Two moms from America living in Israel trying to figure out life.
Elisheva Kupferman is the Chief Strategy Officer at Mosaic United, a nonprofit working with the Israeli government to strengthen Diaspora Jewry. She moved to Israel from New York in 2005 and now lives in Jerusalem with her husband and four children.
Melissa Lousky Bienenfeld is a Career Coach helping her clients identify core strengths and achieving their work aspirations. She moved to Israel in 2012 and lives in Modiin with her husband and four children.
Follow us on Instagram @motherlandpod (https://www.instagram.com/motherlandpod/) - and never miss an episode drop
Rebekah Pearlman discusses navigating career transitions with Melissa and Elisheva, sharing her experiences with bold career changes and teaching listeners to confront fears without being paralyzed by them in this interview.
6 Mar 2025
18. I Met My Younger Self for Coffee
Hosts Melissa and Elisheva explore their personal growth and reflect on how their lives align with past expectations by imagining a coffee meeting with their younger selves.
5 Dec 2024
17. A Rich Life with Lisa Rich Galinsky
Photographer Lisa Rich Galinsky shares her experiences and aspirations after October 7th in an interview with Melissa and Elisheva, focusing on documenting army families and creating joyful events.
24 Nov 2024
16. Chutzpah Girls with Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer
Authors Julie Silverstein and Tami Schlossberg Pruwer discuss their book, *Chutzpah Girls: 100 Tales of Daring Jewish Women*, in an interview with hosts Melissa and Elisheva, highlighting inspiring stories.
17 Nov 2024
15. Peas Love & Carrots' Danielle Renov on Feeding with Love
Melissa and Elisheva interview Danielle Renov, famous for her Peas Love & Carrots Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/peaslovencarrots/) and best selling cookbook (https://a.co/d/1LryUe4)and most recently the launch of her Micro Peas mini cookbook series (https://amzn.to/3YT1QWT)! They discuss the ways in which mothers nourish their children, body and soul, and how - after recently becoming a celiac mom - often the way we cope with our child's dietary restriction can be a reflection of our bigger parenting values.
Make sure to stick around for 2 special guest appearances at the end of the interview.
We're now on Instagram @motherlandpod (https://www.instagram.com/motherlandpod/) - follow us and never miss an episode drop!
6 Nov 2024
14. Sliding Doors with Paula Kweskin
Melissa and Elisheva interview Paula Kweskin, founder and director of The 49%: a film and media production company that centers stories of women to advance human rights. Paula's journey is a reminder to all of us to be atuned to every opportunity and nudge from the universe, and her perspective on life will uplift you.
Learn more at https://www.the49percent.org (https://www.the49percent.org) and follow them on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/the49percent/)!
6 Nov 2024
13. We're back!
Melissa and Elisheva are back after a long hiatus! Catch up with them and hear their life updates as they set the stage for the upcoming episodes.
28 Mar 2024
12. Dayenu Moments with Devorah Katz
In this episode, Melissa and Elisheva interview Devorah Levine Katz about her journey through career and motherhood, and how they both evolved over time. Her story is both unique and relatable, and her message about integrating your worlds as a mother and professional is sure to inspire.
Devorah is a mother of five, a long-time educator, and the current entrepreneur behind Meshek 48 (https://meshek48.com/), a workshop and event space on Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim.
7 Mar 2024
11. Career Head Start with Dyonna Ginsburg
This episode launches our series on Career and Motherhood with Dyonna Ginsburg. Dyonna is the CEO at Olam (http://www.olamtogether.org/) and an inspiring example of a leader who accomplished one professional achievement after the other before becomming a mother (she continues to achieve today as well!). She graciously shares her story and her perspective on the ways motherhood has impacted her role as CEO, how she juggles career and family now, how motherhood felt compared to her work, and more.
Prior to OLAM, Dyonna served as Director of Education and Service Learning at The Jewish Agency; Executive Director of Bema'aglei Tzedek, an Israeli social change NGO; and co-founder of Siach, a global network of Jewish social justice and environmental professionals. A frequent lecturer, she was named "one of Israel's 50 most inspiring women" by Nashim magazine in 2015. Dyonna was the recipient of the Schusterman Fellowship and the World Council of Jewish Communal Service’s Ted Comet Exemplar Award for Outstanding Leadership in Strengthening the Jewish People. She currently sits on the advisory boards of Yanshoof and the Global Jewry initiative. Dyonna has a BA in International Relations from Columbia University and an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University.
8 Feb 2024
10. Delivering Hope: Birth During War
To round off the 3-part series on child birth, Melissa and Elisheva wanted to peer into the world of women who have given birth during Israel's current war. To do this, they interviewed doula extraordinaire Janice Cohen (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067969561119) to hear about what she's been seeing in hospitals over the last four months.
They also interviewed friend of the pod Bracha Lamm Berger who takes us through the rollercoaster ride of her third trimester, birth, and post-partum period while her husband has been serving the IDF in Gaza.
