January 31, 2025 • 46 mins
Join us on an enlightening journey with Dr. Beth Ricanati, whose unique path from Reform to Conservative Judaism offers a tapestry of cultural richness and personal growth. Through engaging anecdotes, Dr. Ricanati warmly shares her upbringing her transition to the spiritual experience creating Challah in her home and beyond. We explore the playful and heartfelt family traditions, such as the amusing "Challah Monster," and discuss how Jewish customs have shaped her approach to parenting and education.
Dr. Ricanati also opens up about her fascinating professional journey, starting with a background in Art History that seamlessly lead to a career in medicine. Her experiences at Columbia and the Cleveland Clinic inspired the creation of Lifestyle 180, a program that integrates nutrition, exercise, and stress management to combat chronic diseases. This chapter of her life highlights the importance of adaptability, especially her move to sunny Southern California, where new opportunities and joys awaited her. Her story underscores the transformative power of lifestyle changes on personal well-being.
Finally, immerse yourself in the comforting world of challah-making with Dr. Ricanati, who transformed from a physician experiencing burnout to a passionate author and workshop leader. The therapeutic process of baking led to her book, "Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs," and nationwide challah workshops. Through these experiences, she discovered the profound health benefits of engaging in meaningful rituals and building community connections. With her insights, you'll be inspired to embrace the power of traditions and find peace in the simple joys of life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nicole Kelly (00:02):
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Hi, I'm Nicole Kelly and thisis Sheb ew in the City and today
(00:35):
I'm talking to Dr Beth Ricanati.
How are you doing today, doctor?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (00:40):
I'm doing very well, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Nicole Kelly (00:44):
I'm so excited to talk to you because we're
talking about one of my favoritesubjects for a decent portion
of your interview.
I think Challah, I love Challah.
We have this thing in our housethat somehow I don't know who
created it.
I think it was my husband, theChallah monster, my daughter.
We've created this kind ofmythical character that comes
and steals your challah and shepretends to be scared of it and
(01:05):
it's very cute, but she getschallahs at home every Friday
from school.
Because I'm not a baker, so I'mvery thankful for that, but
we're going to talk a lot aboutchallah today.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (01:17):
Fabulous, thank you.
I share a love of it as well.
Nicole Kelly (01:21):
So I usually start off by asking my guests where
they're from, what their Jewishupbringing was like.
For my female guests, if theyhad a bat mitzvah, what that was
like.
So let's dive in.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (01:31):
Absolutely.
I am from Cleveland, ohio.
I now live on the West Coast,but I am a Midwesterner.
I grew up very Reform.
I am now solidly conservative.
It's been a journey, continuesto be a journey.
I didn't know that people madechallah growing up.
(01:54):
I thought it came in theplastic bag from the Jewish
bakery you had a couple times ayear and I did not have a bar
mitzvah.
Unfortunately, all of my kidshave been bar and bar mitzvahed.
I did attend Sunday schoolthrough ninth grade.
I had a confirmation what theycalled it back then.
I don't know if they even stilldo that in reformed synagogues,
but that was the extent then ofmy Jewish education, and it
(02:19):
wasn't until I went off tocollege that I really started to
learn more.
Nicole Kelly (02:24):
So they do still have confirmation, because we're
members of a reform synagogueand what ours does is pretty
cool is.
The culmination of it is theytake a trip to Germany, and
specifically Berlin.
Oh, my gosh Because that'sreally where the reform movement
started.
So I'm hoping when my daughteris older she's only three, so
we've got some time.
Yeah, though with what I'm aboutto go into, I'm sure she's
(02:44):
going to spend a lot of time inGermany.
I am about to embark on agraduate program in Holocaust
and genocide studies, so I'msure she'll end up in Germany at
some point before 10th grade.
Yeah, I'm very excited withwhat I'll be able to do with the
degree, but I'm a littleoverwhelmed, understandably.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:03):
Yeah.
Nicole Kelly (03:03):
So you made the transition from being Reformed
to Conservative.
Usually it's the other wayaround, which is the journey
that I made, because I grew upin a conservative synagogue,
though I feel like my personalfamily was leaning more towards
Reformed than Conservative.
Like we didn't keep kosher, youknow.
We went to like you know therequired Shabbats through Hebrew
school, but not like extraholidays.
(03:26):
Like I feel like I celebratemore holidays now than when I
was a kid.
I go to like everything.
So what caused that transitionand what was that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:37):
transition like and what?
Nicole Kelly (03:38):
did that entail for you and your family?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:40):
Oh, it's been absolutely wonderful.
So I married a man who grew up,I would say, conservadox really
more conservative, but more onthe observant side of
conservative was a mixedmarriage, because it really felt
(04:07):
that way.
We were bringing two wildlydifferent backgrounds together
and in the beginning we weremembers of a reformed synagogue
and we did not keep kosher.
He grew up keeping kosher andthen we had kids and that
changed everything for us.
We began a journey when we hadkids that continues to this day,
(04:29):
where we have just beenembracing more and more of our
tradition and religion andbackground and heritage and we
studied with more observantrabbis once the kids were born,
(04:53):
studied with more observantrabbis once the kids were born
and ultimately did join aconservative synagogue and sent
the kids to summer camp Jewishsummer camp, overnight camp and
I really came to hold on toJewish ideas and thoughts as a
tool for parenting.
And that's really where itbecame really helpful, like when
the kids were little.
I mean now they're in collegeand beyond.
But when they were really likeyour daughter's age, but when
(05:17):
they were, you know, sort ofpreschool-ish, I began to see
the merits of a lot of Jewishteaching as a wonderful guide
for parenting and it was such aneasy path then to embrace and
I've come to really love it.
(05:38):
And that's where we are today.
And we do keep kosher ish.
Now.
I mean, well, we have, you know, we separate milk and meat and
we don't have, uh, you know, wedon't eat pork or shellfish, um,
except, I must admit, when Itravel.
Sometimes I have a littlelinguine and clams, but we won't
(06:02):
talk about.
Nicole Kelly (06:03):
I've heard this referred to as kosher style.
If you're not keeping likestrict laws of kosher style,
right.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (06:09):
So we have separate dishes and and and that
, but but right, I don't havetwo sinks and two dishwashers.
Nicole Kelly (06:17):
Yes, yes, and some people have special Passover
kitchens, which I've seen insome houses, which is extra next
level, that they only use itduring Passover.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (06:26):
Wow, no, I don't have an extra kitchen.
Nicole Kelly (06:29):
It requires a lot of space.
I feel like you know, being inNew York, where I'm impressed
that people can have room fortwo sets of dishes and a
dishwasher period.
That's always, you know, likewe just moved into an apartment
that has a washer and dryer, soI feel like I've reached the
pinnacle of New York living.
Like our initial apartment wewere in for eight years and we
had a little countertopdishwasher and then our next
(06:51):
place had a real dishwasher andlaundry in the building and now
we have everything.
So I feel like I've made it,which is a weird, touch a corner
, a weird like milestone for NewYorkers.
So I read that you majored inart history and undergraduate
and for your undergraduatedegree and then you decided to
(07:11):
pursue medicine.
That's a pretty extreme shift.
What caused that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (07:16):
It's a pivot, but, I have to say, by way of
background, studying art tobecome a physician, I think,
should be a requirement foreverybody, because I spent four
years learning how to look, howto see, and then it became very
easy when it was time to, whenwe were in medical school.
All of my clinical work inmedical school went very, very
(07:39):
well, because I knew how to lookand how to see in a really
different way than my biologyand chemistry major colleagues
or co-students.
The pivot became apparent,though, in college, because I
(07:59):
was at school on the East Coast,having grown up in Cleveland,
as I mentioned and it was theearly 90s, late 80s, early 90s
and I became aware of somewomen's health issues, that
there were Supreme Court casesand things like that, and I had
not known about any of thisgrowing up in Ohio, and I wanted
(08:22):
to do something about it and Iwanted to try and effect some
change, and I have alwaysthought that if you're going to
try and change something, youhave to actually get in there
and change it.
So I thought if I had an MD, Icould probably have a more of a
leg to stand on in women'shealth than not, and I actually
(08:45):
had always spent my wholechildhood in one way or another
helping other people.
I learned Braille as a child andvolunteered at the Sight Center
in Cleveland, which is anorganization for the visually
impaired and blind, and actuallywrote with Stouffer's Food,
wrote a cookbook for the blindin high school, and I always
(09:06):
worked and volunteered inhospitals.
So it was no surprise inhindsight but hindsight is
always 20-20.
And if you had told me when Ientered college and I went in
with the idea of majoring in arthistory which is sort of
interesting to go in with thesame major that one goes out
with, but anyway if you had toldme then that I would be a
science geek, I would not haveknown who you were talking about
(09:30):
.
But it's been a greatcombination, I think.
And also then it made it reallyeasy as I know we'll get into
later but I pivoted yet againand so the stage was set early
on that I was obviously going tobe doing lots of different
things that were outside of thebox.
Nicole Kelly (09:45):
One has to expect the unexpected when it comes to
careers.
Yes, yes, indeed, I feel thesame way.
We moved to New York to pursuemusical theater and now.
I'm going to be studying theHolocaust, so very, very, very
different.
But again, looking back, a lotof it makes sense and no one
seems surprised.
And I've also read that a lotof medical schools.
(10:10):
They like students who aren'tnecessarily pre-med because it
brings a well-rounded doctor outof the program.
So if you're interested ingoing to medical school, maybe
you can minor in somethingscience-y and major in history
or art or something.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:20):
I think it's a great idea.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I definitely think it matters.
