The Classically Abby Podcast - Ep. 5 ｜ Chanale On Judaism Vs. Christianity, Conservatism, And Making Music In A Religious World

00:00:00.000 Talking with Hanala, the host of the Weekly Squeeze, all about conservatism, the differences

00:00:05.500 between Judaism and Christianity, and how she transitioned from music to podcasting,

00:00:11.040 just like me. All this and more on today's episode of the Classically Abbey podcast.

00:00:30.000 Hello, and welcome to the Classically Abbey podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Here we

00:00:38.640 talk about classic living, traditional values, and modern femininity. If you aren't already 1.00

00:00:43.200 subscribed to the podcast, make sure to do so and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Today,

00:00:48.840 I'm interviewing Hanala from the Weekly Squeeze podcast, and I'm so excited you are here. Thank

00:00:54.220 you so much. It is my pleasure. I'm thrilled. Hi, Abbey.

00:00:57.760 Hi. So I was actually on your podcast first.

00:01:02.740 That's right. We made a connection.

00:01:04.380 We made a connection, and now you are online, and I'm so excited to have you here. If you

00:01:09.640 are new to the podcast, we have generally three or four segments. When I have an interview,

00:01:14.780 it's three segments. We do an interview, and then we follow that up with a faith talk,

00:01:19.860 and we finish up answering premium subscriber questions to my sub stack. So let's just get

00:01:25.020 right into the interview. I want people to get to know you. I want people to know who

00:01:28.040 you are, and I think that you're such an interesting person. So let's start there.

00:01:32.820 Can you tell my subscribers a little bit about yourself, how you got started in podcasting,

00:01:40.000 and what your mission is?

00:01:42.440 All right. So my name is Hanala. I'm a Floridian, born and raised. I grew up in Miami Beach, Florida,

00:01:47.640 typical American. Long story short, after having a traditional Jewish education, I ended up in New 0.66

00:01:55.780 York City looking for my husband. I was officially on the dating market, and because New York is such

00:02:03.000 a hub for singles, and it was even back in the day, 15 years ago, 20 years ago, I moved into an

00:02:09.820 apartment there, and I just started serial dating. That was the process. And then, much to my parents'

00:02:16.820 dismay, I met someone that I was not set up with. He was working on 47th Street, you know, but he was

00:02:24.060 my bus shirt. He was my destined one. And it took a while until my parents accepted that maybe it wasn't

00:02:30.500 exactly what they had in mind for me. But, you know, we're here we are all these years later. So

00:02:36.880 definitely, I made the right choice. Right? Yes, it worked out. So we lived in New York for a while. And then

00:02:43.900 after I had my first three kids, my first three girls, I said, I cannot take this anymore. I'm

00:02:48.280 moving to Florida. And I moved back to Florida. And we bought a house and everything was terrific.

00:02:54.480 And then the 2016 election rolled around. And I was just like, I was really, really like entrenched.

00:03:02.180 Like, I think I lost part of my eyesight just from Twitter alone. Like, that's how like obsessed I was.

00:03:08.000 And at some point, we were sitting outside one night looking up at the stars. And I said to my

00:03:11.580 husband, you know, I know, you're Israeli, and I know you don't want to go back. But I think we

00:03:15.860 should make Aliyah. I think we should move to Israel. And that is pretty much what we did. And I 1.00

00:03:20.840 brought my I mean, people said I was crazy, like, you're going to kill your music career. But you

00:03:25.080 know, God has a way to help everyone no matter where they are. And here we are. And my music career

00:03:30.560 is thriving. And the podcast is doing well, you know, as well. So yeah, I've, you know, followed my

00:03:39.160 destiny, I would say. And yeah, you asked me what my mission is. Well, as a singer, my mission was

00:03:46.440 always multi multi leveled, or, you know, there are a lot of things that that were important to me.

00:03:53.980 First of all, obviously, sharing like Jewish tradition and my culture through music. And I

00:03:58.960 performed all over the world for all different types of communities. So that was like, really

00:04:02.640 important that my music have a message, you know, my music always had a message, you know, bringing

00:04:07.040 people together. As an observant Jewish singer, I want to, you know, create that sense of community,

00:04:12.940 wherever I go and connect people from all different backgrounds and beliefs. Music is obviously

00:04:18.380 uplifting, you know, Jewish music, in particular, has always been used to, you know, evoke joy and

00:04:24.400 comfort and inspiration. So I really tried to share those positive emotions with my audience.

00:04:30.520 Educating people, you know, there's a lot to learn, not just from the music, but even in between

00:04:35.260 the songs, when I used to speak and communicate, it was an opportunity for me to be like a bit of a

00:04:39.780 teacher. So that was always fun. And then, you know, expressing devotion to God, because, you know,

00:04:45.360 we sing in the synagogue, and in all faiths, music is used to connect. It's just, it reveals a very

00:04:50.860 spiritual side of you. And I always felt like I was able to express my love and devotion to God

00:04:56.960 through song. So I would say that's pretty much my mission in a nutshell.

00:05:00.960 I love that mission. That's incredible. I mean, music is so important to me, too.

00:05:04.920 People know I am a professional opera singer. I haven't sung professionally in a little while,

00:05:09.140 but that was what I did before I started Classically Abbey. And I think one of the

00:05:13.820 things I've always talked about is how music is a universal language, no matter where,

00:05:19.340 no matter what language you actually speak, you can communicate through music.

00:05:24.660 True. Yeah. And I saw that time and time again, because I would go travel to different

00:05:29.260 communities like that was my job. I was a performing artist on the road. And I would walk into a room

00:05:34.000 of people that I never met. And often they were different ages. They were different.

00:05:37.460 You know, their religious affiliations were different. And as soon as I took my guitar and

00:05:41.920 started strumming and everybody relaxed a little, like that instant connection was made. It was so

00:05:46.500 powerful. And people used to tell me, you know, I'm, let's say, a leader in my synagogue for all

00:05:51.000 these years. I give classes once a week. I've never seen my crowd so turned on as they were when you

00:05:56.320 were singing. Like, it's so powerful. And I said, well, this is just what I do. And, and, you know,

00:06:01.780 everything else just kind of happens because the power of music.

00:06:06.140 Yeah. So what made you transition from music, or rather, maybe not transition, because you're

00:06:12.480 doing both, but in a sense, transition from music into podcasting?

00:06:16.780 Okay, so I feel bad. I didn't get into podcasting earlier. I don't know why. There was also a time

00:06:24.200 when I felt that I didn't get into social media earlier. But I'm a little bit of a late bloomer

00:06:27.920 in that sense. I remember, you know, thinking to myself, Facebook, Facebook, who needs it? And

00:06:31.640 then everybody was on Facebook and Instagram, Instagram, who needs it? And then everybody was

00:06:34.940 on Instagram and podcasting the same thing. So I kind of fell into it. Pretty recently, actually.

00:06:43.360 And I think this is something we also have to unpack, because your listeners might not know

00:06:47.900 that Jewish women don't, or observant Jewish women, Orthodox Jews, we don't sing for men.

