Holy Sparks Podcast

Holy Sparks Podcast

by Saul Kaye
Religion & SpiritualityJudaism
Season 5
Toba Hellerstein: A profound look under the beliefs about the narrative on Israel and Jews in America
Toba Hellerstein is a strategic advisor specializing in psychological and sociological approaches to communication, negotiation, and public perception. As the Founder and CEO of Attune Now, she helps governments, nonprofits, and institutions navigate complex global challenges through research-driven insights grounded in human behavior, emotional intelligence, and strategic analysis. With over 20 years of experience in high-stakes strategy and research, she has advised top global leaders on critical initiatives. She founded and led the Texas-Israel Alliance, an economic diplomacy organization, headed Stratfor’s Middle East Department, and established BridgeStars, a negotiation backchannel for Israeli and Arab leaders. Her work includes extensive collaboration with the Israeli government, shaping strategies at the intersection of policy, diplomacy, and public perception. Her 2 years of researching perspectives on the narrative of Israel and Jews in America have culminated in this 139 free report available on www.attunenow.org In this lively conversation, we uncover some of those beliefs and explore how to shift the narrative in a more positive direction. I highly recommend reading these two shorter articles reflecting her work and brilliant insights into this subject. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-war-of-perception/ https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/antisemitism-and-trauma-self-fulfilling-prophecy/ Please share this episode and help us spread the word by making a small donation to our non-profit sponsor Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S5 · E9
Mar 21, 2025
1:16:16
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, the world's first blind female ordained rabbi.
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman is a sought after speaker, spiritual leader, and educator who was ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in 2018. She teaches, consults with, and provides workshops and trainings to individuals and organizations within and outside of the Jewish community on a variety of matters pertinent to disability access and inclusion. She was named to the Jewish Week’s 36 under 36 for her innovative leadership concerning inclusion of Jews with disabilities in all aspects of Jewish life. In 2017, she delivered an ELI Talk entitled We All Were At Sinai: The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah. She is the world's first ordained blind woman Rabbi . Rabbi Lauren and I met in a two-year Jewish Meditation Teacher's Training program. She is a bright light in the Jewish world. find her here https://rabbituchman.com/ enjoy to help support the Holy Sparks Podcast please make a tax deductible donation here Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S5 · E8
Mar 5, 2025
50:22
Michael Hunter Ochs: Composer and Songwriter
Michael Hunter Ochs has quietly established himself as one of the most versatile songwriters in America today. His song “In Her Eyes” was recorded by international superstar Josh Groban. The soul-filled “On My Knees” was awarded Song Of The Year honors from both the Gospel Music Association (Dove Award) and the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and spent 14 weeks at #1. Michael’s music has been attached to numerous feature films and TV shows including Downsizing (Matt Damon), My Super Ex-Girlfriend (Uma Thurman), The Terminal (Steven Spielberg), and The Simpsons. His songs have appeared on albums with world wide sales in excess of 20 million units. He has served as Composer In Residence at Congregation Micah in Nashville, TN and East End Temple in New York City for a combined 25 years. Every Friday evening congregations around the world rejoice, reflect, and draw closer singing his songs. We met a year ago on a music gig and this conversation was a delight. Enjoy, learn more about him here https://michaelhunterochs.com/ To help keep the podcast going you can make a tax-deductible donation here http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S5 · E7
Feb 7, 2025
54:57
Rabbi Zvika Krieger: Jewish Renewal, Chochmat Halev and his unique journey into the Rabbinate
Rabbi Zvika Krieger is the Spiritual Leader of Chochmat HaLev, a progressive spiritual community in Berkeley, CA for embodied prayer and mindfulness, heart-centered connections, and mystical wisdom. He is co-founder of Shevet: Jewish Mindfulness Collective and has served in board and leadership positions for Sukkat Shalom/Milk+Honey camp at Burning Man, Jewish Studio Project, DC Minyan, and other organizations dedicated to nourishing the mind, body, and soul. ​ He has a BA from Yale University and studied at Yeshivat Shaarei Mevaseret Zion and the American University in Cairo. He is a certified Shadow Work facilitator and Design Thinking facilitator, and trained as an ecstatic dance DJ by Embodied Sound. He is ordained as a rabbi in the Hasidic and Jewish Renewal lineages. Originally from Los Angeles, Zvika loves to surf, dance, backpack, rock climb, and sing karaoke occasionally on-key. It's not often you meet someone and spend 6 days in silent meditation and prayer with them. This is how I met Rabbi Zvika, you will enjoy his buoyant presence, deep learning, and wild journey from the Orthodox Chood of La to Yale, Burning Man, Tech, and the Rabbinate Enjoy! Here are a couple ways to learn more about Rabbi Zvika and Chochmat Halev where he works https://www.zvikakrieger.com/ https://chochmat.org/ to help keep the podcast going please make a tax deductible donation to Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ thank you for subscribing #podcast #rabbi #burningman #facebook #Meta #losangeles #jewish #video #meditation #mindfulness #renewal #Hasidism
S5 · E6
Jan 30, 2025
1:00:43
Craig Parks Celebrates the release of his new parenting course: Parenting A to E
Craig Parks has been a Jewish educator for over 30 years. His journey has seen him create and direct two successful Jewish day camps, create two teen bands that facilitate relevant and uplifting teen Shabbat experiences, write curriculum that has teens clamoring for more, speak at national conferences on teen engagement as well as inclusion, and in the last four plus years he has led multiple weekly Jewish meditation cohorts. Craig is also a veteran of Hava Nashira where he studied with Debbie Friedman, Danny Maseng, and Craig Taubman in the 90's. He has been a core educator at SLBC since 2012. We've been friends for almost 20 years and he is offering something so valuable for parents with kids 0-7 take a listen and feel free to share with other parents you know! Click below to get his new course https://www.parentingharmony.com/ to make a tax-deductible donation to the Holy Sparks Podcast click here Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S5 · E5
Dec 9, 2024
35:53
Chutzpah Girls! Meet the authors Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer
Chutzpah Girls. - 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women Co-Authored by Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer This book comes at the right time. We need inspiration. We need to hear about our Heroines and tap into the inner strength that these women all share. It's in our DNA! I predict this book will be an international best seller. This episode was a lively conversation with the authors. Tune in to hear their story, the story of the book, and get inspired! Pre-order now here! https://chutzpahgirls.com/ Here's a link to make a tax-deductible donation to the podcast Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ Thank you for your support!
