Beneath The Surface Podcast

Welcome to the Beneath the Surface Podcast, hosted by the Millennial Rabbi, Daniel Bortz. Tune in as I talk to high impact people from around the world, discovering meaningful ways to live life deeper, beneath the surface.

Wildescast: Meditation, Happiness, and Finding God through Kabbalah 11/15/2022

Wildescast: Meditation, Happiness, and Finding God through Kabbalah I joined Rabbi Mark Wildes on his podcast for a wide ranging discussion. In his words: There is a deep yearning for spiritual experience and meaning among the young Jewish community. Rabbi Daniel Bortz, better known as The Millennial Rabbi has gained social-media fame through his focus on meditation, Kabbalah, and Torah wisdom for achieving happiness. Rabbi Wildes speaks with Rabbi Bortz about all this and more in this inspirational and informative conversation that will leave you thinking about "God" in a whole new way. Timestamps: 1:30 - Millennials and Torah 12:30 - Nature of God 15:00 - Rationalism vs. Mysticism 20:00 - Happiness 30:00 - Power of Prayer 37:00 - Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/25024512

Sexuality & Judaism w/ High Noon 03/23/2022

Sexuality & Judaism w/ High Noon I joined the High Noon Podcast to discuss Jewish views of love, intimacy, and healthy relationships. In their description: Rabbi Daniel shares with us the mystical teachings of Jewish, the significance of marriage, and how sexuality is viewed from the Judaism perspective. He discusses the negative impacts of pornography and how a Rabbi like himself can help someone who is struggling with addiction. He also talks about the importance of having a positive mindset in life and the value of separating work from home and family. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/22540547

Tracy Komlos: Living Your Best Life 03/20/2022

Tracy Komlos: Living Your Best Life Tracy & I discussed how to cultivate joy, the power of community building, travel, wonder, and female leadership, the highs & lows of entrepreneurship, insights into mushrooms and psychedelics, and the benefit of intention setting for abundance in your life. I hope you enjoy our conversation! /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/22508024

Remi Franklin: Being Yourself & Protecting Those you Love 03/07/2022

Remi Franklin: Being Yourself & Protecting Those you Love Remi Franklin is the founder and CEO of Light Switch Digital, helping brands create their vision and market themselves most effectively. He's a seasoned jujitsu practitioner and leads security with "Shabbat Angels" - volunteers who patrol the streets of Los Angeles to ensure safety for the Jewish community. I found Remi through his social media posts that displayed his proud Jewish identity and staunch defense of his people and nation of Israel. I hope you enjoy our conversation /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/22360703

Experiential Judaism w/ Zevi Slavin 08/25/2021

Experiential Judaism w/ Zevi Slavin I joined my friend Zevi Slavin in discussion on his podcast, Seekers of Unity, where we dove into experiential Judaism, mystical experience in Jewish practice today, and why it matters /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/20264957

Jesse Israel: Authentic Mindful Living 05/25/2021

Jesse Israel: Authentic Mindful Living Jesse Israel and I sat for a live session at the Divine You Retreat. Jesse is a social entrepreneur, meditation leader and former record label executive known for founding the mass meditation movement The Big Quiet. He's signed multi-platinum bands like MGMT, has led some of the largest meditations in the world, teaches meditation to next-generation leaders and speaks at Fortune 500s and colleges. Jesse’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Vice, Vogue, Fast Company, GQ & the Wall Street Journal /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/19229165

Soul Living 31: Lag Ba'omer - The Fire of Love 04/29/2021

Soul Living 31: Lag Ba'omer - The Fire of Love /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18915242

Soul Living 30: Detailed Transcendence - The Sefirot 04/16/2021

Soul Living 30: Detailed Transcendence - The Sefirot There are 7 weeks between the holidays of Passover & Shavuot. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18754889

