Chavie sits down with her long-distance book buddy Elin for a special episode where they review their book buddy picks but first, Elin shares what it was like growing up in Sweden, the extreme swings between dark winters and sun-filled summers, the way catching sunlight becomes a cultural priority, and how hygge isn't just a trend there but a way of survival. Elin talks about the meet-cute way she and her husband had at Ascent in Tzfat and how they ended up living and working in Kenya at the height of the HIV crisis. Chavie asks about what parenting looked like while living abroad and moving back and forth between countries. Elin talks about the devastating loss of her brother-in-law and his wife, how her niece became a permanent member of their family, and the foster care advocacy work that she is now involved with. In the second half of this conversation, Chavie and Elin go through their book buddy picks, what they loved and what they didn’t, and how reading the same books and talking about them ends up being a way of getting to know someone more deeply than you normally would.

Elin Cohen grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and lives with her family in San Francisco, California. She holds a JSD (PhD in Law) from Stanford University and works in international economic development, supporting the design and implementation of U.S. government foreign assistance programs. She very much enjoys being at home in beautiful San Francisco with her family and friends, and she also feels fortunate to travel extensively for work, to visit family, and for fun and adventures. Elin is a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer for youth in foster care and she is also an avid reader. She and Chavie are book buddies and frequently chat about the books they are reading together, as well as the many reflections those books spark in relation to their own lives, experiences and perspectives.

This Week's Prompt

Bar Mitzvah Culture Is Out of Hand: Yes or No?

This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their HOT TAKES on a given prompt!

Referenced On the Pod

• 30:46 – Ascent Institute
• 1:09:19 – National CASA Program

A full list of Chavie and Elin’s book buddy picks, along with the book podcasts mentioned will be available on www.totallyunexpected.blog.

Stay in touch with Elin!

@elin.cohen on Instagram

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.

In this episode, Chavie sits down with her producer, Elie Benhiyoun, to break down what a day in the life of Chavie Bruk looks like. She walks through a recent Friday, from the moment she wakes up already feeling overwhelmed to the moment she gets into bed with a book after the last Shabbos guest leaves. She opens up about her morning routine, and how she has learned over the years to protect the things that keep her going, including exercise, a proper lunch, and therapy, even on the busiest days. Chavie breaks down her post-treadmill protein shake situation, her gluten-free bagel with lox that she somehow managed to sit down for in the middle of cooking for 70 people, and the secret hummus recipe that has become a staple of her Shabbos table. She shares what came up in her therapy session that Friday, tracing her discomfort with pressure and overwhelm back to her childhood as the oldest sibling on Shlichus. She then walks through the hours of cooking for 70 Shabbos guests, the constant interruptions, the mikvah construction happening steps from her house, and how she designs her schedule to avoid coming into Shabbos frazzled. Chavie also talks about what Friday night actually looks like, the women gathering in the kitchen before the meal, the dynamic she and her husband, Rabbi Chaim Bruk, have built at the Shabbos table, and which books she reaches for once the guests are finally gone.

This interview was published in written format for a collaboration with Valour Magazine. You can find the full interview in print format here: https://valourlifestyle.co.uk

Referenced On the Pod

• 3:16 Valour Magazine
• 23:42: Busy In Brooklyn

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.

Chavie sits down with Rivkah Slonim — author, lecturer, and self-described Chassidic feminist — and walks through her childhood growing up in Crown Heights in close proximity to the Rebbe and Rebbetzin, with grandparents rooted in the illustrious Kapichnitz Chassidic dynasty. Rivkah shares how she came to coin the term "Chassidic feminist" and traces it back to her early years at Chabad of Binghamton, where she was confronted with the widespread assumption that Chassidic women are oppressed, and found herself doing the research to answer questions she had never quite asked before. Chavie brings the hard questions she has collected from her community and her own life about women's place in Jewish law and tradition — including mikvah, taharat hamishpacha, and halacha's relationship with female equality. They then dig into what it means to build a community and raise a family on Shlichus, and whether self-care is a modern invention or just an age-old value with a new name. Rivkah also shares how she came to author her most recent book, Holy Intimacy — which brings the conversation about women's pleasure and Jewish marriage into the open for the first time.

Rivkah Slonim is the Associate Director of the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University, which she co-founded with her husband, Rabbi Aaron Slonim, in 1985. A self-described Chassidic feminist, she is an internationally known lecturer and activist. She is the editor of Total Immersion: A Mikvah Anthology (Jason Aronson, 1996; Urim, 2006) and Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find God in the Everyday, and co-author of Holy Intimacy: The Heart and Soul of Jewish Marriage with Sara Morozow. Slonim serves on the Editorial Board of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, sits on the executive boards of Tamim Academy and the Institute of Jewish Spirituality and Society, and is a senior lecturer at Bais Chanah Women International.

This Week's Prompt

What are your favorite Pesach hacks and tips?

This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their HOT TAKES on a featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 2:06:39 Chavie's blogpost on Substack about her Bubby

Links to Rivkah's books:

• Order Holy Intimacy on Amazon
• Order Total Immersion on Amazon
• Order Bread & Fire on Amazon

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

This episode is dedicated in honor of my dear mother, Rivky Slonim, who inspires me daily. May she continue to inspire the world in good health for many more years! - Chani Levertov

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.

