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!
Gedale Fenster joins us to discuss how to live a life of unshakeable faith and joy.
We talk to Rabbi YY Jacobson about how each of us can experience redemptive consciousness by feeling Hashem’s infinite love and presence in this moment.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbi Daniel Grama—rabbi of Westside Shul and Valley Torah High School—and his daughter Aliza—a former Bais Yaakov student and recovered addict—about navigating their religious and other differences.
As a Haredi woman of the Israeli left, Nechumi Yaffe lives between a few different worlds—and she feels at home in Israel’s new “Religious Left” movement.
We talk to Rabbi Etan Epstein, the founder of The 300 Club, a program of committing to learning Torah for five minutes a day.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, the director of semicha at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), about the development of halacha.
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, David discusses the formation and character of the Talmud with special guest Ari Bergmann, founder and Chief Investment Officer at Penso Advisors LLC, as well as Talmud professor at Yeshiva University.
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, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
We talk to Rabbi Shlomo Pill about how Torah and teshuva have helped him handle his struggle with addiction.
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.
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
In this episode, we talk to a father and daughter who were estranged and then reunited.
We talk to Tania Friedlander about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.
Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer answers 18 questions on Israel, including the Haredi draft, Israel as a religious state, Messianism, and so much more.
We talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo about doing teshuva by returning to community.
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.
We talk to Michael Eisenberg about the state of the Jewish People in Israel and the diaspora.
Leading Israeli historian Benny Morris answers 18 questions on Israel, including Gaza, Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects, morality, and so much more.
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.
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 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.
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.
One can read the whole story of Jonah as a reflection on the lies we tell ourselves and the redemption that is…
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
Moshe could not make the crossing with the people, so he leaves them Haazinu, a song that could cross generations.
Joy and meaning can be found not only despite the brokenness, but even because of the brokenness.
My family made aliyah over a decade ago. Navigating our lives as American immigrants in Israel is a day-to-day balance.
Rav Froman was a complicated character in Israel and in his own home city of Tekoa, as people from both the right…
If legal codes tell us the laws, then the Mishna is less like a legal code than a record of disagreements about…
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
Before you open a page of Gemara, meet the people, ideas, and arguments that make the Talmud worth opening.
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wears the mantle of Kahane in Israel. Many Orthodox Jews welcomed him with open arms.
I consider the Rebbe to be my personal teacher, and I find this teaching particularly relevant for us now.
A bedrock principle of Orthodox Judaism is that we received not only the Written Torah at Sinai but also the oral one—does…
A Hezbollah missile killed Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot’s son, Amitai Tzvi, on Oct. 15. Here, he pleas for Haredim to enlist into…
Is teshuva about changing ourselves, or is it about accepting who we are? For this paradox, Rav Shagar says, it’s both.
In Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, we learn that holiness requires moving beyond the letter of the law to its spirit.
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, a lone soldier, and more. Here are seven olim sharing their stories of aliyah.
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.
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 Shais Taub, the rabbi behind the organization SoulWords, about shame, selfhood, and…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi YY Jacobson, one of the foremost online teachers of Torah, about…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Etan Epstein, the founder of The 300 Club, a program of…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations…
Talking about the “Haredi community” is a misnomer, Jonathan Rosenblum says, and simplifies its diversity of thought and perspectives. A Yale-trained lawyer…
What is the Zohar — and why has it captivated mystics, scholars, and seekers for nearly a thousand years?
Rabbi Moshe Gersht first encountered the world of Chassidus at the age of twenty, the beginning of what he terms his “spiritual…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
We talk to Tania Friedlander about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.
On this 18Forty panel, we speak with Alex Jakubowski of Lightning Studios, Sara Wolkenfeld of Sefaria, and Ari Lamm of BZ Media…
As a Chabad Hasid, Rabbi Zevi Slavin’s formative years were spent immersed in the rich traditions of Chassidut and Kabbala.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo, founders of Pnima Jerusalem, a soulful community…
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