Nicole Kelly (10:25):
You're going to get a lot of that chemistry in
med school and stuff.
Anyway, it's not like you'regoing to miss out on it.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:31):
No.
Nicole Kelly (10:33):
So, while after medical school, you worked at
the Cleveland Clinic and youco-created something called
Lifestyle 180.
What is that, and can you tellme a little bit about how that
came about?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:50):
Sure, so actually at first.
So I was in New York as welland I totally respect the small
apartment.
We did not have laundry in ourapartment, so I'm right there
with you.
But I went in, as I mentionedbefore, with an interest in
women's health.
So I went to med school withthat as a focus and I trained at
Columbia actually in New Yorkand practiced in their women's
health center for a couple yearsand then, when we moved back
(11:13):
home to Cleveland, I started atthe Cleveland Clinic in their
women's health center.
I'm an internist by training,just to give background, so I
take care of adults.
And after I had been in thewomen's health Center for about
five years at the ClevelandClinic, they had a new
department called the WellnessInstitute that they were setting
(11:35):
up and establishing.
Treat chronic disease throughlifestyle.
So think food, exercise andstress management.
And those were things that Iwas becoming increasingly more
passionate about, because nomatter how many women I saw a
day in my clinic, invariably wealways were talking about did
(11:57):
you eat breakfast and how areyou managing your stress?
Have you moved?
Today, I mean, I was having thesame conversation again and
again and again.
So the idea that I could beinvolved on a larger scale and
have greater impact wasextremely exciting to me, and I
also really believe in the powerof lifestyle modification to
treat and to prevent disease.
(12:18):
And the good news is that nowand now it's 15 years later it's
certainly more mainstream.
Then I felt like some peoplethought I was crazy, but we did
incredible work.
So Lifestyle 180 was a programthat was set up to take patients
who had what I like to think ofas low-hanging fruits what I
(12:40):
like to think of as low-hangingfruit, so heart disease and high
blood pressure, highcholesterol, diabetes, obesity,
even some cancers and put themthrough a program where they it
was a six-week program.
They came twice a week and hadnutrition, exercise and stress
(13:02):
management classes.
We measured everything.
We measured labs, we knew abouttheir medications, we ate all
of their biometrics, so theirblood pressure, their heart rate
and their weight, and we alsomeasured behavioral.
We looked at different scales,right, how stressed were they?
(13:23):
And it was so exciting to seeover that six weeks and then we
followed them actually for ayear.
So the program in its total wasa year and we were were
ecstatic because it worked.
I mean people, uh, they feltbetter, which was so exciting to
me, and they were able to movethe needle on all of it.
(13:44):
So people who were on medicinewere able to lower their
medicine and sometimes even comeoff of their medicine, which
was really cool.
They improved all of their labfunctions.
So if they had high cholesterol, it got better.
If their hemoglobin A1C, whichis a marker for diabetes, was
elevated, it went down.
Their weight went down.
Their blood pressure went down.
It was really, really gratifyingto see that, yes, you can
(14:08):
change what you eat, you canthink about how you're going to
move, you can think about howyou're going to manage your
stress and you can thereforehave a really positive impact.
We know, nicole, that 75%, 80%depending which study you want
to look at of chronic diseasesare impacted by lifestyle.
That is a huge number, which Ifind really exciting because it
(14:30):
means that we have so muchcontrol, no matter what's going
on in the world and God knows,this year there's a lot going on
in the world but we still canstop and, in my case, make
hollow, which we'll talk about,but we can stop and think every
day how we're going to impactour own health.
Which case make hollow, whichwe'll talk about, but we can
stop and think every day howwe're going to impact our own
health, which therefore, ofcourse, impacts everybody around
(14:50):
us.
It have a huge ripple effect.
Nicole Kelly (14:54):
Yes, I am a type two diabetic and I feel like I'm
constantly thinking about foodand have many, many thoughts on
that but that's another podcastcompletely and have many, many
thoughts on that but that'sanother podcast completely.
But I'd like to talk about thattoo.
So someday, yes, yes, yes.
We can definitely.
Maybe we'll revisit.
We'll just talk about foodwhich, for better or for worse,
(15:19):
I love food, so at some pointyou then ended up moving to.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (15:21):
Southern.
Nicole Kelly (15:21):
California.
What caused that move?
Moving from Ohio to Californiais a pretty big difference.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (15:25):
It was a big difference and it happened
really quickly.
My husband had a jobopportunity and I was so excited
to try something new.
We've moved a lot and I lovethat personally, and the kids
were the right age.
I didn't want to leave whenthey were in high school.
They were younger then.
I thought it would be easier tomove at a younger age and what
(15:50):
a treat to come to a completelynew environment.
I have to say the weather hereis lovely being in Cleveland.
My husband called me one day atwork about the opportunity and
it was winter time in Clevelandand it was great from the
grounds to the heavens and gosh.
I really don't miss that, quitefrankly.
Nicole Kelly (16:07):
So here we are.
I'm originally from SouthernCalifornia so I understand, but
I made the opposite move and Ifeel like I'm never leaving here
, despite the terrible weather.
I feel like I'm much more of aNew York City girl than a.
SoCal girl, but a lot of myfriends and family are very
Southern California and they'renever going to leave, so I
definitely respect that.
(16:28):
So let's jump into um.
What what I really want to talkabout is your book called
Braided Journey of a ThousandHalas.
How did that happen?
You know let's, let's I wantthe whole story.
Did you start baking hala andthen write a book?
Had you been baking halaalready?
Like I want the let's, I wantthe whole story.
Did you start baking challahand then write a book because
you've been baking already?
Like I want the whole I wantthe whole spiel.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (16:49):
We move, oh love to tell it.
We moved back to ohio from newyork and I was working at the
cleveland clinic and, uh, I amsure in hindsight, nicole, that
I had physician burnout, but atthis.
So now imagine this is 15 yearsago.
That was not a common monikerin our vocabulary and I
(17:14):
certainly didn't know how totalk about it and nobody around
me was talking about it.
To say I was stressed out wouldbe an understatement.
We had three little kids.
Both of our families were there.
I was trying to be a presentmom and a present family member
and a wife and a spouse and allthese things and go to work.
It was hard for me.
(17:34):
I really struggled.
And about this time during theJewish New Year, a girlfriend of
mine from my New York dayscalled and we were chatting.
She was wishing me Happy NewYear, asking me what I was doing
with the kids You're so cute, Ican barely brush my teeth these
days and get out the door inthe morning.
I'm not doing it, I don't knowwhat we're doing and she said oh
(17:58):
, you should make challah.
I just came from a mommy and meclass at the JCC on the Upper
West Side of Manhattan, it'ssuper easy.
I was like, yeah, right Back tothe comment I made earlier.
I had no idea people actuallymade challah and I'd certainly
never worked with yeast, so theidea that I was going to bake
something was almost laughable.
But she kept talking about itand it really did sound cool,
(18:23):
for lack of a better descriptionand so I tried it that week and
I have to say, nicole, itchanged my life.
I stood at the kitchen counterin Cleveland, I was home alone
and I just had my hands in abowl of dough trying to make
challah.
I was not on my beeper, Iwasn't answering a page, I
(18:46):
wasn't worrying about a patientand I wasn't worrying about my
kids.
I just was trying to mix flourand sugar in a bowl.
And then the crazy thing so I'dnever baked bread.
So I didn't understand what wasgoing to happen.
When you actually bake bread,which is your house, becomes a
(19:08):
home.
That smell, that aroma, it'sjust, it's magical.
And there I was a couple hourslater, enveloped in the smell,
and I took those lopsided loavesout of the oven I'm better now
at braiding and they look reallike I had made something.
And my kids were so excited,and my husband, who obviously
(19:29):
appreciated the tradition a lotmore than I did at that time,
was incredulous and it was socool.
I did it again the next week and, before I knew it, nicole, I
was trying to find a half anhour every Friday to make the
dough.
I was trying to find a half anhour every Friday to make the
dough, and I did for years and Iultimately realized I had
(19:50):
learned a lot of reallyimportant life lessons.
At this point, we were nowliving in LA and I thought, okay
, I'm clearly not the onlystressed out mom on the block
and I've learned a lot from thisritual.
I want to share that, andthat's what became the genesis
for the book.
And the book came out in theend of 2018.
(20:12):
And since then, it's just hadthis incredible life of its own,
and I've been able to share itwith people all over the country
.
I now lead workshops.
The great news is we're back inperson.
It started virtually duringCOVID, but I now get to travel
and make Hama with people.
I'm a physician, right, I'm nota baker, so I talk about this
(20:35):
and I think about it.
I write about it with that asmy lens, where I'm taking this
ancient Jewish ritual, which isso powerful, and I'm overlaying
it with these ideas and thoughtsthat I've learned as a
physician.
I talk about the importance ofmindfulness and being present
and managing our stress, and whybuilding community is so
(20:59):
important to us, and I foundthat the more I do this, the
more I realize exactly howimportant it is to do this.
It's been a very easy pivot forme.
Nicole Kelly (21:10):
That's very different than working in
women's health, but very, verybut helpful, helpful in a very
different way.
Yeah, I see the connection, butyes, I feel like we were saying
it's one of those things that ifyou had probably told yourself
you were going to be doinghollow workshops, you would have
thought you were crazy.
So a lot to unpack with that.
I have lots of questions.
(21:30):
So you said that you, you know,after the book was published,
you started doing workshops andspeaking engagements.
How did that start?
And you know, if I was, youknow, to take a workshop with
you, what would I expect fromthat?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (21:41):
Yeah.
