People of Efrat: Recent Episodes
Hershey Spaeth, Yakir Hyman
Welcome to People of Efrat, Where we all get to learn more about this great community and the people that make it tick!
We are really excited to share this episode with you. Dani is one of the most approachable people in the neighborhood. Dani grew up in Israel. First living in Beer Sheva and then moved to Efrat. He has a very deep love for his people and his homeland. He consistently spreads a positive message and always promotes unity. He teaches Torah, in a simple approachable, and relatable way. We had a great discussion, where we only touched on some small details of his life. It was really interesting to hear about his growth as he became closer and closer to his Rebbe and mentor Rav Menachem Fromin who believed religion and the love of the land could bring together Jews and Muslims instead of dividing them. Enjoy!
Listen to Dani's Podcast "Torah of the Land" >>https://www.buzzsprout.com/1498744
This Episode was Sponsored By BästKopp "Natural designs new tech" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNNLBY7/ref=twister_B08MQXSS7R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This week we sat with Jerry Latinik the founder of "Just One Chesed". Jerry and his family made Aliyah straight to Efrat almost 8 years ago. Jerry is always involved in new projects and bringing people together.
Listen in , and hear a little about
- His Aliyah and some of the things he and his family overcame
- His outlook behind some tough times in business
- Jerry's vision for "Just one Chesed " and how he got to where he is
- The 45 day Chesed Challenge happening right now!!
We apologize for the last 7 minutes of audio, as there were some issues with the mics. We used the audio from the video camera which includes a lot of background noise from the school nearby.
Follow JUST ONE CHESED on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Links below
@justonechesed
facebook.com/justonechesed/
This Episode was Sponsored By BästKopp "Natural designs new tech" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNNLBY7/ref=twister_B08MQXSS7R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Pesach and Chanah Rothberg moved to Efrat in August 2020.
Pesach is a certified Narrative Therapist and Sofer Stam,.
Chanah aka Chef Raw Raw is a Food Therapist and Coach, as well as a Chef specializing in delicious gluten free desserts. To follow her journey on Instagram and Facebook: @chefrawraw
Together, with their 8 kids, they hope to meet you soon.
Socials
https://www.instagram.com/chefrawraw/
https://www.facebook.com/chefrawraw
This Episode was Sponsored By BästKopp "Natural designs new tech" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNNLBY7/ref=twister_B08MQXSS7R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Naftali Abramson was born in the U.S. and came on aliyah when he was four years old. After completing his army service as a Sharpshooter in the Nachal Infantry Brigade, he studied Jewish Philosophy and Jewish Education in Herzog College. He has been working with Diaspora Jews for the past 10 years at The Israel Experience, Bnei Akiva, Bar Ilan University and other English speaking programs. All the while, he has been performing and recording music for the past 12 years and has toured and performed all over the world. Naftali has recorded three CD's, "Toda" - "Thank you" ( 2003) Influenced by Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and a mixture of American Rock and Indie music,"Seeing the Good" ("Lachazot Be'Noam") (2004), which features famous Israeli singer Ehud Banai. His third album, "Overcoming", was released in November 2008. Naftali has created his own unique style of Jewish Original Music.
Naftali is a licensed Psychotherapist and has been practicing for 2+ years.
"I am able to and want to listen in a deep and profound way, and act courageously in order to help my clients gain clarity, and get in touch with their deep potential of growth, self-awareness and healing. My objective for my clients is to walk away feeling emotionally and mentally healthy, peaceful and balanced. I use breathing techniques as well as music and other tools that cater for each individual client."
Naftalis Music >>>>>www.israel-music.com/naftali_abramson/
Naftalis Psychotherapy practice >>> gethelpisrael.com/therapist/naftali-abramson/
Ari Lev joins us on the podcast this week. After making Aliyah with his family from Toronto Canada, at age 9 , Ari had to learn a new language and acclimate to his new life here in Israel. Ari was a sharpshooter in the IDF and is currently a member of the "Kitat Konenut", the emergency first responders squad here in Efrat. We discussed what his Aliyah was like, why he moved to Efrat and talked about some of the security-related incidents that he was was involved with. Give it a listen!