Chavie sits down with her husband, Rabbi Chaim Bruk, the podcast’s first returning guest, just ahead of their 20th anniversary. For the first time, they walk through their entire infertility and adoption journey from beginning to end. They revisit the moment they received the excruciating diagnosis of permanent infertility and how they charted their own path in a world where infertility and adoption was still taboo, and their decision to go public when the expectation was to keep these struggles hush-hush. They walk through each of the five adoptions and the unique challenges each of them faced: Chaya, their first baby, born a premie in Moscow, Russia; Menny, a Black child born in Maryland; Zeesy, and the discovery of her life-threatening rare metabolic disorder; how Shoshana joined the family as a pre-teen, and Chana Laya, their only child born in Montana, and the unique relationship they still maintain with her birth grandparents. As always, Chavie and Chaim tell their story with their iconic banter, drama, and humor.

Rabbi Chaim Bruk is the Co-CEO and spiritual leader of Chabad Lubavitch of Montana. He moved to Montana in 2007 with his wife Chavie, where they launched a renaissance of Jewish life across the state. They are raising their five children in Big Sky Country, where they enjoy nature daily. Chaim loves teaching Torah, writing about Judaism and current events, and has an obsession with kosher sushi.

This Week's Prompt

Is Falling In Love Overrated?

This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their HOT TAKES on a featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 2:32 Totally Unexpected! on Youtube
• 3:19 First Interview with Rabbi Chaim Bruk on Totally Unexpected!
• 17:05 Bonei Olam Financial Assistance for Infertility Treatment
• 1:57:07 Interview with Shoshana Bruk on Totally Unexpected!

Stay in touch with Rabbi Chaim!

www.jewishmontana.com

www.instagram.com/chabadmontana

X @MontanaJew

Weekly Torah Class on Youtube

Montana's Jewish Voice

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.

Chavie and Anna begin with Anna’s roots in Toronto and what drew her toward becoming more religious in high school, navigating the tension between the world she grew up in and the one she was choosing. Anna opens up about her first two marriages and what it felt like to be a young divorced woman in a community where it was taboo and kept hush-hush which leads to Chavie and Anna reflecting on the progress made in removing shame around taboo subjects. Anna then shares how she met and fell in love with her current husband, and Chavie asks how she learned to trust herself again after so much trauma. Anna talks about becoming a therapist, how lived experience shaped her empathy, and then walks through the moment a mass was discovered in her brain. Chavie and Anna go step by step through the days leading up to surgery, the spiritual serenity she felt going in, and the recovery she is still navigating today.

Anna Sherman is a Registered Psychotherapist, dedicated wife, mother of twin girls, and stroke survivor who underwent brain surgery. She works with individuals, couples, and families, helping her clients heal from trauma, fears, and emotional blocks. Anna lives in her hometown of Toronto, Canada.

This Week's Prompt Are two hour podcasts too long? This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their HOT TAKES on a featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 38:20 The Jeff Seidel Foundation
• 41:39 Yeshivas Bircas Hatorah

Therapy Modalities Chavie & Anna Reference:

• EFT: Emotionally Focused Therapy
• EMDR: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
• IFS: Internal Family Systems

Stay in touch with Anna!

• www.annashermanrp.com
• Anna on Instagram

Stay in touch with Chavie!

@chaviebruk on Instagram

www.totallyunexpected.blog

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.

Chavie starts off by diving into Mushky’s early relationship with creativity. She talks about her mother noticing her artistic tendencies and her love of crafts being nurtured by her grandfather. Mushky shares how she came back from seminary and rediscovered the pull toward crafts, including when she realized if you can make something out of duct tape, you can make anything. Mushky explains how designing and wearing duct tape outfits became a form of safety, giving her structure and permission to perform and show up on camera. Mushky shares about her major lifequake moment, losing her job, having to leave Los Angeles, and the healing journey that followed. Chavie and Mushky talk about anger and how it rises as a sign of misalignment, and they also dive into podcasting and The Sisters Chat. Chavie talks about the different roles podcasts can play, and how she feels her role is to hold long-form conversations and resist the urge for quick content.

Mushky aka the Duct Tape Lady is the founder of On a Roll Crafts, an Instagram content creator, and the creative force behind beloved clay and tambourine kits used by Shluchos and Jewish organizations across the U.S. and beyond. A longtime educator turned craft creator and co-host of The Sisters Chat podcast, Mushky blends chinuch, creativity, and performance to make Yiddishkeit hands-on, joyful, and totally unexpected.

This Week's Prompt Do kids get to choose their own values or do parents always decide? This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their hot takes on a featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 44:40min Kathy Heller’s podcast, Everything Is Energy
• 47:45 Camp Crate
• 49:17 Mushky on Tovido
• 49:21 Mushky’s YouTube channel
• 49:22 Mushky on Kosher.com
• 50:03 Michelle Moses
• 1:34:16 The Sister’s Chat podcast
• 2:18:31 Sara Miriam Smith on Totally Unexpected!