00:06:53.840 So I have never sung for a mixed audience. I've never sang for men before. I will share a funny

00:06:59.080 story, though, quickly. You guys will appreciate. I once sang in Pearl Harbor, and it was an older

00:07:04.200 crowd. And I looked out in the crowd, and I see in the back row, there's like an 80 year old woman with 1.00

00:07:08.900 her 80 year old husband. And I was like, okay, I guess, you know, he slipped under the radar.

00:07:12.680 And they came over to me after the show. And he was like, that was so amazing. That was so

00:07:18.460 terrific. And his wife looks at me, and she goes, please forgive me. He thinks you're Barbra Streisand.

00:07:24.440 I was like, okay, we could, you know, I could, you can take that compliment. I could take that

00:07:29.660 compliment. Exactly. But really, I don't, I don't sing for men. Because of, you know, that there's

00:07:35.920 actually a spiritual reason for that, which we could get into if you want. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

00:07:41.820 Yeah. I would love to, you know, I think it's always interesting for my listeners to understand

00:07:46.800 where certain things that we do come from. Now, I didn't observe that. I sang for men. And I have

00:07:54.540 kind of some rabbinical opinions that lean a little bit more lenient on that topic. But I also know

00:08:00.920 kolisha, which is the term for this of women not singing in front of men, is very important for very,

00:08:06.680 for many women, and they consider it halacha, meaning law. So can you explain the concept a

00:08:13.160 little bit? Yeah, totally, totally. Okay. So men and women have a different criteria for sexual

00:08:19.200 arousal. We know that, you know, hearing, and according to Jewish tradition, hearing a woman

00:08:24.360 sing is sexually arousing for a man. And by sexual arousal, I mean, like, he's thinking of her in terms

00:08:30.920 of her physical dimensions, as opposed to her spiritual qualities. So while it might be hard

00:08:35.960 for a woman to imagine, to imagine such a thing, you know, the sages were very in tune with human

00:08:41.820 nature, they were. And this rule has been kept by Jews for 1000s of years, because men and women do 1.00

00:08:47.060 have this different criteria for sexual arousal. So with this in mind, you know, the Torah set up these 0.86

00:08:54.520 barriers to protect society's moral fabric, essentially, and the emphasis was was placed

00:09:00.760 to counter the reality of the man's weaker character in those areas. You know, hearing the pleasant

00:09:08.140 melody of a woman singing could be an issue for a man. And therefore, we do our best to refrain from 0.96

00:09:16.460 exposing them to this erotic situation. Now, you could argue that, you know, things have changed,

00:09:22.980 and we're in a modern world, and that sensitivity maybe has been lost, like the sensuality of a

00:09:27.800 woman's voice. And that's, and there's room to, there is room to say that to suggest that. And

00:09:34.020 like you said, different rabbis have different opinions. Yeah, I mean, what I'll say, yeah, go

00:09:39.320 ahead, you finish. But however, there is, there is a story in Greek mythology, which I always found

00:09:44.620 fascinating. I don't know exactly the details, but the sirens that were called the sirens, they were

00:09:50.380 female seductresses, and they used to lure sailors with their voices. So the concept that

00:09:55.080 men could be lured in by a woman's sweet voice, that's not, it's not crazy to, you know, that is

00:10:01.140 the reality. So even though we might be, you know, enlightened today, if anything, you could even argue

00:10:08.460 the opposite, that like, the media influence that has actually created this atmosphere where the

00:10:13.140 sexualization of women and objectification of women is even stronger than ever. Yeah. So,

00:10:18.740 you know, and just to wrap it up, you know, people listening might be saying, well, what does that

00:10:22.800 like, if the men can't control themselves, why do the women have to suffer the restrictions? And 0.99

00:10:28.500 ultimately, it's because we're all in this together. And we all have to do our, our share to help each

00:10:33.620 other out. So, you know, it's in, it's my advantage, it's, it's in my advantage to help men keep

00:10:40.980 things under control. It is in my advantage. And it just, and ultimately, it serves both men and

00:10:47.440 women to avoid the situations, which will lead to promiscuity. Yeah. So I think that that's exactly 1.00

00:10:53.900 right. I mean, here, I'll explain a little bit about where I, where I stood at this, in this point,

00:10:59.360 and also where I agree with you, which is, I think women should be much more flattered by the idea that

00:11:05.580 there are so, there are so many things that we do that we don't even think about that are very

00:11:10.020 attractive to men. And singing is one of those things. And that's a beautiful thing, right?

00:11:13.880 That a woman can attract a man just through her voice. I'm always saying to women, like,

00:11:18.360 stop being offended. That's a great thing that we can do that. Right. And it's not, I mean,

00:11:24.560 it's not a good thing that we've desensitized ourselves, desensitize people more and more over time

00:11:30.100 to things that should be attractive to one another, where what used to be attractive,

00:11:34.960 maybe showing, you know, the upper thigh area, if you wore like a shorter skirt, or if your skirt 0.97

00:11:40.420 rode up a little bit now is like, who cares? Because people wear short shorts and show the

00:11:45.360 bottom of their, you know, bums with what they're wearing. And it's not actually better for 0.95

00:11:50.560 relationships when we desensitize ourselves to the things that could cause us to be attracted to one

00:11:55.620 another. So, and it's not just a religious thing, you know, Bradley Cooper, I saw him on an

00:11:59.500 interview and he was talking about Lady Gaga when they were singing The Shallow. I remember what

00:12:03.460 movie it was in. And he said that when she starts singing, the electricity in the room changes. And

00:12:09.400 this is, it's not a religious thing. He just said when, he said, time stands still when Lady Gaga

00:12:14.360 starts singing. That's how powerful her voice is. And you could say that about Andrea Bucelli,

00:12:18.520 but when a woman sings, the power is just all the more greater because she's, you know, feminine and

00:12:25.640 beautiful and attractive and appealing and all those things. Yeah. So as far as my own practice

00:12:30.400 of it, the thing that I came to, and I don't know where I stand on it now, but the thing that I came

00:12:37.860 to was you shouldn't be a stumbling block is kind of the idea, uh, which is sort of in line with what

00:12:43.480 you were saying earlier. But if you are going to sing, it is more on the man not to attend.

00:12:49.500 So that was my, the way I practiced it at the time. Um, but I understand a hundred percent

00:12:56.720 the people who practice Kul Isha and take it seriously. It makes sense to me and I get it.

