We speak with Rabbis Eitan Webb and Ari Israel about Jewish life on college campuses today.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rabbis Eitan Webb and Ari Israel, head of a campus Chabad and Hillel respectively, about Jewish life on college campuses today.
In this episode we discuss:
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No Country for Old Men (2007)
Tanya by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
This Is My God by Herman Wouk
We speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox outreach.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we discuss parental alienation.
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
Sagui Dekel-Chen was held hostage in Gaza for 498 days—or 43 million seconds. He came home on Feb. 18.
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.
David Bashevkin answers questions from Diana Fersko about denominations and Jewish Peoplehood.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Ken Brodkin, rabbi of New Jersey’s Congregation B’nai Israel, about how he helped turn it into “the Orthodox synagogue for all Jews.”
David Bashevkin discusses how to embrace holiness, the purpose of prayer, and the search for meaning in an age of distraction.
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 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.
We speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations and Jewish Peoplehood.
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 Aliza and Ephraim Bulow, a married couple whose religious paths diverged over the course of their shared life.
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.
Rabbanit Shani Taragin answers 18 questions on Jewish mysticism, including free will, prayer, and catharsis.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
On this episode of 18Forty, we have a frank conversation with author Kayla Haber-Goldstein about her personal, painful journey to find God.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Steven Gotlib, a fellow at Beit Midrash Zichron Dov and Rabbinic Educator at the Village Shul, about the relationship between first principles and how we are to live.
Shalev, Author of Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner’s Theology of Meaning, talks existentialism, individualism, and more.
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 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.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Lizzy Savetsky, who went from a career in singing and fashion to being a Jewish activist and influencer, about her work advocating for Israel online.
Israel is facing several existential crises—at least three, by Netta Barak-Corren’s account.
Suri Weingot joins us to discuss the closeness of redemption, godliness, and education.
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
David Eliezrie’s latest examines the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe’s radical faith that Torah could transform America.
Parshat Beshalach reminds us that redemption begins when we stop standing frozen at the sea and learn, once again, to walk forward…
In Parshat Beshalach, the Torah stages a radical experiment in trust, work, and provision.
What if the deepest encounter with God is found not in texts, but in a people? Rav Kook and the Lubavitcher Rebbe…
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.
Christianity’s focus on the afterlife historically discouraged Jews from discussing it—but Jews very much believe in it.
Rav Tzadok held fascinating views on the history of rabbinic Judaism, but his writings are often cryptic and challenging to understand. Here’s…
Missing from Tanach—the Jewish People’s origin story—is one of the central aspects of Jewish life: the observance of halacha. Why?
In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro asks us to reconsider what, if anything, separates humans from machines.
In Parshat Bo, the Torah anticipates skepticism—and builds tradition around the questions it knows will come.
Between early prayer books, kabbalistic additions, and the printing press, the siddur we have today is filled with prayers from across history.
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
God promised the Land of Israel to the Jewish People, so why are some rabbis anti-Zionists?
What are Jews to say when facing “atheism’s killer argument”?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe maintained that “labels are for shirts.” Does that make different Jewish theologies and practices a free-for-all?
Kosher phones make calls and send texts. No Instagram, no TikTok, and no distractions. Maybe it’s time the world embraces them.
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
How can we find wonder in a world that often seems to be post-wonder? Enter Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, a lone soldier, and more. Here are seven olim sharing their stories of aliyah.
I’ve searched high and low for an accessible English book or essay addressing the development of the siddur, but my findings are…
I consider the Rebbe to be my personal teacher, and I find this teaching particularly relevant for us now.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations…
Why did this Hasidic Rebbe move from Poland to Israel, only to change his name, leave religion, and disappear to Los Angeles?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin answers questions from Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue,…
We speak with Joey Rosenfeld about how our generation can understand suffering.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
We speak with Naftuli Moster about how and why he changed his understanding of the values imparted by Judaism.
In this special Simchas Torah episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin—parents of murdered hostage Hersh…
In a disenchanted world, we can turn to mysticism to find enchantment, to remember that there is something more under the surface…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, recorded live at Stern College, we speak with Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel,…
In order to study Kabbalah, argues Rav Moshe Weinberger, one must approach it with humility.
We talk to Matisyahu, who has publicly re-embraced his Judaism and Zionism.
What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake?
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, we speak with Shais Taub, the rabbi behind the organization SoulWords, about shame, selfhood, and…
Rabbanit Sarah Yehudit Schneider believes meditation is the entryway to understanding mysticism.
This series, recorded at the 18Forty X ASFoundation AI Summit, is sponsored by American Security Foundation.
As a Chabad Hasid, Rabbi Zevi Slavin’s formative years were spent immersed in the rich traditions of Chassidut and Kabbala.
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