Soul Living 29: Grounding Transcendence - The Path of Harmony 04/09/2021

Soul Living 29: Grounding Transcendence - The Path of Harmony This Shabbat we read about the holy brothers Nadav & Avihu, sons of Aharon the Kohen Gadol, who enter the Temple with incense. The Torah calls it “strange fire before God, which He hadn’t commanded them.” As they enter, their souls leave their body. What happened here? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18668924

Rudy Rochman: Proud Jewish Living 04/01/2021

Rudy Rochman: Proud Jewish Living Rudy Rochman is an important young voice in this generation of proud Jewish identity. A passionate advocate for the self determination of Jews on their ancestral homeland in Israel, Rudy works to find mutual understanding between Jews, Arabs, and all peoples in a peaceful way. In this episode we discuss what motivates him to do his work, his documentary "We Were Never Lost" about Jewish tribes in Africa, Jewish spiritual identity, and the always simple subject of how to create a lasting peace in Israel. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18570449

Dr. Edith Eger: Choosing Life 03/18/2021

Dr. Edith Eger: Choosing Life I spoke with Holocaust survivor and best-selling author Dr. Edith Eger about her resiliency and perspective during her trauma, and her visualization of a better future. How can we find light in the darkness? Can we see how in spite of our past troubles, we can find strength and live meaningful, impactful lives? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18374684

Soul Living 28: The Holy Cherubs 03/12/2021

Soul Living 28: The Holy Cherubs This week, we read about the building of the Mishkan in the desert – a home for God designed by Betzalel, as directed by Moses. But a difference of opinion arises in the order of creation: Moshe asks that the vessels be built first, and then the structure of the building. Betzalel says the structure should come first, and only then the vessels are placed inside it. What’s the deeper idea behind their differing perspectives? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18292913

Micaela Ezra: How to Reveal Sacred Beauty in our Everyday Lives 03/08/2021

Micaela Ezra: How to Reveal Sacred Beauty in our Everyday Lives I discussed with Micaela Ezra her life's journey and how she found meaning in her Jewish learning; how we can become more intentional in our lives, elevating our homes into sacred spaces, and modeling a meaningful life for our children. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18228782

Soul Living 27: The Golden Calf 03/05/2021

Soul Living 27: The Golden Calf This week we read about the infamous creation and worship of the golden calf, perhaps the greatest human mistake since Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge. Throughout the Torah God implores us not to worship idols. But in today’s world, this seems extremely strange: Where did a deep desire for worshiping inanimate objects come from? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18205577

Soul Living 26: Hidden Sweetness of Purim 02/25/2021

Soul Living 26: Hidden Sweetness of Purim Mordechai responds to Esther: “Do not think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews by being in the king’s palace. For if you will remain silent at this time, relief and salvation will come to the Jews from another source, and you and the house of your father will be lost. And who knows if it is not for just such a time that you reached this royal position.” /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18086225

Soul Living 25: The Humility of Moses 02/19/2021

Soul Living 25: The Humility of Moses At that moment, God called to the soul of Moshe and said to her: "My daughter, I assigned you 120 years in Moshe's body. Now the time has come for you to depart. Emerge and do not delay." She responded: "Master of the Universe, I know that You are the Master of all spirits and the Master of all souls. You created me and You placed me in Moshe's body for 120 years. And now, is there a body in this world purer than that of Moshe? I love him and I do not wish to depart from him!" /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/18014429

Soul Living 24: Revelation at Sinai 02/05/2021

Soul Living 24: Revelation at Sinai At that moment none of the mysteries of Torah and the secrets above and below were withheld from them, for they saw the radiance of their Master's glory eye to eye [Zohar] /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17828852

Soul Living 23: Darkness & Light 01/21/2021

Soul Living 23: Darkness & Light “They did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days, but for all the children of Israel there was light in their homes.” [Exodus 10:23] /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17641499

Soul Living 22: 10 Plagues & Appreciation 01/16/2021

Soul Living 22: 10 Plagues & Appreciation Why was Moses told tasked with the carrying out the first 3 plagues in Egypt? To show his gratitude /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17574500

