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Recommended Podcasts
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Hadas Hershkovitz: On Loss: A Husband, Father, Soldier
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Hadas Hershkovitz, whose husband, Yossi, was killed while serving on reserve duty in Gaza in 2023—about the Jewish People’s loss of this beloved spouse, father, high-school principal, and soldier.
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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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Elissa Felder & Sonia Hoffman: How the Jewish Burial Society Cares for the Dead
Elissa Felder and Sonia Hoffman serve on a chevra kadisha and teach us about confronting death.
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How Different Jewish Communities Date
On this episode of 18Forty, we explore the world of Jewish dating.
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Red Flags: A Conversation with Shalom Task Force Featuring Esther Williams and Shana Frydman
We have a deeply moving conversation on the topic of red flags in relationships.
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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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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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Aliza and Ephraim Bulow: When A Spouse Loses Faith
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.
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Shlomo Brody & Beth Popp: Demystifying Death and the End of Life
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Shlomo Brody and Dr. Beth Popp.
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‘Everything About Her Was Worth It’: The Life of Yakira Leeba Schwartz A”H
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yisroel Besser, who authored many rabbinic biographies and brought David Bashevkin to Mishpacha magazine, about sharing Jewish stories.
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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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Benny Morris: ‘We should have taken Rafah at the start’
Leading Israeli historian Benny Morris answers 18 questions on Israel, including Gaza, Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects, morality, and so much more.
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Rabbi Meir Triebitz: How Should We Approach the Science of the Torah?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbi Meir Triebitz – Rosh Yeshiva, PhD, and expert on matters of science and the Torah – to discuss what kind of science we can learn from the Torah.
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Anshel Pfeffer: ‘The idea that you’ll obliterate Hamas is as realistic as wanting to obliterate Chabad’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not surprise Anshel Pfeffer over the last 17 months of war—and that’s the most disappointing part.
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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.
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Larry and Tzipora Rothwachs: Here Without You — A Child’s Eating Disorder
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Larry Rothwachs and his daughter Tzipora about the relationship of a father and daughter through distance while battling an eating disorder.
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Anita Shapira: ‘You cannot wipe out Hamas’
Leading Israel historian Anita Shapira answers 18 questions on Israel, including destroying Hamas, the crisis up North, and Israel’s future.
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Talia Khan: A Jewish Israel Activist and Her Muslim Father
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Talia Khan—a Jewish MIT graduate student and Israel activist—and her father, an Afghan Muslim immigrant, about their close father-daughter relationship despite their ideological disagreements.
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Frieda Vizel: How the World Misunderstands Hasidic Jewry
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.
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Gadi Taub: ‘We should annex the north third of the Gaza Strip’
Gadi answers 18 questions on Israel, including judicial reform, Gaza’s future, and the Palestinian Authority.
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Lizzy Savetsky: Becoming a Jewish Influencer and Israel Advocate
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.
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Mikhael Manekin: ‘This is a land of two peoples, and I don’t view that as a problem’
Wishing Arabs would disappear from Israel, Mikhael Manekin says, is a dangerous fantasy.
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Yishai Fleisher: ‘Israel is not meant to be equal for all — it’s a nation-state’
Israel should prioritize its Jewish citizens, Yishai Fleisher says, because that’s what a nation-state does.
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Essays
This Week in Jewish History: The Nine Days and the Ninth of Av
Tisha B’Av, explains Maimonides, is a reminder that our collective fate rests on our choices.
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I Like to Learn Talmud the Way I Learn Shakespeare
If Shakespeare’s words could move me, why didn’t Abaye’s?
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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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Fighting for My Father’s Life Was a Victory in its Own Way
After losing my father to Stage IV pancreatic cancer, I choose to hold onto the memories of his life.
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Books 18Forty Recommends You Read About Loss
They cover maternal grief, surreal mourning, preserving faith, and more.
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Benny Morris Has Thoughts on Israel, the War, and Our Future
We interviewed this leading Israeli historian on the critical questions on Israel today—and he had what to say.
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Why Reading Is Not Enough for Judaism
In my journey to embrace my Judaism, I realized that we need the mimetic Jewish tradition, too.
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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.
Essays
‘The Crisis of Experience’: What Singlehood Means in a Married Community
I spent months interviewing single, Jewish adults. The way we think about—and treat—singlehood in the Jewish community needs to change. Here’s how.
Essays
3 Questions To Ask Yourself Whenever You Hear a Dvar Torah
Not every Jewish educational institution that I was in supported such questions, and in fact, many did not invite questions such as…
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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.
Essays
Do You Need a Rabbi, or a Therapist?
As someone who worked as both clinician and rabbi, I’ve learned to ask three central questions to find an answer.
Essays
Between Modern Orthodoxy and Religious Zionism: At Home as an Immigrant
My family made aliyah over a decade ago. Navigating our lives as American immigrants in Israel is a day-to-day balance.
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Do We Know Why God Allows Evil and Suffering?
What are Jews to say when facing “atheism’s killer argument”?
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The Erasure of Sephardic Jewry
Half of Jewish law and history stem from Sephardic Jewry. It’s time we properly teach that.
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From Hawk to Dove: The Path(s) of Yossi Klein Halevi
With the hindsight of more than 20 years, Halevi’s path from hawk to dove is easily discernible. But was it at every…
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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.
Essays
‘Are Your Brothers To Go to War While You Stay Here?’: On Haredim Drafting to the IDF
A Hezbollah missile killed Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot’s son, Amitai Tzvi, on Oct. 15. Here, he pleas for Haredim to enlist into…
Essays
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.
Essays
A Brief History of Jewish Mysticism
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
Essays
Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits’ Complicated Portrait of Faith
Meet a traditional rabbi in an untraditional time, willing to deal with faith in all its beauty—and hardships.
Essays
How and Why I Became a Hasidic Feminist
The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s brand of feminism resolved the paradoxes of Western feminism that confounded me since I was young.
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When Losing Faith Means Losing Yourself
Elisha ben Abuyah thought he lost himself forever. Was that true?
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Mysticism
In a disenchanted world, we can turn to mysticism to find enchantment, to remember that there is something more under the surface…
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18Forty: Exploring Big Questions (An Introduction)
18Forty is a new media company that helps users find meaning in their lives through the exploration of Jewish thought and ideas.…
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Talmud
There is circularity that underlies nearly all of rabbinic law. Open up the first page of Talmud and it already assumes that…
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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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Jonathan Rosenblum Answers 18 Questions on the Haredi Draft, Netanyahu, and a Religious State
Talking about the “Haredi community” is a misnomer, Jonathan Rosenblum says, and simplifies its diversity of thought and perspectives. A Yale-trained lawyer…
