisdom from others.
• Curiosity and slowness are necessary ingredients for engaging in meaningful personal growth.
• Through their experiences with students, they highlight the need for deeper connections and relational experiences.
• The concept of Avoda Pnimis is introduced as a means to foster personal reflection and growth.
• They share insights from their Shabbat dinner model, which encourages student participation and meaningful dialogue.

What does a magical conversation that lasts through the night until 9 am, look like?

Growing up and changing requires insourcing - what are the obstacles it encounters, and how to overcome them? 

The stakes of not growing up are huge but what emerges from change is spectacular. 

Learn what it looks like in this episode.

Taking time to reflect on our own lives in order to gain agency is crucial. Making choices to increase our lives vibrancy doesn't need to be outsourced.

Everyone can learn how to do it. This podcast will help you learn how.

Thank you for listening!

Chanie & Peretz

This will be the last episode of a New Conversation with Chanie and Peretz. Moving forward our podcast will be called the Torah of Conversation!

This episode, recorded in front of a live audience, is a reflective conversation on our 21 years at Brandeis and our dream for the future.

The conversation is skillfully moderated by the Jacob S. Potofsky Professor Emerita of Sociology, Shulamit Reinharz.

We invite you to join us in upcoming episodes as we explore the torah of conversation.

In this episode you will hear exactly what a conversation using the three steps of ‘let-it-land’, ‘tell- me-more’, and ‘name the thing’ can sound like.

Through a real conversation about concerns surrounding the upcoming Passover holiday, we move away from the abstract to explicitly model what happens when using these three tools and demonstrate how it can lead to a more productive conversation.

In this episode, we share what naming the thing has done to our relationships with others and each other.

‘Naming the thing’ is about putting forward what is unsaid but fully present, taking up space, or weighing heavily on either of the participants.

We explore what prevents “naming the thing” and what can happen when done well.

When you invite someone to “tell me more,” you’re inviting them to look within themselves and open up another layer to the conversation. The listener’s role becomes less about offering advice or solutions to a problem but supporting the other’s own exploration.

Not only does this help the one sharing their feelings, but it also strengthens the relationship between the two in conversation.

We also discuss how important it is to have conversations with those you love, even when a relationship feels perfectly fine as is. It is about digging deeper and opening up a richness that can only be accessed through conversation.

Read a full transcript of this episode here.

Visit www.m54.co

In this episode we reflect on conversations we had with committed couples exploring this critical yet often insufficiently discussed topic. A video recording of this conversation can be viewed at www.M54.co.

We welcome your thoughts and feedback.

Our narratives guide us through life and usually enter the room before we do. The narratives handed to us are layered with the ones we create on our own. Some we adapt and others we discard. Our navigation through them is perhaps the story of our lives. In this conversation we explore some of the dynamics that make up our narratives.

A full list of topics as well as a video recording of this conversation can be found on the M54 website, M54.co.

If there is a particular topic from that list that you would like us to discuss, let us know! 

A video recording of this conversation can be viewed at www.m54.co.

Paying someone to begin a relationship with Judaism taints the potency of it.

In this podcast we discuss our drive and commitment to nurture people’s characters in order to be in a healthy relationship with Judaism.

*OT [Our Thoughts] are episodes in which Chanie and Peretz discuss the previous episode’s conversation with a guest.

His success has spawned other organizations, including Chabad, to imitate it.

We disagree with this approach and in this episode the issue is debated.

In this episode we explore it from our personal observations and experiences.

*OT [Our Thoughts] are episodes in which Chanie and Peretz discuss the previous episode’s conversation with a guest.

For anyone who cares to understand Chabad beyond the hugs and chicken soup, his tale is a window into the undercurrent of Chabad. 

An institution that can dance between being immersive but not yet transformative does not exist.

It's hight time it does.

Perhaps this will bridge the enormous gap between the huge number of students connecting to Judaism on college campuses and the relatively small number engaging in immersive Jewish learning.

*OT [Our Thoughts] are episodes in which Chanie and Peretz discuss the previous episode\'s conversation with a guest.

What was his calculation?

What does he fear about this decision?

Why is he so unconventional amongst today’s young adults?

Listen to a new language that transforms the experience from a classroom to a playground. Have fun!

A prerequisite though is commitment. With its combined power and pain it provides us the ability to bring our whole self forward in ways otherwise not possible.

We share our reflections and personal experience on commitment and its impact.

Listen and share your thoughts at anewconvo.com or Facebook.com/anewconvo. 