00:13:01.720 And that's why I share my music on social media because I mean, the majority of my followers are

00:13:06.680 women, but I can't, um, limit my career to that extent because of, of, of men who might be, you know,

00:13:14.740 maybe not following the law or doing what they're not supposed to. And there might be men who

00:13:17.720 don't follow that particular halacha and on, you know, and they're entitled and I'm entitled to

00:13:22.260 share my music. So, yeah, I think it works out great. I love it. I love it. And I'm so glad we

00:13:27.840 got to have that discussion because I think it's really interesting as always to introduce people

00:13:32.640 who don't know a lot about these Jewish laws to more ideas that they've never heard of and explain

00:13:37.840 where they come from. So what, so that kind of leads into my next question, which is, you might know

00:13:43.720 that many of my subscribers are Christian and I find they're often curious about the differences

00:13:49.880 and similarities between Judaism and Christianity. So I figured I would kind of say my, what I think

00:13:57.560 is the biggest difference and the biggest similarity. Um, and then I would love to hear your thoughts on

00:14:02.560 that because I think it's so interesting from an Orthodox perspective. So for me, I think that the

00:14:07.560 biggest difference between, between Judaism and Christianity is simply the fact that it's an

00:14:12.620 ethnicity that for us, when we have a child, when a woman has a child, it's passed through the mother,

00:14:19.400 whether that child is Jewish. And even if you're not a religious Jew, even if you don't observe the

00:14:26.520 laws or even believe in God, you are still Jewish. That doesn't really exist in Christianity in the same 0.99

00:14:33.220 way. But the biggest similarity is the values. I mean, they're called Judeo Judeo Christian values

00:14:39.480 for a reason that we all are sharing these traditional values that are so important that

00:14:44.640 make up, as you said, the social fabric of society like that, or rather the moral fabric of society

00:14:49.960 that is so important. And I think that that's really the biggest overlap. So now I'd love to hear what

00:14:55.920 you think. Okay. So I dug a little deeper because I really wanted to, you know, you really wanted to

00:15:01.920 get to, and you gave me some food for thought because, you know, you gave me kind of an outline

00:15:05.900 of what we might talk about. And when you mentioned Christianity, I said, well, what do I actually know

00:15:09.760 about the differences? You know, I grew up Jewish. We didn't study Christianity. It's not something I

00:15:13.680 know much about, honestly. So I went back to the original sin. So let's talk about the original sin

00:15:18.360 for a second. Adam and Eve are in the garden of Eden. God tells them not to eat the apple from the

00:15:22.960 tree of knowledge and they eat the apple. And we all know that they were evicted from the garden of Eden.

00:15:27.620 And that all ended quicker than, you know, one, two, three. So although the Christian idea 0.98

00:15:34.400 does differ greatly from the Jewish idea, both concepts are actually, let me restart. So Judaism

00:15:43.060 believes that the original sin had a significant cosmic repercussion in the world and that Adam and

00:15:50.700 Eve were created as perfect beings who are connected to God. And then they sinned and they were separated

00:15:56.800 from God. It created a separation between them. So Christianity views the original sin as like

00:16:04.020 an irrevocable and like an unchangeable blemish, a blight on the human soul, making connection to God

00:16:13.220 impossible except through faith in Jesus. That's the core essence of Christianity. Judaism, on the other 1.00

00:16:20.860 hand, teaches that the essence of the divine soul always remains untainted and holy. And the sin

00:16:28.580 actually only introduced a secondary soul known as our animal soul. And that contains the drive for

00:16:34.960 egotism and selfishness and hedonism and all the things that pull us away from God. So, you know,

00:16:41.240 we learn in Judaism, this hopeful vision that we do have the freedom and the capacity to liberate

00:16:48.520 ourselves and achieve a level of holiness and perfection and reconnection with God. And we could

00:16:55.420 fight, you know, we can win over those negative forces and that through the Torah and through the actual

00:17:00.680 practice of Judaism, we reconnect and we kind of, you know, tikkun olam is an expression that's been

00:17:10.680 hijacked by the reformed community, but ultimately it means to repair the world and bring it back to

00:17:16.320 the original state that it was in, in the Garden of Eden. So that's why Judaism places such a strong 0.97

00:17:21.740 emphasis on observance and practice and Christianity prioritizes faith. You know, they talk a lot about

00:17:28.120 faith. What's in your heart? What do you believe? Do you believe? Are you a believer? You know,

00:17:31.660 observant Jews, we have so many commandments, 613 commandments. And like, you know, from the morning to

00:17:36.280 the night, we're busy, preoccupied. You don't even have time to think. You don't even have time to

00:17:39.800 believe. You know, God gave the Bible, God gave the Torah on Mount Sinai and the Jews said, we will do

00:17:45.560 and then we will hear. First, we're just going to do. And God kept them busy. So I think the big,

00:17:51.600 the biggest difference between Christianity and Judaism is the actual practice versus the faith,

00:17:55.880 because you can be a Jew and never practice Judaism and you still remain a Jew, but to be a

00:18:02.720 Christian that has no faith, then, you know, you have to explore and figure out why you're lacking in 0.90

00:18:08.220 an area. Does that make sense? Yeah, I think that's a great point. I love that. That's really,

00:18:13.180 really fascinating. And I'm sure that our, my subscribers will, uh, will let that, let us know

00:18:18.200 what they think about that. Oh, by all means. Yeah, absolutely. I love that stuff. It's not about

00:18:23.400 better or worse, by the way. It's not about better or worse. It's just a different approach.

00:18:26.840 It's absolutely just a different approach. And I, I, uh, I respect Christians and I respect

00:18:31.140 Muslims and I respect all people of faith and people of not faith as well, or, you know, who don't believe,

00:18:36.840 but ultimately we have to respect our differences and, um, you know, be honest about them. And that's

00:18:42.860 exactly. And I was going to say, and I think that there's nothing wrong with drawing those comparisons

00:18:46.360 as in a way to understand each other better so that we know where each, you know, where we're coming

00:18:51.140 from. We, we all are, you know, doing our best to serve God. It's just a question of, you know,

00:18:56.600 what that looks like. That's true. So you're a conservative woman. You're very open about it.

00:19:03.260 Okay. So how do you feel that your faith informs your politics? I think a lot of people believe

00:19:10.680 that Judaism, you know, they hear about Jews and they assume we're on the left because so many

00:19:15.560 non-observant Jews are on the left, but that's really not the case for Orthodox Judaism. So how

00:19:21.260 do you find that your Orthodox Judaism informs your beliefs as far as, uh, politics and conservatism?

