Chabad on Call continues its six-part podcast mini-series on drawing resilience and healing from Torah’s teachings with a powerful third episode spotlighting Allegra, a mother of five whose life has been shaped by medical miracles and deep spiritual searching.
In the latest installment of Hand in Hand, host Amanda Spiro speaks with Allegra about her journey from medical complications as a child to a near-death cardiac arrest on Simchas Torah – and how both experiences contributed to a deepening of spiritual clarity.
Allegra reflects on her earliest awareness of the Neshama as distinct from the body, an understanding born in her ICU bed at age eight, and how that experience set her on a path that would ultimately lead her to convert to Yiddishkeit as a young adult.
Decades later, on Simchas Torah, Allegra suddenly collapsed outside her local Chabad House, experiencing full cardiac arrest. She was resuscitated after 22 minutes, underwent open-heart surgery, and spent weeks away from her children, her youngest just three months old. Yet through it all, she focused on channeling her emunah and bitachon.
“Even when I couldn’t pray, I knew others were praying for me,” Allegra shares. “That’s what community is.”
The conversation explores what it means to truly live after facing death and how faith is not a crutch but a muscle built through consistent, honest practice.
Allegra also discusses the powerful role of mitzvos in her healing. Originally, what drew her to Jewish life, she has found that the practical day-to-day actions one does are the tangible ways to strengthen both body and soul.
“The Rebbe emphasized that we can’t deny the role the Neshama plays in a person’s wellbeing,” said Rabbi Mendy Kotlarsky, Executive Director of Merkos 302. “Hand in Hand was created to showcase stories that embody that idea. When we share real stories of resilience, rooted in Torah and Chassidus, it uplifts people in a way that lasts”
Allegra’s story adds a profound new layer to the podcast’s core message: that bitachon isn’t theoretical. It, too, is an action. And when sincere bitachon is met with the strength and support of a community, it provides the foundation for deep, real healing.
“What makes Allegra’s story so powerful is how raw and real it is,” said Chani Goldberg, Director of Chabad on Call at Merkos 302. “Her descent became a springboard for ascent, a concept the Rebbe often spoke about. The episode makes it come to life. We hope that it brings strength to anyone who listens, and reminds them they’re not alone.”
Produced at the Merkos 302 Studio by Chabad on Call’s Etti Krinsky, Hand in Hand continues to spotlight voices who’ve walked through darkness and emerged with light. Each episode of the series further explores how connecting to Hashem through tangible action shapes one’s path through adversity.
The Chabad on Call network of Shluchim, the world’s largest Jewish chaplaincy network, supports patients, families, and medical staff through hospital visits, holiday packages, cultural sensitivity training, chaplaincy courses, and more. Hand in Hand was developed as a tool to strengthen that mission, equipping Shluchim with another way to offer comfort, connection, and Torah-based perspective to those navigating medical challenges, and to reach even more people around the world who can benefit from that support.
“Hand in Hand” is available on all podcast platforms.
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