Beyond Belief: Tales of Religious Exodus22 Heinä

Gabi: Former Yeshivish Jewish

Gabi shares his experience growing up in New York’s Bukharian Jewish community, becoming deeply committed to Orthodox Judaism, and eventually building a life outside religious observance. He discusses racism within Jewish institutions, the intellectual rewards of yeshiva study, purity culture, the Orthodox dating system, mental health, psychedelics, spirituality, and his evolving relationship with God.

Rather than presenting religion as wholly harmful or wholly beneficial, Gabi reflects on the teachers, practices, and communities that gave him purpose while examining the pressures and unmet needs that eventually made religious life unsustainable.

Connect with Gabi

YouTube - https://youtube.com/@gabikoyenovSpotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/2SoydqNskaV9wOra0Yh6Z3?ssssid1891df9a822414cInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/journey_with_gabi/Therapy Site - https://themenstherapystudio.com/

Chapters

00:00 — Coming Out as Nonreligious

08:14 — Growing Up Bukharian Jewish

17:47 — Racism in the Yeshiva World

25:47 — Rabbis, Meaning, and Purpose

30:11 — Purity Culture and Romantic Obsession

39:10 — Leaving Yeshiva and Losing a Dream

48:00 — Dating and the Beginning of Deconstruction

53:44 — Ayahuasca and a New Spiritual Worldview

01:07:41 — Racism and Rejection in Shidduchim

01:20:07 — Family Conflict, Trauma, and Life Beyond Religion

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Jaksot(43)

Yoily: Closeted Former Hasidic Jewish

Yoily is still visibly and socially embedded in the Hasidic community - but internally, he no longer believes. In this episode, he describes what it means to live between those two realities: raising ...

11 Loka 1h 30min

Shayna: Former Modern Orthodox

Shayna Sragovicz grew up in a family that became Orthodox when they were seven, moving from a largely secular Jewish childhood into Chabad schooling and eventually Modern Orthodoxy. In this episode, S...

2 Loka 1h 18min

Daniel: Former Religious Zionist

Daniel grew up deeply embedded in the religious Zionist world, raised in Efrat and moving through religious schools, yeshiva, a pre-military academy, and service as a tank commander. Yet from childhoo...

13 Syys 1h 36min

Sara: Former Orthodox Jewish

What does it mean to build a spiritual life grounded in the body rather than in fear? Sara joins Shalom to explore her journey through an Orthodox upbringing, marriage and divorce, trauma recovery, an...

6 Syys 1h 9min

Bonus Episode: Zionism, Tribalism, and the Stories We Tell Ourselves

In this bonus episode, Shalom sits down again with his brother Mike for a wide-ranging conversation about Zionism, Hasbara, and the psychological mechanisms that can make political narratives difficul...

16 Elo 1h 22min

Suri: Former Orthodox Jewish

Suri Robinson grew up in an Orthodox Jewish community in Baltimore, where she learned to suppress her needs, protect her family’s image, and strive for religious perfection. After seminary, she marrie...

9 Elo 1h 29min

Chantal: Exposing Abuse in the Episcopal Church

In this episode of Beyond Belief: Tales of Religious Exodus, host Shalom interviews Chantal, an Episcopal priest from North Carolina who grew up with both traditional church life and expansive spiritu...

2 Elo 47min