00:19:27.320 Right. So I really just got into politics actually when Obama was running for president,

00:19:31.060 I remember looking at the TV and saying, he looks like a nice guy. And my husband's like,

00:19:34.200 he's a Democrat. I'm like, who cares? He's cool. I was really not so into politics until a little

00:19:40.000 later in the game. Like I said, I'm a late bloomer. Um, but then when I got into it, it became a little

00:19:43.960 bit of an obsession, but you know, I think there was a Pew research, um, a poll or a survey done rather

00:19:50.460 in America at this point, 75% of Orthodox Jews are overwhelmingly, um, affiliating with the

00:19:57.200 Republican party. And I think that has a lot to do with Trump's handling of policy in Israel. I mean,

00:20:02.660 it created a major shift. It was, it was practically a revolution, you know, for a president to be a

00:20:07.880 president to be so outspoken in his support for Israel, especially considering the climate in America

00:20:13.300 where things have been shifting more and more in that sense. So I think that's, you know, definitely

00:20:18.760 an issue because I'm in Israel. Um, I'm an Orthodox Jew. I have a strong connection to the land

00:20:23.320 and I'm going to support the political parties that, that prioritize my country's security and my

00:20:29.040 interest. That's just the reality of it. And also there's this element of religious conservatism,

00:20:34.260 you know, Orthodox Judaism, the values, the traditional family structures, the social values,

00:20:40.580 they really do align with right-wing political ideologies. They do. Um, you know, we, we take issue

00:20:47.320 with liberal policies on abortion, gay rights, drug, you know, legalizing drugs. Um, and, and that's

00:20:55.780 just the reality of it. I don't like saying that I am a Republican and, and, and, you know, I, I,

00:21:01.780 because there are things that don't, maybe I don't identify with as, as a Jew. And I, I recognize

00:21:09.020 that the Republican, um, party is flawed in many ways as is the Democrat party. So I, I'm not,

00:21:14.800 and I'm not as patriotic anymore, perhaps because I don't live in America, but I would say my

00:21:20.100 conservatism is intertwined with my, you know, Jewish values. Yeah, no, that makes sense. And

00:21:26.640 that's why I often use the, I would say I'm a much more interested in culture than I am in politics.

00:21:33.180 So I, and that's really what I focus on in my, in my chant, on my channel, on my podcast.

00:21:37.700 And I talk about this stuff from a conservative perspective. I, I very, very rarely, if ever use

00:21:44.660 the term Republican, because I much more align with conservative values than the Republican party.

00:21:52.160 Right. That's, that's a very good point, actually. Cause I was actually thinking to myself,

00:21:55.100 I don't even know if I'm a Republican anymore. I might be a libertarian. I just feel like I've kind

00:21:58.820 of veered a little more center as I got, get older and I'm a little more open-minded and it doesn't,

00:22:04.700 and I don't know, I don't really identify with a particular party. So I like that idea. I am

00:22:08.580 conservative and you know, that that's basically what it all comes down to. Yeah, absolutely. So

00:22:14.960 I want to talk a little bit about femininity, womanhood, motherhood. So I have two questions

00:22:21.220 for you on that front. The first is you're a singer and a musician. You told us that you travel doing

00:22:26.920 your, doing your music. So how did you make that work as a religious Jew and as a wife and as a mom?

00:22:32.880 Okay. So before I had kids, um, everything was la-di-da. I grabbed my guitar. I was at the door. 0.72

00:22:40.640 And then once I had children, I remember getting on stage in my sequence with my,

00:22:44.260 you know, my big, my shaito, my big wig, I cover my hair and I, you know, you could just stick a

00:22:50.100 curly, I have a curly wig. You could just, I just stuck it on my head and put on a pair of high

00:22:54.160 heels. And suddenly I was Hamila, the performer. It was like such a transformation. I remember laughing

00:22:58.380 and telling the audience an hour ago, I was on my knees giving my kids a bath. I literally kid you

00:23:03.160 not. Like that's how, that's how down to earth I was about the reality of it. There, there was no

00:23:08.680 rider that included a fancy green room with only green M&Ms and then all that, you know, you know,

00:23:14.900 filtered water, undistilled, like it's reality. You know, I, I would sometimes take a bus. I once

00:23:21.820 performed somewhere and I actually had to take a bus because my husband was working that night.

00:23:25.720 And when I got there, um, a little girl said, Oh my God, you're Hanila. How did you get here?

00:23:30.000 Did you take a private airplane? I'm like, no, I took the bus. So there's definitely like this

00:23:34.420 reality check when you have children that no matter how big of a star you are, um, five minutes ago,

00:23:40.080 you were nobody. Like you were just somebody's mom, not nobody, but somebody's mom. And they didn't

00:23:44.840 care what you, you know, what about your profession. So for me, like juggling being a singer and being a

00:23:50.800 mom, obviously, you know, there's the, the, the, the scheduling, like you have to work out

00:23:55.740 babysitters that my husband's around. I tried not to travel around the weekend. So I could be home

00:23:59.760 for Shabbat. So that's, you know, my religious obligations obviously are a priority and they

00:24:04.320 come first. Um, and as far as like managing with the kids, it is a balance. It was really always a

00:24:10.940 balance. You know, um, I have to, I have to obviously make a living and do what I love and

00:24:17.240 feel fulfilled. But, um, there were times when, and even now, like I make, I make choices that,

00:24:23.520 that, that work out better for my family. Like my husband's been in America for the last few weeks

00:24:27.240 and he's working. And that means a lot of home time for me. And as a creative that could get

00:24:32.740 rather stifling, but I have to remind myself, I am a star in my own house. I am a celebrity to my

00:24:39.320 children. When I pay attention to them, I am their entire universe. So yeah, it feels great to have

00:24:45.000 the applause and it feels great to get dressed up and go out and people should clap for me and tell

00:24:49.420 me that I'm amazing. But when my little kid, you know, my little son, my baby, he's seven. When he

00:24:55.300 says to me, please, can you sing? You are my sunshine to me one more time before I go into bed. And he

00:25:00.480 just relaxes underneath my touch. I really feel such a warmth in my heart. It really does match that,

00:25:07.520 that high that I have after I sing. So for me, it was very much about being realistic,

00:25:13.980 being practical and allowing myself to realize that, you know, maybe I'll never be a multimillionaire

00:25:21.200 with, you know, an Oscar or Grammy, but I have so many things that a lot of other singers don't,

00:25:28.380 you know, their lives are so empty. They have millions of dollars and no love, no family.

00:25:31.540 Um, and you know, life is not so great for them. So I'm just trying to remind myself what I do have.

00:25:36.920 Yeah. I love it. So last question, sort of putting you on the spot. Cause I didn't actually

00:25:41.700 ask this question in our, in our outline that I had sent you, but

00:25:45.620 what, if you could describe femininity in three words, what three words would you choose?

00:25:52.460 I could not, um, think of a better question for me, Hanala. And I'll tell you why, because my name

00:25:58.920 is Hannah and Hannah in Hebrew is spelled with three letters. Hey, the head in my name, or my,

00:26:06.600 my name rather is an acronym. My name is an acronym for the three most important commandments that a

00:26:10.980 Jewish woman has. That is challah, which is, um, separating the needed dough before you bake it. 1.00

00:26:17.220 Uh, you know, this was in the times of the temple, it was donated to the priests, the dough, um, a

00:26:23.240 portion of the dough every week, um, Nida, which is the laws of family purity, which we don't have to

00:26:28.020 get into, but anyone could do a quick Google search for the Jewish laws of family purity and see what

00:26:32.660 that's all about. But basically it's separating when you have your period and going, um, for ritual

00:26:36.840 immersion every month. Um, and then, um, the hay is had Lakat Hanayrot, which is lighting the

00:26:42.680 Shabbat, the Shabbos candles or keeping Shabbat. So for me, my femininity, a ties into my name

00:26:49.000 because that's the acronym for Hannah, which is my name. Um, also my name actually means grace.