This Episode was Sponsored By BästKopp "Natural designs new tech" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNNLBY7/ref=twister_B08MQXSS7R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Deborah Jacubovsky is a Chilean Performer and Medicine Woman who made Alya 9 years ago. She started her professional carrier at the age of 11. Performing in multiple theater shows, singing in concerts, and leading women in “Soul Dance”, a spiritual tribal dance that she created for the sake of helping women to empower themselves, tap into their inner healers, refining the relationship with G-D and one another. The dance combines movement and song as a channel for prayer and connection. It incorporates Kabbalah, African rhythms, and sacred nigunim that she often channels when leading her circles. Before Corona, Deborah worked for the Ministry of Diaspora in Israel doing shlichut through art, to0 strengthen the bridge between Israel and the Diaspora. She traveled to different countries to work with Jewish communities and emerging Jewish communities. Deborah has 14 years of experience helping others with Holistic therapy that combines Reiki, sound healing, and other coaching tools. She is in the process of launching a new business called “True Self Portraits” where photography, art, and magical elements will create an image that attempts to bring out the beautiful essence of her clients, making them feel beautiful and empowered inside in a unique atmosphere.
Get Tickets to Sunday's Zoom EVENT and help support this great cause for Laniado Hospital https://secured.israelgives.org/en/pay/LaniadoTickets
Follow Deborah on Instagram! @deborah_s_dream
See Deborah's music on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqjAG1vrvVih3OpbNcTUdNw
This Episode was Sponsored By BästKopp "Natural designs new tech" https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LNNLBY7/ref=twister_B08MQXSS7R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This week we had the honor to sit and chat with our Brother, Teacher, Rebbe, Rav Shlomo Katz. It was a very special podcast for us, something we have been building towards for some time. As the workers were clanking and banging away, we sat together in front of the future building of Kehillat Shirat David and talked about the building and the local community.
This is a particularly auspicious time since we are about to start a Causmatch campaign to raise more funds to continue construction on the interior of our building for Kehillat Shirat David.
Causematch Campaign Starting This Sunday 2/21/21 Look for a link soon!
The Shlomo Katz Project
https://www.theshlomokatzproject.com/
Rav Shlomo Katz on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHNAUd9V6x9eBEJuqh9ZkIw
Micha and Nava each on their own are very interesting and engaging people. They are owners and operators of a line of pet stores, and dog training school businesses.Nava is a town councilwoman.
When speaking with them, it's clear how much much they love this town and the country overall.
Listen to this episode to hear them talk about:
-Growing up in Efrat in the 90's
-Saving lives with the Israeli Dog Unit
-"Tiny" & "Sneakers" the rescue dogs
-Being a town counsel member.
Check out their businesses on social media:
www.instagram.com/achuzat_haklavim
www.facebook.com/gushetzionkennelclub
www.facebook.com/holyland.poodles
To find out more about the Israel Dog unit:
www.israeldogunit.com
David Bratspis is a husband, father, educator, and tour-guide living in Efrat, GivatHaDagan. David is originally from Albany, New York. He studied History at Yeshiva University, earned a Bachelors in Education at Michlelet Herzog, and completed the Lander Institute tour-guide's course.
After making aliya in 2003 he studied and worked at Yeshivat Lev Hatorah as well as at Yeshivat HaKotel. Subsequently, David traveled to the US to work as an informal educator. In 2005 he was the Youth Director at Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob in Albany and in 2006 he served in a similar position in Nashville, Tennessee at Congregation Shearith Israel. Upon returning to Israel he served as a volunteer in the IDF Givati Infantry Brigade. Afterward, he returned to Yeshivat HaKotel where he was tasked with coordinating all informal educational initiatives for overseas students. This included planning and guiding trips around the country. In 2010 David became a full-time tour educator.
David loves guiding and his enthusiasm is contagious. With experience guiding families and teen groups, David is able to connect to each person on their level and foster an experience which is enjoyable, edifying, and inspirational
Book David for a tour!
Best way to book:
Email - davidbratspis@gmail.com
Fbook - ' https://www.facebook.com/israeleducationaltour '
Rebecca Sigala is an internationally recognized boudoir photographer and self-love activist for women. Through her artistic and intimate portraiture, women are given the opportunity to see their beauty in a different light. This can be an enormous milestone on their journey towards self-love and acceptance. Rebecca currently runs an online Facebook community of over 3,500 women, has hosted workshops, and spoken at educational conferences about the importance to self-care, positive body image and connecting to our true selves. Rebecca created The Body Positivity 6-week Course: My Body My Home, in order to help guide and empower women with the tools they need to truly love their bodies and feel confident in their skin.
Fb community for women: www.facebook.com/groups/rebeccasigalaboudoir
To find out more about Rebecca's course for women - www.rebeccasigala.com/mybodymyhome
Instagram: @rebeccasigalaboudoir
This week we sat down with Hannah Weis. Hannah is a London-born songwriter, who settled in the Tamar neighborhood with her husband Dovi and 3 mini-humans. (You can sneak a peek of them all dancing around in this lyric video! https://youtu.be/ATYFKMC6yfA). It was great to hear from Hannah on how she and her family finally found a home and got settled here in Efrat after living in Jerusalem for a period of time.
