In this minisode of the 18Forty Podcast, we reflect upon a year beyond words (and numbers).
At every stop of the process in the wild journey that has been 18Forty, we’ve been motivated by our fantastic community members who have pushed us to ask deeper questions, to be more honest with ourselves, and to think more sharply and profoundly about what it means to be a Jew today.
We’ve grown with you and for you, and we’re so thankful to be able to provide everything we can for you all. More than anything, organic growth inspires us—people finding out about 18Forty from a friend who can’t stop thinking about a recent interview they listened to, articles and podcasts shared in Whatsapp groups and discussed around Shabbos tables across the world, with feedback streaming in from every corner of the Jewish world.
To another year of more growth, curiosity, and asking better questions—for everything, thank you!
We speak with Rabbi Shalom Rosner, who delivered a widely shared eulogy for Eliyahu Moshe Zimbalist—and with Eli Mo’s mother, Sara Zimbalist.
Faigy Blumstein explains how the darkest challenges can be transformed into a soulful, light-filled partnership with the Divine.
Judah Mischel discusses mysticism, simple faith, and the miraculous nature of the State of Israel.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Joey Rosenfeld, social worker and kabbalist, to talk about the differences between mysticism and rationalism and the roles they should play in our lives.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Frieda Vizel—a formerly Satmar Jew who makes educational content about Hasidic life—about her work presenting Hasidic Williamsburg to the outside world, and vice-versa.
The true enemy in Israel’s current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls “Palestinianism.”
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Ayala Fader—an anthropologist who studies American Haredi communities and their “hidden heretics”—about the personal, familial, and communal factors that pull us toward and push us away from different Jewish communities.
In this episode, we talk to a father and daughter who were estranged and then reunited.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Menachem Penner—dean of RIETS at Yeshiva University—and his son Gedalia—a musician, cantor-in-training, and member of the LGBTQ community—about their experience in reconciling their family’s religious tradition with Gedalia’s sexual orientation.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Channah Cohen, a researcher of the OU’s study on the “Shidduch Crisis.”
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Judah, Naomi, and Aharon Akiva Dardik—an olim family whose son went to military jail for refusing to follow to IDF orders and has since become a ceasefire activist at Columbia University—about sticking together as a family despite their fundamental differences.
We do our best to have transcripts available the week an episode is released.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David sits down with Leah Forster, a world-famous ex-Hasidic comedian, to talk about how her journey has affected her comedy.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rav Moshe Weinberger, rabbi and educator, to discuss the role of mysticism in modern-day Judaism.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Ora Wiskind, professor and author, to discuss her life journey, both as a Jew and as an academic, and her attitude towards mysticism.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yoni Rosensweig, rabbi of the Netzah Menashe community in Beit Shemesh, about the intersection between mental health and halacha.
We talk to Michael Eisenberg about the state of the Jewish People in Israel and the diaspora.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with conservative journalist and cultural commentator, Bethany S. Mandel, to talk about the entrances and exits of her life, reconstructing Jewish identity, and creating a Jewish home outside of the Jewish community.
In this special Purim episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we bring you a recording from our live event with the comedian Modi, for our annual discussion on humor.
How can our generation understanding mysticism, philosophy, and suffering in today’s chaotic world?
We talk to Jewish communal executive Carmi Schwartz about lessons he’s learned in his 90-plus years as a member and leader of the Jewish community.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down for a special podcast with our host, David Bashevkin, to discuss the podcast’s namesake, the year 1840.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort, married progressive activists who are reembracing traditional Jewish life.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to three different advocates for affordable Jewish education about the state of the tuition crisis.
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
They cover healthy relationships, conflict-resolution, wholeness, and so much more.
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
When life finally works, why does it become harder to remember God?
My family made aliyah over a decade ago. Navigating our lives as American immigrants in Israel is a day-to-day balance.
I consider the Rebbe to be my personal teacher, and I find this teaching particularly relevant for us now.
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wears the mantle of Kahane in Israel. Many Orthodox Jews welcomed him with open arms.
Rav Froman was a complicated character in Israel and in his own home city of Tekoa, as people from both the right…
Yes, the Israeli army needs Jews to draft, but more than that, Jews need to experience what it means to serve.
Christianity’s focus on the afterlife historically discouraged Jews from discussing it—but Jews very much believe in it.
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, a lone soldier, and more. Here are seven olim sharing their stories of aliyah.
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
Israel is clearly important to Jews. The question becomes: To what extent?
A Hezbollah missile killed Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot’s son, Amitai Tzvi, on Oct. 15. Here, he pleas for Haredim to enlist into…
As someone who worked as both clinician and rabbi, I’ve learned to ask three central questions to find an answer.
From Freud through today, our desire to heal asks us to consider why we care so badly—and maybe if it’s hindering the…
If You’re Reading These Words is a book in which all the heroes have died, yet it overflows with life.
Their motivations are not ideological extremism but a basic survival instinct to protect their families from the past’s failed paradigms.
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
Joy and meaning can be found not only despite the brokenness, but even because of the brokenness.
It isn’t only censorship that creates the narrative of our history, but it is every creative endeavor that we engage in.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
What is Jewish peoplehood? In a world that is increasingly international in its scope, our appreciation for the national or the tribal…
What is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast—recorded at the 18Forty X ASFoundation AI Summit—we speak with ASF’s Julia Senkfor and AI researcher…
Rabbi Moshe Gersht first encountered the world of Chassidus at the age of twenty, the beginning of what he terms his “spiritual…
What draws a man trained in business and finance into the world of Kabbala? And what does it actually mean to find…
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