Ilan Vaiman
- From:
- Israel (now in Maryland)
- Age:
- 28
- College:
- Stevenson University
- Major:
- Cybersecurity
- Career:
- Cybersecurity and Martial Arts (K'rav Maga) Instruction
The Interview
Ilan, tell us about your Jewish family background.
My family is from the former Soviet Union. I don't know much about my ancestors.
What kind of Jewish home did you grow up in, and what kind of Jewish education did you receive?
I went to religious school in Israel through 4th grade, then my family moved to the US. My parents wanted me to go to a Jewish school here, but I resisted and went to public school. I'm not sure why they wanted to send me there, I just remember I had to change schools due to fighting.
How did you hear about The Podcast Fellowship?
From friends.
Be honest: would you have started The Podcast Fellowship without the $15 stipend offer?
It's a nice way to connect and learn more about the Jewish world. But the $15 is definitely what got me started.
Tell us about your experience with TPF.
My mentor, Mrs. Adinah Swiatycki (of Etz Chaim Baltimore) make these sessions a lot of fun, which makes the learning experience better. We pick a podcast each week and then meet up as a group on FaceTime and talk about it.
(Note from Mrs. Swiatycki: Ilan originally joined TPF with just one friend, Diana. Then, he invited his sister Nikol, located in Delray Beach, Florida, and then Nicole's husband Thomas joined as well. Slowly but surely, Ilan's brother Liran joined as well. Now the entire Vaiman family discusses Torah podcasts together from multiple locations around the country.)
What is your favorite podcast topic?
I really enjoyed Habit of Happiness.
(Note from Mrs. Swiatycki: Ilan generally selects short, to-the-point podcasts and finds direct ways to apply them to his life. He regularly takes a message of strength and emotional/spiritual resilience from the podcast discussions; not to let circumstances you can't control throw you off-balance.)
Where do you stand in your Jewish observance today?
I am not religious, but I go to Jewish events (Shabbos meals, Etz Chaim Shabbatons, RAJE events) and started to put on tefillin.
Wow. Why tefillin?
It's a way to connect to G-d and my roots. I'm going through some hard times right now and thought maybe it would give me some light.
May the tefillin indeed bring you light. Have you witnessed antisemitism since October 7th, 2023?
It’s definitely been very hard seeing how non-Jewish people turn on us. It's especially hard to see how they believe everything people say on social media. I’m lucky that I work with a lot of Jewish people, so it hasn’t really affected me, other than losing a couple “friends.”
Ilan, can you sum up your experience with The Podcast Fellowship in one quote?
The Podcast Fellowship offers thoughtful, inspiring conversations that deepen my connection to Jewish learning.