Totally Unexpected! Titelbild

Totally Unexpected!

Totally Unexpected!

Von: Chavie Bruk
Jetzt kostenlos hören, ohne Abo

Das größte Angebot der Saison | 0,99 € pro Monat für die ersten 3 Monate + 15 € Audible-Guthaben

Danach 6,99 €/Monat. Bedingungen gelten. Monatlich kündbar.
Über diesen Titel

Join Chavie as she discovers the one totally unexpected moment in her guests’ lives that changed everything. These are real stories about pain, joy, and struggle, the moments that make us human. Chavie is obsessed with personal growth and doesn't shy away from the hard conversations. She covers topics like Jewish astrology, parenting taboos, health and wellness, adoption, race, and sexuality inside the Orthodox Jewish community and beyond.

Chavie Bruk is a mother of five adopted children and the co-director of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana together with her husband, Rabbi Chaim Bruk. On Totally Unexpected! Chavie doesn't just interview her guests, she sits with them for long, unfiltered conversations where they laugh, cry, and share the stories that shaped who they have become. Chavie also writes a weekly essay on Substack about the unexpected moments in her life, the one's happening in real time that are challenging her, stretching her, and helping her grow. Sign up for free here: www.TotallyUnexpected.blog.

Copyright 2024-2026 All rights reserved. Judentum Sozialwissenschaften Spiritualität
Folgen
  • Chanie Wilschanski's Story: Trapped By My Own Success

    Chanie Wilschanski's Story: Trapped By My Own Success
    Nov 2 2026
    Leadership advisor Chanie Wilschanski, author of This Can’t Be Normal, joins Chavie to talk about being successful and still feeling like she was barely surviving. As the oldest daughter of Chabad shluchim in New Jersey, Chanie became the person everyone relied on. Chavie wonders whether taking charge helped her cope when home life felt chaotic and unpredictable. Later, married and raising a family in Crown Heights, she and her husband were working hard but still deep in debt. She built Schools of Excellence and they paid off their debt, but she couldn’t keep going the way she was. She shares what it was like to keep working through repeated illness and two miscarriages, even giving a keynote the day after surgery for a miscarriage. Eventually she began wondering why her life required so much endurance. They discuss how it can seem like responsibilities are divided at home, but one spouse is still left with the burden of making sure it gets done. Chanie introduces what she calls “rhythms,” things that stay predictable when life is unpredictable. Chavie shares how her therapist helps her question what’s urgent, and they talk about resisting the pressure to immediately solve a child’s problem when what they need is support. About Chanie Chanie Wilschanski is a mom of 4 and a leadership advisor, speaker, and founder of Schools of Excellence. She works with school owners and organizational leaders who have built successful businesses but find themselves carrying an unsustainable amount of invisible responsibility. She is the author of This Can’t Be Normal: What to Do When Success Starts to Feel Like Survival, a book that explores why success can begin to feel unexpectedly heavy when decisions, responsibility, and emotional weight quietly concentrate in one person. Through her work, Chanie helps leaders build the infrastructure, rhythms, and ownership that allow organizations to thrive without everything routing back to them. This Week’s Prompt Did you ever feel conflicted, scared, or overwhelmed by a pregnancy? In collaboration with SHIFRA, this week’s voice notes feature mothers sharing their experiences of struggling during pregnancy and receiving support. Stay to the end of every episode to hear listener voice notes in response to that week’s prompt. Want to join the conversation? Follow Chavie on Instagram for each week’s prompt, then send your voice note via WhatsApp to 406-600-4935. Referenced On the Pod 3:54: Life Without a Phone, Chavie’s essay on Substack8:38: Chavie’s interview with Liv Longin on The Brief9:12: The Sisters Chat about Life Behind the Mic with Chavie Bruk9:24: Mushky Yiftach Hashem’s Story: Becoming the Duct Tape Queen, on Totally Unexpected!14:39: Erica Pelman’s Story: What the Abortion Debate Misses About Mothers, on Totally Unexpected!18:40: This Can’t Be Normal by Chanie Wilschanski44:08: Schools of Excellence, Chanie Wilschanski’s podcast45:58: Terry Real, psychotherapist and author1:16:03: Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler1:39:12: Shaar Habitachon (Gate of Trust)1:53:28: The Myth of Having It All by Chanie Wilschanski, EmBRace magazine, Fall 5787, pp. 34–371:54:17: The Cure for Chronic Pain with Nicole Sachs, LCSW Stay in touch with Chanie Download the first chapter of This Can’t Be Normal for free. Stay in touch with Chavie @chaviebruk on Instagram www.totallyunexpected.blog Totally Unexpected! on YouTube Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    2 Std. und 19 Min.
  • Erica Pelman's Story: What the Abortion Debate Misses About Mothers