S5 · E4
Nov 17, 2024
46:46
Rabbi Zac Kamenentz, Pioneer of Jewish Psychedelics
Zac is a rabbi and community leader based in Berkeley, CA. As the founder and CEO of Shefa, Zac is pioneering a movement to integrate safe and supported psychedelic use into the Jewish spiritual tradition, advocating for the healing of individual and inherited traumas, and inspiring a Jewish religious and creative renaissance in the 21st century. He is a qualified instructor of MBSR and is trained in ketamine-assisted care through Inbodied Life. In this Interview, we explore Zac's mystical experience in Israel as a teenager, becoming a Rabbi, and his first experience with psychedelics as part of an experiment at Johns Hopkins University. He goes through the process of what happens before, during and after a facilitated Ketamine experience, and how it is framed in a Jewish context. This was a fascinating conversation you will enjoy. To Make a Donation to help keep our podcast going Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ www.holysparks.tv
S5 · E3
Nov 4, 2024
54:01
Love Almighty - Rabbi David Aaron on rethinking our conception of God
This conversation happened just before Rosh Hashanah We touched on so many great topics. My favorites: Love almighty, how to pray, what does L'hitpalel actually mean, and how to humbly ask what does Hashem want from us? Rabbi David Aaron [www.rabbidavidaaron.com],is a spiritual visionary, master educator, and published best-selling author who has invested 4 decades delving into life’s greatest challenges and sharing transformational secrets to living a happier, more fulfilling empowered life. He has emerged as a world-renowned ‘G-d expert’ and the leading mentor in ‘G-d Powered Living‘ (GPL) simply because he has dared to ask and answer the difficult questions that we all struggle with about who is God, who are we, and what is life really all about. Rabbi Aaron is the author of eight ‘paradigm-shifting’ books: Endless Light, Seeing G-d, Love is My Religion, The Secret Life of G-d, Soul Powered Prayers, Inviting G-d In, Living a Joyous Life, and The G-d-Powered Life. (Several books have been translated into Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew.) He has reached millions through appearances on national media. Rabbi Aaron received his Rabbinic Ordination in 1979 from the Israel Torah Research Institute (ITRI). He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Chana, and seven children.
S5 · E2
Oct 21, 2024
51:37
Rabbi Peretz Mochkin talks about growing up Chabad, Jewish Psychedelics and more
Le Shana Tova 5785!! I am thrilled to debut Season 5 of The Holy Sparks Podcast with a fresh new guest and long time friend: Rabbi Peretz Mochkin Peretz, meaning "to breakthrough," is a rabbi deeply versed in Chasidic mysticism with over 20 years of experience. He specializes in crafting individualized rituals that promote personal growth and transformation. Having served in various capacities with Chabad and other religious organizations, Peretz now focuses on meeting people where they are, helping them create meaningful spiritual practices tailored to their needs. The podcast is brought to you by the friendly people at Krembo Baked Goods The San Francisco Bay Areas Newest pareve ( non-dairy )Kosher Bakery Proudly serving cookies, loaf cakes, And the best gluten free challah I’ve ever had, and much more. Ask about their Challah delivery service to schools, organizations and corporations in the Bay Area. email them at orders@krembobakedgoods.com for more information. Or simply go to krembobakedgoods.com To make a tax deductible donation to the podcast please go to : Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S5 · E1
Oct 10, 2024
43:29
Season 4
American Mussar with Rabbi Dr. Greg Marcus
Rabbi Dr. Greg Marcus is an independent and unaffiliated Rabbi who creates safe and engaging spaces that make Jewish texts accessible to beginners and seasoned students alike. Rabbi Greg has a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, worked ten years as a marketer in the genomics industry, and almost ten years as a stay at home parent. He recently received ordination from the Academy of Jewish Religion, California, and works as a grief counselor and funeral officient. His latest book is The Spiritual Practice of Good Actions: Finding Balance through the Soul Traits of Mussar, now available as an audiobook. We talk about MIT vs AJRCA working in the bio tech field vs the Rabbinate His vision for serving the unaffiliated Jewish community here in the Sf Bay Area and Beyond Learn more about him here https://americanmussar.com/ The podcast is brought to you by the friendly people at Krembo Baked Goods The San Francisco Bay Areas Newest pareve ( non-dairy )Kosher Bakery Proudly serving cookies, loaf cakes, And the best gluten free challah I’ve ever had, and much more. Ask about their Challah delivery service to schools, organizations and corporations in the Bay Area. email them at orders@krembobakedgoods.com for more information. Or simply go to krembobakedgoods.com To make a Donation and help our podcast continue, click here Holy Sparks DONATIONS http://igfn.us/form/haHSSQ
S4 · E10
Sep 24, 2024
46:35
1 of 6