It's Who You Know! The Podcast · Michelle W. Malkin: Nonprofit Jewish Professional

Finding The Space Between with Rabbi Josh Feigelson, President and CEO of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality

·1 hr 2 min·4 clips

The clergy leadership program has 530 alumni, and participants say it saved their rabbinate, marriage, or life.

Michelle W. Malkin opens with Rabbi Josh Fagelson's title and role. She frames the conversation around how Jewish leaders shape the world of the people who follow them, and why the Institute for Jewish Spirituality matters to that ecosystem. Fagelson starts with Ann Arbor. He says he now lives in Skokie, Illinois, and that much of his life has unfolded in the Midwest. College came with a music major. He had imagined a path toward orchestral work, so the move into rabbinic and organizational leadership feels personal rather than abstract. The interview keeps returning to biography, and Michelle uses each answer to widen the frame. The discussion moves from his early life to the larger question of what the institute does and how it has grown over the last two years. The tone stays steady and grounded. Instead of chasing a neat headline, the conversation leaves room for mission, process, and the ordinary decisions that sit beneath public-facing nonprofit work. A media story then enters the picture. The pair talk through a minority-owned business with spare airtime on NFL broadcasts in airport televisions, and how that opening became a $5,000 spot for a nonprofit. Michelle is curious about the scale, but Fagelson makes clear that the value was never only the number of eyes on the screen. It was also the story built around the video itself. That story traveled. It became an article in Jewish philanthropy and a way to think about publicity as part of the work, not separate from it. David Kabinsky comes up too. Michelle credits him with the video production side, including the 613 music videos she references with real appreciation. The closing note stays calm. The episode leaves the sense that productive Jewish communal conversations depend on patience, trust, and a partner who can keep attention on the mission when the room gets loud.

As heard by us

A grounded conversation about Jewish leadership, institutional purpose, and an unexpectedly effective media moment.

The piece traces Rabbi Josh Fagelson from an Ann Arbor upbringing and a college music major to his role as president and CEO of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Michelle W.

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a calm look at Jewish leadership, mission, and the stories organizations tell.

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