    Erica Pelman's Story: What the Abortion Debate Misses About Mothers
    Oct 19 2026

    Chavie and Erica bond over being two Texas girls, and Erica shares how a call from a friend planning an abortion eventually led her to create SHIFRA, a Jewish organization supporting women through unexpected pregnancies. She also shares her own family’s history with unplanned pregnancy and how her grandmother was raised believing that her biological mother was her sister. Erica explains how SHIFRA provides therapy, customized financial assistance, social services, and parenting support, and why many of the women who call are married mothers who already have children. Chavie talks about how Orthodox communities have become more open about infertility, sexual abuse, mental health, and the complexities of adoption, while unplanned pregnancy remains largely hidden. Chavie and Erica discuss the differences between Jewish and Christian approaches to abortion, why Erica keeps SHIFRA outside the pro-life/pro-choice binary, and how the organization continues supporting women even when they ultimately decide to end their pregnancies. Erica explains that her focus is always on what the mother needs. Rather than asking whether it is the right time to have a child, she asks what a woman would need to continue her pregnancy.

    About Erica

    Erica Pelman is the founder & CEO of SHIFRA. Prior to creating SHIFRA, she worked at the U.S. Department of Labor for seven years on Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and workforce development programs. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and lives in Rockville, Maryland with her husband and their four children. She grew up in Austin, Texas.

    This Week's Prompt

    What Did You Have to Unlearn About Parenting?

    Stay to the end of the episode for listener voice notes responding to this week’s prompt.

    Want to be featured in a future episode? Follow Chavie on Instagram for upcoming prompts, then send your voice note via WhatsApp to 406-600-4935.

    Referenced on the Pod

    • 2:35: Chavie’s interview with Liv Longin on The Brief
    • 8:18: Article about the Bruk's adoption journey by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller on Aish.com
    • 1:13:35: Lori Palatnik, co-founder and founding director of Momentum
    • 1:29:56: Nissim Black, Orthodox Jewish rapper and musician

    Stay in touch with Erica

    • @call_shifra on Instagram
    • If you or someone you love needs help: callshifra.org/start-here
    • If you would like to help others: callshifra.org/donate

    Stay in touch with Chavie

    • @chaviebruk on Instagram
    • www.totallyunexpected.blog
    • Totally Unexpected! on YouTube

    Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 53 Min.
  • Blimie Heller's Story: The Illusion of Control - A Parent’s Dilemma

    Blimie Heller's Story: The Illusion of Control - A Parent’s Dilemma
    Oct 5 2026

    Parenting educator Blimie Heller joins Chavie to discuss growing up in Toronto, reading parenting books as a child, and how her oldest daughter’s refusal to comply forced her to reconsider what a parent’s role should be. Blimie and Chavie talk about setting limits without relying on punishment, why teenagers expose the illusion of parental control, and Blimie’s shift from advocating primarily for children to extending the same compassion to parents. Chavie shares a difficult morning with her teenage son, and Blimie uses Nonviolent Communication to explore what each of them needed in that moment. They close by asking whether successful parenting means raising children who comply or maintaining a strong relationship with them through conflict.

    About Blimie Blimie Heller is a parenting educator, coach, and the creator of the Relational Alignment Model™. She helps parents build relationships with their children based on respect and trust while navigating boundaries, conflict, and challenging behavior. Her work gives parents practical tools for moving away from control and toward connection, communication, and cooperation.

    This Week's Prompt Our listener prompt and voice notes took a short break for the holidays. We’ll resume next episode!

    Referenced On the Pod

    • 27:34: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
    • 27:39: Children Are from Heaven by John Gray
    • 37:34: Hunt, Gather, Parent by Michaeleen Doucleff
    • 46:40: Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn
    • 1:03:54: Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg
    • 1:08:59: Yoram Mosenzon, Blimie’s teacher and major influence
    • 1:18:45: GROK Empathy Cards, created by Christine King & Jean Morrison
    • 1:40:21: The Journey of the Heroic Parent by Brad M. Reedy, PhD

    Stay in touch with Blimie www.blimieheller.com @unconditional_parenting on Instagram

    Stay in touch with Chavie @chaviebruk on Instagram www.totallyunexpected.blog Totally Unexpected! on YouTube

    This episode is sponsored by an anonymous listener whose generous contribution covered a month of podcast production. Thank you for believing in Totally Unexpected! and helping the podcast continue to grow.

    Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 48 Min.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Noch keine Rezensionen vorhanden