So the first year that the bookcame out and I knew nothing, by
the way, about publishing,about books, about it I mean, I
wasn't in the author-writerspace at that point at all and I
started doing what I now, inhindsight, would say was sort of
traditional book marketing Idid some book tour.
I mean, I went on a little minitour and it really was,
(22:07):
honestly, was COVID, so we hadbeen home a week, the kids were
back home from college, we'reall in our house in California.
It's tight quarters and I hadhad the fortune in this past, in
the year before and as the bookwas getting out of meeting all
kinds of fabulous people in theholoverse, as my husband calls
(22:29):
it, which I think is beautiful.
Nicole Kelly (22:31):
That's where the holomonster lives in the
holoverse.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (22:33):
Yeah, exactly .
And a friend of mine reachedout from Atlanta and said to me
you should teach a virtual class.
You know, we're all home, maybewe'll be home a couple of weeks
.
Little did we know.
And my kids said mom, you havea laptop, get a ring light, you
(22:55):
have a kitchen studio.
There you go.
And so I did.
I started that Friday, a week ortwo in quarantine, offering
hollow workshops, and what we doin a workshop is still pretty
similar to what I did then.
I mean, it's just, it's evolvedfor sure.
(23:20):
But essentially, to answer yourquestion, you know what do you
expect at one of my workshops?
What we do is we make doughtogether and in the hour that
we're together, I talk the wholetime.
And I'm talking about whilewe're getting our hands in the
bowls of dough and while we'retogether as a group, having this
(23:42):
tactile experience with thisancient Jewish ritual.
I talk about the importance ofa ritual, I talk about a tactile
experience, I talk about beingpresent, I talk about having a
way to manage your stress thisis mine, you can pick whatever
you'd like but why?
(24:02):
That actually matters to ourhealth because, again, I'm
coming at this as a physician.
And when we're done.
We have a bowl of dough I liketo think of it as a bit like a
television show I bring outanother bowl of dough that I've
made so I can demonstratebraiding and baking and talk
about that, but people go homewith a bowl of dough that then
(24:24):
they can braid and bake at home.
Sometimes I do a longer workshop, depending on the organization,
and we do actually do someprogramming while the dough
rises and then we come back andbraid it.
People go home with a loaf, butyou don't go home with finished
baked bread.
In general, I have done this atcertain facilities where we
actually do longer workshops,where we do bake it, but the
(24:44):
basic workshop, the one that Ido all the time and I've done a
hundred of these is we makedough together and have this
experience, which I find reallyempowering.
And what's been particularlygratifying, nicole, since a year
ago, since October 7th, is thatI not only am working with
Jewish groups, but I'm workingwith all kinds of groups.
(25:07):
I work with churches, I'veworked with a law firm, I've
worked with corporations, I'veworked with a lot of schools and
medical schools anduniversities, and what's so
powerful and impactful for me isto build bridges and to work
with people of different faithsand different backgrounds and
(25:29):
come together, because I thinkthat's how we're going to move
forward and have hope.
Nicole Kelly (25:35):
I love all of that .
I'm so.
I love all of that.
One of the things you'dmentioned about is the benefits
of meaningful rituals, and Ifeel like I'm not baking challah
because no one wants to eat anychallah I make or braid because
I've made challah before yes.
I've made challah before and Icannot braid it to save the life
of me.
So it comes.
It's a whole mess, like I'vehad instructors re-braid for me.
(25:58):
So there's that.
But I have found other thingsin my life that have become
meaningful Jewish rituals, whichI think are very helpful.
But what do you think are thehealth benefits of because you
say you're coming from this as aphysician the health benefits
of meaningful rituals, whetherit's baking challah or if you're
not Jewish, doing somethingelse or going to synagogue on
(26:19):
Fridays or whatever that is,what are the health benefits of
that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (26:26):
or whatever that is.
What are the health benefits ofthat?
Yes, so I think it helps usfeel connected and it helps give
us purpose, and I find thatthat is really important for our
mental health.
And there's a connectionbetween the mind and the body.
I mean, when I actually went tomedical school, which was 30
years ago, there was the body.
We learned a lot about Westernmedicine and the body.
(26:48):
We didn't necessarily talk somuch about the connection
between the mind and the body.
I've come to really appreciatealternative and complementary
medicine together with Westernmedicine.
I think that they work very,very well together.
They work very, very welltogether and having a sense of
belonging and community and waysto manage your stress
(27:10):
significantly impact your health, and now we have actually data
and research that support that.
So when you have a meaningfulritual so, for example, me
making challah when I stop and Imake challah on Fridays and I
take a deep breath and I amthere and present at the kitchen
counter, I'm having an impactliterally on my body and I'm
(27:34):
calming down and being present.
That's great for so many.
It's great for my heart, it'sgreat for my mind, it's great
for my mood.
It doesn't get any better thanthat.
Nicole Kelly (27:52):
So you mentioned you'd never baked challah before
you started.
So, what did you?
It's better now, practice,practice, practice.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (27:59):
Practice does make perfect.
Nicole Kelly (28:02):
What if someone you know got your book, was
interested in doing thisspecific, meaningful ritual to
kind of unwind and centerthemselves?
How would they start?
Never baked before.
What would be your advice tothem?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (28:15):
To get the six ingredients in a bowl and
put them on the kitchen counter.
It's really just that simple.
The lovely thing about thisparticular ritual we do it every
week, it doesn't matter.
One week it's great, one weekit's not great, who cares?
I actually believe that perfectis the enemy of the good, and
(28:38):
it's just the fact that you'reengaging in it.
So you just start, and someweeks, even now, like I made a
lot of challah.
Last week, we were back in Ohiofor Rosh Hashanah and I made a
lot of challah, which was greatfun.
Some of it was sublime.
I'll just pat myself on theback and there was a batch I
made that just wasn't Nicole.
(28:58):
I felt so awful.
Everyone thought it was fine.
No one said anything, but I waslike yuck, this is not my
standard.
I don't know what happened.
I don't know it was the sameingredients.
Sometimes that's just life.
So how do you do it?
You just start, just get outthe ingredients, put them on the
kitchen counter, take a deepbreath.
Nicole Kelly (29:20):
One step at a time .
So you mentioned not good andgood challah.
And what, in your opinion?
What makes a challah good ornot good?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (29:28):
oh, other than it's being properly baked
fully yeah, no, no, I know it'sso subjective, but I want the
dough to have a certain feeling,a je ne sais quoi.
I can't exactly explain it, butwhen you, when you feel it and
it, you know.
And it actually took me a whilethe first year or so that I
made challah, I was terrifiedand I didn't alter the recipe.
(29:52):
One iota Abby had sent me therecipe.
I copied it exactly, didn'tchange anything, and it didn't
always work though, and Ifinally realized after about a
year oh, you know, I could adapt, I could modify, I could play
with it, and I have found thatwhen I hold back a little of the
(30:17):
flour and then see what thedough needs, and one of the big
lessons I learned is that youcan always add more, but you
can't always take out.
I mean, obviously the wholepoint is that's a life lesson
and once I started doing that,so that is probably the biggest
(30:38):
factor.
Now, when I make, I play withthe amount of dough and
sometimes it changes.
I mean, you're familiar withsouthern california, so two
years ago we had horriblewildfires that were close enough
to where I live that that theair was definitely wonky and it
happened to be on a friday andthe joe as a result was crazy
(31:02):
like I added so much more flourto compensate some of the the
workshops that I've done.
I've had participants who arein high altitude and they've had
to modify on, for example.
That's another classic examplethat I can give you right off
the bat.
But I think actually I was inOhio last week and the air is
different and the water isdifferent than it is here and I
(31:24):
think that's also what wouldhappen.
Nicole Kelly (31:27):
I don't know it just that's what scares me about
baking.
I'm like a, like a D level cookat best my husband's, it's the
truth.
Uh, my, my, I can make likethree things, and one of them is
like a pre-marinated chickenfrom Trader Joe's.
Uh, I'm not a good cook.
I took cooking in high schooland I was the dishwasher.
That's the big joke.
(31:48):
So my husband's the cook and hejust has this really great way
of like, like you said, playingwith things.
But baking is, I think, scaryto him, though.
Our kitchen is bigger now, so Ithink we're getting a
KitchenAid and I'm my, my friend, who's like a real baker, was
like well, obviously, like youneed to start baking, but I
think that's one of the thingsthat scares him and definitely
(32:08):
me about baking is the changewith dough and you know, like
the air and the water, like allof that is that's one of the
reasons that New York bagels areso good is the water.
So if you are, it's the waterand the pizza and that's.
It's the sourdough in SanFrancisco.
Same thing.
It has to do with the water, sowith baking, there's much more
that goes into it.
(32:28):
So I, I, I like how, I reallylike how you've compared it to
life, how there's challenges.
It's going to be different but,you just have to do it, and I,
before I talked, to you, I, youknow who knew making baking
challah was was so deep andphilosophical.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (32:44):
It's very deep.
I have to tell you there's somany lessons that come out of
this incredible bread.
Nicole Kelly (32:51):
It's also a mitzvah for women.
We're supposed to bake challah,which my husband jokes with me.
He's like you're not fulfillingyour mitzvah.
I was like I'm doing a mitzvahby not baking challah, but I
feel like maybe I should try,Maybe I'll keep my husband on
board in case.
I need like an expert, so youbake a lot of challah.
(33:11):
I do and you talked about howyou become more observant.
So, with all this challah, whatdoes Shabbat look like at your
house?
Do you have a lot of peopleover?
Is it more of a personal familyexperience?
