Meaningful People

Mendel Krashunsky is the founder of the Frum Health Club, a worldwide movement pushing Yidden to finally take their health seriously. He opens up about losing his father, an oligarch who lived a life of total luxury, to a preventable illness at just 38 years old, and how the grief sent Mendel into his own spiral of emotional eating that left him 70 pounds overweight and battling GERD before he'd even turned 20.
 
From there, Mendel and Nachi dig into why health gets treated as optional in frum life, even though it's a mitzvah straight from the Torah, covering ultra-processed food, GLP-1s like Ozempic, how to talk to kids about it, and the viral 10,000-steps-a-day challenge that's grown into a global movement with tens of thousands of followers. It's a raw, practical conversation about food, faith, and why taking care of your body isn't a contradiction to Yiddishkeit, it's part of it.
 
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This episode is sponsored by:
 
► PZ Deals
 
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► KTYT – Win $1,000,000 for Your Shul
 
Take on a Kabbalah to stay quiet during a specific part of davening, and you're entered to win $1,000,000 for the shul, yeshiva, mikvah, or Torah project of your choice. Head to KTYT.org, make your Kabbalah, and pick which part of davening you're committing to.
 
https://ktyt.org/en/mpPOD
 
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► El Al
 
From the Hebrew announcements to the Israeli atmosphere onboard, flying EL AL feels like Israel before you even land. With nonstop flights to Israel and Jewish comfort from takeoff to landing, there's nothing like hearing: ברוכים הבאים לישראל. Book your next flight with EL AL:
 
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Claire Blumenthal Zeitler was adopted into an Orthodox Jewish family as a baby — until, a year after her wedding, her biological mother tracked her down and revealed something nobody could have prepared her for: her biological father is part of the deposed royal family of Bahrain. In this deep dive with Nachi Gordon, Claire walks through the whirlwind of discovering she's half-Arab, the isolation of hiding it from her Chassidish community, and the identity crisis that followed — a woman raised frum and Ashkenazi who suddenly had to reckon with being 50% something she'd always been taught to fear.
What follows is a wild journey: years spent chasing that other half of herself through the Old City, a Palestinian university, and life in Egypt and Dubai — dating across cultures and even studying as the first identified Jew at a Palestinian school. Then came October 7th, a devastating gut-check that forced her to confront who she really is, and the slow, incremental return to Shabbos, to her family, and ultimately to Israel. It's a raw, unbelievable story about identity, belonging, and finding your way home — literally and spiritually.
 
This episode is sponsored by:
 
► PZ Deals
 
Download the app and never pay full price again!
 
https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp
 
_________________
 
► Colel Chabad Pushka App
 
The easiest way to give Tzedaka
 
https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful
 
_________________
 
► KTYT – Win $1,000,000 for Your Shul
 
Take on a Kabbalah to stay quiet during a specific part of davening, and you're entered to win $1,000,000 for the shul, yeshiva, mikvah, or Torah project of your choice. Head to KTYT.org, make your Kabbalah, and pick which part of davening you're committing to.
 
https://ktyt.org/en/mpPOD
 
_________________
 
► Shopify Guru
 
Shopify store looks great but not selling the way it should? Shopify Guru gets under the hood and makes it actually work, no developer needed every time you want to make a change. 
 
https://go.jcn.io/sgmp
 
_________________
 
► Ness Vacation Homes
 
EDEN GARDENS' LARGEST LUXURY HOME COLLECTION. Handpicked, high-end homes available exclusively through Ness.
 
https://nessvacationhomes.com/
 
_________________
 
► El Al
 
From the Hebrew announcements to the Israeli atmosphere onboard, flying EL AL feels like Israel before you even land. With nonstop flights to Israel and Jewish comfort from takeoff to landing, there's nothing like hearing: ברוכים הבאים לישראל. Book your next flight with EL AL:
 
https://www.elal.com/eng/usa?utm_source=meaningful&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=gcny_incoming_usa&cid=s:el%7Cm:what%7Ccp:gcny%7Cct:incoming%7Cau:usa
 
_________________
 
► Rothenberg Law Firm
 
Personal Injury Law Firm For 50+ years! Reach out today for a free case evaluation.
 
https://shorturl.at/JFKHH
 
_________________
 
► Town Appliance
 
Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp.
 
https://www.townappliance.com
 
https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

Moshe Tischler and Shloimy Zaltzman, two of the biggest names in Jewish wedding music, sit down with Nachi Gordon to trace how they broke into the industry, from meeting as yeshiva teenagers to Shlomi's near-miss record deal and the emotional moment years later when he watched another bandleader step into that same opportunity. They open up about what the job really costs, the travel away from their kids, showing up at full strength no matter how sick or drained they are, and the odd reality of being shy, private people who perform in the most public, high-stakes moments of other people's lives.
They also dig into where Jewish music is headed, from the flood of new releases on platforms like 24Six to AI-generated singers (including a story about a bride who fell for a song by an artist who doesn't actually exist), and land on the same conclusion: raw, honest, unpolished authenticity beats anything overproduced. A warm, funny, surprisingly candid conversation between two friends who built parallel careers making other people's simchas unforgettable.

