In this special episode, Nachi Gordon sits down with Bruce Blakeman, Nassau County Executive and Republican candidate for Governor of New York, and Congressman Mike Lawler, who is running for reelection in one of the most closely watched House races in the country. Bruce shares the promise he made to his grandfather at nine years old, why he's running for governor, how he handled the protesters who tried to storm a shul in his county, and the story of Nachi's very first job, driving Bruce to Jewish events.

Mike opens up about his father's last words to him, what the nonstop attack ads cost his family, what he wishes more people understood about the Orthodox and Chassidic community, and why his race could once again decide control of Congress. With Election Day just days away, this is a chance to see who both men really are beyond the campaign ads and lawn signs.

This episode is sponsored by:

► Chesed 24/7 Run 24/7

On Sunday, November 15, join Chesed 24/7 for Run 24/7 at the American Dream Mall, a 5K walk or run for women and girls, with a new track this year for ages 11 to 14. Enjoy brunch on the go plus exclusive access to the DreamWorks Water Park from 9 to 11 a.m., all supporting Chesed 24/7's hospital rooms and meals for patients and their families. Transportation is available from Brooklyn, Monsey, Lakewood and the Five Towns. Registration closes November 7.

https://chesed247-psi.vercel.app/?utm_source=MM&utm_id=Chesed24-7

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: "Vote as If This Was the Most Important Vote in Your Life"
1:39 Bruce Blakeman and the Promise to His Grandfather
3:26 Why Bruce Blakeman Is Running for Governor: Taxes, Utilities and Safety
6:48 The Attack Ads, Kathy Hochul and Zohran Mamdani
10:27 Yeshiva Tuition, Vouchers and Parental Rights
12:53 Antisemitism and the Protest at the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst
15:29 Bruce Blakeman's Message to Jewish Voters, and Nachi's First Boss
19:28 Mike Lawler on 9/11, Public Service and His Father's Last Words
23:10 The Attack Ads and the Price of Public Service
25:53 What Mike Lawler Wishes People Knew About the Orthodox and Chassidic Community
32:08 Why the Lawler Race Could Decide Control of Congress
33:37 Karaoke, Star Wars and Three Hours of Sleep
36:06 "Half the Country Decides They Don't Like You"
37:14 Closing: Please Vote

Nessia was a Mexican music artist who walked away from a promising music career to pursue a deeper connection to Judaism and Torah. Feeling a strong spiritual pull toward Israel, she moved there on October 6, 2023, just one day before the October 7 attacks. Through studying Torah, she completed her conversion and embraced a new life focused on modesty, humility, and serving Hashem. She also shares her personal struggles with dating and preparing for marriage, and her hope to one day use her musical talents in a way that aligns with her values and purpose.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

►Adopt a Soldier

A personal connection to an injured IDF soldier

https://adopt-a-soldier.org

► Ceremian Financial

Advice built on experience. Moshe Alpert and Ceremian Financial are fiduciary financial advisors offering wealth management, financial planning, retirement planning, and estate and legacy planning for families, professionals and business owners, so you can have real peace of mind that your finances are taken care of. Schedule your first conversation today.

https://ceremianfinancial.com/

Moshe@ceremianfinancial.com

718-644-1594

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

_________________

Nachi Gordon sits down with Ben Brafman, one of the most well known criminal defense attorneys in the country and a proud frum Jew. Ben opens up about sitting with clients at the worst moments of their lives, why he says he's "not the morality police," the Otisville visiting day he can never forget, and the hardest conversation of his career, with Super Bowl champion Plaxico Burress.

They also get into the pressures and shortcuts that lead good people into serious crimes, the damage lashon hara does in our community, keeping Shabbos while representing Sean Combs, and the Brafman family legacy, from the Torah his father saved on Kristallnacht to the lives his brother, Rabbi Aron Brafman, changed at Yeshiva of Far Rockaway.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Touro

Serious about your education and your Torah learning? Touro's Lander College for Men/Beis Medrash L'Talmud offers over 20 majors and pre-professional tracks, including finance, computer science, accounting, biology, psychology, pre-law, pre-dental and pre-med, plus honors pathways into New York Medical College and Touro College of Dental Medicine. Join the Open House on November 8.

https://lcm.touro.edu/openhouse

_________________

► Ceremian Financial

Advice built on experience. Moshe Alpert and Ceremian Financial are fiduciary financial advisors offering wealth management, financial planning, retirement planning, and estate and legacy planning for families, professionals and business owners, so you can have real peace of mind that your finances are taken care of. Schedule your first conversation today.

https://ceremianfinancial.com/

Moshe@ceremianfinancial.com

718-644-1594

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: "I'm Not the Morality Police"

3:29 Ben Brafman on Talking Clients Out of Suicide and an Affinity Fraud in Shul

6:25 No Mussar and No Shortcuts: The Hard Work Behind the Job

8:31 His Father, Kristallnacht, and the Torah Saved From a Burning Shul

9:39 Law School, Stand-Up Comedy, and Humor in the Courtroom

11:46 What Gets Frum Business People in Trouble

13:26 Otisville Visiting Day: "Tatti, Kum Aheim"

16:28 COVID Loans, False Applications, and Federal Sentencing

20:34 Mesira, Cooperating With the Government, and Pardons for Sale

24:34 The Chesed of the Jewish Community and Hospital Shabbos Rooms

28:26 Lashon Hara: "Be Like Ben"

31:26 Yiddishkeit vs. Career: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and a "Heart Surgery"

35:30 Making a Name: In the Zone and No Summers Off

37:58 The Hardest Conversation: Plaxico Burress

41:40 How Do You Defend Someone You Think Belongs in Jail?