Is it sometimes just you andyour husband, if you say your?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (33:25):
kids are in college, so what does that look
like?
Nicole Kelly (33:27):
or does it really vary?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (33:30):
It varies and we have Shabbat now in our life
, which is such a beautifulthing.
So we did have a lot of challahand when the kids were little
it became a very easy way tohave their friends over and it
almost got to the point where Iwasn't that intentional about it
because the kids were here andtheir friends came and I didn't
(33:51):
really think about it.
Now that they're not here we'veactually been very intentional
about it, because it's so easyto just not have Shabbat.
I don't live in the community,so to speak, so it's not.
You know, everyone around meisn't.
Nicole Kelly (34:08):
There's no Shabbat siren.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (34:10):
No.
So we, several times a month,we have people over and I love
that and sometimes it really isjust my husband and I.
And then we joke because ourfavorite meal on Friday nights
is to just light the candles,say the blessing, have a really
good glass of wine and devourthe challah.
(34:31):
Unfortunately, we can't do thatevery week.
That would not be a good idea.
But we do have Shabbat everyweek and usually it's with other
people, which is verymeaningful for both of us at
this point.
Nicole Kelly (34:46):
Yeah, I think that's one of the great things.
We don't have people very oftenbecause limited space, but I
think it's one of the things Ido like about Shabbat.
Is that what it is?
With a bunch of people, itbecomes a real communal
experience.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (34:59):
Right, yeah, and just a beautiful anchor to
the end and beginning of theweek.
I like that a lot now.
I really like that.
Nicole Kelly (35:09):
Yeah, we try at least to light candles and do
some grape juice and challah atthe very least, if we're not
doing something better, becausemy daughter will ask for grape
juice and challah, so I don'tknow if it's a food-driven thing
for her, but she's already kindof, I think, buying into the
idea of this is what we do everyFriday, which I like.
Oh, that's beautiful.
(35:29):
Yes, so you had mentionedOctober 7th and how things have
changed, at least from yourworkshops and challah making.
Can you kind of delve into thata little bit more, or how
things have changed personallyfor you since October 7th?
I think everybody who you knowfeels affected by what happened
(35:50):
can say that their life changedat least in some way.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (35:55):
Oh, nicole, I feel like it was the before and
the after.
I was just, and continue to be,devastated, really, really
horrible.
So how has our life changed?
We now, on Shabbat, everyFriday, we light three candles,
(36:18):
because we always only lit two,and now we light a third for the
hostages.
We started that immediately.
For a while we were sayingextra prayers also on Friday
night.
I always now oh, actually, letme backtrack.
So one of the lovely things I dowhen I make challah, which I've
(36:38):
been doing for years, that Iwas taught, actually, when I got
to make challah in Israel,which was so cool, but anyway, I
learned about making challah inthe merit of somebody or
something and bringing moreintention to the experience.
So since October 7, one of the,at the beginning, when I start
to make challah, I always thinkabout it every week.
You know in whose merit am Igoing to make this batch, and I
(37:01):
always now add in the hostages,and it just now add in the
hostages and it just.
It brings me a little solaceand I actually do believe in the
power of prayer, so I think it.
I think it helps.
Interestingly for me, since thattime I have felt more connected
(37:22):
to my community and it's beenreally.
That has been a silver liningto all of this, and a really
lovely silver lining.
And then I had an opportunitythis summer I don't know if you
know about this book yet it justcame out, but I had an
opportunity to be a toparticipate in an anthology that
(37:42):
was released as an ebook and anaudio book on October 1st,
called On being Jewish Now, andthe paperback version is coming
out November 1st and there are75 authors and advocates who
have written about.
We all wrote a short essayabout anything post-October 7th
and the book is divided into allkinds of categories Some are
(38:04):
joyous and some are sad andeverything in between, and to be
involved in experiences likethat has also really been
impactful for me.
Nicole Kelly (38:21):
That was another question I had.
So how did you get involvedwith that and what did you write
about?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (38:29):
So Zibi Owens , who's the editor of the book
and has a publishing arm as partof her media company, published
the book.
I was fortunate to meet her,actually right when Braided came
out.
She had just just just startedher podcast.
This was the fall of 2018.
(38:52):
And she started in the summerof 2018.
So brand new, and I was a gueston her podcast, which was super
fun, and we actually madechallah together here in uh la,
and then I've done a coupleevents with her over the years
since then.
So she reached out in uh in julyto ask if I would I think it
(39:16):
was july um to ask if I would bebe able to do this, and it was
like, of course, mean.
This is just a beautiful,beautiful thing to have come
into being.
I'm really thrilled about it,and I wrote about Hala, of
(39:36):
course, but what I wrote aboutwas coming together as community
.
So I mentioned a bit before howI make hollow with all
different types of people andparticularly, I'm leaning into
that in a big way post October 7.
So I wrote about what theritual means to me, but then
(39:58):
also I highlighted one of theexperiences that I've had during
the year.
These are short essays, by theway, they're all under 1000
words.
These are short essays.
Nicole Kelly (40:08):
by the way, they're, all you know, under a
thousand words.
I just submitted something thatthey wanted a thousand words
and I couldn't get it.
It was like right under 2,000.
I couldn't figure out how to dothat.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:13):
It's so short .
Short is actually Nicole, Ithink it's harder it is All.
Nicole Kelly (40:19):
My school papers are very long.
I hate when they give like ifI'm writing a paper, it's going
to be longer than you're goingto ask for and there's nothing I
can do about that.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:27):
Yeah, our, our, our directive was 500 to a
thousand words.
Oh my, that's like it's likeone single thought yeah, they're
short, they're short, it'stough, but, but there's
something really, reallypowerful about this book and
(40:47):
definitely check it out, notonly as a book when it comes out
in November, but now.
The audio book is really greatbecause most of us read our own
pieces.
Nicole Kelly (40:55):
Oh, that's nice that you were able to do it
yourself.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:57):
Yeah, so it's lovely to hear everybody
speaking and that's fun, andjust I've never actually heard
that before.
Fun, and just I've neveractually heard that before.
Or you know, I haven't read abook like that where all the
contributors actually recordedtheir own, which is neat, which
is really neat.
Nicole Kelly (41:16):
We've got dogs in the background.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (41:19):
I'm sure you're going to hear ours.
At some point I was worriedabout that, but now I'm less
worried.
Nicole Kelly (41:24):
No, no no, we are a pro-dog house.
Do you have plans to writeanother book?
I mean, you know you're awriter.
Now Are you going to stop atjust one and that just be your?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (41:35):
kind of opus?
No, I don't know.
No, it's a great question.
I have been working onsomething off and on actually
for a couple years.
I've shelved a few.
I've something off and onactually for a couple years.
I've actually I've shelved a few, I've got one going now about
halfway through um and I don'tknow.
I I really enjoy writing.
I didn't know that about myself.
(41:56):
The things we learn, um, I doenjoy it, and what I really
enjoy are other people's storiesand sharing other people's
stories.
So so there might be.
There might be another book inme, which would be super fun
We'll see and I'm reallyenjoying the workshops, so that
will continue for now.
Nicole Kelly (42:16):
So, speaking about the workshops, I wanted to ask
how, how, if I wanted to join aworkshop, how would I find?
Out what events you're going tobe doing.
Or if I wanted to book an eventfor my organization, how would
I go about that?
Events you're going to be doing?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (42:26):
Or if I wanted to book an event for my
organization.
How would I go about that?
So at the moment I am no longerdoing them, just me myself, and
I meaning that I used to justput a link up on you know in my
newsletter, on on my website andsay, you know, next Friday.
I'm doing this at this time,but now I'm working with
organizations, institutions, youknow, whomever so, to
(42:49):
participate in a workshop.
At this point it's through youknow, fill in the blank
organization, your synagogue,your school, your whatever, your
office, your whomever, and theybring me in and it's great.
I work, you know, all over theplace and I've even now gone out
(43:09):
of the country to do it, whichis fun.
Um, so how do you do that?
You reach out to me.
So you reach out to me eitherthrough my website, which is
just my name, bethricanadamdcom,or you find me on Instagram or
Facebook and, uh, also my nameon Instagram, beth Rickonati MD.
(43:29):
And we work together and set itup, which is really fun.
Nicole Kelly (43:35):
I know Well, now I want to eat challah.
Oh well, please, exactly, whichis just an always thing that I
want to do, I just want toalways eat challah.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (43:44):
It's the only bread now I like to eat, quite
frankly.
Nicole Kelly (43:49):
We were doing a play thing with my daughter and
there was an instructor and theypulled up a picture of bread
and they asked her what it wasand she went challah.
So she just thinks all bread ischallah now.
So that's where we're at in myhouse which is fair, I think,
you have succeeded.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:03):
My job as a Jewish mother is done.
Nicole Kelly (44:06):
So these next questions are short form
questions done in the style ofthe actor's studio you can do
like a quick answer.
So what is your favoriteYiddish word?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:18):
Oh, that's a good one.
Let's say Mishigas.
Nicole Kelly (44:21):
I love that as well.
What about your favorite Jewishholiday?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:25):
Oh, Passover hands down, which I know there's
no holo, but I love to have.
We have Seder every year.
That's my favorite thing.
I love Seder.
Yeah, I did, I know.
Nicole Kelly (44:33):
Not the no challah part, but it's only a week.
So if you were to have a batmitzvah today and have a big
blowout party, what would thetheme be?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:43):
Oh my goodness.
Well, we'd have to do somethingaround challah because it
really does rule my life, sosomething around challah.
Okay, what profession otherthan your own would you want to
(45:06):
attempt?
