A long time ago, I had a conversation with my friend Alex Fleksher that went something like this:

“Hey, wouldn’t it be so much fun to start a podcast together?”

“Yeah, for sure!”

And then we were both very very busy with other things for a long time until this past Tishrei when we revisited the idea.

Let me be perfectly clear: It made zero sense to tackle this project when our schedules were always changing, when we were never sure if our kids were going to be in school, doing zoom, quarantined – you get the point.

We were also, as usual, committed to various other projects as well.

So.

We started anyways.

And now, after many, many, mannnny WhatsApp voice notes, phone meetings and zoom convos, we are beyond Beyond BEYOND excited to announce the premiere of our fantastic podcast, Normal Frum Women!

In this podcast, we’re going to have discussions that embrace the complexities, nuances and joys of frum womanhood. We’re going to have candid conversations about our personal experiences with various topics that are prevalent for many frum women, and we’re going to bring in experts, and also the voices and opinions of normal frum women from all over.

But Rivki, you might be thinking, I’m not exactly normal, and I don’t even like the word normal. Is this podcast still going to be for me?

And I will respond, have you met me? Or, have you read my work over the past decade? I don’t think I exactly qualify as normal either. Except for the areas of my life where I do feel pretty normal. And that’s exactly the contradiction we’re keeping in mind with this podcast. It’s very much tongue-in-cheek. No one is totally in the box. And yet we all have thoughts about the word normal, whether they’re positive, neutral, or negative.

Our first episode is going to tackle the topic of “What Is Normal, Anyways,” and I think you’ll find that we cover a whole range of opinions about the word, plus more.

The trailer is already out now on some platforms like Spotify and Google podcasts (we’re still waiting for it to be approved on a few more platforms), and our first Episode will, BeH, drop on January 20.

We cannot wait for you to listen and to hear your feedback, and to shine a spotlight on as many frum women as possible, because we believe that everyone has something of value to share with the world.

We’re doing a Facebook Live event tonight at 9pm EST (Monday, January 4th), so you can come check that out if you’re free. We’ll be talking about why we started this podcast, what to expect, and why we chose to call it Normal Frum Women even though we’re aware that many frum women have a complicated relationship with that word.

We have a Facebook page and an Instagram account that, if you wanted to follow, would be fantastic.

What a way to start the year! I’m so excited!