43:26 Smicha Is Not a PhD: Kollel, Financial Pressure, and the Cheder in Ramat Eshkol

48:42 The Art of Cross-Examination and the Evidence You Can't Cross-Examine

54:22 No Shortcuts to Success, and Lawyers Burned by AI

56:03 Not Picking Up on Shabbos for Sean Combs

1:01:18 The Mafia Cops Case That Should Be a Movie

1:05:36 Best and Worst Advice, and Learning Daf Yomi

1:09:26 Ben and His Brother, Rabbi Aron Brafman

1:15:50 Sullivan & Cromwell and Frum Lawyers in Big Law

1:18:08 Closing and Meaningful Minute Plus

On September 30, Flydubai flight FZ1073 from Dubai to Tel Aviv was hijacked mid-air. A terrorist stabbed the pilot, the plane dropped 15,000 feet in under a minute, and for a few seconds nobody was flying it. Nachi Gordon sits down with Daniel Schlichter, who was sitting in the second row with his wife, two meters from the cockpit, and watched three Israeli passengers take the terrorist down while a dentist on board treated the pilot. Daniel handed them the headphones they used to tie him up.

Daniel walks through every minute: the empty cockpit, the off-duty pilots who took over, the flight attendant who told them to let the terrorist go, the emergency landing in Saudi Arabia with part of the tail missing, and the first direct flight from Saudi Arabia to Israel. He also opens up about why a man who never considered himself religious now calls it a divine miracle, and what he believes all 174 people on that plane are still here to do.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: "Nobody's Flying This Plane"

1:55 Daniel Schlichter on Boarding Flight FZ1073 Home From Japan

3:36 "Somebody Is Stabbing the Pilot": The Fight in the Cockpit

8:45 Losing 15,000 Feet in Under a Minute

11:31 The Miracles That Kept 174 People Alive and What It Did to Daniel's Faith

16:06 An Empty Cockpit and the Off-Duty Pilots Who Took Over

18:59 Not Trusting the Crew and Landing in Saudi Arabia

22:52 Am Yisrael Chai and the First Direct Flight From Saudi Arabia to Israel

25:05 "Kill Me, Kill Me": Why It Was Terror, Not a Fight Between Pilots

29:10 "I'm Not a Hero": Coming Home and Searching for Why

32:57 The Indian Pilot Who Opened the Door

The shidduch system says stay in your lane: same hashkafa, same schools, and wait for the shadchan to call. Rivkah Fox thinks that's exactly what's keeping so many people single. With Blind Fate, the matchmaking platform she started on Instagram, she's throwing out the boxes and labels with anonymous bios, blind video dates and caricature resumes, and setting up couples the system would never put together, like a yeshivish guy with smicha and a modern Orthodox Ramaz grad who are now married with kids. Hundreds of singles in eight countries have gotten married through her setups, and instead of pushback, rabbanim and even a Rebbe's gabbai are calling her for help.

Nachi Gordon pushes her on all of it: whether crossing hashkafa lines puts someone's Yiddishkeit at risk, why she calls image the biggest problem in the shidduch world, how she gets paid without becoming a debt collector, and the week an entire family turned on her over one green check on the Loop app.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Shopify Guru

Store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru's Daniel gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change. Call 732-534-1404 or go to shopifyguru.io.

https://go.jcn.io/sgmp

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

In this special throwback episode,Nachi Gordon sits down with Rivka Shotkin, a 16 year old from Passaic and the youngest guest in Meaningful People history. On January 31, 2021, a family ski trip in Tannersville ended when Rivka missed a turn on her last run of the day and went straight into a tree, breaking 11 bones, puncturing both lungs, and severing her spinal cord. She walks us through waking up in the ICU nine days later, three months of rehab during COVID without being able to see her family, and landing back in the hospital with septic shock just five days after finally coming home.

What makes this one special is how Rivka talks about all of it. She opens up about how unhappy she was before the accident, the strange sense of peace she felt that weekend, why she now calls her injury a gift, and what she wants the community to understand about treating people in wheelchairs. It's funny, honest, and genuinely inspiring.

This episode is sponsored by:

► PZ Deals

Never pay full price again when you download the PZ Deals app.

https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp

_________________

► Colel Chabad Pushka App

The easiest way to give Tzedaka.

https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful

_________________

► Shopify Guru

Store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru's Daniel gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change. Call 732-534-1404 or go to shopifyguru.io.

https://go.jcn.io/sgmp

_________________

► Ness Vacation Homes

Eden Gardens' largest luxury home collection. Handpicked, high end homes available exclusively through Ness.

https://nessvacationhomes.com/

_________________

► Rothenberg Law Firm

Personal Injury Law Firm for 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.

https://shorturl.at/JFKHH

_________________

► Town Appliance

Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.

https://www.townappliance.com

https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: Meet Rivka Shotkin, MPP's Youngest Guest Ever

4:02 Welcome to the Studio and Growing Up in Passaic

7:23 The Ski Trip to Tannersville That Changed Everything

10:10 Airlifted to Albany and Waking Up Nine Days Later

13:20 Learning Rivka Was Paralyzed and Eli Portell's Advice

15:49 Anger, Dark Humor, and Taking It in Stride

18:04 Three Months of Rehab During COVID

22:07 Punishment, Test, or Gift?

23:33 Coming Home, a Wedding Cake, and Septic Shock

27:29 How to Accept What You Never Signed Up For

29:45 Unhappy Before the Accident and a Strange Premonition

31:57 Choosing Happiness and Strength From Rivka's Parents

34:59 Brain Surgeon Dreams and How to Treat People in Wheelchairs

38:20 Emunah, Hashgacha, and Not Being Afraid of the Pain

42:36 Rivka's Second Rosh Hashanah

46:17 Camp Simcha and Rivka's Support System

49:06 Poetry, Dreams, and Determination