About Regeneration: A Podcast About Crafting DIY Jewish Ritual
"Regeneration” is a podcast about reimagining Jewish customs in a modern world—making memory, making meaning, and making it your own. Hosts Debra Weinberg and Eileen Levinson explore how families, friends, and the Jew-curious can revive rituals with authenticity, creativity, humor, and joy. From Shabbat candles to everyday blessings, the show is a space for connection, curiosity, and building a Jewish life that feels alive right now.
On today’s episode, we speak with Lee Hendler, co-founder and president of the Jewish Grandparents Network. She is also the founder of Freedom’s Feast, an initiative that explores American holidays as opportunities to connect with our values, history, and traditions, and the author of The Year Mom Got Religion: One Woman’s Midlife Journey into Judaism.
Lee reflects on the interconnected nature of religion, family, and community, and shares how she lives her values through her role as a grandparent deeply invested in strengthening family connections across generations.
Today’s episode is the last in Season 1, and we want to hear from you:
Tell us about a time you remixed ritual when life changed, or you found yourself without regular supplies? We want to hear how you marked the moment, or even had a festive drink. Send us a voice memo or email at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
If you’re enjoying the podcast, please be sure to leave us a review on this podcast app and share the episode with a friend.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
19 Jun 2026
Episode 9: Making Ritual Lemonade with Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin
On today’s episode, we welcome Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, who thinks deeply and lives deeply in these life cycles, particularly in two major ways: through the environment, and through issues of infertility. In this episode, we talk about the responsibilities the individual has to the community and vice versa, the elasticity of ritual, and the ritual of making lemons into lemonade.
Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin is an author, an activist, director of Jewish Life at JCC in Baltimore, and founder of the Jewish Women’s Resource Center. She’s also one of the first women ordained as a Conservative rabbi.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
12 Jun 2026
Episode 8: Mindfulness in Judaism, with Rabbi Josh Feigelson
In this episode, we welcome Rabbi Josh Feigelson, PhD, President & CEO at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality – a haven for those looking for Jewish mindfulness.
In this episode, Rabbi Josh talks about living intentionally with values – whether that’s meditation, movement, or some other way of locking in, and how IJS has grown and sustained through seismic global shifts.
Bonus reading:
Jonathan Sacks’s A Letter in the Scroll
Haggadah: The Passover Story book by Marc-Alain Ouaknin
Podcast: Soulful Jewish Living: Mindful Practices For Every Day
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
5 Jun 2026
Episode 7: The Flexibility of Ritual, with Rabbi Shira Stutman
Today, we speak with Rabbi Shira Stutman, senior rabbi at the Aspen Jewish Congregation, author of The Jewish Way to a Good Life, and host of the beloved PRX podcast “Chutzpod.”
In this episode, we talk about how we use touch and affection in our rituals. We also talk about how ritual can be flexible enough to adapt as our kids and grandkids grow older, but how it can act as an unshakeable commitment to tradition.
Read more about Rabbi Shira Stutman here. Listen to Chutzpod here.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
29 May 2026
Episode 6: The Ritual of Gratitude with Dana Saroken
At Recustom, we have a saying: We want to help you make ritual your own, so you can welcome whatever life brings. Rituals are a way to ready ourselves against the unpredictability of life. In this episode, we consider rituals as a way to usher in gratitude, and to be reminded of what we already have.
Our guest is Rabbi Dana Saroken, rabbi at the Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. She’s been there since 2007, when she became the congregation’s first female rabbi. She’s also founder of the Soul Center – self-described as a “place where you can exhale. A place that nourishes and inspires you. A place where you feel supported, cared for and at peace. A place where you can learn and grow and just “be” without judgment.”
Read more about The Soul Center here.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
22 May 2026
Episode 5: “It's All Judaism" with Rabbi Lisa Rubin
Our guest today is Rabbi Lisa Rubin, director for the Center for Exploring Judaism at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, where she’s helped Jews and non-Jews approach rituals, text, and tradition since 2010. In this conversation, Rabbi Lisa Rubin discusses rituals, how we learn and embrace them, and how we might be practicing rituals without even knowing it.
Read more about Rabbi Lisa Rubin’s at the Center for Exploring Judaism here.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
15 May 2026
Episode 4: True Stories with Marshall Duke
We all have family stories. All are true, and some actually happened.