You know, nicole, I like what Ido.
I don't know right now if Iwould attempt something else.
I mean, when I was younger Ihad a list a mile long of things
I wanted to do and be, but Idon't regret not doing them.
Nicole Kelly (45:19):
If heaven is real and God is there to welcome you,
what would you like to hear himsay?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (45:31):
you, what would you?
Nicole Kelly (45:37):
like to hear him say you did good.
You did good, all right.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me,Dr.
Beth.
It has been a pleasure andhopefully all of you are going
to go either bake or grab somechallah or, even better, book a
workshop.
So this has been.
Sheb rew in the City and I amNicole Kelly.
©.
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Hi, I'm Nicole Kelly and thisis Sheb ew in the City and today
(00:35):
I'm talking to Dr Beth Ricanati.
How are you doing today, doctor?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (00:40):
I'm doing very well, thank you.
Thank you so much.
Nicole Kelly (00:44):
I'm so excited to talk to you because we're
talking about one of my favoritesubjects for a decent portion
of your interview.
I think Challah, I love Challah.
We have this thing in our housethat somehow I don't know who
created it.
I think it was my husband, theChallah monster, my daughter.
We've created this kind ofmythical character that comes
and steals your challah and shepretends to be scared of it and
(01:05):
it's very cute, but she getschallahs at home every Friday
from school.
Because I'm not a baker, so I'mvery thankful for that, but
we're going to talk a lot aboutchallah today.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (01:17):
Fabulous, thank you.
I share a love of it as well.
Nicole Kelly (01:21):
So I usually start off by asking my guests where
they're from, what their Jewishupbringing was like.
For my female guests, if theyhad a bat mitzvah, what that was
like.
So let's dive in.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (01:31):
Absolutely.
I am from Cleveland, ohio.
I now live on the West Coast,but I am a Midwesterner.
I grew up very Reform.
I am now solidly conservative.
It's been a journey, continuesto be a journey.
I didn't know that people madechallah growing up.
(01:54):
I thought it came in theplastic bag from the Jewish
bakery you had a couple times ayear and I did not have a bar
mitzvah.
Unfortunately, all of my kidshave been bar and bar mitzvahed.
I did attend Sunday schoolthrough ninth grade.
I had a confirmation what theycalled it back then.
I don't know if they even stilldo that in reformed synagogues,
but that was the extent then ofmy Jewish education, and it
(02:19):
wasn't until I went off tocollege that I really started to
learn more.
Nicole Kelly (02:24):
So they do still have confirmation, because we're
members of a reform synagogueand what ours does is pretty
cool is.
The culmination of it is theytake a trip to Germany, and
specifically Berlin.
Oh, my gosh Because that'sreally where the reform movement
started.
So I'm hoping when my daughteris older she's only three, so
we've got some time.
Yeah, though with what I'm aboutto go into, I'm sure she's
(02:44):
going to spend a lot of time inGermany.
I am about to embark on agraduate program in Holocaust
and genocide studies, so I'msure she'll end up in Germany at
some point before 10th grade.
Yeah, I'm very excited withwhat I'll be able to do with the
degree, but I'm a littleoverwhelmed, understandably.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:03):
Yeah.
Nicole Kelly (03:03):
So you made the transition from being Reformed
to Conservative.
Usually it's the other wayaround, which is the journey
that I made, because I grew upin a conservative synagogue,
though I feel like my personalfamily was leaning more towards
Reformed than Conservative.
Like we didn't keep kosher, youknow.
We went to like you know therequired Shabbats through Hebrew
school, but not like extraholidays.
(03:26):
Like I feel like I celebratemore holidays now than when I
was a kid.
I go to like everything.
So what caused that transitionand what was that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:37):
transition like and what?
Nicole Kelly (03:38):
did that entail for you and your family?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (03:40):
Oh, it's been absolutely wonderful.
So I married a man who grew up,I would say, conservadox really
more conservative, but more onthe observant side of
conservative was a mixedmarriage, because it really felt
(04:07):
that way.
We were bringing two wildlydifferent backgrounds together
and in the beginning we weremembers of a reformed synagogue
and we did not keep kosher.
He grew up keeping kosher andthen we had kids and that
changed everything for us.
We began a journey when we hadkids that continues to this day,
(04:29):
where we have just beenembracing more and more of our
tradition and religion andbackground and heritage and we
studied with more observantrabbis once the kids were born,
(04:53):
studied with more observantrabbis once the kids were born
and ultimately did join aconservative synagogue and sent
the kids to summer camp Jewishsummer camp, overnight camp and
I really came to hold on toJewish ideas and thoughts as a
tool for parenting.
And that's really where itbecame really helpful, like when
the kids were little.
I mean now they're in collegeand beyond.
But when they were really likeyour daughter's age, but when
(05:17):
they were, you know, sort ofpreschool-ish, I began to see
the merits of a lot of Jewishteaching as a wonderful guide
for parenting and it was such aneasy path then to embrace and
I've come to really love it.
(05:38):
And that's where we are today.
And we do keep kosher ish.
Now.
I mean, well, we have, you know, we separate milk and meat and
we don't have, uh, you know, wedon't eat pork or shellfish, um,
except, I must admit, when Itravel.
Sometimes I have a littlelinguine and clams, but we won't
(06:02):
talk about.
Nicole Kelly (06:03):
I've heard this referred to as kosher style.
If you're not keeping likestrict laws of kosher style,
right.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (06:09):
So we have separate dishes and and and that
, but but right, I don't havetwo sinks and two dishwashers.
Nicole Kelly (06:17):
Yes, yes, and some people have special Passover
kitchens, which I've seen insome houses, which is extra next
level, that they only use itduring Passover.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (06:26):
Wow, no, I don't have an extra kitchen.
Nicole Kelly (06:29):
It requires a lot of space.
I feel like you know, being inNew York, where I'm impressed
that people can have room fortwo sets of dishes and a
dishwasher period.
That's always, you know, likewe just moved into an apartment
that has a washer and dryer, soI feel like I've reached the
pinnacle of New York living.
Like our initial apartment wewere in for eight years and we
had a little countertopdishwasher and then our next
(06:51):
place had a real dishwasher andlaundry in the building and now
we have everything.
So I feel like I've made it,which is a weird, touch a corner
, a weird like milestone for NewYorkers.
So I read that you majored inart history and undergraduate
and for your undergraduatedegree and then you decided to
(07:11):
pursue medicine.
That's a pretty extreme shift.
What caused that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (07:16):
It's a pivot, but, I have to say, by way of
background, studying art tobecome a physician, I think,
should be a requirement foreverybody, because I spent four
years learning how to look, howto see, and then it became very
easy when it was time to, whenwe were in medical school.
All of my clinical work inmedical school went very, very
(07:39):
well, because I knew how to lookand how to see in a really
different way than my biologyand chemistry major colleagues
or co-students.
The pivot became apparent,though, in college, because I
(07:59):
was at school on the East Coast,having grown up in Cleveland,
as I mentioned and it was theearly 90s, late 80s, early 90s
and I became aware of somewomen's health issues, that
there were Supreme Court casesand things like that, and I had
not known about any of thisgrowing up in Ohio, and I wanted
(08:22):
to do something about it and Iwanted to try and effect some
change, and I have alwaysthought that if you're going to
try and change something, youhave to actually get in there
and change it.
So I thought if I had an MD, Icould probably have a more of a
leg to stand on in women'shealth than not, and I actually
(08:45):
had always spent my wholechildhood in one way or another
helping other people.
I learned Braille as a child andvolunteered at the Sight Center
in Cleveland, which is anorganization for the visually
impaired and blind, and actuallywrote with Stouffer's Food,
wrote a cookbook for the blindin high school, and I always
(09:06):
worked and volunteered inhospitals.
So it was no surprise inhindsight but hindsight is
always 20-20.
And if you had told me when Ientered college and I went in
with the idea of majoring in arthistory which is sort of
interesting to go in with thesame major that one goes out
with, but anyway if you had toldme then that I would be a
science geek, I would not haveknown who you were talking about
(09:30):
.
But it's been a greatcombination, I think.
And also then it made it reallyeasy as I know we'll get into
later but I pivoted yet againand so the stage was set early
on that I was obviously going tobe doing lots of different
things that were outside of thebox.
Nicole Kelly (09:45):
One has to expect the unexpected when it comes to
careers.
Yes, yes, indeed, I feel thesame way.
We moved to New York to pursuemusical theater and now.
I'm going to be studying theHolocaust, so very, very, very
different.
But again, looking back, a lotof it makes sense and no one
seems surprised.
And I've also read that a lotof medical schools.
(10:10):
They like students who aren'tnecessarily pre-med because it
brings a well-rounded doctor outof the program.
So if you're interested ingoing to medical school, maybe
you can minor in somethingscience-y and major in history
or art or something.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:20):
I think it's a great idea.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I definitely think it matters.
Nicole Kelly (10:25):
You're going to get a lot of that chemistry in
med school and stuff.
Anyway, it's not like you'regoing to miss out on it.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:31):
No.
Nicole Kelly (10:33):
So, while after medical school, you worked at
the Cleveland Clinic and youco-created something called
Lifestyle 180.
What is that, and can you tellme a little bit about how that
came about?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (10:50):
Sure, so actually at first.
So I was in New York as welland I totally respect the small
apartment.
We did not have laundry in ourapartment, so I'm right there
with you.
But I went in, as I mentionedbefore, with an interest in
women's health.
So I went to med school withthat as a focus and I trained at
Columbia actually in New Yorkand practiced in their women's
health center for a couple yearsand then, when we moved back
(11:13):
home to Cleveland, I started atthe Cleveland Clinic in their
women's health center.
