Judaism Unbound

Rest to Return is a podcast for a restless world. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is your host. This series is rooted in Shabbat, an ancient Jewish practice that teaches us how to belong to time. Here, rest is a sacred rhythm woven into who we are. We continue by gathering around a single question: How do we know when to work and when to rest?

1. I learned about spiralinear time from Kohenet Sara Esther Richards who wrote her Masters Thesis, Spiralinear Time: Religious Calendar Formation, Momentum, and Change within a Dynamic Time Structure, on the topic.


2. We learn about the shmitta in Exodus 23:10-11


3. Here is a photo of us at the beginning of our first shmitta year; this was taken in Kyoto, Japan in January 2009.


4. The Jonathan Sacks quote, “Shabbat is the day we stand still and let all our blessings catch up with us.” comes from his book, Radical Then, Radical Now.


5. The words to Lecha Dodi by Shlomo Alkabetz can be found here. “Shamor” (keep/guard) and “zachor” (remember) are in verse 2.


6. The 39 melachot can be found in the Mishnah (Shabbat 7:2).


7. If you want to find out whose land you’re on, https://native-land.ca/ is an excellent resource.


8. You can find out how the moon is cycling in your particular location here.

Check out the Rest to Return webpage for photos, info about the Rest to Return retreat, and more!

This episode is brought to you by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Rest to Return exists because we believe slowing down is a spiritual act. IJS believes that too. For over two decades, IJS has been helping people go deeper, through Jewish mindfulness meditation, contemplative prayer, sacred text study, and embodied practice. Their offerings range from online courses and silent retreats to immersive cohort programs for seekers of all experience levels, clergy, and spiritual leaders who are ready to live and lead from a more grounded place. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is part of IJS’s core faculty, and the wisdom you'll hear in this series is very much in that spirit. If this podcast is stirring something in you, IJS is a place to go further. Explore their programs, and more ways to learn and practice with Keshira, at jewishspirituality.org, including:

• View the latest offerings from IJS in our program catalog


• Join Keshira and others on retreat this August: Returning Anew


• Learn more about Shevet, IJS's community for younger adults (20s-30s)


• IJS has several online free practices with Keshira and our other faculty including our live Daily Sit, our weekly Shevet Sit for younger adults (under 40), and monthly Affinity Sits for Jews of Color, LGBTQ+, and individuals with disabilities. Click here for more information.


• Join our mailing list to be notified about our upcoming fall courses, including Keshira's Earth, Moon, Mindfulness year-long class.

This conversation explores how American Jewish World Service understands global justice as an expression of human dignity, solidarity, and the belief that every person deserves the opportunity to live a full and flourishing life. Through stories from Uganda, Kenya, and beyond, Joannine Nanyange describes how AJWS partners with grassroots movements fighting for LGBTQ rights, health access, democracy, and human rights, emphasizing accompaniment rather than charity and agency rather than dependency. Elizabeth Richman connects that work to Jewish teachings about responsibility, arguing that Judaism calls people to expand their circle of concern beyond themselves and to take action when confronted with injustice. In a deeply interconnected world, the struggles of distant communities are never truly distant, and hope is sustained through relationships, shared responsibility, and the collective work of building a more just future.

American Jewish World Service (AJWS)is the leading Jewish organization working to fight poverty and defend human rights in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. We respond to pressing global issues—from humanitarian disasters, authoritarianism and the climate crisis, to the persecution of women and minorities—by supporting hundreds of social change organizations on three continents and advocating for U.S. and international policies protecting human rights. Our supporters are primarily members of the Jewish community, but our work helps people of all religions, races and ethnicities. With Jewish values and a global reach, AJWS is making a difference in millions of lives and building a more just and equitable world for all.  

Joaninne Nanyange (she/they) is an attorney with over 13 years of leadership experience in the field of sexual health and rights. Her legal background spans grassroots legal advocacy to global grantmaking, giving her a unique perspective on the needs of the movements AJWS supports. As the Director of AJWS’s Sexual Health and Rights team, Joaninne leads a portfolio of seven countries, supporting grassroots movements advancing the rights of women, girls and LGBTQI+ communities. She is also widely recognized as a trusted thought leader in the African sexual health and rights landscape.

Rabbi Elizabeth Richman (she/her) leads AJWS’s Jewish Engagement team, working with American Jewish clergy, community leaders, and institutions to advance AJWS’s mission. Before coming to AJWS, she spent 13 years in executive leadership at Jews United for Justice (JUFJ). Ordained at JTS, Elizabeth is actively involved in the work of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable and is a senior fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute. She currently serves on the steering committee of Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NoVa) and previously served as co-chair of the DC Jobs with Justice board and as a member of the Interfaith Worker Justice board. She has also served on the Rabbinical Assembly’s Social Action Commission, the Resolutions Committee, and the Rabbinic Career Development Commission.

Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

Rest to Return, a podcast for a restless world. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is your host. This series is rooted in Shabbat, an ancient Jewish practice that teaches us how to belong to time. Here, rest is a sacred rhythm woven into who we are. We continue by gathering around a single question: What is my sacred purpose?

1. You can find more info about Tzedek Lab here.


2. Settled back into his room, my dad was a bit frail…but he could still kiss us and us that he loved us!


3. The list of 39 melachot can be found here.


4. Olam haBah is often translated as “the world to come” and is used in reference to the afterlife. In this context, I’m using it to describe “the world as it could be” which includes dignity, equity, and liberation.


5. The idea that each person is a letter in the Torah is rooted in Megaleh Amukot (Va'etchanan 186:1).


6. I learned about the concept of “ratzon” from my teacher, colleague, and friend David Jaffe, Founder and Executive Director of Kirva. 