00:26:57.400 Chet nun, chen means grace and grace is a very feminine quality. So I grew up, um, in an Orthodox

00:27:05.480 home, but we were also Hasidim actually, and not the ones with the curly payas, but rather, um,

00:27:10.360 Chabad Hasidim and the Lubavitcher was a revolutionary leader in his approach towards

00:27:16.700 women in Judaism. And I grew up being encouraged to be a strong woman. My grandmother was a published

00:27:21.640 poet. My great aunt was a published recording artist. She was the first woman in, in the history

00:27:26.720 of Jewish music to create albums of, of children's music in the 1970s. We grew up listening to her

00:27:33.320 records. It had never been done before. I don't know if you know, know the song Hashem gave us a

00:27:37.140 present. Do you know what it was? He gave us that, you know what she wrote that song and all

00:27:42.180 these like little preschool songs. Yeah. So I grew up knowing that we can do anything, but at the same

00:27:46.900 time, we were taught very, um, specifically that it was because of the Jewish women that, that,

00:27:54.840 that we were merited to leave Egypt. It was because of the Jewish women, the crown of the Jewish 1.00

00:28:01.420 popular, of the Jewish people that we continued to, um, convey the important messages that were in

00:28:07.520 the Torah and to maintain our identity and to, you know, keep the chain, um, alive or keep our

00:28:14.180 traditions alive and keep the, you know, not break the chain. And for me, you know, tapping into my

00:28:20.180 strengths as a woman and living a life as a Torah Jew were always completely cohesive. I was never told

00:28:27.120 to lower my voice. I was never told to cover up and be quiet and go away. I was told be bold, be

00:28:33.580 bright, be feminine, be graceful, revel in the commandments, revel in the mitzvot that bring out 0.99

00:28:39.720 your femininity and you will reap the benefits by having a, a great home, which I do. I have four great

00:28:46.040 kids and a loving husband, um, be a great career and see meaning and, and, um, fulfillment in my

00:28:52.780 spiritual life. So for me, I would have to say the three words are Chala, Nida, and Hadlakat Hanerot,

00:29:00.700 all Hebrew. So now let's get into our faith talk for the week. So this week's Torah portion is

00:29:09.580 Beshalach, which means when he sent, as in Pharaoh sending the Israelites out of Egypt. So I'm going to 0.86

00:29:16.620 give a quick overview of, uh, this, of this week's Torah portion of the Parsha. That's that word in

00:29:22.820 Hebrew. In this week's Torah portion, the Jews are sent out of Egypt by Pharaoh. God immediately 0.99

00:29:29.780 takes them to the Red Sea, knowing that Pharaoh will believe that the Israelites are lost and

00:29:34.140 trapped in the desert. Because of that, Pharaoh is planning, he will chase after the Jews, regretting

00:29:40.560 his decision to let them go. So Pharaoh does that. And the Jews cry out to Moses asking why God took 0.83

00:29:46.140 them out of Egypt only to have them die in the desert. God splits the Red Sea and brings the 0.98

00:29:52.200 Jews safely through it while the Egyptians plunge in after them. But God brings the waters down upon 0.98

00:29:57.900 the Egyptians and drowns them. The Israelites praise God for saving their lives. After walking for three

00:30:04.520 days without water, they come to Marah, but the water is too bitter to drink. Moses throws in a piece

00:30:10.000 of wood and the water becomes sweet. After a month of wandering in the desert, the Israelites have run out of

00:30:15.300 food. God promises to bring them manna during the day and quails at night. Moses directs the 0.91

00:30:21.520 Israelites on the exact ways to gather the manna and many of them ignore his instructions. Later,

00:30:27.060 they run out of water again and Moses hits a rock which issues forth water. At the end of this Torah

00:30:32.560 portion, the Jews fight Amalek, which is a group of people that's very, has a lot of notoriety

00:30:39.740 in the Jewish faith that we, they're kind of like our lifelong enemy. And when Moses raises his arms, 0.99

00:30:47.280 the Jews begin winning the fight. But when he lowers them, Amalek wins. He sits down and two 0.94

00:30:51.780 people support his arms to keep them in the air and the Israelites win the war. So that is this 0.59

00:30:56.860 week's Torah portion. Um, I don't know about you, but I love Exodus. I love Schmote. What do you, what do you

00:31:02.040 totally? Yeah. Right. It's so amazing. Well, first of all, when we talk about it with our kids, it's the most,

00:31:06.620 uh, you know, it's a story, it's a beautiful story. I mean, the Prince of Egypt is just a phenomenal, uh,

00:31:13.280 phenomenal film because it's, there's, it's full of adventure and it's full of, um, drama and, and tension.

00:31:19.300 And then there's this redemption at the end and freedom of the slaves. I mean, it's just such a powerful

00:31:23.820 story for me. I personally love the part when the Jews come to the Dead Sea and, uh, and it splits 0.94

00:31:30.720 the Red Sea. I'm sorry. I live in Israel. So I'm thinking about the Dead Sea, but the Red Sea splits

00:31:34.920 and the Jews cross. And when they get to the other side, Miriam, who's Moses's sister takes out her 0.88

00:31:41.340 tambourine and she starts dancing and singing with the Jewish women. And, and it's, it's so amazing

00:31:47.220 because it's right there in the Bible, how the women use their voices to inspire and to reinvigorate

00:31:55.900 a nation that was dehydrated, exhausted. I mean, the fear that they felt as Pharaoh's, you know,

00:32:02.360 the Pharaoh's troops are approaching that they have, they would have to go back to Egypt. You know,

00:32:06.720 they were, there were Jews that didn't want to leave Egypt. They, you know, where they were going 0.73

00:32:09.800 or what was the, what the future held. So for them to have a moment of sheer joy, when they could just

00:32:15.800 let go and dance and celebrate and hold hands with their sisters and connect and, and use their

00:32:21.860 voices to praise God. I think it's one of the most powerful moments, certainly, um, in, you know, in,

00:32:27.180 in the, in this, uh, in, um, in Shemot, in the book of Shemot of names. And, um, it, it's something

00:32:34.720 I've, I've sung about, it's something I've written music about. And for me, that's why this particular

00:32:40.120 Parsha was always very special. This particular, um, you know, Sedra of, of Shemot. Yeah.