I'm an internist by training,just to give background, so I
take care of adults.
And after I had been in thewomen's health Center for about
five years at the ClevelandClinic, they had a new
department called the WellnessInstitute that they were setting
(11:35):
up and establishing.
Treat chronic disease throughlifestyle.
So think food, exercise andstress management.
And those were things that Iwas becoming increasingly more
passionate about, because nomatter how many women I saw a
day in my clinic, invariably wealways were talking about did
(11:57):
you eat breakfast and how areyou managing your stress?
Have you moved?
Today, I mean, I was having thesame conversation again and
again and again.
So the idea that I could beinvolved on a larger scale and
have greater impact wasextremely exciting to me, and I
also really believe in the powerof lifestyle modification to
treat and to prevent disease.
(12:18):
And the good news is that nowand now it's 15 years later it's
certainly more mainstream.
Then I felt like some peoplethought I was crazy, but we did
incredible work.
So Lifestyle 180 was a programthat was set up to take patients
who had what I like to think ofas low-hanging fruits what I
(12:40):
like to think of as low-hangingfruit, so heart disease and high
blood pressure, highcholesterol, diabetes, obesity,
even some cancers and put themthrough a program where they it
was a six-week program.
They came twice a week and hadnutrition, exercise and stress
(13:02):
management classes.
We measured everything.
We measured labs, we knew abouttheir medications, we ate all
of their biometrics, so theirblood pressure, their heart rate
and their weight, and we alsomeasured behavioral.
We looked at different scales,right, how stressed were they?
(13:23):
And it was so exciting to seeover that six weeks and then we
followed them actually for ayear.
So the program in its total wasa year and we were were
ecstatic because it worked.
I mean people, uh, they feltbetter, which was so exciting to
me, and they were able to movethe needle on all of it.
(13:44):
So people who were on medicinewere able to lower their
medicine and sometimes even comeoff of their medicine, which
was really cool.
They improved all of their labfunctions.
So if they had high cholesterol, it got better.
If their hemoglobin A1C, whichis a marker for diabetes, was
elevated, it went down.
Their weight went down.
Their blood pressure went down.
It was really, really gratifyingto see that, yes, you can
(14:08):
change what you eat, you canthink about how you're going to
move, you can think about howyou're going to manage your
stress and you can thereforehave a really positive impact.
We know, nicole, that 75%, 80%depending which study you want
to look at of chronic diseasesare impacted by lifestyle.
That is a huge number, which Ifind really exciting because it
(14:30):
means that we have so muchcontrol, no matter what's going
on in the world and God knows,this year there's a lot going on
in the world but we still canstop and, in my case, make
hollow, which we'll talk about,but we can stop and think every
day how we're going to impactour own health.
Which case make hollow, whichwe'll talk about, but we can
stop and think every day howwe're going to impact our own
health, which therefore, ofcourse, impacts everybody around
(14:50):
us.
It have a huge ripple effect.
Nicole Kelly (14:54):
Yes, I am a type two diabetic and I feel like I'm
constantly thinking about foodand have many, many thoughts on
that but that's another podcastcompletely and have many, many
thoughts on that but that'sanother podcast completely.
But I'd like to talk about thattoo.
So someday, yes, yes, yes.
We can definitely.
Maybe we'll revisit.
We'll just talk about foodwhich, for better or for worse,
(15:19):
I love food, so at some pointyou then ended up moving to.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (15:21):
Southern.
Nicole Kelly (15:21):
California.
What caused that move?
Moving from Ohio to Californiais a pretty big difference.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (15:25):
It was a big difference and it happened
really quickly.
My husband had a jobopportunity and I was so excited
to try something new.
We've moved a lot and I lovethat personally, and the kids
were the right age.
I didn't want to leave whenthey were in high school.
They were younger then.
I thought it would be easier tomove at a younger age and what
(15:50):
a treat to come to a completelynew environment.
I have to say the weather hereis lovely being in Cleveland.
My husband called me one day atwork about the opportunity and
it was winter time in Clevelandand it was great from the
grounds to the heavens and gosh.
I really don't miss that, quitefrankly.
Nicole Kelly (16:07):
So here we are.
I'm originally from SouthernCalifornia so I understand, but
I made the opposite move and Ifeel like I'm never leaving here
, despite the terrible weather.
I feel like I'm much more of aNew York City girl than a.
SoCal girl, but a lot of myfriends and family are very
Southern California and they'renever going to leave, so I
definitely respect that.
(16:28):
So let's jump into um.
What what I really want to talkabout is your book called
Braided Journey of a ThousandHalas.
How did that happen?
You know let's, let's I wantthe whole story.
Did you start baking hala andthen write a book?
Had you been baking halaalready?
Like I want the let's, I wantthe whole story.
Did you start baking challahand then write a book because
you've been baking already?
Like I want the whole I wantthe whole spiel.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (16:49):
We move, oh love to tell it.
We moved back to ohio from newyork and I was working at the
cleveland clinic and, uh, I amsure in hindsight, nicole, that
I had physician burnout, but atthis.
So now imagine this is 15 yearsago.
That was not a common monikerin our vocabulary and I
(17:14):
certainly didn't know how totalk about it and nobody around
me was talking about it.
To say I was stressed out wouldbe an understatement.
We had three little kids.
Both of our families were there.
I was trying to be a presentmom and a present family member
and a wife and a spouse and allthese things and go to work.
It was hard for me.
(17:34):
I really struggled.
And about this time during theJewish New Year, a girlfriend of
mine from my New York dayscalled and we were chatting.
She was wishing me Happy NewYear, asking me what I was doing
with the kids You're so cute, Ican barely brush my teeth these
days and get out the door inthe morning.
I'm not doing it, I don't knowwhat we're doing and she said oh
(17:58):
, you should make challah.
I just came from a mommy and meclass at the JCC on the Upper
West Side of Manhattan, it'ssuper easy.
I was like, yeah, right Back tothe comment I made earlier.
I had no idea people actuallymade challah and I'd certainly
never worked with yeast, so theidea that I was going to bake
something was almost laughable.
But she kept talking about itand it really did sound cool,
(18:23):
for lack of a better descriptionand so I tried it that week and
I have to say, nicole, itchanged my life.
I stood at the kitchen counterin Cleveland, I was home alone
and I just had my hands in abowl of dough trying to make
challah.
I was not on my beeper, Iwasn't answering a page, I
(18:46):
wasn't worrying about a patientand I wasn't worrying about my
kids.
I just was trying to mix flourand sugar in a bowl.
And then the crazy thing so I'dnever baked bread.
So I didn't understand what wasgoing to happen.
When you actually bake bread,which is your house, becomes a
(19:08):
home.
That smell, that aroma, it'sjust, it's magical.
And there I was a couple hourslater, enveloped in the smell,
and I took those lopsided loavesout of the oven I'm better now
at braiding and they look reallike I had made something.
And my kids were so excited,and my husband, who obviously
(19:29):
appreciated the tradition a lotmore than I did at that time,
was incredulous and it was socool.
I did it again the next week and, before I knew it, nicole, I
was trying to find a half anhour every Friday to make the
dough.
I was trying to find a half anhour every Friday to make the
dough, and I did for years and Iultimately realized I had
(19:50):
learned a lot of reallyimportant life lessons.
At this point, we were nowliving in LA and I thought, okay
, I'm clearly not the onlystressed out mom on the block
and I've learned a lot from thisritual.
I want to share that, andthat's what became the genesis
for the book.
And the book came out in theend of 2018.
(20:12):
And since then, it's just hadthis incredible life of its own,
and I've been able to share itwith people all over the country
.
I now lead workshops.
The great news is we're back inperson.
It started virtually duringCOVID, but I now get to travel
and make Hama with people.
I'm a physician, right, I'm nota baker, so I talk about this
(20:35):
and I think about it.
I write about it with that asmy lens, where I'm taking this
ancient Jewish ritual, which isso powerful, and I'm overlaying
it with these ideas and thoughtsthat I've learned as a
physician.
I talk about the importance ofmindfulness and being present
and managing our stress, and whybuilding community is so
(20:59):
important to us, and I foundthat the more I do this, the
more I realize exactly howimportant it is to do this.
It's been a very easy pivot forme.
Nicole Kelly (21:10):
That's very different than working in
women's health, but very, verybut helpful, helpful in a very
different way.
Yeah, I see the connection, butyes, I feel like we were saying
it's one of those things that ifyou had probably told yourself
you were going to be doinghollow workshops, you would have
thought you were crazy.
So a lot to unpack with that.
I have lots of questions.
(21:30):
So you said that you, you know,after the book was published,
you started doing workshops andspeaking engagements.
How did that start?
And you know, if I was, youknow, to take a workshop with
you, what would I expect fromthat?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (21:41):
Yeah.
So the first year that the bookcame out and I knew nothing, by
the way, about publishing,about books, about it I mean, I
wasn't in the author-writerspace at that point at all and I
started doing what I now, inhindsight, would say was sort of
traditional book marketing Idid some book tour.
I mean, I went on a little minitour and it really was,
(22:07):
honestly, was COVID, so we hadbeen home a week, the kids were
back home from college, we'reall in our house in California.
It's tight quarters and I hadhad the fortune in this past, in
the year before and as the bookwas getting out of meeting all
kinds of fabulous people in theholoverse, as my husband calls
(22:29):
it, which I think is beautiful.
Nicole Kelly (22:31):
That's where the holomonster lives in the
holoverse.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (22:33):
Yeah, exactly .
