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Recommended Podcasts
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Shaanan Gelman & His Son: When a Child Becomes Addicted
We talk to Rabbi Shaanan Gelman and his son Ziggy about the persistence of a parent-child relationship when the latter faces addiction.
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David & Sydney Magerman: When a Child Makes Aliyah
We talk to David Magerman and his daughter Sydney, who decided to make aliyah while on her gap year in Israel.
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Yakov Danishefsky: Transmitting the Jewish Story with Emotional Health
We talk to Yakov Danishefsky about the imperfect ways in which we transmit the Jewish story.
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Menachem Penner & Gedalia Robinson: A Child’s Orientation
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.
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Micah Goodman: ‘I don’t want Gaza to become our Vietnam’
Micah Goodman doesn’t think Palestinian-Israeli peace will happen within his lifetime. But he’s still a hopeful person.
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Einat Wilf: ‘Jews Are Never Allowed To Win, and Arabs Are Never Allowed to Lose’
The true enemy in Israel’s current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls “Palestinianism.”
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Haviv Rettig Gur: ‘Hamas is upset the death toll in Gaza isn’t higher’
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
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Tonia Chazanow: ‘Every soul has a story’
Tonia Chazanow joins us to discuss the role of the Jewish mystic, the goals of Torah study, and the potential dangers involved in studying mysticism.
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Leah Forster: Of Comedy and Community
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.
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Yakov Danishefsky: Religion and Mental Health: God and Us
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yakov Danishefsky—a rabbi, author and licensed social worker—about our relationships and our mental health.44
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Daniel Rowe: ‘It’s very easy to either idolatrize God or just misuse mystical teachings’
Rabbi Daniel Rowe joins us to discuss the inner dimensions of the Torah and how one can connect with the divine will.
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Yehuda Geberer: What’s the History of the American Yeshiva World?
We speak with Yehuda Geberer about the history of the yeshiva world.
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Pawel Maciejko: Sabbateanism and the Roots of Secular Judaism
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to historian and professor Pawel Maciejko about the false messiah Sabbatai Zevi, Sabbateanism, and the roots of Jewish secularism.
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Why 1840?
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.
podcast
Bruce Feiler: The Stories That Bind Us
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to author Bruce Feiler about family narratives.
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The How and Why of Moving to Israel
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to a series of guests who have made aliyah about the practical factors involved with building a life in Israel.
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David Bashevkin: My Mental Health Journey
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
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The Dardik Family: A Child Moves Away From Zionism
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.
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Yossi Klein Halevi: ‘Anti-Zionism is an existential threat to the Jewish People’
Yossi answers 18 questions on Israel.
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On Loss: A Child
Mirlana Morris talks about the loss of her son, Donny, and perpetuating the memory of a loved one.
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Modi Rosenfeld: A Serious Conversation About Comedy
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.
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Liel Leibovitz and Lisa Ann Sandell: When A Spouse Finds Faith
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.
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Daniel Statman: Can War Be Moral? On Moral Philosophy and War
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Daniel Statman, a professor of philosophy at the University of Haifa, about what it means to wage a moral war.
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Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort: How Progressive Activists Rediscovered Traditional Jewish Life
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort, married progressive activists who are reembracing traditional Jewish life.
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Essays
3 Arguments for God’s Existence
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
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Vayikra and the Shape of Sacrifice
If God has no need for offerings, why does the Torah devote an entire book to them—and what does that reveal about…
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Tzav: The Uneasy Economics of Holiness
Paying spiritual leaders can feel wrong. The Torah insists that it isn’t.
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A History of Jewish Belonging
In Parshat Vayikra, we are reminded that communal belonging lies at the heart of religious identity.
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A Letter to Parents of Intergenerational Divergees
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
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(What) Do Jews Believe About the Afterlife?
Christianity’s focus on the afterlife historically discouraged Jews from discussing it—but Jews very much believe in it.