22 Jan 2024
9. Moving On from Birth Trauma with Yael Hirsch-Biderman
Melissa and Elisheva reflect on the gaps between the births women want / plan for versus the births they get. How can we move forward from a birth experience that wasn't what we wanted or one in which we felt agency? We were privileged to interview Yael Hirsch-Biderman, a pregnancy and birth professional - certified doula, childbirth educator, group facilitator and a mentor of childbirth experience processing. Yael offers therapy following traumatic births, miscarriages and other losses.
Trigger warning: this episode may not be for you if you are struggling to build your family or have had significant birth trauma.
Yael is proudly part of the BOT: Birth Oriented Thinking (https://https//www.bot.co.il/) professional community as well as the “MENIFA (https://www.hamenifa.org/)” association for certified doulas in Israel.
Yael is also involved in several nonprofits including: TOMCHOT BE'AHAVA (https://tomchot.my.canva.site/) - childbirth guidance and support by professionals for young women between the ages of 14 to 26 from at-risk backgrounds;
The birth freedom Israel movement (https://birthfreedomisrael.org/)– advancing the rights of woman during pregnancy and birth and LAHAV (https://pagim.net/)– professional support for parents dealing with premature babies
Yael can be found at the following places:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/YaelHirschBiderman (https://www.facebook.com/YaelHirschBiderman)
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hirschyael/ (https://www.instagram.com/hirschyael/)
15 Jan 2024
8. Birth Stories
Melissa and Elisheva launch a mini-series on the topic of child birth by getting personal and sharing their own birth stories and history.
Trigger warning: this episode may not be for you if you are struggling to build your family or have had significant birth trauma. Please be kind to yourself in exercising judgement about whether to listen. We love you and support you in your journey.
Stay tuned for the coming episodes in the series that touch on different aspects of birth.
25 Dec 2023
7. The Money Episode with Debbie Sassen
In this episode, Melissa and Elisheva take on a taboo subject, MONEY, with the help of Debbie Sassen, an inspiring money coach and mother of eight!
Debbie Sassen is a Business and Money Coach and host of the Jewish Entrepreneur Podcast (https://debbiesassen.com/podcast/). She helps entrepreneurs create consistent $5k-20K months and build wealth, in alignment with Jewish values.
Because money is intimately involved with everything we do in business, Debbie believes that clearing your money blocks makes everything else in business easier. Her coaching combines business strategy, sales expertise, and money mindset to help entrepreneurs dissolve the limiting beliefs that keep them underearning.
Debbie believes that no woman should undercharge, undersell or dim her light to build financial sustainability for her family.
Website: https://debbiesassen.com/ (https://debbiesassen.com/)
Learn about her book, The $1K Investor: Simple Smart Steps to Start Investing with $1K or Less https://debbiesassen.com/book (https://debbiesassen.com/book)
6 Dec 2023
6. Getting Political with Sara Liss Landa
Melissa and Elisheva interview Sara Liss Landa, Assistant Deputy Director at the New York City Council and long-time political activist.
Sara is the President of the Board of Directors of Zioness (https://zioness.org/)and supports the organization Grow Torah (https://www.growtorah.org/)
Sara references the YouTube series Crash Course: U.S. government and politics which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H
13 Nov 2023
5. Work-Life-War Balance
Melissa and Elisheva update about where they're at and what they are learning during this time.
Life decisions being affirmed or challenged and new empathy being discovered for other experiences.
For their main topic, they dig into some of the career questioning and reevaluating they are witnessing as the war progresses, and debate the merits of optimally deploying professional skills vs. seeking optimal mission and meaning from work.
2 Nov 2023
4. Raising Resilient Sabras
Melissa and Elisheva clarify the podcast goals, then address some listener feedback.
They then delve into the episode's main topic: fostering resilience in our kids, especially in the face of adversity. Elisheva breaks down 4 components of the war that challenge parents, and Melissa shares the parenting values that guide them.
Notes:
Elisheva referred to a study from Emory University that was tested in the wake of 9/11. Read about it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-this-life.html
30 Oct 2023
3. Milu-Imma with Naomi Eastman
In this episode, Melissa and Elisheva interview Naomi Eastman, a health coach, personal trainer, and mother of three. Her husband, Aryeh, was called up to miluim (reserve duty) on October 7th, and has been serving ever since.
Naomi is a resident of Carmei Gat in the south of Israel.
26 Oct 2023
2. Mom Plans and God Laughs
Melissa and Elisheva discuss what they're seeing around them, outside their homes. How are their respective communities and environments reacting to Israel's current War? Next, they discuss the uncertainty, the impossibility to plan, and are honest in exploring the limits of their commitment to living in Israel.
26 Oct 2023
1. Our Current State
Melissa and Elisheva introduce the podcast and jump right in to their personal experiences during Israel's current war against Hamas. The events in Israel on October 7th have changed us forever. We are still processing it, and check in with one another from opposite sides of the world.
Praying for peace and the speedy return of all hostages.
Who has been a guest on MotherLand
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Rebekah Pearlman
Lisa Rich Galinsky
Julie Silverstein
Tami Schlossberg Pruwer
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
19 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 34 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
39
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
71
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