And a friend of mine reachedout from Atlanta and said to me
you should teach a virtual class.
You know, we're all home, maybewe'll be home a couple of weeks
.
Little did we know.
And my kids said mom, you havea laptop, get a ring light, you
(22:55):
have a kitchen studio.
There you go.
And so I did.
I started that Friday, a week ortwo in quarantine, offering
hollow workshops, and what we doin a workshop is still pretty
similar to what I did then.
I mean, it's just, it's evolvedfor sure.
(23:20):
But essentially, to answer yourquestion, you know what do you
expect at one of my workshops?
What we do is we make doughtogether and in the hour that
we're together, I talk the wholetime.
And I'm talking about whilewe're getting our hands in the
bowls of dough and while we'retogether as a group, having this
(23:42):
tactile experience with thisancient Jewish ritual.
I talk about the importance ofa ritual, I talk about a tactile
experience, I talk about beingpresent, I talk about having a
way to manage your stress thisis mine, you can pick whatever
you'd like but why?
(24:02):
That actually matters to ourhealth because, again, I'm
coming at this as a physician.
And when we're done.
We have a bowl of dough I liketo think of it as a bit like a
television show I bring outanother bowl of dough that I've
made so I can demonstratebraiding and baking and talk
about that, but people go homewith a bowl of dough that then
(24:24):
they can braid and bake at home.
Sometimes I do a longer workshop, depending on the organization,
and we do actually do someprogramming while the dough
rises and then we come back andbraid it.
People go home with a loaf, butyou don't go home with finished
baked bread.
In general, I have done this atcertain facilities where we
actually do longer workshops,where we do bake it, but the
(24:44):
basic workshop, the one that Ido all the time and I've done a
hundred of these is we makedough together and have this
experience, which I find reallyempowering.
And what's been particularlygratifying, nicole, since a year
ago, since October 7th, is thatI not only am working with
Jewish groups, but I'm workingwith all kinds of groups.
(25:07):
I work with churches, I'veworked with a law firm, I've
worked with corporations, I'veworked with a lot of schools and
medical schools anduniversities, and what's so
powerful and impactful for me isto build bridges and to work
with people of different faithsand different backgrounds and
(25:29):
come together, because I thinkthat's how we're going to move
forward and have hope.
Nicole Kelly (25:35):
I love all of that .
I'm so.
I love all of that.
One of the things you'dmentioned about is the benefits
of meaningful rituals, and Ifeel like I'm not baking challah
because no one wants to eat anychallah I make or braid because
I've made challah before yes.
I've made challah before and Icannot braid it to save the life
of me.
So it comes.
It's a whole mess, like I'vehad instructors re-braid for me.
(25:58):
So there's that.
But I have found other thingsin my life that have become
meaningful Jewish rituals, whichI think are very helpful.
But what do you think are thehealth benefits of because you
say you're coming from this as aphysician the health benefits
of meaningful rituals, whetherit's baking challah or if you're
not Jewish, doing somethingelse or going to synagogue on
(26:19):
Fridays or whatever that is,what are the health benefits of
that?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (26:26):
or whatever that is.
What are the health benefits ofthat?
Yes, so I think it helps usfeel connected and it helps give
us purpose, and I find thatthat is really important for our
mental health.
And there's a connectionbetween the mind and the body.
I mean, when I actually went tomedical school, which was 30
years ago, there was the body.
We learned a lot about Westernmedicine and the body.
(26:48):
We didn't necessarily talk somuch about the connection
between the mind and the body.
I've come to really appreciatealternative and complementary
medicine together with Westernmedicine.
I think that they work very,very well together.
They work very, very welltogether and having a sense of
belonging and community and waysto manage your stress
(27:10):
significantly impact your health, and now we have actually data
and research that support that.
So when you have a meaningfulritual so, for example, me
making challah when I stop and Imake challah on Fridays and I
take a deep breath and I amthere and present at the kitchen
counter, I'm having an impactliterally on my body and I'm
(27:34):
calming down and being present.
That's great for so many.
It's great for my heart, it'sgreat for my mind, it's great
for my mood.
It doesn't get any better thanthat.
Nicole Kelly (27:52):
So you mentioned you'd never baked challah before
you started.
So, what did you?
It's better now, practice,practice, practice.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (27:59):
Practice does make perfect.
Nicole Kelly (28:02):
What if someone you know got your book, was
interested in doing thisspecific, meaningful ritual to
kind of unwind and centerthemselves?
How would they start?
Never baked before.
What would be your advice tothem?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (28:15):
To get the six ingredients in a bowl and
put them on the kitchen counter.
It's really just that simple.
The lovely thing about thisparticular ritual we do it every
week, it doesn't matter.
One week it's great, one weekit's not great, who cares?
I actually believe that perfectis the enemy of the good, and
(28:38):
it's just the fact that you'reengaging in it.
So you just start, and someweeks, even now, like I made a
lot of challah.
Last week, we were back in Ohiofor Rosh Hashanah and I made a
lot of challah, which was greatfun.
Some of it was sublime.
I'll just pat myself on theback and there was a batch I
made that just wasn't Nicole.
(28:58):
I felt so awful.
Everyone thought it was fine.
No one said anything, but I waslike yuck, this is not my
standard.
I don't know what happened.
I don't know it was the sameingredients.
Sometimes that's just life.
So how do you do it?
You just start, just get outthe ingredients, put them on the
kitchen counter, take a deepbreath.
Nicole Kelly (29:20):
One step at a time .
So you mentioned not good andgood challah.
And what, in your opinion?
What makes a challah good ornot good?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (29:28):
oh, other than it's being properly baked
fully yeah, no, no, I know it'sso subjective, but I want the
dough to have a certain feeling,a je ne sais quoi.
I can't exactly explain it, butwhen you, when you feel it and
it, you know.
And it actually took me a whilethe first year or so that I
made challah, I was terrifiedand I didn't alter the recipe.
(29:52):
One iota Abby had sent me therecipe.
I copied it exactly, didn'tchange anything, and it didn't
always work though, and Ifinally realized after about a
year oh, you know, I could adapt, I could modify, I could play
with it, and I have found thatwhen I hold back a little of the
(30:17):
flour and then see what thedough needs, and one of the big
lessons I learned is that youcan always add more, but you
can't always take out.
I mean, obviously the wholepoint is that's a life lesson
and once I started doing that,so that is probably the biggest
(30:38):
factor.
Now, when I make, I play withthe amount of dough and
sometimes it changes.
I mean, you're familiar withsouthern california, so two
years ago we had horriblewildfires that were close enough
to where I live that that theair was definitely wonky and it
happened to be on a friday andthe joe as a result was crazy
(31:02):
like I added so much more flourto compensate some of the the
workshops that I've done.
I've had participants who arein high altitude and they've had
to modify on, for example.
That's another classic examplethat I can give you right off
the bat.
But I think actually I was inOhio last week and the air is
different and the water isdifferent than it is here and I
(31:24):
think that's also what wouldhappen.
Nicole Kelly (31:27):
I don't know it just that's what scares me about
baking.
I'm like a, like a D level cookat best my husband's, it's the
truth.
Uh, my, my, I can make likethree things, and one of them is
like a pre-marinated chickenfrom Trader Joe's.
Uh, I'm not a good cook.
I took cooking in high schooland I was the dishwasher.
That's the big joke.
(31:48):
So my husband's the cook and hejust has this really great way
of like, like you said, playingwith things.
But baking is, I think, scaryto him, though.
Our kitchen is bigger now, so Ithink we're getting a
KitchenAid and I'm my, my friend, who's like a real baker, was
like well, obviously, like youneed to start baking, but I
think that's one of the thingsthat scares him and definitely
(32:08):
me about baking is the changewith dough and you know, like
the air and the water, like allof that is that's one of the
reasons that New York bagels areso good is the water.
So if you are, it's the waterand the pizza and that's.
It's the sourdough in SanFrancisco.
Same thing.
It has to do with the water, sowith baking, there's much more
that goes into it.
(32:28):
So I, I, I like how, I reallylike how you've compared it to
life, how there's challenges.
It's going to be different but,you just have to do it, and I,
before I talked, to you, I, youknow who knew making baking
challah was was so deep andphilosophical.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (32:44):
It's very deep.
I have to tell you there's somany lessons that come out of
this incredible bread.
Nicole Kelly (32:51):
It's also a mitzvah for women.
We're supposed to bake challah,which my husband jokes with me.
He's like you're not fulfillingyour mitzvah.
I was like I'm doing a mitzvahby not baking challah, but I
feel like maybe I should try,Maybe I'll keep my husband on
board in case.
I need like an expert, so youbake a lot of challah.
(33:11):
I do and you talked about howyou become more observant.
So, with all this challah, whatdoes Shabbat look like at your
house?
Do you have a lot of peopleover?
Is it more of a personal familyexperience?
Is it sometimes just you andyour husband, if you say your?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (33:25):
kids are in college, so what does that look
like?
Nicole Kelly (33:27):
or does it really vary?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (33:30):
It varies and we have Shabbat now in our life
, which is such a beautifulthing.
So we did have a lot of challahand when the kids were little
it became a very easy way tohave their friends over and it
almost got to the point where Iwasn't that intentional about it
because the kids were here andtheir friends came and I didn't
(33:51):
really think about it.
Now that they're not here we'veactually been very intentional
about it, because it's so easyto just not have Shabbat.
I don't live in the community,so to speak, so it's not.
You know, everyone around meisn't.
Nicole Kelly (34:08):
There's no Shabbat siren.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (34:10):
No.
