A down-to-earth podcast that aims for the heavens

Esther Kurtz hosts the podcast Emunah for Non-Rebbetzins, making the concepts in Chovos Halevovos accessible and engaging for all.

I’ve always wanted to know how a regular person can grow and develop themselves. So much of the inspiration that we get is provided by people who are, well, inspirational. They either have some kind of amazing life story, or a transformational experience, or they’re super learned and rebbetzin-like.

Very often what they said didn’t feel applicable to me, a regular person. The inspirational person was at the end of a process and sharing what they’d learned, but I was still at point A, and they weren’t telling me how to get to point B, let alone where they were holding.

I always wanted more transparency in the classes I listened to about how up and down real growth is. Growth isn’t a linear process. For example, for a long time, I wanted to be the type of person who said Tehillim daily. My desire was there, but my kriah skills weren’t. Every time I tried, it was so frustrating, I gave up shortly after I started. Only after trying who knows how many times, I finally humbled myself enough to try doing one page a day — not one perek a day, just one page. Finally, I made progress. Now I’m on a 30-day cycle, which is something I never dreamed I’d be able to do.