Exclusive content on: www.mmplus.org
 
This is episode is brought to you in part by:
 
► PZ Deals
 
Download the app and never pay full price again!
 
https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp
 
_________________
 
► Colel Chabad Pushka App
 
The easiest way to give Tzedaka
 
https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful
 
_________________
 
► ArtScroll
 
ArtScroll is celebrating 50 years of making Torah learning accessible to everyone, and they're marking it with a massive giveaway: $10,000 every single week for the next few weeks, adding up to over $50,000 total. No purchase necessary, just head to the link, scroll down, and fill out the short form to be entered. While you're there, check out the rotating weekly sale, with so many ArtScroll items at 50% off.
 
https://artscroll.com/50years
 
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EDEN GARDENS' LARGEST LUXURY HOME COLLECTION
 
Handpicked, high-end homes available exclusively through Ness.
 
https://nessvacationhomes.com/
 
_________________
 
► El Al
 
From the Hebrew announcements to the Israeli atmosphere onboard, flying EL AL feels like Israel before you even land. With nonstop flights to Israel and Jewish comfort from takeoff to landing, there's nothing like hearing: ברוכים הבאים לישראל.
 
Book your next flight with EL AL:
 
 
https://www.elal.com/eng/usa?utm_source=meaningful&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=gcny_incoming_usa&cid=s:el%7Cm:what%7Ccp:gcny%7Cct:incoming%7Cau:usa
 
_________________
 
► Rothenberg Law Firm
 
Personal Injury Law Firm For 50+ years!
 
Reach out Today for Free Case Evaluation
 
https://shorturl.at/JFKHH
 
_________________
 
► Town Appliance
 
Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp
 
https://www.townappliance.com
 
https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp

A Tisha B'Av documentary that will challenge the way you think about achdus.
Watch Full Film

Five years ago, Maya Namdar's world changed forever when a drunk driver took the life of her daughter Liel, just moments after a Shabbaton reunion in Woodmere. In her second appearance on Meaningful People, Maya returns to share the story in a way she never has before: the knock at the door, the screams that woke her neighbors, and the haunting last text Liel sent seconds before impact reminding a friend to say Shema. She opens up about the loneliness of grief, the guilt of not recognizing her daughter's quiet yearning for Moshiach until after she was gone, and the moment months later when she found Liel's phone alarm blaring under a pile of clothes, a "good morning" she now carries as a kiss from Hashem.
 
The conversation moves from raw pain into something deeper: how tragedy forced Maya into a real relationship with Hashem for the first time, why she believes the whole world has been made uncomfortable on purpose, and how a seven-year-old Liel once cried over the loss of the Beis Hamikdash while the rest of her family laughed it off. Maya makes the case that yearning for Mashiach isn't abstract theology, it's survival, and that every act of connection, gratitude, and unity is what hastens the Geula we're all waiting for. It's a raw, faith-filled conversation about loss, hope, and the promise that keeps her going.
 
This episode was made possible thanks to our sponsors:
 
► PZ Deals
 
Download the app and never pay full price again!
 
https://app.pz.deals/install/mpp
 
_________________
 
► Colel Chabad Pushka App
 
The easiest way to give Tzedaka
 
https://pushkapp.cc/meaningful
 
_________________
 
► BINA
 
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_________________
 
► EL AL
 
From the Hebrew announcements to the Israeli atmosphere onboard, flying EL AL feels like Israel before you even land. With nonstop flights to Israel and Jewish comfort from takeoff to landing, there's nothing like hearing: ברוכים הבאים לישראל.
 
Book your next flight with EL AL:
 
https://www.elal.com/eng/usa?utm_source=meaningful&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=gcny_incoming_usa&cid=s:el%7Cm:what%7Ccp:gcny%7Cct:incoming%7Cau:usa
 
_________________
 
► Ness Vacation Homes
 
EDEN GARDENS' LARGEST LUXURY HOME COLLECTION
 
Handpicked, high-end homes available exclusively through Ness.
 
https://nessvacationhomes.com/
 
_________________
 
► Rothenberg Law Firm
 
Personal Injury Law Firm For 50+ years!
 
Reach out Today for Free Case Evaluation
 
https://shorturl.at/JFKHH
 
_________________
 
► Town Appliance
 
Visit the website or message them on WhatsApp
 
https://www.townappliance.com
 
https://bit.ly/Townappliance_whatsapp