So we, several times a month,we have people over and I love
that and sometimes it really isjust my husband and I.
And then we joke because ourfavorite meal on Friday nights
is to just light the candles,say the blessing, have a really
good glass of wine and devourthe challah.
(34:31):
Unfortunately, we can't do thatevery week.
That would not be a good idea.
But we do have Shabbat everyweek and usually it's with other
people, which is verymeaningful for both of us at
this point.
Nicole Kelly (34:46):
Yeah, I think that's one of the great things.
We don't have people very oftenbecause limited space, but I
think it's one of the things Ido like about Shabbat.
Is that what it is?
With a bunch of people, itbecomes a real communal
experience.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (34:59):
Right, yeah, and just a beautiful anchor to
the end and beginning of theweek.
I like that a lot now.
I really like that.
Nicole Kelly (35:09):
Yeah, we try at least to light candles and do
some grape juice and challah atthe very least, if we're not
doing something better, becausemy daughter will ask for grape
juice and challah, so I don'tknow if it's a food-driven thing
for her, but she's already kindof, I think, buying into the
idea of this is what we do everyFriday, which I like.
Oh, that's beautiful.
(35:29):
Yes, so you had mentionedOctober 7th and how things have
changed, at least from yourworkshops and challah making.
Can you kind of delve into thata little bit more, or how
things have changed personallyfor you since October 7th?
I think everybody who you knowfeels affected by what happened
(35:50):
can say that their life changedat least in some way.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (35:55):
Oh, nicole, I feel like it was the before and
the after.
I was just, and continue to be,devastated, really, really
horrible.
So how has our life changed?
We now, on Shabbat, everyFriday, we light three candles,
(36:18):
because we always only lit two,and now we light a third for the
hostages.
We started that immediately.
For a while we were sayingextra prayers also on Friday
night.
I always now oh, actually, letme backtrack.
So one of the lovely things I dowhen I make challah, which I've
(36:38):
been doing for years, that Iwas taught, actually, when I got
to make challah in Israel,which was so cool, but anyway, I
learned about making challah inthe merit of somebody or
something and bringing moreintention to the experience.
So since October 7, one of the,at the beginning, when I start
to make challah, I always thinkabout it every week.
You know in whose merit am Igoing to make this batch, and I
(37:01):
always now add in the hostages,and it just now add in the
hostages and it just.
It brings me a little solaceand I actually do believe in the
power of prayer, so I think it.
I think it helps.
Interestingly for me, since thattime I have felt more connected
(37:22):
to my community and it's beenreally.
That has been a silver liningto all of this, and a really
lovely silver lining.
And then I had an opportunitythis summer I don't know if you
know about this book yet it justcame out, but I had an
opportunity to be a toparticipate in an anthology that
(37:42):
was released as an ebook and anaudio book on October 1st,
called On being Jewish Now, andthe paperback version is coming
out November 1st and there are75 authors and advocates who
have written about.
We all wrote a short essayabout anything post-October 7th
and the book is divided into allkinds of categories Some are
(38:04):
joyous and some are sad andeverything in between, and to be
involved in experiences likethat has also really been
impactful for me.
Nicole Kelly (38:21):
That was another question I had.
So how did you get involvedwith that and what did you write
about?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (38:29):
So Zibi Owens , who's the editor of the book
and has a publishing arm as partof her media company, published
the book.
I was fortunate to meet her,actually right when Braided came
out.
She had just just just startedher podcast.
This was the fall of 2018.
(38:52):
And she started in the summerof 2018.
So brand new, and I was a gueston her podcast, which was super
fun, and we actually madechallah together here in uh la,
and then I've done a coupleevents with her over the years
since then.
So she reached out in uh in julyto ask if I would I think it
(39:16):
was july um to ask if I would bebe able to do this, and it was
like, of course, mean.
This is just a beautiful,beautiful thing to have come
into being.
I'm really thrilled about it,and I wrote about Hala, of
(39:36):
course, but what I wrote aboutwas coming together as community
.
So I mentioned a bit before howI make hollow with all
different types of people andparticularly, I'm leaning into
that in a big way post October 7.
So I wrote about what theritual means to me, but then
(39:58):
also I highlighted one of theexperiences that I've had during
the year.
These are short essays, by theway, they're all under 1000
words.
These are short essays.
Nicole Kelly (40:08):
by the way, they're, all you know, under a
thousand words.
I just submitted something thatthey wanted a thousand words
and I couldn't get it.
It was like right under 2,000.
I couldn't figure out how to dothat.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:13):
It's so short .
Short is actually Nicole, Ithink it's harder it is All.
Nicole Kelly (40:19):
My school papers are very long.
I hate when they give like ifI'm writing a paper, it's going
to be longer than you're goingto ask for and there's nothing I
can do about that.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:27):
Yeah, our, our, our directive was 500 to a
thousand words.
Oh my, that's like it's likeone single thought yeah, they're
short, they're short, it'stough, but, but there's
something really, reallypowerful about this book and
(40:47):
definitely check it out, notonly as a book when it comes out
in November, but now.
The audio book is really greatbecause most of us read our own
pieces.
Nicole Kelly (40:55):
Oh, that's nice that you were able to do it
yourself.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (40:57):
Yeah, so it's lovely to hear everybody
speaking and that's fun, andjust I've never actually heard
that before.
Fun, and just I've neveractually heard that before.
Or you know, I haven't read abook like that where all the
contributors actually recordedtheir own, which is neat, which
is really neat.
Nicole Kelly (41:16):
We've got dogs in the background.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (41:19):
I'm sure you're going to hear ours.
At some point I was worriedabout that, but now I'm less
worried.
Nicole Kelly (41:24):
No, no no, we are a pro-dog house.
Do you have plans to writeanother book?
I mean, you know you're awriter.
Now Are you going to stop atjust one and that just be your?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (41:35):
kind of opus?
No, I don't know.
No, it's a great question.
I have been working onsomething off and on actually
for a couple years.
I've shelved a few.
I've something off and onactually for a couple years.
I've actually I've shelved a few, I've got one going now about
halfway through um and I don'tknow.
I I really enjoy writing.
I didn't know that about myself.
(41:56):
The things we learn, um, I doenjoy it, and what I really
enjoy are other people's storiesand sharing other people's
stories.
So so there might be.
There might be another book inme, which would be super fun
We'll see and I'm reallyenjoying the workshops, so that
will continue for now.
Nicole Kelly (42:16):
So, speaking about the workshops, I wanted to ask
how, how, if I wanted to join aworkshop, how would I find?
Out what events you're going tobe doing.
Or if I wanted to book an eventfor my organization, how would
I go about that?
Events you're going to be doing?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (42:26):
Or if I wanted to book an event for my
organization.
How would I go about that?
So at the moment I am no longerdoing them, just me myself, and
I meaning that I used to justput a link up on you know in my
newsletter, on on my website andsay, you know, next Friday.
I'm doing this at this time,but now I'm working with
organizations, institutions, youknow, whomever so, to
(42:49):
participate in a workshop.
At this point it's through youknow, fill in the blank
organization, your synagogue,your school, your whatever, your
office, your whomever, and theybring me in and it's great.
I work, you know, all over theplace and I've even now gone out
(43:09):
of the country to do it, whichis fun.
Um, so how do you do that?
You reach out to me.
So you reach out to me eitherthrough my website, which is
just my name, bethricanadamdcom,or you find me on Instagram or
Facebook and, uh, also my nameon Instagram, beth Rickonati MD.
(43:29):
And we work together and set itup, which is really fun.
Nicole Kelly (43:35):
I know Well, now I want to eat challah.
Oh well, please, exactly, whichis just an always thing that I
want to do, I just want toalways eat challah.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (43:44):
It's the only bread now I like to eat, quite
frankly.
Nicole Kelly (43:49):
We were doing a play thing with my daughter and
there was an instructor and theypulled up a picture of bread
and they asked her what it wasand she went challah.
So she just thinks all bread ischallah now.
So that's where we're at in myhouse which is fair, I think,
you have succeeded.
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:03):
My job as a Jewish mother is done.
Nicole Kelly (44:06):
So these next questions are short form
questions done in the style ofthe actor's studio you can do
like a quick answer.
So what is your favoriteYiddish word?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:18):
Oh, that's a good one.
Let's say Mishigas.
Nicole Kelly (44:21):
I love that as well.
What about your favorite Jewishholiday?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:25):
Oh, Passover hands down, which I know there's
no holo, but I love to have.
We have Seder every year.
That's my favorite thing.
I love Seder.
Yeah, I did, I know.
Nicole Kelly (44:33):
Not the no challah part, but it's only a week.
So if you were to have a batmitzvah today and have a big
blowout party, what would thetheme be?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (44:43):
Oh my goodness.
Well, we'd have to do somethingaround challah because it
really does rule my life, sosomething around challah.
Okay, what profession otherthan your own would you want to
(45:06):
attempt?
You know, nicole, I like what Ido.
I don't know right now if Iwould attempt something else.
I mean, when I was younger Ihad a list a mile long of things
I wanted to do and be, but Idon't regret not doing them.
Nicole Kelly (45:19):
If heaven is real and God is there to welcome you,
what would you like to hear himsay?
Dr. Beth Ricanati (45:31):
you, what would you?
Nicole Kelly (45:37):
like to hear him say you did good.
You did good, all right.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me,Dr.
Beth.
It has been a pleasure andhopefully all of you are going
to go either bake or grab somechallah or, even better, book a
workshop.
So this has been.
Sheb rew in the City and I amNicole Kelly.
©.
Transcript Emily Beynon.
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