In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin moderates a dialogue between Aryeh Englander—the ex-Orthodox Jew known as “Philo Judeas,” who is a moderator of the ambitious Frum/OTD Dialogue Facebook group—and Daniel Hagler, a frum surgeon and a moderator of the Facebook group Respectfully Debating Judaism.
Judaism on Trial: Jewish-Christian Disputations in the Middle Ages by Hyam Maccoby
Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy by David J. Chalmers
18Forty Podcast: “Rav Moshe Weinberger: Can Mysticism Become a Community?”
“Worlds Together” in Mishpacha
Jewish Philosophy as a Guide to Life: Rosenzweig, Buber, Levinas, Wittgenstein by Hilary Putnam
How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought by Leora Batnitzky
18Forty Podcast: “Malka Simkovich: The Mystery of the Jewish People”
A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World’s Oldest Religion by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Leviticus 10:16
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We do our best to have transcripts available the week an episode is released.
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 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.
In this episode, David discusses the mystifying qualities of the Talmud and how we find meaning in the nuance of Talmudic law with special guest Chaim Saiman, professor at Villanova Law School.
We talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo about doing teshuva by returning to community.
The true enemy in Israel’s current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls “Palestinianism.”
Victoria Hanna, known for her kabbalistic rap, explains how the human body can be a place for divine revelation.
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.
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, David and special guest, Michelle Chesner, Columbia University’s Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies, discuss how the formatting of sacred Jewish texts has developed throughout Jewish history and impacted religious Judaism.
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.
We talk to Mendel Horowitz, who introduces us to the notion of having a “good-enough Elul.”
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.
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, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
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 Liel Leibovitz and Lisa Ann Sandell about what happens when one partner wants to increase their religious practice.
David Bashevkin discusses how to embrace holiness, the purpose of prayer, and the search for meaning in an age of distraction.
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 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.
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.
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 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.
What can Rashi’s reading of Shir HaShirim teach us about antisemitism, Jewish identity, and the sources of resilience in a post-Oct. 7…
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
In Nitzavim-Vayelech, Moshe makes a covenant with those who were there—and those who had not yet arrived.
Books are not only how one acquires wisdom, but how to reach ever-deeper depths in the world as well.
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
A bedrock principle of Orthodox Judaism is that we received not only the Written Torah at Sinai but also the oral one—does…
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
Kosher phones make calls and send texts. No Instagram, no TikTok, and no distractions. Maybe it’s time the world embraces them.
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.
Before you open a page of Gemara, meet the people, ideas, and arguments that make the Talmud worth opening.
My family made aliyah over a decade ago. Navigating our lives as American immigrants in Israel is a day-to-day balance.
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
From Freud through today, our desire to heal asks us to consider why we care so badly—and maybe if it’s hindering the…
Israel is clearly important to Jews. The question becomes: To what extent?
Rav Froman was a complicated character in Israel and in his own home city of Tekoa, as people from both the right…
Is teshuva about changing ourselves, or is it about accepting who we are? For this paradox, Rav Shagar says, it’s both.
A Hezbollah missile killed Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot’s son, Amitai Tzvi, on Oct. 15. Here, he pleas for Haredim to enlist into…
Talking about the “Haredi community” is a misnomer, Jonathan Rosenblum says, and simplifies its diversity of thought and perspectives. A Yale-trained lawyer…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Shais Taub, the rabbi behind the organization SoulWords, about shame, selfhood, and…
We talk to Tania Friedlander about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo, founders of Pnima Jerusalem, a soulful community…
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…
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…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
In a disenchanted world, we can turn to mysticism to find enchantment, to remember that there is something more under the surface…
What is Jewish peoplehood? In a world that is increasingly international in its scope, our appreciation for the national or the tribal…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, recorded live at Stern College, we speak with Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel,…
On this 18Forty panel, we speak with Alex Jakubowski of Lightning Studios, Sara Wolkenfeld of Sefaria, and Ari Lamm of BZ Media…
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