Jewish Insights with Justin Pines

What is the true purpose of music? Is it merely to entertain, or is it a vessel designed to uncover the soul and connect us directly to the Divine?
In this episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, Justin sits down for a deeply personal, wide-ranging conversation with a true master of Jewish song and spirit, Eitan Katz. They trace Eitan’s transformative discovery of Reb Shlomo Carlebach’s legacy and his ongoing commitment to full-time yeshiva learning at Shor Yoshuv.
Together, they explore how music acts as a bridge from spiritual distance to ultimate intimacy, a theme felt acutely as we enter the introspective season of Rosh Chodesh Elul. Eitan opens up about what it means to be a vessel for holiness rather than the "star of the show," and the spiritual roadmap behind three of his most iconic melodies:
L’maancha: The raw, humble plea drawn from the depths of the Selichot liturgy
Ki Karov: The joyful, upbeat reminder that closeness to Hashem is already within our hearts
Elul Niggun: The wordless, meditative classic
This episode is a masterclass in how authentic niggunim can help us all begin the journey back home.

How do you navigate grief and find true comfort after a devastating loss? In this episode, we sit down with Rabbi Steven Exler, Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale – The Bayit, to explore the raw human landscape of mourning, healing, and pastoral care.
As the calendar pivots from the heavy collective mourning of Tisha B'Av to the promise of Shabbat Nachamu (the Sabbath of Consolation), Rav Steven shares profound insights drawn from guiding countless families through tragedy from the inside out, as well as navigating deep personal loss.
Widely regarded as one of the most respected rabbinic leaders in the country, Rav Steven shares what it truly means to be a "shepherd" to a community. We discuss the everyday work of showing up for one another, the legacy of carrying the torch from his mentor Rabbi Avi Weiss, and why creating a radically inclusive, diverse community is the ultimate antidote to isolation and brokenness.
In this episode, we discuss:
The human and psychological necessity of sitting with sorrow before rushing to comfort.
How facing personal tragedy shapes the way a leader counsels others through loss.
The weight and reality of modern pastoral care and how to be truly present.
Turning shared loss into an active framework for community, kindness, and personal growth.
About Our Guest: Rabbi Steven Exler serves as Senior Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale – The Bayit, a large and welcoming Orthodox synagogue in the Bronx. He sits on the boards of the Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, UJA-Federation of NY, and the Rabbinic Advisory Boards of Eshel, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and Yeshivat Maharat.

Auschwitz survivor Tova Friedman,  author of the New York Times bestseller The Daughter of Auschwitz [link], recounts her arrival and experiences at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp and surviving a Nazi gas chamber. Tova shares the arduous journey of rebuilding her life and humanity after World War II. Later, she is joined by her grandson, Aron Goodman, to discuss "TovaTok"—their viral TikTok channel dedicated to Holocaust education and preserving her history for the next generation.
https://www.tiktok.com/@tovafriedman?_r=1&_t=ZP-9804AVbZ8bm

Holocaust survivor Tova Friedman, author of the New York Times bestseller The Daughter of Auschwitz [link], shares her harrowing story of survival. In Part 1, Tova details her family's life before World War II and the unimaginable experience of surviving a Jewish ghetto and a Nazi labor camp as a young child. She also opens up about the complex role of faith and wrestling with God in the face of profound tragedy.
https://www.tiktok.com/@tovafriedman?_r=1&_t=ZP-9804AVbZ8bm

American Jews have lately been sensing the end of their Golden Age — and asking whether the next century will be as kind to them and their children as the last one was. Dr. Mijal Bitton thinks we're asking the wrong question.
A sociologist, spiritual leader, and public intellectual, Mijal is Scholar in Residence at the Maimonides Fund, Rosh Kehilla of the Downtown Minyan in New York City, co-host of the podcast Wondering Jews and author of the Substack newsletter Committed.  She recently published the landmark essay "The Future Is Sephardic," [https://sapirjournal.org/aspiration-ii/2026/the-future-is-sephardic/] published in Sapir journal [https://sapirjournal.org/] on the past and future of American Jewish life.
In this conversation, we dig into what the Middle Eastern and North Africa Sephardic model — rooted in family, communal boundaries, an embodied spiritual life, and a confidence that doesn't depend on outside approval — can teach all American Jews as we reimagine our place in America's next century.

