This episode contains discussions of bullying, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, and loss. ⚠️Listener discretion is advised. In this powerful episode of the Neshamos Podcast, Azriel Boymelgreen shares his raw and unfiltered journey through antisemitic bullying, isolation, substance abuse, and the lasting scars of loss. What begins as a story of deep pain and alienation transforms into one of resilience, spiritual growth, and a commitment to help others. Azriel opens up about the pivotal moment...
Aug 03, 2025•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 39
In this poignant episode of the Neshamos Podcast, Chana Leah Bleznick shares her transformative journey from a turbulent childhood to becoming a beacon of hope and advocacy for women in Crown Heights. Having emerged from the shadows of multi-generational addiction and rage, Chana Leah found healing and direction through 12-step recovery. She reflects candidly on her college years, early struggles in marriage, and the pivotal moments that shaped her resilience and stability. Through themes of sel...
Jul 24, 2025•1 hr 31 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In this powerful episode of the Neshamos podcast, Hindy Rechaval shares her personal experience of navigating postpartum psychosis. Raised in a Chaseedish home and later joins the Chabad community in Crown Heights, Hindy opens up about the cultural pressures that shaped her sense of self-worth, and how everything unraveled after the birth of her first child. What began as sleepless nights and racing thoughts spiraled into full-blown psychosis, hospitalization, and a long, painful period of overm...
Jul 17, 2025•54 min•Season 1Ep. 37
In this honest and emotional episode, Shlomo Wolf shares his journey through anxiety, addiction, and self-discovery. Raised across different countries, always the “new kid,” Shlomo learned early on to survive by reading people and fitting in—often at the cost of his own needs. When weed entered his life, it felt like relief—a break from constant alertness and self-judgment. But beneath the addiction was something deeper: a belief that he only mattered if he was useful, helpful, or liked. Shlomo ...
May 30, 2025•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Bruyah’s journey through trauma has completely changed the way she sees life, resilience, and healing. After her devastating accident, when she was told she was partially paralyzed, she faced an incredibly long road to recovery—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In this episode, Bruyah opens up about the raw emotions she felt, from the fear and uncertainty to the moments of inner strength that helped her keep going. She talks about how, even after overcoming huge obstacles, the smaller st...
May 18, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In this uplifting episode of the Neshamos podcast, Yosef Halevy, an accomplished entrepreneur and sports coach, shares his profound journey from a challenging upbringing marked by bullying and instability to building resilience and helping others. Yosef's story highlights how he found solace and strength in basketball, transforming his adversities into life lessons and meaningful projects. The conversation delves into Yosef's move to Israel for personal growth, the importance of being present, a...
Dec 25, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 33
In this deeply moving podcast episode, Miriam Raquel Feldman shares her family's emotional journey navigating her son's struggle with Pandas, a debilitating autoimmune disorder. With vulnerability and honesty, Miriam Raquel shares the heart-wrenching challenges they faced, from anxiety and depression to intrusive thoughts and paranoia. Within the darkness of their ordeal, Miriam Raquel and her husband exemplify unwavering love and dedication as they navigate uncharted territory. Through their so...
Feb 19, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Mendy's story starts as a chaotic storm, replete with neglect, shock, sexual abuse & addiction. Hear how life's challenges took him to the depths of addiction and despair, on the brink of losing everything and what ultimately led Mendy to learn to seek the help he needed. Mendy is sober now for over two years and lives a happy life in Israel together with his wife and four children. The Neshamos project is a charitable endeavor and relies solely on our generous donors for support. To sponsor...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Meet Estee, a Montreal native who's now a young wife and mother of four in Brooklyn, NY. In this episode, Estee opens up about her journey living with her husband's debilitating anxiety. From being the “can-do” problem solver since childhood, she soon realized that she couldn’t “make it better” for everyone else around her anymore. The depths of her husbands emotional distress compelled her to seek out the help she deserved. Today, Estee prioritizes her well-being and develops compassionate empa...
Nov 05, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Join us in this powerful episode of the Neshamos Podcast as we dive into Mendy Schusterman's remarkable journey. Raised in Peabody, Massachusetts, Mendy, at just 22 years old, has already experienced the depths of hopelessness and suffering that comes with alcohol addiction. With raw honesty, he shares the turning point that ignited his desire for change and led him on a path to recovery. As a full-time social work student at TUW University, and a senior student at Bais Menachem Wilkes Barre Yes...
