Stephanie Garcia

There has been an increase in anti-semitism on campus, and while I have not

experienced it directly, I still feel impacted. There have been a lot of posters put up

by students spreading anti-Israel propaganda, and there was even an instance

where a student admitted in front of SGA (Student Government Association) to being “anti-Jewish.” The Jewish community at my school has been very strong and united, and thankfully we don’t have it nearly as bad as many other campuses, but it is still something we have to deal with. We deal with it by staying united against the hate and by focusing

more on our Jewish growth. Am Israel Chai!

Both my parents are from South America.  My ancestors from my dad’s side are from Morocco, and my ancestors from my mom’s side are from Spain. I am a very proud Sephardi. I was raised Modern Orthodox.

I heard about TPF through Rabbi Akiva Naiman's WhatsApp Shalom Trivia chat.

I think it might have been through Instagram.

I thought the $15 stipend was a great incentive and motivated me to apply.

Although the offer definitely motivated me and was what initially caught my

attention and prompted me to look more into it, I can honestly say that I would have done the Podcast Fellowship without the offer. It is a great and simple way to learn Torah. I viewed the stipend as an added bonus.

My experience with the Podcast Fellowship has been really fun and insightful. I listen to a podcast every week and then meet with my mentor, Rachel Minchen (of OLAMI Souled), to discuss it. I found that if I just listened to the podcast, I would forget a lot about it after a few hours, so I started taking notes while listening, which forced me to actively listen.  It has been such a great experience; I have been able to learn and remember so much more.

Additionally, I refer to my notes when I meet with my mentor, and I sort of “teach” her what I learned from the podcast, which further helps reinforce what I learned and sparks interesting, engaging discussions.

Rachel is an incredible mentor who has helped me discover more about what I want to gain and learn from being Jewish and different ways to deepen my connection with Hashem. She is part of the reason I enjoy this fellowship so much!

My favorite speaker from TPF is a tie between Mrs. Jackie Engel and Rabbi Mordechai Becher. They are both phenomenal speakers and have a great sense of humor. They explain complex topics in a way that is simple to understand and relatable to our daily lives. They are also both Australian, which is pretty cool.  My favorite topics are mindfulness/prayer,

dating/relationships, and contemporary issues.

I went to public school for middle and high school, which obviously did not include Judaic studies. While I grew up keeping Shabbat and kosher, my Jewish education was limited to what I would learn at home and from programs such as JSU (Jewish Student Union, a program of NCSY).

While I am immensely grateful that my parents raised me in a Shomer Shabbat and kosher home and have instilled so many wonderful values in me, I’ve always felt like I have been a passive observer; I mostly did it because it is what I grew up doing; I did not put much thought into it. This year, I decided I wanted to learn more and connect on a deeper level, rather than doing everything passively.

There are so many topics in the Fellowship that I had never learned about before or had minimal knowledge about. TPF has helped me feel more passionate about being a Jew and more aware when it comes to my observance.  I feel that it has helped me become a more “active” Jew. It has also inspired me to connect more with prayer, which is something I don’t typically set time aside to do, but I want to start.

Additionally, we've learned about modesty, another topic I was really interested in learning about more.  Ever since I started learning about modesty with my mentor, I have felt more proud and comfortable dressing modestly.

The Podcast Fellowship is one of my main sources of Torah learning during the week as it is very easy to fit into my schedule. I have learned so much from TPF's podcasts and the discussions with my mentor.

I still consider myself to be Modern Orthodox. I continue to be Shomer Shabbat and keep kosher, but I started being more mindful and present about it.

I have started to work more on prayer; something which I hope to connect more with and to set aside time during the week to pray from a siddur.  For many years now I have been sleeping in on Shabbat rather than going to services. I recently started to attend synagogue again for the reason of connecting more with prayer and with my local community.

"The Podcast Fellowship is a great and simple way to learn more about different topics in Judaism, and connect with incredible mentors."