Human & Holy

Human & Holy is on a season break for the rest of the summer! During this time, we're airing your favorite moments from the past few seasons. Watch the original episode in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_0i0EAAC_4

This excerpt with Chanie Krasnianski explores the Jewish view on sexual intimacy and marriage. We explore the soul-level magnetism between men and women that is sourced in the creation of the world, and talk honestly about the lived experience: what it means when attraction shows up outside your marriage, why halacha starts to feel like a checklist the second you lose the relationship underneath it, and what it looks like to reclaim the mikvah as an immersion into light instead of one more item on the list.

We also sit in the places that don't resolve as cleanly: religious guilt, growing spiritually at a different pace than your spouse, wanting closeness during niddah and not always getting it, and navigating personal discomfort around immersion in the mikvah.

Mrs. Chanie Krasnianski is the shlucha in the Upper East Side in Manhattan, NY and a seasoned educator and Torah teacher. Contact Chanie at ckrasnianski@gmail.com.
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To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.
Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨
Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.
* * * * * * *TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 — The soul-level reason for attraction between husband and wife
04:05 — Attraction outside your marriage: where it's really coming from
07:23 — Halacha as relationship, not checklist
10:32 — When the framework feels restricting, not freeing
12:44 — "We're human, not angels"
13:58 — Trust in Hashem, and the mikvah as immersion into light
20:18 — Bare minimum vs. growing on purpose
22:11 — Why halacha is freedom, not restriction
24:16 — Body image and privacy at the mikvah
26:30 — The headstand story
29:18 — Checking in with yourself when you won't call a rabbi
30:35 — Why none of us are objective about our own lives
37:53 — Calling a rabbi on a different continent — privacy and permission
40:05 — Religious guilt and "you're not your spouse's rabbi"
43:30 — Growing faster than your spouse — baby steps, not pressure
47:07 — When you're the one resisting your spouse's growth
48:49 — Your spouse as your mirror — the Adam-and-Eve reframe
50:49 — Does absence really make the heart grow fonder?
52:25 — Marriage as decades of weather
55:49 — Closing reflection and outro

Human & Holy is on a season break for the rest of the summer! During this time, we're airing your favorite moments from the past few seasons.

In this excerpt, Shternie describes the way she moves through the world: not with a basket she guards, protecting what's "owed" to her, but with an empty one, open-handed, saying thank you every time something lands in it.

Shternie Rosenfeld went through what she calls her own tsunami: a devastating divorce that cracked her open completely. In this conversation, she shares what actually got her through: a relationship with Hashem that is raw, honest, and full of open gratitude.

We talk about the difference between feeling entitled to goodness and feeling worthy of it and about how gratitude isn't whitewashing our pain, but allowing it to live in the same body that is screaming, grieving, and being honest with G-d.

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Shternie Rosenfeld has spent more than 25 years in Jewish education and community leadership, teaching everyone from preschoolers to seniors. She spent 15 years as director of the Chabad Fox Chapel Jewish Center, building its Hebrew School, summer camp, and adult education programs from the ground up. She went on to found The Jewish Spark, a nonprofit running weekly Kabbalah classes and community Shabbat and holiday programming, and now serves as Program Director of the Yonah Foundation, where she supports 38 community centers worldwide and empowers women to lead Torah classes globally. She has also taught at Yeshiva Schools, Hillel Academy, and Tzohar Seminary. Find out more at shternie.com
To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at info@humanandholy.com
To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.
Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨
Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.
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00:00 — What got her through divorce
02:16 — Talking to Hashem like a best friend
03:55 — A real relationship, not a performed one
05:02 — Seeing kindness as Hashem's hand
05:40 — The basket metaphor
10:36 — Entitlement vs. worthiness
11:41 — What to do when you feel shortchanged
13:54 — Gratitude in the tiny things
15:08 — Modeh Ani as the daily reset
16:40 — The Torah source on what is owed to us
18:29 — Is gratitude ever dishonest?
19:28 — "There's room for both"
20:40 — Day by day
22:41 — Marriage as a mirror for Hashem
23:30 — Outro

Human & Holy is on a season break for the rest of the summer! During this time, we're airing your favorite moments from the past few seasons.