Jun 11, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Leah shares her experience of feeling lost, sad, and disassociated in her younger years, and struggling to just accept and be herself. She learned how to be okay with her feelings and open up to hope, connection, and life's blessings. She openly shares a part of herself on her Instagram page called Mastering Me, where she shares openly about her mental health, spirituality, struggles, and triumphs. Growing up she felt like every day was a fight, like the world was out to get her. She struggled w...
Jan 18, 2023•44 min
Today, let’s voyage into the world of emotions. Meet Sarah Bennaroch - born in Los Angeles, she currently lives in Crown Heights, and is the founder and owner behind Gymies Gym. In this episode, Sarah divulges her history of combating an intense inner critic and facing disempowering narratives within herself; and these voices would invite feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt into her consciousness. Today, Sarah asserts herself to address what's going on within her, and has created a support sys...
Dec 14, 2022•46 min
“When it would happen, I would just see red.” Meet Dovid Zane Braslawsce. Born in “trucker-stop “ Beaver, Pennsylvania, Dovid was that child with unending energy. He was an explosive kid, expressive, untamed, and at times violent. In fact, at the ripe age of seven, he was sent to anger management classes that attempted to teach him how to regulate himself. “I would go blind” is how Dovid depicts these moments. “ I would feel a lot of shame after; but at the same time, I wasn't even so sure what ...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Meet Yitzy Rabinowitz. Yitzy was raised in Borough Park, and currently resides in Crown Heights, NY. In this episode, hear Yitzy’s heartfelt recount of his journey of healing from sex addiction and codependency. He demonstrates immense courage and bravery in speaking about the various factors that played into life story, and brought him to where he stands today.
May 15, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Hear Breina's story of her struggle with addiction and her eating disorder from a first-person view. This episode will leave you with a deeper sense of compassion and understanding, and a very sobering view of recovery and the real-life challenges it presents.
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, Leah Groner shares with us her journey at discovering clarity. With the support of her family and her general practitioner, Leah received her diagnosis of ADHD in her twenties. She eloquently illustrates for us her journey in navigating the various challenges that would come up with her, along with the gifts of support and clarity that she found along the way.
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Meet Rachel Cohen. Rachel is Long Island homegrown, and continues to live there now with her family. She works as a Special Ed Teacher, and uses her talents to inspire and advocate for others on their road to recovery. She shares with us her history of childhood sexual abuse and medical trauma, which set forth her journey in learning to cope with her pain. After experiencing anorexia, an opioid addiction, and many intense emotions, Rachel is here with us today to share her story of acceptance. A...
Dec 19, 2021•51 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Rivka Tauber is a writer, Torah educator, and public speaker who grew up in Crown Heights and recently made aliyah to Jerusalem. In this episode, Rivka shares her journey from the challenges of depression and the struggle of finding reasons to live to the wholeness she discovered in her connection with others, her relationship with G-d, in therapy, and so much more along the way. Thank G-d, today, she is free from the obsession over the future and is able to live in the present. Today, she helps...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 21
Yankel Maislin is a sofer (Torah scribe), author, public speaker and mentor who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn with his wife and five children. To the casual observer, he looks like your typical Chabad rabbi, spending his day in prayer, holy work, and raising a family. While that may be true now, there was a time when Yankel’s identity couldn’t be more of a contradiction to what it is today. Yankel grew up in a small town in Long Island, NY. As a physically small child with a unique personalit...
Sep 05, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Meet Tzipora Zelmanowitz, a recovering Love Addict. Tzipora, a practicing attorney who lives in Queens, New York, has been in recovery from her love addiction for 5.5 years. Her journey into the world of recovery began after years of unsuccessful dating, when she eventually began to wonder… why weren’t things working? Why was she dating the kind of men she didn’t actually want to marry? Were things supposed to be this hard? As she started looking within, she began to understand that she struggle...
