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
387 episodes
Adira Happens — Morning Minyan
Like the mighty Leviathan, Adira rises from the depths to sow adorable chaos. Plus, reflections on the Psalms, media consumption, and Parshat Shoftim.Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can
Building My Judaism — Manuel Gauto
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on August 7th, when we celebrated our graduating BluePrint students who explored Judaism this past year, many of them going on to choose conversion. We heard a drash from BluePrint graduate Man...
When Judaism Began — Rabbi Steven Bob
When did ancient Paleo-Hebrew script start to look like modern Hebrew letters? When did Judaism as we know it begin to take shape? Rabbi Simcha (Steven) Bob joins Rabbi Lizzi to explore these and so many more questions found in his new book
The Spiritual Danger of Abundance
Hello and welcome to Contact Chai. Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on Saturday, August 1st. We heard a guest drash from Irwin Lowenstein on the challenge of abundance. Sometimes, getting what we want is hard to accept, and ha...
Eat And Be Satisfied — Rabbi Lizzi Returns!
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 ...
Tisha b'Av: Same Goals, Same God, Different Ways Of Getting There (Re-Release)
This evening marks the beginning of Tisha b'Av, and in recognition, today's episode is a re-release of Rabbi Lizzi's Tisha b'Av sermon from 2022 at an interfaith service with our longtime partners, Lawndale Community Christian Church on the Wes...
Pride Shabbat! Ft. Daniel Kutcher and A Very Mishkan Auf Ruf
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Pride Shabbat service on June 26th. We held an auf ruf for Team Mishkan’s own Michael Palmer and Jane Mintz. Then, we heard a special Pride guest drash from teen Daniel Kutcher and their parents (Matt ...
Morning Minyan w/ Rabbi Lizzi — June 24th, 2026
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 ...
On Juneteenth And Bold Moses — Rabbi Steven Sermon
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 20th. Rabbi Steven reflected on Juneteenth and America’s history of slavery through the lens of Exodus. Moses is portrayed as exceptionally bold in making demands of those in power in h...
Morning Minyan w/ Rabbi Lizzi — June 17th, 2026
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 ...
Progress Is Not Inevitable — It Is Promised
Hello and welcome to Contact Chai. Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 12th when Rabbi Steven delivered a sermon deflating the naive notion that progress is inevitable rather than the product of hard fought victories, lik...
We Are Here — The Roman Empire Is Not
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 6th. If you somehow missed the news, Rabbi Lizzi met the pope. The Vatican is not short supply of lavish iconography, and it got her thinking about the different relationships our tradi...
The Poetry Of Torah
Today’s sermon is a Shabbat Replay of our Shavuot Shabbat service. We were joined by acclaimed author Rodger Kamenetz who served as our scholar-in-residence during Shavuot. Rodger delivered a sermon on the poetry of Torah. What sacred meaning c...
We're Counting (On) You — Rabbi Lizzi Sermon
Today's episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on May 16th in which Rabbi Lizzi drashed on the Counting of the Omer and the lead-up to Shavuot. Unfortunately, we had some technical problems at the service, but R' Lizzi was kind enough to re...
Jewish Climate Trust — Interview With Nigel Savage
Following Morning Minyan, Rabbi Lizzi sat down with Nigel Savage to discuss Jewish Climate Trust, a new initiative to organize the resources of the Jewish community toward meeting the moment on climate ...
Everyday Holiness: A Conversation with Alan Morinis
Rabbi Lizzi sits down with Alan Morinis, author of the enormously popular and profound "Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar."Read more about Alan and purchase his latest book "The Shabbat Effect" at the link below....
Sobriety and Serenity — Ricky Halle-Podell
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on May 8th when we heard a guest drash from Builder Ricky Halle-Podell. As part of our Sober Shabbat in which we had a sober kiddush, Ricky spoke on his own sobriety journey, offering insights ...
Mishkan's Scholar-In-Residence: Author Rodger Kamenetz
Rodger Kamenetz is the award-winning author of The Jew In The Lotus, and he will be joining us in two weeks for Shavuot to teach several programs on spirituality, creativity, and encountering the divine in our daily lives. Rabbi Lizzi ...
We Can’t Ignore The Story Behind The Story — R' Lizzi Sermon
Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on May 2nd. Rabbi Lizzi delivered a drash on a criminal trial recorded in the Torah. The judgment was capital punishment, but new light is shed on the accused’s motivation and state of mind by ...
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...