We chat about:
- Her journey making Aliyah solo at 18
- Creative living
- Efratian clouds
- finding fulfillment as a mommy creative
- Finding her Nirvana here in Efrat.
Menachem & Jill are residents of Efrat for 35 Years.They emigrated from Australia. After living in Jerusalem for a period of three years they moved to Efrat in the mid-1980s. Among others, they were some of the very first residents in their neighborhood.
Menachem is a talented, and accomplished photographer. Menachem and Jill have traveled to many places and documented all of it along the way. Menachem is also a writer. There is so much more to the Kuchar's story than that, but on this podcast, we focused mostly on their recent work with Rav Riskin and others in the conversions of a tribe in Uganda who have been practicing a form of Judaism for a hundred years!
Jill and I met when I mistakenly gave away someone's Tallit bag on (Yep you guessed it) “Efrat Haketoret and Friends free group”. When Jill was returning the Tallit bag to me, we struck up a conversation. She explained that she was going to send the Tallit bag to Uganda, That she and her husband Menachem were involved with a tribe called the Abayudaya. I had to hear more…..
Friends, This is all taking place right now! YOU can be a part of the next chapter in this heartwarming story of African Jewry! A Cause-match campaign is happening right now.
If you want to have a part in this incredible story please click the link below and help in any way you can. Even a few shekels go a long way!
https://campaigns.causematch.com/fouj
Check out this clip from one of the Kuchar's recent trips to Uganda! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IGO9k3oOwan4y-IIj7rLE0FNDpGabYvl/view
You can see some of Menchems work on his website
http://menachem.co.il/
Check out Menachem’s Book
"The Abayudaya: Judaism Emerging, A Spiritual Journey into Africa"
See more about the book here
http://menachemkuchar.com/abBook/abBookIntro.htm
This week we are joined by Brother Dave, a recent and welcome addition to the Dagan Neighborhood. We sat down on motzei Shabbat and really got into things. Brother Dave and his Wife Daniella Faye Have a clothing line, and online-store "Ein Sof" (https://daniellafaye.com/). He is a Musician whose voice sounds like it's the soul of a student of Rabbi Mordechai Machlis. Brother Dave shared his thoughts on the moment and played some beautiful music for this Malave Malka Podcast episode.
Check out https://daniellafaye.com/
Look out for newly released music coming soon!
This week we were joined by Yoni and Esther Joszef, Our first couple on the podcast! These two fitness enthusiasts made Aliyah in 2014 and moved straight to Efrat with their young and growing family. In 2018 they opened “Spin Factory”, a place where many Efratians go to take care of their bodies and minds. Esther and Yoni are a true power couple. They are great parents, who are also busy day to day, running their studio, teaching classes, offering personal training, and beauty care. The Joszefs have truly cultivated a space for people to get centered and have a good time while taking care of themselves. We set up in their new studio space and had a blast chatting about all sorts of things.
Here are a few points we hit on:
- What does Spinning mean to them?
- How exercise and fitness is a mindset
- Who is the cat and who is the mouse?
- Is “Inception” the best children’s movie of all time?
- Find out how Beer and Spinning go together!
Check out their Studio:
https://www.spinfactory.co.il/
https://www.facebook.com/Spin-Factory-1790980067868470
It was a real pleasure to have a nice long conversation this week with, Jessica Kupferberg.Jessica is a writer and former litigation attorney. She made aliyah from La Jolla, California with her family during Operation Protective Edge in July 2014 after driving across America. She blogs for the Times of Israel and her work has appeared in The Jerusalem Post, Kveller.com, The Jewish Journal, The Forward, Jweekly, aish.com, and as part of Project 929 English.
Some of the things we talked about
- How Jessica started writing
- Some of her inspirations
- What life is like now in Efrat years after her Aliyah
- What it was like to have older children when moving to Israel
- Some of the great benefits of living in Efrat
Check out Jessicas Blog:
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/jessica-levine-kupferberg/
Check out Jessicas' Recent Projects:
"When we Turned Within:"
You can find the paperback here: amazon.com/dp/B08L9S68T4.
The Kindle version is here: amazon.com/dp/B08LDYZNKP.