Aug 22, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Nechamy Rabin, a high-powered, upbeat mom of three who has her Masters Degree and works in Special Education, is not the kind of person you’d imagine would cry over a parking spot. Growing up in Pittsburgh in a large family, Nechamy always knew she wanted to have a large family of her own someday. “It couldn’t be that hard,” Nechamy recalls thinking. “Everyone looks great pushing their Bugaboos up Kingston Avenue.” For the most part, things worked out after her first child. But after the birth o...
Aug 01, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Shiri Kornblit joins the Neshamos Podcast to share her story of surviving traumatic early childhood loss of a parent, the coping mechanisms she developed as a result, and her process of learning and recovery as she began healing from helplessness and many patterns of unhealthy behaviors including addiction to drugs and alcohol. As an adult, Shiri joined Alcoholics Anonymous and eventually became a baalat teshuva. Today, she lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two children and works as an ...
Jul 05, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 19
Shloimy Fuchs was born and bred in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and currently serves as a mashpia in Yeshivas Bais Menachem of Wilkes Barre (now located in the Poconos). In this episode of the Neshamos podcast, Shloimy talks about his struggles with anxiety, addiction, and low self esteem. In his younger years, he was a “problem student” who was expelled from yeshiva and spent time on the streets shoplifting and committing petty crimes. Later, he sought comfort in alcohol, relationships, and a party ...
May 23, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Today, Sarah Rivkah is comfortable with who she is and uses her own experience with childhood loss to help others who are going through similar situations. Her annual shabbaton for children who have lost a parent gathers some 225 children from all over the world and gives them an opportunity to make friends, heal, and grow together. You can find Sarah Rivkah on Instagram at instagram.com/links_shlomiesclub or via her website, www.wereinittogether.org.
Apr 11, 2021•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Elka (Malamud) Cubacub is a yoga teacher and Psychology student born and bred in Chicago, where she currently resides with her husband and daughter. For years, Elka struggled with Bulimia/Binge Eating Disorder that first began when she attended seminary in Israel. As she struggled with restrictive eating habits and bingeing compulsions, she began to understand that at the root of her unhealthy behaviors were underlying emotions and a sense of disconnect. What followed were years of ups and downs...
Jan 31, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Rochel Spangenthal is a psychiatric nurse practitioner and writer from North Carolina. At a young age, Rochel’s family made the transition to a religious lifestyle, becoming Baalei Teshuva and joining the Chabad community. Rochel took her religious responsibilities seriously, determined to be the perfect daughter and student and aspired toward a relationship with a man befitting her religious status. She was scrupulous in her Torah observance, carefully maintaining her distance from men as she s...
Dec 27, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 13
As a child, Mushky York (now Rosenfeld) suffered from severe anxiety which affected her social, academic, and general wellbeing. Eventually, her anxiety got so bad that she suffered from constant nausea and couldn’t keep food down and began losing weight. Soon, Mushky began receiving compliments and comments on her body changes. While that lifted her mood, it also meant she felt better and was able to eat more--which led to weight gain, which led to less compliments, which led to anxiety and dep...
Dec 06, 2020•54 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Schneur Lakein is a Miami-based entrepreneur who grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. At three years old, Schneur lost his mother, and his father passed away just twenty years later. As a result, Schneur struggled with feelings of abandonment, loneliness, and a desperate need to prove his strength and independence to both himself and others. As he progressed first through primary and high school and later on to the Israeli army, he began to understand how his mindset, self-beliefs, and inability ...
Nov 22, 2020•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Growing up, Rachel (Ruchi) Lebowitz felt misunderstood and unheard. She struggled both at home and in school, secretly harming herself and, in her own words, attempting to make herself “smaller.” When Ruchi got married, she thought she’d “made it.” It quickly became apparent, however, that her husband had a serious gambling addiction. In addition to the problems his addiction inflicted on their marriage, they two could barely stay afloat financially. As Ruchi sought help for her husband’s addict...
Nov 08, 2020•56 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Singer/Songwriter/Rabbi Yossi Rodal of Carlesbad, CA talks about losing his sister at the age of 12, struggling with the feelings of loss and grief, coming to the realization that he needed help to heal, and eventually embarking on the road toward healing and using his music as a tool toward that end.
Sep 06, 2020•58 min•Season 1Ep. 8