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How to Read During a War
Notes from a mamad: How war kills intellectual curiosity, and why I picked up a book anyway
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A Letter to Children Estranged From Their Parents
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
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The Siddur Has a Lot of Prayers. Where Did They Come From?
Between early prayer books, kabbalistic additions, and the printing press, the siddur we have today is filled with prayers from across history.
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A Prayer for Israel to Add to Your Pesach Seder
Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon wrote this special prayer for Israel for Jews to recite at their Pesach Sedarim this year.
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How Archaeology Rewrote the History of Tefillin
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
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Diving Into The World of Mysticism
Joy and meaning can be found not only despite the brokenness, but even because of the brokenness.
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This Pesach, We Honor Our Disordered Love
Why does the night of order, of freedom and liberation, have so much disorder to it? Why is it so chaotic, disjointed?
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Censorship Uncensored: A Timeline of Jewish Censorship
Over time, the advancement of thought and modernism in culture has led to the disagreement of how much should be shared and…
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This Might Be What Saves Us from AI
In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro asks us to reconsider what, if anything, separates humans from machines.
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What Haredim Can Teach Us About Getting Off Our Smartphones
Kosher phones make calls and send texts. No Instagram, no TikTok, and no distractions. Maybe it’s time the world embraces them.
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Judith Herman Is Giving Voice to Survivors
Dr. Judith Herman has spent her career helping those who are going through trauma, and has provided far-reaching insight into the field.
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Edmond Jabès Had Questions—and He Learned to Live With Them
As the holiday of Passover approaches, we take a look into a man whose life was marked by questions: Edmond Jabès.
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The Hardal Community Explained: Torah, Am Yisrael, and Redemption
Religious Zionism is a spectrum—and I would place my Hardal community on the right of that spectrum.
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Your Attachment Style, Applied to God
What the theory of relationships can tell us about our religious lives—and how we relate to God
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Is Judaism Fundamentally Zionist?
God promised the Land of Israel to the Jewish People, so why are some rabbis anti-Zionists?
Essays
The Israeli Peace Activist and Religious Leader You Need to Know
Rav Froman was a complicated character in Israel and in his own home city of Tekoa, as people from both the right…
Essays
This Pesach, Find Your Door. Then Open It.
In this Pesach Reader, we see the many doors of Pesach. Now, we hope to find our own.
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My Book List From My Yeshiva Years
Despite my instinct to cringe, I am actually quite proud of this list, and by and large, these books continue to play…
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Intergenerational Divergence
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An Orthodox Rabbi Interviews a Reform Rabbi | Dovid Bashevkin & Diana Fersko
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations…
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Moshe Gersht: ‘The world of mysticism begs for practicality’
Rabbi Moshe Gersht first encountered the world of Chassidus at the age of twenty, the beginning of what he terms his “spiritual…
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Moshe Benovitz: Why Religious Change Doesn’t Always Last
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, recorded live at Stern College, we speak with Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel,…
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A Reform Rabbi Interviews an Orthodox Rabbi | Dovid Bashevkin & Diana Fersko (Part 2)
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin answers questions from Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue,…
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Is Modern Orthodox kiruv the way forward for American Jews? | Dovid Bashevkin & Mark Wildes
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
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The Hasidic Rebbe Who Left it All — And Then Returned
Why did this Hasidic Rebbe move from Poland to Israel, only to change his name, leave religion, and disappear to Los Angeles?
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Torah Study and ChatGPT: How Should Jewish Education Respond to AI?
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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Sarah Yehudit Schneider: ‘Jewish mysticism is not so different from any mysticism’
Rabbanit Sarah Yehudit Schneider believes meditation is the entryway to understanding mysticism.
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Zevi Slavin: ‘To be a mystic is to be human at its most raw’
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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We Asked Jews About AI. Here’s What They Said.
This series, recorded at the 18Forty X ASFoundation AI Summit, is sponsored by American Security Foundation.
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A Vulnerable Conversation About Shame, Selfhood, & Authenticity with Shais Taub & David Bashevkin
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Shais Taub, the rabbi behind the organization SoulWords, about shame, selfhood, and…