Artists Who Parent Artists Who Parent

I am so grateful to share this FATHER'S Day the podcast from the writer, musician, and actor Elie Benhiyoun.

At 25, Elie was a rabbi, married, with a child, running a Jewish spiritual center or Chabad House. When Elie faced a hard truth: this wasn't the life he wanted.

A couple years later, our paths converged. Elie had divorced and moved away from his son to Brooklyn, where he showed up at a writing class my husband was running.

Which started him on a whole new journey to an unrealized ambition: the arts.

Now, with his life on the road, Elie reflects on his journey to believing and pursuing his passions and about making the tough decisions to follow your dreams, even when it means seeing your kids less. And why sometimes that’s the best thing you can do for them.

You can check out Elie's writing at https://www.eliebenhiyoun.com/, his creative branding company at https://www.gromybrand.com/, and his fabulous selfies at https://www.instagram.com/ebenhiyoun/.

The first article Elie discusses in this podcast can be found at https://hevria.com/eliebenhiyoun/quest-solitude-ended-brooklyn/.

Jose Castro is one of those people you meet and immediately need to get to know better.

His warmth, and enthusiasm transform the energy of any room he’s in.

At a Zoom LB arts council event this year, Jose was also my first step into the artistic world of LA/Southern California.

Honestly, that event changed everything for me.

Along with being a trained dancer, fashion designer, and photographer, Jose is a master teacher, his current love and primary artistic practice.

In this podcast, he shares wisdom of his teaching perspective and explains how teaching can be an art form in its own right, if you do it right.

Jose, thank you for being here. You are a radiating blessing for this world.

Neshama is an award-winning singer, songwriter, and educator.  She has released 10 albums and sold over one million records. She was one of the creators of the Broadway musical Soul Doctor and was inducted into the Brooklyn Hall of Fame in 2016, receiving a Certificate of Congressional Recognition for her work.

In addition, Neshama has sparked public conversation about the place of women in Judaism, and the importance of religious pluralism as she collaborates with musicians of different faiths.

Neshama is also the daughter of Shlomo Carlebach, a man both widely celebrated and shunned in the Jewish world.

Reb Shlomo, as he was called by his followers, is considered by many to be the foremost Jewish religious songwriter of the 20th century. Through his charismatic storytelling, unconventional spiritual approach, and lively songs, he inspired thousands of Jews to desire to live a spiritual and Jewish life.

But Shlomo was also accused by many people of sexual abuse, accusations that were heard and addressed mostly after his death in 1994, and many Jewish communities particularly after the #metoo movement, wrestle over whether to use the music he created at all.

Neshama untangles herself from the complicated life and legacy of her father. She sits rooted in her deep values, purpose and voice, looking out with piercing honesty at the hypocrisy that surrounds her. She shares insights into a world that, in the pursuit to idolize her father, pushed her aside. She shares about both the greatness and the brokenness of Shlomo, and about the way she is using her life to love with boundaries and attention in a way he never could. And she blows me away with her daily routine, as a way to make herself and her children her top priority.

Most exciting of all, Neshama shares her latest project which is to be sure to illuminate our eyes and to change countless people’s lives.

Neshama, thank you for being here. we are so in need of your life and spirit in this world.