Regeneration: A Podcast About Crafting DIY Jewish Ritual

Episode 6: The Ritual of Gratitude with Dana Saroken

Regeneration: A Podcast About Crafting DIY Jewish Ritual

Show Notes

At Recustom, we have a saying: We want to help you make ritual your own, so you can welcome whatever life brings. Rituals are a way to ready ourselves against the unpredictability of life. In this episode, we consider rituals as a way to usher in gratitude, and to be reminded of what we already have.

Our guest is Rabbi Dana Saroken, rabbi at the Beth El Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland. She’s been there since 2007, when she became the congregation’s first female rabbi. She’s also founder of the Soul Center – self-described as a “place where you can exhale. A place that nourishes and inspires you. A place where you feel supported, cared for and at peace. A place where you can learn and grow and just “be” without judgment.”

Read more about The Soul Center here.

Visit our website here to download guidebooks for each episode: recustom.com/regeneration

Get ideas and resources for Jewish family connection at jewishgrandparentsnetwork.org.

If you’d like to sponsor a future episode or share feedback, you can reach us at [email protected].

Regeneration is hosted by Eileen Levinson and Debra Weinberg and produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh Gilbert ⁠⁠⁠⁠and ⁠⁠⁠⁠Kate Mishkin⁠⁠⁠⁠.

More from Regeneration: A Podcast About Crafting DIY Jewish Ritual

Jun 26, 2026

On today’s episode, we speak with Lee Hendler, co-founder and president of the Jewish Grandparents Network. She is also the founder of Freedom’s Feast, an initiative that explores American holidays as opportunities to connect with our values, history, and traditions, and the author of The Year Mom Got Religion: One Woman’s Midlife Journey into Judaism.

Jun 19, 2026

On today’s episode, we welcome Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, who thinks deeply and lives deeply in these life cycles, particularly in two major ways: through the environment, and through issues of infertility. In this episode, we talk about the responsibilities the individual has to the community and vice versa, the elasticity of ritual, and the ritual of making lemons into lemonade.

Jun 12, 2026

In this episode, we welcome Rabbi Josh Feigelson, PhD, President & CEO at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality – a haven for those looking for Jewish mindfulness.

Jun 5, 2026

Today, we speak with Rabbi Shira Stutman, senior rabbi at the Aspen Jewish Congregation, author of The Jewish Way to a Good Life, and host of the beloved PRX podcast “Chutzpod.”

May 22, 2026

Our guest today is Rabbi Lisa Rubin, director for the Center for Exploring Judaism at Central Synagogue in Manhattan, where she’s helped Jews and non-Jews approach rituals, text, and tradition since 2010. In this conversation, Rabbi Lisa Rubin discusses rituals, how we learn and embrace them, and how we might be practicing rituals without even knowing it.

See all episodes →