The Truth About Jewish Home Buying
Kosher Money
Living Lchaim
4.9 • 843 Ratings
🗓️ 13 May 2026
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Everybody today seems to have a house, a renovation, a driveway full of cars… and a lot of people tend to wonder: “How are they doing it?”
And maybe the bigger question: “Am I supposed to be doing it too?”
Rabbi Eliezer Gewertzman speaks very honestly about the pressure people feel around money, buying homes, keeping up appearances, and living within your means.
There were moments during this interview where you could feel the room get quiet. I think a lot of people know exactly what he’s talking about.
Listen closely and enjoy.
A special thank you to the Lakewood Resource and Referral Center who put together this wonderful home-buying event. LRRC provides clear guidance, hands-on assistance, advocacy, education, and case management for thousands of households dealing with the basics of life. Visit https://www.lrrcenter.org/ to learn more.
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Kosher Money is the bi-weekly podcast from Living Lchaim, hosted by Eli Langer.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Everybody today seems to have a house, in addition to their house, a renovation, a driveway full of cars. |
| 0:05.1 | And a lot of people are wondering, how are they doing it? |
| 0:08.1 | And maybe the bigger question is, am I supposed to be doing it too? |
| 0:11.8 | What you're about to hear is not a conversation about getting rich quick, investing in some crazy deal, or how to buy your dream home by the age of 27. |
| 0:19.7 | It's a very real conversation about pressure. |
| 0:22.4 | The pressure people feel from family, neighbors, schools, communities, and sometimes from themselves. |
| 0:29.1 | But Elias or Gwertzman has become someone many people turn to for guidance. He speaks very honestly. |
| 0:34.9 | He was a guest in the past and his words have been listened to by |
| 0:38.3 | hundreds of thousands of people across the world. In this episode, he talks very openly |
| 0:43.0 | about buying homes, living within your means, debt, budgeting, newer neighborhoods. He's a |
| 0:49.8 | rabbi in Lakewood, financial stress, and the things people don't always think about until it's too late. |
| 0:56.4 | There were moments during this interview which took place in Lakewood, New Jersey, courtesy of the LRC. |
| 1:02.2 | You'll hear more about them. |
| 1:03.7 | And you could feel the room get absolutely quiet. |
| 1:07.1 | I think it's because people deep down know exactly what he's talking about. |
| 1:11.8 | You'll know what I mean. |
| 1:13.1 | Listen closely and enjoy. |
| 1:15.0 | Shalom, Robert Gwitzman, there's about a hundred more people than I'm used to during a podcast, so bear with me. |
| 1:22.6 | I'd like to begin by getting the Rav's thoughts. |
| 1:29.0 | If Robert Gwitzman was 25 35 years old looking to buy his first home what would be some |
| 1:35.1 | of the thoughts circling in your head I'm not that far removed from being 25 |
| 1:40.7 | and I remember some of the thoughts that went through my mind. |
... |
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