Soul Living 21: Moses & the Burning Bush 01/08/2021

Soul Living 21: Moses & the Burning Bush 2 ...Behold, the thorn bush was burning with fire, but the thorn bush was not being consumed. 3 So Moses said, "Let me turn now and see this great spectacle why does the thorn bush not burn up?" 5 And He said, "Do not draw near here. Take your shoes off your feet, because the place upon which you stand is holy soil. 6 And He said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look toward God. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17472260

Soul Living 20: Jacob & the Redemption 01/01/2021

Soul Living 20: Jacob & the Redemption When Jacob wishes to reveal the date of the Redemption to his sons the 12 tribes, his prophetic inspiration leaves him. Sensing his worry that maybe one of his children aren't worthy to hear it, the 12 tribes exclaim the famous prayer we say twice a day to this day: "Shema Yisrael" - "Hear, our Father Israel, God is One." How was this a fitting response by his sons? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17393504

Soul Living 19: Judah Approaches Joseph 12/25/2020

Soul Living 19: Judah Approaches Joseph Joseph teaches us to focus on the deeper plan, not on the messenger of the outer painful experiences that occur to us. Judah teaches us that the bottom line of life is not only about the spiritual level you are on, but how your decisions and behavior affect the fate of other people. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17327849

Soul Living 18: The Beauty of Hanukkah 12/18/2020

Soul Living 18: The Beauty of Hanukkah The Greek Hellenists believed that if something was beautiful, it was holy. The Jews believed that if something was holy, it was beautiful. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17248514

Soul Living 17: Jacob & Esau's Reunion 12/03/2020

Soul Living 17: Jacob & Esau's Reunion The 19th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar marks the liberation from Soviet imprisonment of the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Shneur Zalman (also known as the Alter Rebbe) in 1798. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/17057561

Soul Living 16: Rachel's Selflessness 11/27/2020

Soul Living 16: Rachel's Selflessness Rachel: The advocate of the children of Israel /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16971959

Clem Leek: Music for the Soul 11/23/2020

Clem Leek: Music for the Soul Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi said: “Speech is the pen of the heart, melody is the quill of the soul.” Many of us find a voice to the depths of our hearts through the music we listen to. In a society of much division, music unites people of all walks of life. Clem Leek is an artist whose ambient melodies soothe your soul and take you to a deeper place within yourself. I had the pleasure of discussing the deeper symbolism behind his music and his creative process /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16748537

Soul Living 15: The Voice of Jacob 11/20/2020

Soul Living 15: The Voice of Jacob ‘And Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come closer, so that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not." So Jacob drew near to Isaac his father, and he felt him, and he said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16883042

Ayelet Polonsky: Manifesting Reality 11/15/2020

Ayelet Polonsky: Manifesting Reality I hosted a live conversation with Ayelet Polonsky, the Manifestation Mentor, just in time for the new Hebrew month of Kislev - the month of miracles where darkness is turned into light. We discussed how we can co-create with God to bring down a positive new future for ourselves and the world through the lens of Jewish teachings. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16819310

Soul Living 14: The Days of Abraham 11/12/2020

Soul Living 14: The Days of Abraham This week's Torah portion focuses on the passing of our Matriarch Sarah, the last years of Abraham, and the marriage of their son Isaac with Rebecca. What are the deeper life lessons embedded in these events that can help us infuse every moment of our lives with greater meaning? /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16791500

Joshua Church: 21st Century Spirituality 11/10/2020

Joshua Church: 21st Century Spirituality I joined my friend Joshua Church in discussion on his podcast, Find the Others, where we dove into my story and spiritual awakening, explored the origin and true meaning behind some common jewish customs and practices, and discussed spirituality, religion, and happiness in today’s day and age. /episode/index/show/beneathesurface/id/16748735

Beneath The Surface Podcast

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