Josh Rosenberg: How a Lost Chasidish Teen Rebuilt His Life & Returned to Hashem

Inspiration for the Nation with Yaakov Langer

Living Lchaim

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2026

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inspiration for the Nation is the weekly Jewish podcast from Living Lchaim, hosted by Yaakov Langer.

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode deals with extreme situations, traumas, abuse and more.It also discusses how Josh finds himself and connection to Hashem.

Josh Rosenberg was raised in a Jewish Orthodox Chasidic world. He was immersed in its melodies, traditions, and unspoken expectations. Years of struggle, heartbreak, identity crisis, and spiritual searching led to a painful but transformative journey. Josh "went off the derech", was homeless and started modeling. He was lost in every sense of the word. Ultimately, he returned to Israel and rediscovered his connection to the Orthodox world. This is the story of teshuva.

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_____________________________________

✬ IN MEMORY OF ✬

This episode is in memory of: • Miram Sarah bas Yaakov Moshe • Shimon Dovid ben Yaakov Shloima

#iftn Lchaim.

Transcript

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0:00.0	I called my wife and said, I might, we might need to call off the wedding or push it off the different tie.
0:03.8	I just don't have the money.
0:04.7	And I was crying. I was, Mama, she was a week, a few days before my flight. I didn't have nothing. I didn't have furniture, nothing. I had to bring it back to Lakewood. I didn't even have enough money to fulfill, nothing. And I suddenly, I hit a curb with my car and I busted a tie. I said a bunch of lighting now, bust the tar on top of everything.
0:22.7	So I pushed my cotton mechanic.
0:24.5	There's a tie. I said a bunch later now, bust the tie on top of everything.
0:22.8	So I pushed my car to the mechanic. There's a mechanic shop in Lake, but I know if he still exists. Arcadi is by a mechanic shop. A good friend of mine years back. I know him. I went in. I said it was 11 o'clock and I said, I'll fix my tie. I meet up to an old friend. didn't see if I'm a yo'el already and he says oh hey doing I heard you getting
0:38.6	remarried.
0:39.3	He said, yeah, it's tough. You know, it's, what happened? They said, listen, it is what it is. I don't have and there's not what to talk to. It's hard. It's very difficult. I'm going to Shalime. He told me, we'll try to make something where he calls me afterwards. the words and the phone says it's just going to be a bank account information.
0:53.1	Yaakovlinger here and I just want to give a trigger warning.
0:56.4	This episode includes discussions of... afterwards, and the phone says, just give me a back account information. Yaakov Langer here, and I just want to give a trigger warning.
0:56.1	This episode includes discussions of trauma and content that may be unsettling for some audiences.
1:02.2	Now, before we begin, we want to make something very clear.
1:05.2	The purpose of this conversation is to show that even in the moments when you feel broken,
1:10.1	there is still a path to connect Hashem.
1:12.4	We also want to say this openly.
1:14.5	No one should ever look for reasons to pull back from Hashm.
1:17.5	The clarity you already have in your life, in your upbringing, is usually the path that is right for you.
1:23.1	And we want to state that without any hesitation.
1:25.7	I understand that Josh says things along his way on his journey that may have been right
1:30.3	for him and may not be right for everyone.
1:32.3	And we just want to make that very clear.
1:34.3	This episode is powered by Bipin, Wiels-Talise, the Dream Raffle, the Jewish community in
	...

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