Rachel Bernadskii

I am sometimes the first Jewish person people are meeting.  I have experienced somewhat 'interesting' comments, mainly stemming from ignorance.  I don't think there is malice in people's hearts, but when you've never met Jewish people and don't know how to ask questions in a polite way, sometimes that's a little bit tricky to navigate.

I am actually grateful that I am the first Jewish person they are meeting because I don't get offended anymore by their questions.  I try to just help and say what I can.  I'm not the most educated person on halacha, but usually those aren't their questions anyway.  I try to be a friendly Jewish face; maybe meeting a friendly Jewish person will change their opinions or inform their beliefs.  I try to take it in a positive way..

Ha!  I get asked a lot about 'Fiddler on the Roof', if it's realistic or if it's my favorite movie.   More than once someone started singing 'Tradition!' completely unprompted.

My parents are from the Soviet Union.  They moved to the US in 1991 when they were 20 years old.  Although my parents had no religious upbringing, growing up I went to Hebrew School and was bat mitzva-ed. Judaism was always emphasized in the home but we really didn't have any observance, and we just celebrated High Holidays.

When I got to the University of Wisconsin, I joined a Jewish sorority and was involved in Jewish secular life, culturally Jewish things.  In my junior year I started to get more involved; I would go to JEM (Jewish Experience of Madison, which is an extension of Olami), and I met with the rebetzen Chaya Miller, who spoke with me about The Podcast Fellowship, and I was really intrigued by the whole collection of different topics to choose from.  I wouldn't say that I have a strong foundation of Jewish knowledge; I hadn't really learned anything Jewish since my bat mitzvah and I had forgotten how to read Hebrew.

At this point, I was ready to take on more and make Judaism more meaningful; not just High Holiday and secular/cultural things.  I started going to Shabbat dinners when the Miller family was in town...

In the beginning, maybe in the first 6-8 months, I requested the stipend consistently, and then after a while it really didn't feel right; (the money) was not why I was interested in doing TPF.  So I just decided I was not going to request the stipend anymore.

I love my rebetzen Chaya Miller, she's amazing; I love learning with her.  We also talk about so many things; our conversations are definitely very long and extend way past discussion of the podcasts.  We've been able to be in contact and stay close even though I now live in Arkansas.  TPF is such an amazing way for us to stay connected and continue to learn together.

I never really listened to podcasts that much before starting TPF.  So for the initial episodes, I used to listen as I went about my day, while I was in school...Then I quickly realized that I was the type of person who needed to take notes.  I usually like to pick the podcasts that come with videos.   I take notes in my notes app and come prepared with nuggets that I found really interesting, or questions that I had.  I would say taking notes and giving the podcast my undivided attention was the best way for me to absorb and retain the material

Chaya is amazing. She has the most spectacular memory; she can remember so so much. She is always so well prepared.  We go back and forth and have really interesting discussions.

The first speaker I really fell in love with, and just loved all the material was Jackie (Engel) Glaser.   I thought she was so captivating.  I think I listened to nearly all of her podcasts and meditations.  It was interesting for me to hear the Jewish perspective on relationships and self-esteem.  Jackie's class on internal self-definition was a powerful podcast I listened to early on.  Learning about tzinyus--especially being on a college campus, was a topic so relevant to me at the time.

This year in February I got the opportunity to meet Jackie in person--she gave a lecture at a Shabbaton I attended in the Five Towns.  That was really a full-circle moment; really amazing.

I would say that my Jewish observance has grown since moving to Arkansas--which some might find very surprising!  There are very few Jews here; basically no young Jewish people.  We do have a Chabad, which I'm very grateful for.  My interactions with southern Christians--this is the Bible Belt--makes my Judaism super important to me.  I go to Shabbat dinner and shul on Saturdays.  When possible, different members of the community host me so that I can keep Shabbat.  I'm always looking to go on Shabbatons; last week I was in LA for a seminary run by Olami.   I'm certainly looking to continue growing and definitely on the path.

I was in college during October 7 and the aftermath; it was my senior year.  It was definitely scary to see all sentiments that rose to the surface, such as the encampments.  That was a scary time to be on a college campus.  But the Jewish community really came together in a way that I hadn't seen before; it was really incredible how we came together to support each other, raise money and support Israel.

“I am looking to be connected; I want to grow and I want to learn more--but in an isolated place without young Jewish people to connect to, there is not much opportunity to do so.   I look forward to The Podcast Fellowship every week.  It grounds me.  It sets the tone.  It reminds me of what's important; what matters to me.  I'm more interested in learning about mitzvot and the intricacies of the holidays now...mainly because of this consistent learning I've had over the past two years.  It allows me to grow a really important relationship between me and my rebetzen, Chaya.

"That's was definitely not a single quote...😄"