Stay in touch with Mushky!

• Mushky on Instagram
• Aloomacrafts.com
• The Sister's Chat
• Mushky's YouTube channel
• Info@onarollcrafts.com

Stay in touch with Chavie!

@chaviebruk on Instagram

www.totallyunexpected.blog

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.

Yocheved shares her background growing up in a loud, opinionated family as the quieter sibling sandwiched between strong personalities, and how her parents’ journey as baalei teshuva (people who became religious later in life) — including her father returning to school for a master’s in education — shaped her identity as an educator. Chavie and Yocheved compare birth order dynamics, with Chavie as the oldest of nine and Yocheved navigating not knowing where she fit, and how that later informed Yocheved’s certainty about becoming an educational advocate. Yocheved talks openly about struggling in traditional classrooms, loving college and research, and realizing that her strength was learning rather than schooling, which leads into a candid conversation about why so many children struggle in rigid educational systems and where responsibility really lies between schools and parents. The conversation turns personal as Yocheved shares her fertility journey, her decision to be open about shidduchim and PCOS, and what it was like raising children with very different temperaments, including selective mutism and multiple neurodivergent diagnoses. Chavie and Yocheved dig into nature versus nurture, letting go of outcomes in parenting, and how to set measurable goals without lowering expectations. They close by talking about confidence versus self-esteem, avoiding power struggles, trusting your gut as a parent, and how to show up to schools in ways that are effective rather than just emotionally validating.

Yocheved Shapiro, M.Ed. is a dedicated educator and advocate with over 20 years of experience in early childhood education. Holding a Master’s in Educational Psychology, she combines professional expertise with personal experience as a parent of three neurodivergent children, championing their success in every aspect of life. She is passionate about guiding and empowering parents and educators in navigating and gaining access to the appropriate resources to best support children.

This Week's Prompt How Do You Color Outside the Lines of Societal Expectations In Your Daily Life? This is a NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their hot takes on our featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 10:39 Totally Unexpected! interview with Chevee Szokovski
• 48:47 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• 1:22:32 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
• 1:29:29 Ari Shapiro’s (Yocheved’s son) website
• 1:29:57 JEM - Jewish Educational Media
• 2:15:15 Totally Unexpected! interview with Sarah Immerman

Stay in touch with Yocheved!

WhatsApp: 718-501-2165

yochshap@gmail.com

Yocheved on Instagram

www.ShapiroEducationalConsulting.com

Yocheved's WhatsApp Group

Stay in touch with Chavie!

@chaviebruk on Instagram

www.totallyunexpected.blog

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.

Chavie and Yocheved start by bonding over their shared experiences navigating parenting struggles and challenges. Yocheved unveils her family’s roots in Iran, including the persecution and faith of the Mashadi Jewish community, and how her parents’ immigration to the United States eventually brought them into the Chabad community in Minnesota. Chavie and Yocheved talk about their shared curiosity about the human mind, and Yocheved reflects on being drawn to both Chassidus and psychology from a young age, which led her to pursue her PhD in clinical psychology at twenty-one. Chavie walks through Yocheved’s creative work as a photographer and filmmaker, and how that work grew into advocacy for children outside the mainstream in Crown Heights, including founding Lamplighters, a Chassidic Montessori school. They talk about what it looks like to pursue a life mission while raising children, and the constant tension between guilt and gratitude that follows. Chavie and Yocheved discuss the role of women in Jewish ritual spaces and what it looks like to push edges without compromising halachic values. Chavie closes the conversation by asking Yocheved about psychedelics and whether it’s possible to be on a healing journey without them.

Yocheved Sidof is a spiritual and social entrepreneur, teacher, and guide devoted to cultivating deeper ways of being rooted in Torah, presence, and lived faith. She is the founder of Ohmek, a contemplative community offering sacred spaces for spiritual deepening, healing, and remembrance through learning, ritual, and embodied practice. Yocheved leads healing pilgrimages to Poland and Israel, inviting participants to meet history, grief, and holiness with courage and consciousness. She draws on Jewish mysticism, trauma-informed wisdom, and decades of leadership experience, while currently pursuing a PhD in Transpersonal Research. Her work speaks to women seeking a spiritually grounded path that honors devotion, depth, and the quiet unfolding of the soul.

This Week's Hot Take Fast Fashion: Love it, hate it, or necessary evil? NEW segment at the end of every episode featuring voice notes from listeners with their hot takes on our featured topic!

Referenced On the Pod

• 1:18:53 Ohmek
• 1:26:55 Thomas Huebl
• 1:40:33 Tanya Chapter 42
• 2:04:50 Michal Carlebach's episode on Totally Unexpected!

Stay in touch with Yocheved!

https://linktr.ee/Yochevedsidof

ohmekliving.com

Yocheved's Weekly Class on Spotify

‎Open this link to join Ohmek WhatsApp Community

Stay in touch with Chavie!

@chaviebruk on Instagram

www.totallyunexpected.blog

Want to sponsor or dedicate an episode? Reach out to Chavie on Instagram or by email at chaviebruk@gmail.com.