How do you instill Jewish values from a young age, while leaving space for a child to grow into them on their own? In this conversation, we talk about why Judaism has to start as routine for young children before it becomes relationship, why “yes, unless you have a value to say no” changes everything with a teenager, the importance of physical touch in raising healthy children, and why mourning openly when our children's religious choices look differently than ours do can do real damage, even when it comes from love. This is a conversation about giving our children strong roots in their Judaism, and navigating the evolution from childhood to adulthood, as they begin to make their own choices in their relationship with G-d.

Chani Heyman is a dynamic parenting coach, motivational speaker, educator, and Torah teacher who's passionate about empowering families to thrive. Originally from Los Angeles, Chani now calls Israel home. With a background rooted in the timeless wisdom of Rebbetzin Spetner and her own experiences as a mother of eight, Chani shares practical and inspiring guidance with parents worldwide.Through her engaging group classes, popular parenting column, and vibrant Instagram community @parentingwithchani, Chani sparks meaningful connections and helps families unlock their full potential. Find out more at https://theparentingclub.info.
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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at info@humanandholy.comTo support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.* * * * * * *
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 How to build Yiddishkeit routines that feel as natural as brushing teeth
01:06 Building the routine: start at the smallest sustainable level
06:24 The teen shift
09:13 Foundation vs. peer pressure
10:45 The reframe: “Yes, unless you have a value to say no”
11:38 Choosing your battles
12:49 “Copy paste” — are we raising kids to replicate our table, or to be halachically their own person?
14:41 Finding a rav to define the lowest level that is still 100% halacha — the loose-fitting-pants story
16:44 When your child doesn't look like you
17:44 Is “because it would make my mother happy” a legitimate motivation for a teen’s mitzvah observance?
21:43 Why building the habit before the meaning arrives is so much easier than trying to build both at once at 20
22:17 Parental fear and projection
22:34 For ba’alei teshuva parents specifically — “I’m trying to give you what I didn’t have,” and why force backfires
23:33 Beyond 100% halacha — what it looks like when a child’s practice truly diverges
25:36 “Keep your relationship strong”
27:03 The sapling-and-tree image
28:17 The emotional baseline — what it is, and why it differs by age
28:26 Ten minutes of true one-on-one time
30:33 For teens: it’s not about the ten minutes, it’s about being available the moment they want you
32:15 Modeling adult relationships
33:37 Physical touch as an emotional need
35:40 The mother who couldn’t remember the last time she’d touched her 19-year-old son
38:45 Host's Outro

Human & Holy is on a season break for the rest of the summer! During this time, we're airing your favorite moments from the past few seasons.

In today's excerpt with Jackie Glaser, we cover spiritual bypassing, noticing the patterns that keep showing up in our lives, cultivating self-worth and self-trust, navigating rejection, our flaws as filters while dating, recognizing that matchmakers do not have control over people's future when navigating the shidduch system, and strengthening our trust in God.

To watch the full episode this excerpt is from, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=243HxQfOx9E
To contact Jackie or learn more about her courses, you can find her at jackieglaser.com or find Jackie on Instagram: datingbyjackieg

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To inquire about sponsorship & advertising opportunities, please email us at info@humanandholy.com
To support our work, visit humanandholy.com/sponsor.
Find us on Instagram @humanandholy & subscribe to our channel to stay up to date on all our upcoming conversations ✨
Human & Holy podcast is available on all podcast streaming platforms. New episodes every Sunday & Wednesday on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts.