Happy 250th Birthday, America! To celebrate this massive milestone, Jewish Insights with Justin Pines goes on location to Philadelphia to uncover a foundational, untold story most Americans have completely forgotten: Jewish Americans have been fighting for, supporting, and shaping this nation since the very beginning.
Located at the literal crossroads of freedom, just steps from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and the historic Congregation Mikveh Israel sit at the very heart of the story of America and Jewish America, which are inextricably intertwined.
In this special July 4th episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, we take you inside Weitzman's groundbreaking new exhibit, "The First Salute" and to Congregation Mikveh Israel. We trace the steps of the nation’s earliest Jewish communities—reminding us that Jewish roots in America are not recent, but stretch back to the original Sephardic arrivals who sought, fought for, and helped build a society anchored in multi-faith religious liberty and immigrant grit.
Discover the incredible, high-impact individuals who put everything on the line for George Washington's army, and learn why every American Jew should stand incredibly proud of our role in the birth of the United States.
🏛️ Learn more about the Weitzman Museum: [https://theweitzman.org/]
🏛️ Learn more about the Congregation Mikveh Israel: [https://www.mikvehisrael.org/]

What do a ping-pong paddle, a global shoe empire, and Independence Mall in Philadelphia have in common? Stuart Weitzman. One of America's most celebrated designers, Stuart built a brand worn by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Kate Middleton — and then went on to compete in the Maccabiah Games in Israel, carrying the American flag into the opening ceremony. He also made a transformative gift to save the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. In this conversation, Stuart talks about his Jewish identity, his love of the Maccabiah, his passion for philanthropy, and what it means to leave a lasting Jewish legacy in America's 250th anniversary year. Don't miss this inspiring conversation on Jewish Insights with Justin Pines.

He rebuilt Jewish life post-Holocaust and advised world leaders—but the Lubavitcher Rebbe was also a profound counselor to the human soul. Rabbi Levi Shmotkin, author of the global bestseller “Letters for Life: Guidance for Emotional Wellness from the Lubavitcher Rebbe” [https://www.amazon.com/Letters-Life-Guidance-Emotional-Lubavitcher/dp/0826690149] investigated over 23,000 letters written by the rebbe and explains how the Rebbe's private correspondences mapped out a timeless framework for mental health, including positive psychology, and overcoming anxiety, bad moods and isolation.

He was called a “once-in-a-millennium scholar.”
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz z”l was a physicist by training who became a towering Torah authority — a prolific author of over 300 titles, an Israel Prize laureate, the first person since the medieval sage Rashi to produce a complete commentary on the entire Babylonian Talmud, and the first ever to translate it into modern Hebrew. It took him 45 years.
In this conversation on Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, his son Rabbi Menachem “Meni” Even-Israel — CEO of the Steinsaltz Center in Jerusalem (https://steinsaltz-center.org/)— reflects on the man behind the mission: the scholar, the teacher, and the father. 
We also celebrate the release of a landmark new English edition of the Mishneh Torah (https://korenpub.com/products/steinsaltz-rambam-mishne-torah-volume-1), the great legal code of Maimonides — produced by the Steinsaltz Center not simply as a translation, but as a full study companion with commentary, halachic discussion, diagrams, and context, designed to make this almost nine-hundred-year-old masterwork genuinely readable for the modern learner.

Bruce Pearl built Auburn into a college basketball powerhouse — five SEC championships, two Final Four runs, and an NCAA Coach of the Year award. But for Pearl, the game has always been about something much bigger.
In this episode of Jewish Insights with Justin Pines, Coach Pearl opens up about the Jewish grandfather who shaped everything — a plumber from Roxbury who came to America at age 11, housed Black tenants through hard times without charging rent, and made sure Bruce understood that this country saved their family's life. Pearl traces the through-line from that grandfather to the advocacy work he does today.
He shares what it takes to build a winning program from scratch — how he gets players to trust him, sacrifice for the team, and handle defeat with grace. He tells the story of coaching Team USA at the Maccabiah Games, with his son as his power forward, his daughter as team manager, and Danny Grunfeld, Todd Golden, and nearly John Scheyer on the roster — and how he brought 13 Jewish boys to Israel and sent home 13 with a deep, lasting love for the land.
Then there's the press conference. Walking off the court after beating Creighton to reach the Final Four, something moved Pearl to say a name into a national microphone — Edan Alexander, the last American hostage in Gaza. He explains how it happened, what Edan's father said the next day, and what followed in Atlanta.
Pearl also discusses his work bringing Auburn, Kansas State, and Arizona to Israel, his role on the Executive Board of Athletes for Israel (https://www.athletesforisrael.org/about-us), and his chairmanship of the U.S.-Israel Education Association (https://www.usieducation.org)— which takes congressional leaders to Israel to learn the Jewish roots of their Christian faith, so they come back to Washington supporting Israel not for political reasons, but because they're biblically commanded to.
Plus: the remarkable story behind the number 613 hanging in the rafters of Madison Square Garden — just as the Knicks return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
JBS is proud to be airing the Maccabiah Games this summer on cable TV or the JBS app — Opening Ceremony July 1st from Teddy Stadium, running through July 13th, with 10,000 Jewish athletes from 60 countries.