7. Rabbi Tarfon’s quote comes from Pirkei Avot 2:16.


8. One source for Rabbi Simcha Bunim’s teaching is Tales of The Hasidim Later Masters by Martin Buber.


9. The Mary Oliver line comes from her poem, entitled “The Summer Day”.


10.  This quote has been misattributed to Courtney Carver. It is instead referenced by Carver in her book, Gentle: Rest More, Stress Less and Live the Life You Actually You Want. The quotation itself comes from Psychologist Nicola Jane Hobbs who teaches, “Instead of asking, 'Have I worked hard enough to deserve rest?' ask, 'Have I rested enough to do my most loving, meaningful work?'” 


11. The practice in this episode was inspired by a practice that I learned from Rabbi David Jaffe, Founder of Kirva, and it is one that I’ve enjoyed practicing with each Cohort of “Dismantling Racism from the Inside Out” that I have the privilege of co-facilitating for People of Colour, alongside Yehudah Webster. The next cohort begins in Fall 2026 and you can find more info here.

Check out the Rest to Return webpage for photos, info about the Rest to Return retreat, and more!

This episode is brought to you by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Rest to Return exists because we believe slowing down is a spiritual act. IJS believes that too. For over two decades, IJS has been helping people go deeper, through Jewish mindfulness meditation, contemplative prayer, sacred text study, and embodied practice. Their offerings range from online courses and silent retreats to immersive cohort programs for seekers of all experience levels, clergy, and spiritual leaders who are ready to live and lead from a more grounded place. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is part of IJS’s core faculty, and the wisdom you'll hear in this series is very much in that spirit. If this podcast is stirring something in you, IJS is a place to go further. Explore their programs, and more ways to learn and practice with Keshira, at jewishspirituality.org, including:

• View the latest offerings from IJS in our program catalog


• Join Keshira and others on retreat this August: Returning Anew  


• Learn more about Shevet, IJS's community for younger adults (20s-30s) 


• IJS has several online free practices with Keshira and our other faculty including our live Daily Sit, our weekly Shevet Sit for younger adults (under 40), and monthly Affinity Sits for Jews of Color, LGBTQ+, and individuals with disabilities. Click here for more information.


• Join our mailing list to be notified about our upcoming fall courses, including Keshira's Earth, Moon, Mindfulness year-long class.

Danya Ruttenberg is a rabbi, writer, and activist who has been on the front-lines fighting for reproductive justice, through Jewish lenses, for many years. She joins Lex and Rena Yehuda for a conversation about abortion, the framework of bodily  autonomy, and how we might best conceptualize what it means to relate to these issues Jewishly. This episode is the 4th in an ongoing mini-series of Judaism Unbound episodes exploring Judaism through the framework of bodily autonomy.

Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

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Apply for the UnYeshiva's Certificate Program for Unbound Judaism by heading to www.judaismunbound.com/certificate! The final deadline to submit your application is June 14th.

Rest to Return, a podcast for a restless world. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is your host. This series is rooted in Shabbat, an ancient Jewish practice that teaches us how to belong to time. Here, rest is a sacred rhythm woven into who we are. We begin by gathering around a single question: What do we need in order to sustain our sacred purpose?

1. I received Kohenet smicha from The Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute in July 2017.


2. The chorus of voices affirming that I am a Kohenet was recorded during the ceremony.


3. The Torah reference about ceasing from work comes from Breishit 2:2. 


4. My understanding of Jewish people as “people of the book, body, and earth” has been informed by a number of sources and teachers; notable among them is Rav Kohenet Taya Mâ.


5. Though I have come to understand that many somatic therapists and practitioners have written about the way that trauma can cause people to dissociate from their bodies, I learned it from a variety of sources and forums, none of which credited a source.


6. The Kabbalistic concept of the Four Worlds is outlined in greater depth here.


7. Octavia Raheem is an embodied practitioner and author who you can learn more about here.


8. Asher Yatzar by Dan Nichols


9. Helen Marie is a psychotherapist who you can learn more about here.


10.  The story of Reb Zusha is paraphrased from Martin Buber's Tales of the Hasidim.


11.  I learned the concept of makom kavuah (our fixed place) from Rabbi David Jaffe, Founder of Kirva, during a session about the Mussar concept of anavah (being right-sized).

Check out the Rest to Return webpage for photos, info about the Rest to Return retreat, and more!

This episode is brought to you by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Rest to Return exists because we believe slowing down is a spiritual act. IJS believes that too. For over two decades, IJS has been helping people go deeper, through Jewish mindfulness meditation, contemplative prayer, sacred text study, and embodied practice. Their offerings range from online courses and silent retreats to immersive cohort programs for seekers of all experience levels, clergy, and spiritual leaders who are ready to live and lead from a more grounded place. Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife is part of IJS’s core faculty, and the wisdom you'll hear in this series is very much in that spirit. If this podcast is stirring something in you, IJS is a place to go further. Explore their programs, and more ways to learn and practice with Keshira, at jewishspirituality.org, including:

• View the latest offerings from IJS in our program catalog


• Join Keshira and others on retreat this August: Returning Anew  


• Learn more about Shevet, IJS's community for younger adults (20s-30s) 


• IJS has several online free practices with Keshira and our other faculty including our live Daily Sit, our weekly Shevet Sit for younger adults (under 40), and monthly Affinity Sits for Jews of Color, LGBTQ+, and individuals with disabilities. Click here for more information.


• Join our mailing list to be notified about our upcoming fall courses, including Keshira's Earth, Moon, Mindfulness year-long class.