00:32:45.960 I felt totally exactly the same way. I always loved that part as a singer, as a woman, it always

00:32:51.040 really inspired me because not only were they raising their voices in, in song, it was in praise

00:32:56.620 of God. And, and to me that made it feel like anytime I raised my voice in song, even if I wasn't

00:33:03.000 singing a prayer, it was directly in praise of God for giving me this voice, for giving me this

00:33:09.380 opportunity to sing. Yeah. Well, the music is, is an expression of the soul. I mean, there's no

00:33:14.620 question about that. I actually just had this conversation on my podcast with a journalist

00:33:18.260 named Eli Lake. He's really like square, you know, he writes for Bloomberg, like really like, you know,

00:33:24.280 one of those stiff, you know, professionals. And then he starts talking about music and he tells me

00:33:29.340 that he's a huge hip hop fan. I'm like, I would never, ever have imagined that you like

00:33:32.860 rap music. And he asked me if I feel that there's some sort of spiritual element in music. And I

00:33:39.200 said, absolutely. Music is the pen of the soul. And that's why you have the most, well, obviously

00:33:44.760 we could talk about classical music all day because that's, you know, your specialty. We

00:33:48.420 know that some of the music, the music pieces created by these that, but by these composers

00:33:54.440 is just beyond comprehension, the sophistication of it. I mean, this stuff could be analyzed for

00:34:00.920 generations to come. Can't compare it to some of the stuff that's coming out now. But the

00:34:07.260 reason for that is because the capacity to sing is a godly quality. It really is. And I do think

00:34:13.500 that it's something that we can tap into that could create that connection. Sometimes you cannot

00:34:19.140 connect to God unless it's through a song, unless it's through, you know, putting on a, whether it's

00:34:25.380 your favorite singer, or if you're, if you're a person of faith and you go to church and you go to

00:34:29.500 synagogue and they're singing that, that hymn or that, you know, prayer that suddenly, you know,

00:34:35.120 you feel emotional and, and that's good. That's great that we're supposed to have those tools to

00:34:40.280 help us in our service of God. So I believe that a hundred percent talent is a gift and it's a godly

00:34:46.260 one. Yeah. I love that. And I totally agree. So we had a quick technical difficulty given that we

00:34:53.100 are recording around the world from each other, but we're back. And I want to talk about the fact

00:35:01.180 that the Jews don't trust in God after having all of these miracles done for them, right? They just saw

00:35:07.320 all of the plagues happen in Egypt. Like the most you could ever see God's presence just happened to 0.94

00:35:14.200 them. And then they spend this entire Torah portion complaining, whining, showing fear, not trusting in

00:35:22.120 God, right? Like, it's so interesting that we see the Jewish people who have just seen, and this

00:35:28.380 happens throughout the Torah, right? We see them get, like they receive the Torah or they're told

00:35:33.900 they're going to receive the Torah. And two minutes later, they're like building the golden calf, right? 0.61

00:35:37.640 Like they just don't have that innate trust in them. So why? So I think there's two parts to this.

00:35:43.980 One is that it is human nature to forget the good quickly. When something good happens to us,

00:35:50.820 when we feel like God has given us blessings within two or three days, like that fades.

00:35:57.080 This is actually, it's interesting. I'm reading a book called The Happiness Hypothesis.

00:36:00.520 And it's called The Adjustment Principle. And the idea that we adjust to any circumstances very

00:36:06.120 quickly and go back to kind of like middle ground. So like God does something amazing for us. We don't

00:36:11.440 just live our lives thinking, okay, God's going to continually do amazing things for us. We can notice

00:36:16.580 his presence. We can notice his miracles. Instead, we just kind of revert back to, well,

00:36:22.180 why isn't God doing something for me today? There must be something wrong. As well, the Jews had been 1.00

00:36:28.220 lowered and debased in Egypt and removed from their holiness and from God's presence, which makes it 1.00

00:36:33.180 easy for them to forget God's miracles, even after a few days when they just saw, even days after they

00:36:39.900 just saw it in full force. So how can we incorporate this into our lives? And I want to hear your thoughts

00:36:45.000 on it too. So I'm just kind of dropping all of my thoughts first, but what can we learn from this?

00:36:50.800 When something bad is happening, instead of complaining that God doesn't care about us,

00:36:54.820 we should try to remember God's miracles and pray from a place of knowing God is there,

00:36:59.140 rather than from a place of whining that God isn't doing things on our schedule. But I think even more

00:37:05.460 importantly and more relevant is that we're living in our own version of Egypt. We are living in a world

00:37:12.480 that is debased and that has so much bad going on that we have to constantly kind of tune out.

00:37:20.020 And it's important that we not lose our connection to God and not lose our holiness. And it's our

00:37:26.640 responsibility not to allow ourselves to become debased, but instead to stay close to God's presence.

00:37:34.160 So I just wanted to share that thought, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on that. Like,

00:37:37.580 how can we do that? How can we keep ourselves separate from everything that we're constantly

00:37:42.220 bombarded with, whether that be in media, movies, music, whatever, and stay close to God?

00:37:48.720 Right. Well, I think that when we, uh, let's think about, let's say for dieting, for example,

00:37:55.300 you know, what the, the, the problem that people have when they start dieting is that they're hungry

00:38:00.600 the whole time. Like they, they just need to eat. And most nutritionists will advise crowding out

00:38:05.860 instead of thinking about what you're not going to eat. Think about all the good stuff you're going

00:38:09.220 to take in. You're going to have a huge salad and you're going to have all these healthy proteins

00:38:12.720 and you're going to satisfy yourself in that way. So that emptiness is kind of filled because it's

00:38:17.720 very hard just to say, you can't do this and you can't do that. And you can't eat that because you

00:38:21.120 are going to feel like something is lacking. So I think that in general, um, you know, inspiration,

00:38:26.140 it's fleeting because it's tied to all these emotions and all these external factors that are always

00:38:32.220 changing. Right. So people feel they're, they're motivated and you're inspired and you're in,

00:38:37.600 you know, you're in the moment and then it kind of fades away. So it's really hard to sustain those,

00:38:42.880 those high levels of inspiration and motivation without a plan. You need a clear plan. You need

00:38:48.460 actionable steps to turn the inspiration and turn the ideas into reality. So if you want that

00:38:54.360 inspiration to last longer, um, you have to anchor it like in values and in goals and engage in

00:39:00.620 activities and behaviors that bring joy and meaning to your life. And I think when the

00:39:04.180 Jews left Egypt, they hadn't received the Torah yet. They did not have a plan of action. They 1.00

00:39:08.440 didn't have concrete ways to manifest, to channel, um, this inspiration and this gratitude. So because

00:39:15.720 they're humans and it's human nature, it came in really quickly and it went really quickly. So I

00:39:21.400 think the lesson we could learn is that when you are feeling those moments of inspiration,

00:39:25.300 don't assume you're going to wake up tomorrow ready to change your life because today you had,

00:39:29.800 you know, a great experience either in synagogue or reading a book or listening to an audio book,

00:39:34.120 we're all like jazzed and excited. My life is going to change today. And then, you know,

00:39:38.100 bad habits just creep up one, two, three, you really have to put an action and plan and have

00:39:43.220 concrete steps that will keep you getting towards your goal and give you those little moments of

00:39:49.080 pride and success and, you know, gratification. And then the inspiration when it comes will only

00:39:54.460 boost your journey. Does that make sense? I love it. I think that's absolutely correct. I like

00:40:00.740 the idea of, they always say you can't not do something. You can only do something. So if you're

00:40:08.280 trying not to do something, instead of saying, I'm not going to do that thing, you say, I'm going to

00:40:12.160 replace, it's exactly what you were mentioning. You're going to replace it with a different action.