"In this Strange Springtime"
Poem and Artist Book collaboration with Andi LaVine Arnovitz.Signed and numbered. Edition of 25.A poignant look at Corona and this time in our lives. (reach out to us through social channels to check availability)
In this episode, we had the privilege to spend some time with Josh Adler. Josh has been a resident of Efrat since "the early days". He moved to Efrat in 1988 with his wife Marilyn, and is now the patriarch of a multigenerational family. Josh is a well-known and much-loved personality. He is a builder with many years of experience and has a great reputation for being honest and doing good quality work. He has been involved in building many projects in Efrat over the years and is often involved in community projects as well. Talking with Josh we got to hear an honest and insider perspective.
Here are a few things we talked about
- The establishment of parts of Efrat
- What are the types of housing options
- Hear about his favorite project
- Advice for people looking to come to Efrat
In this episode, we had the honor to chat with Elana Abelow Kronenberg. Elana originally made Aliyah as a teenager with her family in the 1990’s. She moved back to Israel in 2005 with her own growing family. Ever since then she has been living here in Efrat with her husband Ely, their 7 children, and their extended family. Elana is a local community leader, She is an energetic, positive mental health advocate who is involved in doing good on a daily basis. Elana has spearheaded many initiatives locally and has been on talking tours abroad.
We went extra long on this one and we didn't even scratch the surface. Chatting with Elana always puts a smile on your face!
Some of the things we discussed:
- How Aliyah was different in 1990
- Blowing the shofar in Chevron
- What it is like to have a son in Tzahal
- Elana’s advice on how to deal in these uncertain times
Follow Elana on Instagram! @elanakronenberg
Check out www.israelisbeautiful.com
-Photo credit Rebecca Sigala.
In this episode, we had the pleasure of chatting with the entertaining and animated David Sussman of David Sussman Israel Tours!
David Sussman is originally from Boston, MA. After traveling the states following his favorite band Phish He traveled to Israel in 2001 and never left. He bartended at Mikes Place in Tel Aviv from 2001 - 2004 when he joined the IDF. A near-death experience during the 2nd Lebanon War changed his life forever. He now travels the world talking about his experiences in the army and the transformation he had afterward. In 2010 he opened up DSI Tours and has created or guided engaging, adventurous, inspirational, and fun trips to Israel for hundreds of families, synagogues, schools, and Jewish Federations around the world. He is a loving husband and father of two. David moved to Efrat in 2019 and is already a very active member of the community.
Today we tried out a new format with the flow of the show: we conducted our interview working backward in time. We went on many tangents and enjoyed every bit of it. We hope you enjoy it too. David has a great story and we only started to touch on it. We hope to get him back on the show to hear more soon!
Here are some of the things we covered in this episode:
- Find out what makes touring Israel different than any other trip in the world
- Hear how David is staying busy amid the pandemic without any real active tourist industry
- Who honks their car horns the most?
- Hear some meaningful ideas about the changes we go through and our core selves
Mendy Portnoy in the house today! We woke up at the crack of dawn to catch the sunrise over the beautiful Dagan hilltop here in Efrat while chatting it up with our buddy, Mendy.
Mendy is a renowned Musician, Producer, and funny person and frankly, we're honored to be in his presence, let alone host him for the duration of this episode.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- How Mendy overcomes self-doubt to bare his soul on the piano
- The prestigious award Mendy is nominated to receive
- Whether or not to pronounce the "H" in herb
- How Mendy made the move to Efrat
- How to survive a Fox attack
Follow us on:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peopleofefrat/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peopleofefrat/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzNIUrcgfs_kk49ExEBHvTw/
We were honored to have Tom Shiffour join us as our first guest on the Podcast! Tom is a well-known musician who's lyrics speak deeply to the soul. He is a local legend, a resident of Efrat since 2010.
We are so excited to share this one with you. We chatted so long that we even decided to cut out the news! (Sorry, you will have to get your "free group" info on the next one 🙂)
Some of the things we covered includes:
- What it was like to be on the road In a well-known rock band in the Mid 1960s.
- The art that no one will ever see
- The origins of a very special Mandolin.
- The meaning behind some of Tom's lyrics
- AND you'll hear about how a boy from Lincoln Nebraska ended up living right here in Efrat!
Thanks for tuning in! We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!
And while you're here, connect with our little corner of the Internet:
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzNIUrcgfs_kk49ExEBHvTw
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peopleofefrat
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/peopleofefrat
Welcome to the new show, People of Efrat ("POECAST" for short)! We're so excited to highlight this amazing town we call home and share the stories of some of the incredible people who live here.
On today's episode, it's just Yakir and Hershey and we cover some recent news, like:
- Updated Coronavirus numbers (as of Sep. 9, 2020)
- The start of a new school year and what it's like to have a first grader
- What the heck was flying over Efrat this week?!
- Cool things you missed from the FREE STUFF Group!
Connect with our little corner of the Internet:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peopleofefrat