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Spiritual bypassing
2:04 How our patterns are signposts from Hashem, not punishments
3:07 Why we avoid taking responsibility, and turn anxiety into blaming Hashem instead
5:27 Going inward with compassionate curiosity instead of judgment
7:11 Turning to G-d as an escape hatch
7:21 Normalizing the pattern before moving forward
9:08 Self-trust as the real foundation behind who you marry
9:17 The somatic work begins: tuning into the body as a source of real data
12:45 Surrendering
14:23 Clearing subconscious blockage to make more room for closeness with Hashem
16:13 How our internal beliefs get projected onto strangers
17:35 Why healing the felt state dissolves the belief system underneath it
18:58 How the fear of rejection actually dissolves with this work
20:42 "I reject myself" — the most important relationship you'll ever build is with you
22:23 Disability or flaws as a filter in dating, not a disqualifier
24:05 Boundaries with matchmakers
25:44 When parents choose to "play the game" with a difficult shadchan for their child's sake
26:27 Hashem was never limited to a shadchan

A conversation about women's health & Jewish law, the more sensitive questions hidden behind women's seemingly straightforward halachic questions, how the concept of a Yoetzet Halacha came about, the difference between a halachic ruling and halachic advice, why the advice of "don't look at the toilet paper" can sometimes do more harm than good, the evolution of halachic thinking on IVF, the medical red flags that can be associated with "halachic infertility", the questions Dena gets most often, the ones that break her heart, and the ones that surprise her the most. 

Dena Block is the Co-Director of Nishmat's Miriam Glaubach Center. Previously, she served as the Center's Associate Director and as a Yoetzet Halacha for several congregations throughout the tri-state area. She taught Gemara and Halacha at Ma'ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck, NJ, where she also served as Director of Admissions. A graduate of the first class of Nishmat's Miriam Glaubach Center's U.S. Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program, Dena worked on numerous MGC initiatives to broaden the impact of of Yoatzot Halacha before joining the Center full-time in 2021. Dena lives in Raanana with her husband and 5 children and can be reached at Dena@afnishmat.org
[00:00] Welcome Dena Block 
[01:00] Meeting women where they're at
[01:50] Defining the term "Yoetzet Halacha" (women's halachic advisor)
[02:48] The origin story: why the role was created
[03:30] How women were being more stringent on themselves in silence, not more lenient — and the health/marital cost of that silence
[04:24] Why more questions asked = more comfort, not less trust in rabbinic authority
[05:00] How a Yoetzet answers — always with context, not just yes/no, to empower future understanding
[05:48] The "question behind the question" — when the real issue isn't the halachic one
[05:52] Example: a woman asking to go to mikvah early — the real story underneath
[07:44] How that extra context changes the answer a posek gives
[08:11] Story: a woman whose ongoing staining was actually a birth control issue 
[10:15] Defining the boundary between a Yoetzet and a rav/posek
[11:06] What "psak" actually means vs. general halachic knowledge
[12:00] Judgment calls vs. established rulings 
[12:16] Should women be taught to examine their own bedikah cloths? 
[16:27] The bigger question — why can't a woman hold a halachic ruling position?
[18:23] The humility and reverence in deepened knowledge
[20:47] How halacha creates unusual bodily attunement
[24:41] Why "don't look at the toilet paper" is advice Dena wants retired 
[27:36] What IVF is and the original halachic concerns when it emerged
[28:11] The concern over hashchatat zera (wasting seed) and how sperm collection is handled
[29:36] How halachic opinion evolved as the technology became safer and more regulated
[32:54] Common misconceptions about halachic infertility
[34:34] Why a very short cycle can be a medical red flag, not just a halachic inconvenience 
[35:22] Halachic literacy often reveals underlying health issues
[35:23] Why unexplained staining should always prompt a doctor visit, even when it's halachically minor
[37:08] Misconceptions around halacha and sexuality
[38:53] The most common question Dina receives 
[39:35] The hardest questions — women asking about mikvah while heading toward divorce
[40:31] The range of what women are carrying — infertility, loss, mental health, marital strain
[40:48] What makes Dina feel hopeful — when a woman expects "no" and hears "yes"
[41:43] Witnessing halachic commitment and sacrifice
[42:00] The number one thing women struggle with in this mitzvah — physical separation and lack of touch, more than the absence of sex itself
[43:25] How the separation period affects men too, not just women
[44:03] The biggest friction point between couples — the story of a woman who lied about her niddah status to avoid intimacy
[46:26] Most unexpected mikvah locations
[47:23] Closing question