00:40:15.060 And I think that's exactly right. And that's the way that we have to live our lives in a positive

00:40:20.200 manner. We have to do things that are good and fill our souls, our hearts, our cups in with things

00:40:27.160 that will keep us close to God will keep us, you know, strong in our faith, strong in our beliefs,

00:40:31.460 even when we're surrounded by things that we're, you can't live on inspiration alone. You cannot

00:40:37.020 live on inspiration alone. Yes. It's got to be part of something bigger. I love that. That's

00:40:42.460 interesting stuff. So now let's get into my premium subscriber questions. If you would

00:40:50.160 like to submit questions for podcasts, just like this, make sure to head over to

00:40:55.180 classicallyabby.substack.com and become a premium subscriber today. So let's start off with this

00:41:01.920 question. And these were specifically for you. So we've got a couple that are just specifically

00:41:06.420 because people knew you were coming on. So what regional differences are there between people who

00:41:11.700 practice Orthodox Judaism? When you mean, what do you mean by regional? So I think what she's talking

00:41:18.060 about is, do people who are from Morocco practice differently than people from Germany,

00:41:23.120 around the world? Okay, so obviously, there's the major two groups of the Jewish ethnicity,

00:41:30.360 which are which consists of Sephardim and Ashkenazim. So the Jews that came from the Middle East and North

00:41:37.740 Africa, those are the Sephardic Jews or the dark skinned Jews. And those range from, you know, Ethiopian

00:41:42.700 who are black. And then, you know, my husband's Bukharian, and he grew up in Uzbekistan on the

00:41:49.320 border of Russia, which is not the Middle East. But they are Sephardic Jews as well, originating

00:41:55.360 generations before from Persia. So you have the Sephardic Jews, and then you have Ashkenazic Jews 0.73

00:41:59.180 like myself, the very white ones who need to wear a lot of sunscreen. And we came from Western Europe,

00:42:05.400 essentially. Now, all Jews, originally, as our one tribe, were in the land of Israel thousands of

00:42:13.040 years ago, but when we were expelled time and time again, and, you know, we ended up all in every

00:42:18.740 corner of the world. So as far as observance goes, you know, there's different ways to pronounce

00:42:24.540 Hebrew, you know, the Yemenite Jews, you could barely understand them. Obviously, there's the language 1.00

00:42:30.740 of Yiddish. A Yemenite Jew and a Hasidic Jew are so different in so many ways. They really do. It's 1.00

00:42:35.800 really hard to believe they're practicing the same religion. But ultimately, they aren't both committed

00:42:42.160 to the letter of the law. It's more the personal traditions and the, you know, the stuff that they've

00:42:48.940 kind of passed on through generations that kind of like flavor their observance. So you can't really

00:42:56.260 mess around with like the hardcore basics, you know, kosher is kosher, Shabbat is Shabbat.

00:43:02.100 But what you eat on Shabbat, and you know, the style of food that you like, and the tunes that you

00:43:07.440 sing, and the way you read the Torah, the accent that you have, those things definitely vary. But I

00:43:12.100 think that's what makes the Jewish people so interesting. We're so different. We're so unique.

00:43:15.640 We're so diverse. But we have the Torah in common.

00:43:18.980 Yeah, no, I love the different traditions from around the world. And I think it's so cool

00:43:23.080 that as the Jewish people, we can look at somebody who's practicing something that maybe doesn't look

00:43:27.680 so similar to what we do, and say, but you're still doing, you're still doing the right thing.

00:43:31.860 It's just a different version of it. So like, for example, on Passover, many Sephardim, Sephardic 1.00

00:43:38.320 Jews, people from like Spain, and, you know, generally, we they're darker skin Jews, they have rice,

00:43:46.200 and they have certain things that Ashkenaz Jews, kind of whiter European Jews, don't eat. And 0.81

00:43:52.360 they're still they're both fine. It's just the tradition developed in a different way based on

00:43:56.760 where they where they were living and kind of what the people were doing around them.

00:44:01.640 Yeah, I'm married to a Sephardic Jew, and I eat rice on Passover and rice on Passover in my parents

00:44:07.000 house is like blasphemy, you know, but I'm sitting pretty here. I have my peanuts and my bamba and all

00:44:12.800 the things that are like, you know, so delicious that we were restricted Passover from and there's

00:44:19.360 nothing wrong with it. It's still as observant as the next Jew. So it's all good. 1.00

00:44:23.120 It's amazing. I love it. Another question that I got is, I'm a reformed Jew, and I struggle with

00:44:30.600 being a conservative in a reform synagogue, as most of the people in my community are leftists. Do you

00:44:36.180 have any advice?

00:44:37.920 Oh, that's a good one. Okay, let me think for a second. All right. So first of all, you definitely

00:44:42.620 want, you want to, you want to unite. So you want to focus on your shared values, you know,

00:44:47.900 you do want to see what you do have in common, you know, identify and emphasize the common values

00:44:54.940 that you share with your synagogue, because that is your community. So you could find a space for

00:45:00.200 yourself in social justice and compassion and spirituality. So you definitely want to find the

00:45:04.820 things that you have in common. I would avoid all political discussion, honestly, like refrain from

00:45:09.880 engaging in political debates with people in your synagogue. That's not why you're there. You're

00:45:14.440 there to, to worship, not to discuss politics. Also, you know, the purpose of faith, or one of the

00:45:22.020 advantages of faith is that we have this community building. So when you participate, like, in all these

00:45:27.960 synagogue programs, or these church programs, you know, when you do charity work, or educational

00:45:33.100 programs, like cultural events, like those are the places that you build relationships with the people in

00:45:39.040 your community. So I would definitely suggest trying to get involved more like hands on. And, and, you

00:45:45.940 know, find support outside of your synagogue, you know, find people that align with you, your political

00:45:50.400 beliefs that are not involved in the synagogue, don't come into the show looking for someone to talk to

00:45:55.240 about politics, because you haven't had an opportunity all week. And then, you know, just remember that

00:46:00.500 we can always learn from other people, and we can stay grounded, and maintain our sense of,

00:46:07.560 you know, perspective, but be open minded and learn from, you know, we learn in ethics of our fathers,

00:46:14.140 like, who is wise, one who learns from, from all people. So, so take a minute, listen, maybe you

00:46:19.980 learn something. So funny. Yeah, no, I love that. And I will say, I have a slightly different perspective,

00:46:25.360 given that my husband grew up reform, you know, he has shared with me just how far left the reform

00:46:32.040 movement has gone. And I think the issue, you'll have to evaluate whether or not your practice of faith is

00:46:43.340 still aligned with the people you're practicing around. Because reform Judaism, in many ways, it does not 0.96

00:46:51.460 hold with traditional values with conservative values. And let's put it, I think people appreciate this reform

00:46:59.040 Judaism used to be progressive Judaism, and now it's Jewish progressivism. So if you really feel like Judaism 0.92

00:47:06.700 is your priority, then it is time to move out of reform. And I do feel, I'll say it straight out, like reform

00:47:12.200 does not have a space for people at this point, who are, who are observant, like that they're not focused on

00:47:18.940 the letter of the law. So if it's come to a point where you don't have relationship with the people in your

00:47:23.960 synagogue, and you're not really connecting, then maybe it is time to move on.

