Contact Chai

God Metaphors & Kol Nidre — Morning Minyan

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

The Redemptive Promise of the Oscillating Narrative — Rabbi Lizzi | Rosh Hashanah 5787

At our Rosh Hashanah 5787 service, Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann delivered a sermon on the lessons our ancestors provide us in this fraught political moment. Join us for the Hig

My Prayer Didn’t Work — R' Julie Fishbach | Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787

In her inaugural High Holiday sermon at Mishkan, Rabbi Julie Fishbach delivered a surprising drash on the history of prayer. Join us for the High Holy Days! Whether you

Opening The High Holidays — Rerelease

In this special episode recovered from The Mishkan Vault, Rabbi Lizzi speaks with renowned tech entrepreneur Harry Gottlieb about the spiritual technology of teshuvah and

This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared — Morning Minyan

Rabbi Lizzi read a passage on Selichot from Rabbi Alan Lew's classic This is Real And You Are Completely Unprepared, prompting a vulnerable discussion on how hard it

Breathing Our Way To Closeness With God — Morning Minyan

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

Morning Minyan — Ki Teitzei

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

Adira Happens — Morning Minyan

Like the mighty Leviathan, Adira rises from the depths to sow adorable chaos. Plus, reflections on the Psalms, media consumption, and Parshat Shoftim. Every weekday at 8

Building My Judaism — Manuel Gauto

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on August 7th, when we celebrated our graduating BluePrint students who explored Judaism this past year, many of them g

When Judaism Began — Rabbi Steven Bob

When did ancient Paleo-Hebrew script start to look like modern Hebrew letters? When did Judaism as we know it begin to take shape? Rabbi Simcha (Steven) Bob joins Rabbi L

The Spiritual Danger of Abundance

Hello and welcome to Contact Chai. Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on Saturday, August 1st. We heard a guest drash from Irwin Lowenstein on the challen

Eat And Be Satisfied — Rabbi Lizzi Returns!

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

Tisha b'Av: Same Goals, Same God, Different Ways Of Getting There (Re-Release)

This evening marks the beginning of Tisha b'Av, and in recognition, today's episode is a re-release of Rabbi Lizzi's Tisha b'Av sermon from 2022 at an

Pride Shabbat! Ft. Daniel Kutcher and A Very Mishkan Auf Ruf

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our Pride Shabbat service on June 26th. We held an auf ruf for Team Mishkan’s own Michael Palmer and Jane Mintz. Then, we heard a s

Morning Minyan w/ Rabbi Lizzi — June 24th, 2026

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

On Juneteenth And Bold Moses — Rabbi Steven Sermon

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 20th. Rabbi Steven reflected on Juneteenth and America’s history of slavery through the lens of Exodus. Moses i

Morning Minyan w/ Rabbi Lizzi — June 17th, 2026

Every weekday at 8:00 am, Mishkan Chicago holds a virtual Morning Minyan. You can join in yourself, or listen to all the prayer, music, and inspiration right here on Cont

Progress Is Not Inevitable — It Is Promised

Hello and welcome to Contact Chai. Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 12th when Rabbi Steven delivered a sermon deflating the naive notion that pr

We Are Here — The Roman Empire Is Not

Today’s episode is a Shabbat Replay of our service on June 6th. If you somehow missed the news, Rabbi Lizzi met the pope. The Vatican is not short supply of lavish iconog

The Poetry Of Torah

Today’s sermon is a Shabbat Replay of our Shavuot Shabbat service. We were joined by acclaimed author Rodger Kamenetz who served as our scholar-in-residence during Shavuo