Marshall Duke, professor emeritus at Emory University, joins the podcast to discuss the stories we tell, and how they instill connection, resilience, and strength.
Marshall P. Duke is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology Emeritus at Emory University, where he has served as Director of Training in clinical Psychology and as Chair of the Department of Psychology. As a member of Emory’s psychology faculty for more than 50 years and as a core faculty member with The Emory Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL), he has studied a variety of family issues, most notably the development of a child’s intergenerational self and how family narratives—or knowing the ups and downs of one’s family story—can help build resilience in children and teens.
Follow Marshall Duke’s work here.
Follow our website here: RECUSTOM.COM/REGENERATION
From Shabbat candles to everyday blessings, discover how to weave old and new practices together across generations to bring the people you love closer.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
8 May 2026
Episode 3: Striving for Light with Rabbi Adam Greenwald
This week on Regeneration, we welcome Rabbi Adam Greenwald, Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Orange County, CA, and author of On One Foot, considered foundational coursework for Intro to Judaism curriculum. Adam is also former Vice President for Jewish Engagement at American Jewish University (AJU), and founder of the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys, and lecturer at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, designing and facilitating a course in the art of teaching sacred text.
Guidebook:
The world has always had its share of darkness, yet Jewish history shows that our community resiliently finds light over and over again. The Jewish calendar year is how we practice that resilience: seasonal gathering in the experiential classroom of our holidays, reliving our history, rehearsing our deepest values, and passing light forward through the blast of a shofar, the taste of apples and honey, or the glow of candlelight. Jewish practice teaches us to cultivate and share that light, and to strive towards being kinder, holier, and more whole, while giving ourselves grace when we fall short. This is a workbook for those practices. Bring a pen. Bring a friend. Take what calls to you.
Read more about Rabbi Adam Greenwald’s work here.
Resources:
The Jewish Way, by Yitz Greenberg
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
2 May 2026
Episode 2: Making Ritual Yours with Rabbi Vanessa Ochs
On today’s episode, a conversation with Rabbi Vanessa Ochs, Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at UVA, and author of Inventing Jewish Ritual, Sarah Laughed, and the Passover Haggadah: A Biography.
Through her work and interview, Rabbi Ochs describes the parallels between rituals and choreographed performance – and how both elevate experiences, mark time, and help us understand who we are as people.
Your home has always been a sacred stage. This guidebook — inspired by scholar and author Rabbi Vanessa Ochs — explores how ordinary objects and everyday moments become Jewish ritual. You'll discover how to hang a mezuzah with intention, create a personalized home blessing, bring Shabbat into your week with simple blessings, and mark the first flowers of spring. Along the way: writing prompts, a chevruta reflection on the theater of daily life, and a blessing for imperfect homes. No grand gestures required. Just your home, your people, and a willingness to pay attention.
Reach more about Vanessa Ochs here.
Check out Moments That Matter: Marking Transitions in Midlife and Beyond
Book by Beth Lieberman and Laura Geller.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
1 May 2026
Episode 1: Our Rituals and Us
Welcome to Regeneration, a podcast about reimagining Jewish practice in a modern world.
In the past five years, we’ve lived through a global pandemic, October 7 and its subsequent shockwaves, and a changing political and technological landscape. We’ve also gone through personal changes – starting families, making big moves, and thinking about our place in that rapidly changing world.
Rituals ground us, connect us, and challenge us to connect both to the world and to our tradition.
Eileen Levinson and Debs Weinberg help friends, families, and chosen families revive customs with authenticity, creativity, and joy.
From Shabbat candles to everyday blessings, discover how to weave old and new practices together across generations to bring the people you love closer.
Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration
Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.
If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at JGNpodcast@gmail.com.
Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin.
7 Apr 2026
Welcome to Regeneration!
Welcome to Regeneration, a podcast about reimagining Jewish customs in a modern world—making memory, making meaning, and making it your own. Hosts Debra Weinberg and Eileen Levinson explore how families, friends, and the Jew-curious can revive rituals with authenticity, creativity, humor, and joy. From Shabbat candles to everyday blessings, the show is a space for connection, curiosity, and building a Jewish life that feels alive right now.
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Recustom.com/Regeneration
Regeneration is Produced by Josh Gilbert and Kate Mishkin
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