Contact Chai
Contact Chai is Mishkan Chicago’s podcast feed, where you can hear our Shabbat sermons, Morning Minyans, interviews with Jewish thought leaders, and more.
Episodes
368 episodes
Morning Minyan with Yiscah Smith: Planting Seeds of the Divine
In this special Morning Minyan, Rabbi Lizzi is joined by Jerusalem-based thought leader, spiritual activist, and author Yiscah Smith for a discussion of her new book, Planting Seeds of the Divine: Torah Commentaries. Yiscah will be ret...
What Mishkan Taught Us About Being Jewish — Alana Sindelar and Gabi Finkelstein
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on April 24th. We had not one but two guest drashers: Alana Sindelar and Gabi Finkelstein, MishTeens about to graduate high school and Mishkan's Cohen Kadima Program! Let them know you enjoyed ...
Unlearning Jewish Anxiety with Rabbi Dr. Caryn Aviv
Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld made Jewish anxiety funny for a broad audience, but for many Jews, it’s just reality. Why? How did this happen? And what if we don’t actually want that anxious inheritance? In a special Morning Minyan, Rabbi Lizzi...
Aspiring to be the Jewish State
In this special Yom haAtzma'ut episode of Contact Chai, Rabbi Lizzi interviews Orly Erez Likhovski, Executive Director of the Israeli Religious Action Center, which fights for religious freedom and pluralism, equality in gender and sexuality, a...
The Obligation to Heal — R' Steven Philp
Today's episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on April 18th when Rabbi Steven gave a sermon on our tradition's treatment of those with so-called leprosy. At first glance, the Torah's attitude toward people with skin disease is exclusionary...
In the Midst of Darkness: Interview With Author Rob Don
In honor of Yom HaShoah, Rabbi Lizzi spoke with author and Mishkanite Rob Don about his book In the Midst of Darkness, a memoir exploring intergenerational trauma, Holocaust survival, racism, and mental health.
Supporting Democracy In Israel — Jeremy Ben Ami, President of J Street
Today's episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on April 10th which featured a fascinating conversation between Rabbi Lizzi and special guest Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street. Rabbi Lizzi sits on the Rabbinic Cabinet of J Street, wh...
Possibility Is Enough — R' Steven Sermon
The audio in this sermon starts out rough, but it gets way better after two minutes — we promise!Hello, and welcome to Contact Chai. Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on Friday, March 27th, when Rabbi Steven delivered a ...
Leviticus And Letting Go — Rabbi Lizzi Sermon
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on March 21st, 2026, when Rabbi Lizzi led a conversation on the connection between the Passover practice of letting go of bread, pasta, and other wheaty, yeasty treats and the sacrifices descri...
A.I. Yai Yai! — Josh Cynamon w/ Rabbi Lizzi
Josh Cynamon, Mishkanite and PhD candidate in cognitive science at Indiana University studying cognitive science and artificial intelligence, joins Rabbi Lizzi in a nuanced conversation about the impacts of artificial intelligence on all of us....
Jews Get Divorce — Rabbi Ezra Weinberg
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on March 13th when we heard a special guest drash on the lifelong spiritual and communal impact of divorce from Rabbi Ezra Weinberg. Rabbi Ezra is the founder of the divorce support network Jew...
A Cathedral In Space — R' Steven Sermon
You’re traveling through another dimension, beyond both time and space. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s a signpost up ahead: your next stop: Shabbat! Heschel famously likened Shabbat to a cathedra...
Copper Mirrors, Creativity, and a Loop Pedal — Morning Minyan
Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on ...
Fat Torah with Rabbi Minna Bromberg
What does our tradition have to teach us about honoring the diversity of human bodies? We sat down with Rabbi Minna Bromberg, fat liberation activist and founder of Fat Torah, to discuss her new book, "Ev...
Where Are Our Leaders? — R' Steven Purim Sermon
Join us for Purim on March 2nd! Don't miss out on the zaniest spiel in town — register at the link below.
Reading Esther As Literature — Part Two
Join us for Purim on March 2nd! Don't miss out on the zaniest spiel in town — register at the link below.
Of Gold and God — R' Lizzi Sermon
Booo Mordechai! Wait, did I get that wrong? As Rabbi Lizzi taught in her sermon on Saturday, February 21st, on Purim, we are to get so mentally mixed up that we can’t remember the difference between “Blessed is Mordechi” and “Cursed is Haman.” ...
Becoming A Sanctuary For Yourself — Morning Minyan
Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on ...
The Next Attack On Reproductive Rights — Sarah Garza Resnick
Hello, and welcome to Contact Chai. At our service on February 13th, we heard from Builder Sarah Garza Resnick, the President and CEO of Personal PAC. Sarah shared the latest plans of the extremists behind Project 2025 who are gearing up for a ...
6-7, Love, And Gematria — Devi Stern
Today’s episode is the first part of a two-part Shabbat Replay of our service on February 13th — Erev Valentine’s Day. What is the hidden meaning behind 2/13? Or 6-7? Builder Devi Stern shared her expertise in gematria (Jewish numerology) to pr...
Reading Esther As Literature — Special Episode
The Megillah isn't history. But what is it? According to Rabbi Lizzi (and the scholars she draws from), it is a burlesque, satire, and farce! Learn how that can inform our relationship to the text, Purim, and living in the Diaspora.You c...
To See Sacred Potential
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on Saturday, February 7th, when Rabbi Steven connected the wisdom of Shabbos rest to Tu B’Shehvat. In North America, the birthday of the trees is a time when deciduous trees are resting, and, f...
Refusing To Harden Our Hearts To Pain
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on January 23rd when Rabbi Steven returned from leading an educational trip to Israel. He shared reflections what it was like to be in a nation consumed by grief and political turmoil, only to ...