Between Two Shabbatot

What stays when the person who taught you a tradition moves on? In this episode, Hazzan Noam reflects on a small ritual — the three circles preschoolers make before covering their eyes for Shabbat candles — and what it reveals about how tradition travels. He looks into the phrase ledor vador, and what this week makes it feel newly urgent. Plus a conversation with Debbie Blumenthal — preschool director, master storyteller, Gesher program architect, and keeper of the felt board — about nearly 30 years at Temple Etz Chaim, the families who keep coming back generation after generation, and what it means to give a child a feeling of belonging.Between Two Shabbatot is a weekly podcast from Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, California, hosted by Hazzan Noam Fields-Meyer Gould. Questions and thoughts welcome at [email protected].

What happens to prayer when it leaves the building? In this episode, Hazzan Noam explores the world of weekday minyan — from Sunday mornings in a congregant's living room to Monday and Wednesday evenings on Zoom — and what it means to show up for practice, not performance. He talks with longtime regulars about why they keep coming back, and reflects on the difference between hol and Shabbat: the bound and the expansive, the petitionary and the praise. Plus a conversation with Chaplain Benny Sommerfeld — engineer, pluralist, basso profundo, and Swedish lox enthusiast — about chaplaincy, showing up for mourners, and what it means to be a minyan for someone else.Between Two Shabbatot is a weekly podcast from Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, California, hosted by Hazzan Noam Fields-Meyer Gould. Questions and thoughts welcome at [email protected].

What makes Shabbat feel like Shabbat? In the first episode of Between Two Shabbatot, Hazzan Noam reflects on the sounds and spaces that shape how a congregation gathers: the story behind a recent packed Friday night in the chapel, what happens in the week between two Shabbatot, and the quiet work of reading what each gathering needs. Plus a conversation with Rabbi Ari Averbach about how he prepares for each week, drawing inspiration from the Talmud, Stephen Sondheim, and the Smashing Pumpkins. Between Two Shabbatot is a weekly podcast from Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks, California, hosted by Hazzan Noam Fields-Meyer Gould. Questions and thoughts welcome at [email protected].