This podcast series was sponsored by Dana ‘14 and Tzvi Simpson.
To sponsor future podcasts email chanie@anewconvo.com.

How are they to live differently as a result?

How is Chabad’s objective different than Hillel, Maor, JLIC or other campus organizations?

Listen as Chanie and Peretz, in their signature style, remove the curtain from this topic.

The response to these efforts has exposed students’ characteristics that as educators we failed to address sooner. Our unquestionable successes would easily provide us with the wool to cover our eyes, to use the metaphor, and assuage what we are experiencing. Instead, it has reinforced our determination to rise to the challenge and become more effective educators.

This is the first in a series of new podcasts that will be conversations between us on a variety of topics.

Your thoughts and feedback are welcome on our site, www.anewconvo.com, or on facebook.com/anewconvo.

Thank you,
Chanie and Peretz

PS. You can learn about what a Shareholder is about at www.chabadshares.com/brandeis

His story, published in Utah’s Desert News created tremendous waves, and I am personally moved to speak with him in our latest podcast.

Our conversation explores deeper nuances of what he experienced and its aftermath. 

Summary:
– Shame is a severe, if not worse, than the abuse itself.
– The change I want to effect.
– The intersection between Judaism and sexual abuse.

Read Rabbi Zippel’s detailed story as published in Utah’s Desert News here.

Host:
Peretz

Summary:
– Living without being seen.
– The similarity between transgender and becoming religious.
– Being accepting of transgender when tradition seems to reject it.

Host:
Peretz

Summary:
– Judaism has become a slave to liberal politics.
– Traditional Judaism has failed to create a redemptive vision.
– The book is very blunt and harsh, why?

Click here to purchase the book.

Host:
Peretz

Summary:
– From believing in public school and rejecting parochial school, to supporting Jewish Day Schools.
– “Jewish continuity is important to me, why it’s important I can’t tell you.”
– The challenges of wealth.  

Host:
Peretz

Summary:
– What’s the need for Judaism when doing good?
– Why aren’t most people spiritual and givers?
– Everyone should be a philanthropist.

Host:
Yael Asen ’08

Summary:
– Paying students to Torah is akin to the oldest profession.
– Making a critical pivot requires courage and humility.
– What is the objective behind our podcasts.

Host:
Yael Asen ’08

Summary:
– What sets Chabad apart from all other Jewish organizations that can’t be mimicked?
– We no longer believe in some of the assumptions we began with in our early years.
– A new language needs to emerge and we are willing to engage with it.

Guest:
Dr. Ariella Morrow ’06

Host:
Chanie

Summary:
– Shedding the shame
– How G-d and faith nurtured self acceptance
– Shame and sexuality in parenting

Sponsored by:
Dr. Ariella Morrow ’06.
To sponsor future podcasts email peretz@anewconvo.com

Host:
Chanie

Summary:
– Being sexually assaulted as a 17 year old studying in Israel.
– The self blame and silence.
– The drive to share it now.

Summary:
– The death of spirituality.
– What I learned in a Mosque that I don’t find in a Synagogue.
– The failure of parents and educators towards today’s youth.

Summary:
– I had a sense of superiority to my Jewish girlfriend who knew less about Judaism than me.
– Though I understand the bigotry that possessed my parents, I reject it.
– To Peretz, “Would you allow your children to marry a new-comer to Chabad or a convert to Judaism”?

Summary:
– Why she does not want the title Rabbi.
– Her unique place at Yeshivat Maharat.
– To Peretz, “What do you think about female Orthodox Rabbis?”

Summary:
– Why does she want to become a Rabbi.
– Lack of discussion about G-d at the Rabbinical school.
– Revitalizing an outdated and failing context of Judaism.

Summary:
– What would he be missing if Judaism disappeared from the world.
– Apathy to Israel amongst students, wishing there was even some anti-Israel activities at Brandeis.
– Will you marry Jewish?

Essay:
An essay reflecting on the conversation titled Apathy or Fear; or Maybe a Bit of Both.

Students Talk:
A video of a conversation with a group of Brandeis students about this podcast titled Zionism, Apathy and Fear on Campus.

Summary:
– Conversations amongst students at Brandeis lacks substance and mostly revolves around personal feelings.
– Replacing the Judaism he practiced growing up, with one he discovered in Israel.
– The future of the Jewish People is in Israel not in the United States.

Essay:
An essay reflecting on the conversation titled Lowest Denominator Connects | Leaving Orthodoxy | Proud Jew | Only Israel.

Students Talk:
A video of a conversation with a group of Brandeis students about this podcast titled Tension in Judaism.