Getting High and Talking Torah

by Rachel Nieves and Lindsey Weiss / May 14, 2019

BREAKING NEWS! Judaism’s newest, hottest podcast has officially arrived. As two soon-to-be Jewish DC alums, we wanted to share an exciting new project we have officially launched with our favorite group of Jews.

Sufficiently Chai, our brand new Jewish-themed comedy podcast, aims to disrupt the traditional narrative that Judaism is outdated and inaccessible for the average person. We both realized that we were much more connected to our Judaism than the average Millennial Jew, and we wanted to create something that helped make Judaism relatable and relevant to everyday life for people in their 20s and 30s.

We decided to chat with GatherDC’s podcast connoisseur Julie Thompson to share the big news.

rachel and lindsey

Julie: Walk me through an episode; what can listeners expect to hear?

Lindsey: Each episode contains a D’var Torah (a discussion about the week’s Torah portion) and a JewISH, which explores various aspects of secular life through a Jewish lens. We always close out the episodes by playing a couple games, and we’re committed to keeping the episodes funny, entertaining, and rated at least PG-13.

Rachel: You’ll be laughing so much you won’t realize until the end that you’ve actually learned something – and that’s exactly the point.

Julie: Why did you decide to incorporate marijuana into the podcast?

Lindsey: If you know us, you know we had to spice it up a little bit and it couldn’t JUST be a Torah study podcast. So, we decided to incorporate something else – the cannabis component.

Rachel: One in four Millennials consume marijuana, and by loosening the stigma around recreational marijuana use and infusing it with Jewish learning, we realized we could connect with a generation of listeners who would be otherwise less than likely to tune in to a Jewish themed podcast.

Lindsey: Smoking a joint and studying the Torah do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, we believe they go hand in hand.

Julie: What motivated you to launch this podcast?

Lindsey: We’re two 20-something Jewish blondes living on the edge of glory (or so we wish) in the nation’s capital, trying to figure out who we are, what we want, and how to find meaning in a society where so many things feel out of our control. We confirmed what we already knew – that there’s a void in the Jewish-themed comedy podcast space dying to be filled. Then, we decided to do our civic duty and put our love of learning and hearing ourselves talk to good use. And thus, our brain child, Sufficiently Chai, was born.

Julie: What are your goals for this podcast?

Rachel: We ultimately want to be famous. Just kidding! Kinda! Obviously worldwide acclaim and recognition is the overall dream, but we realize that may be a stretch. In the immediate future, we want:

1) People to listen to the podcast;

2) To help listeners connect to Judaism in an alternative, but relatable way.

Julie: Anything else you want to say to your current and future listeners?

Lindsey: As we figure out the world of podcasting, we want people to want what we’re giving to them! We want all kinds of feedback (unless it’s just really rude and aggressive then you can keep it to yourself), and we’re always thinking of new, interesting ways to engage with our audience.

Rachel: We’re committed to making this podcast as amazing as possible in every way we can. We have a blast recording every episode and we want to show the secular Jewish community that Judaism and religion can be fun and entertaining.

Lindsey: Sixth & I – we’re looking at you if you want a live show anytime soon.

Sufficiently Chai co-hosts Lindsey and Rachel


Find Sufficiently Chai on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Soundcloud, and anywhere else you get your podcasts. For updates, sources, and tbh hilarious content, follow us on Instagram @Sufficiently_Chai.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog and on this website are solely those of the original authors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the organization GatherDC, the GatherDC staff, the GatherDC board, and/or any/all contributors to this site.