00:47:28.860 Yeah, exactly. And that's exactly what I was gonna say is that it may be time for you to evaluate

00:47:33.360 your practice of Judaism, what it means to you, what's important to you, and then start maybe trying

00:47:40.320 to attend a Chabad. That's usually my, my recommendation, my husband and I attended Chabad when

00:47:46.300 we were living around the country. And it was so wonderful to see so many different kinds of people

00:47:51.500 there. And so you never have to worry about feeling judged. It can just be a place for you to explore

00:47:56.340 becoming observant in a different way. And you will feel more welcomed there than perhaps where you

00:48:04.260 are now. Right. I agree. I totally agree. Yeah. So that is my advice for that. And I love your advice

00:48:10.660 too. So let's ask this question, which is, this is kind of a funny one. Do you have any advice for

00:48:18.000 making your husband feel appreciated during pregnancy? My husband has stepped up in so many

00:48:23.340 ways, and I just have no energy, but I want him to know how much I love and appreciate him.

00:48:28.320 Okay, well, first of all, say that you love and appreciate him. Don't underestimate the value and

00:48:33.500 actually say expressing the gratitude. Thank you, honey, for everything you do for me and the baby,

00:48:39.040 all the errands you're running, the cooking you're doing, just say the words, you know,

00:48:42.220 obviously communicate, have the conversation. He doesn't expect you to, you know, run around

00:48:49.020 looking for a present for him, or to go to the gym, because that's something that you used to do

00:48:53.100 together, like be realistic, make time for each other. And remember, like, when you are pregnant,

00:48:59.280 it is a very hard time for your spouse, because he knows that you're bonding with that baby. And

00:49:03.180 that's something that he's not having. So, you know, plan something special for him, make his favorite

00:49:07.780 meal, give him a massage or a movie night. I would, I have four kids, you know, yes, you feel

00:49:12.800 like crap by the time you're in your 37th week, but you have 37 weeks that you're, or let's say 20 0.52

00:49:19.160 of them that you're feeling pretty good. As a matter of fact, some women feel great. They feel sexier 0.98

00:49:23.680 than ever. So, and also like the small things, like involve, if your husband's a pet, my husband's not

00:49:29.460 the type of guy, like he doesn't want to go see the sonograms. He doesn't want to go to the doctor's

00:49:33.060 office. Like, just let me know when the baby's coming. But like, if your husband's that kind of guy,

00:49:37.120 you know, have him, have him come to the doctor's appointments with you, talk about the baby names,

00:49:41.980 decorate the nursery, do a little shopping. And yeah, ultimately, like a little text message,

00:49:47.200 like guys are so easy to please in that way. A little text message from a wife. I love you,

00:49:51.620 honey. I feel like a whale, but you make me feel like a queen. Like that, you know, just be real,

00:49:58.480 be nice. I love it. That's exactly right. I agree with everything you said. I think just being,

00:50:03.420 showing your love, showing that you respect him, showing that you appreciate him,

00:50:06.540 and just telling him that is really important. And then just, as you kind of mentioned, easy,

00:50:13.860 spent quality time. So like, you want to, you're feeling tired, you're feeling exhausted,

00:50:18.340 honey, I'm going to order in pizza tonight, and I want to watch a movie with you. And I don't want

00:50:21.680 to do anything else, but spend time with you. Or like, we're going to play a couple of board games,

00:50:26.600 and we're going to keep it simple. But I don't have to do a lot, because maybe I'm too tired to make

00:50:31.000 dinner tonight. But at least we're going to be spending time together. And I want you to know,

00:50:34.040 I'm putting you first for the next two or three hours, whatever it is, you can absolutely like

00:50:39.600 devote. I think I've talked about this before, but I won't get into it too much. But quality time

00:50:45.360 really is important. And it's not like it's a unique thing that is only one of the five love

00:50:50.360 languages. My feeling is quality time is the love language that all of the other love languages are

00:50:55.760 built on. So using quality time is like, the best way to show that you appreciate your husband.

00:51:01.900 So just saying, whatever it is, keep it simple. But I'm just going to be focused on you for now,

00:51:07.120 because I want you to know that I love you. And I'm so grateful for you. I think that's plenty,

00:51:12.000 and he'll really appreciate it. Yeah, so well said.

00:51:15.680 So I think that is it for today's episode of the Classically Abbey podcast. Thank you

00:51:20.360 so much for coming on. Tell us where we can find you.

00:51:24.280 I'm a fan of music, you can do a quick Google that's CH like Hanukkah, 1.00

00:51:28.240 the Weekly Squeeze podcast on Thursdays. I'm on Instagram. And yeah, I mean, my podcast is a

00:51:34.860 little different than yours. I don't speak specifically as on feminism, the way you do 0.85

00:51:39.840 on classical feminism, the way you do. It's more comedy, politics and religion. But I do I have

00:51:46.560 connected to you. So I do know that people like you, they were like me and vice versa. My audience

00:51:50.560 loved you. And it's always nice to make a connection with women around the world. And I am grateful that

00:51:55.320 you gave this opportunity. I love having my followers, first of all, get to know more

00:52:00.040 Orthodox Jewish creators. I think that's so important for people to see us in this public

00:52:04.260 space, because not many people know Orthodox Jews in person. So for them to see us know us know that

00:52:10.720 we're normal know that we have a lot of really interesting points of view, I think is great.

00:52:15.140 And on top of that, more women's not that I'm only for women, or you're only for women as far as

00:52:21.180 your podcast, but more women's spaces are just great to be a part of you get to be part of a 1.00

00:52:25.600 community that you really enjoy. And there's a different perspective in hearing from a woman

00:52:29.500 as opposed to somebody else. So I am really glad that I got to introduce you to my subscribers.

00:52:35.780 Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. So thank you so much for coming on. If you would like to subscribe,

00:52:40.740 make sure to follow me on YouTube, on Instagram, on Twitter, and you can follow this podcast wherever

00:52:46.240 you listen to podcasts. Thank you so much for listening. And I'll see you guys in my next episode.

00:52:50.580 Bye.

00:53:20.580 Bye.

00:53:21.580 Bye.

00:53:50.580 Bye.

00:54:20.580 Thank you.

00:54:50.580 Thank you.

00:55:20.580 Thank you.

00:55:50.580 Thank you.

00:56:20.580 Thank you.

The Classically Abby Podcast - February 07, 2023

Ep. 5 ｜ Chanale On Judaism Vs. Christianity, Conservatism, And Making Music In A Religious World

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