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Recommended Podcasts
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Gedale Fenster: ‘Focus on the message, you won’t stay in the mess’
Gedale Fenster joins us to discuss how to live a life of unshakeable faith and joy.
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YY Jacobson: The Teshuva of Coming Back to Yourself
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.
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Daniel Grama & Aliza Grama: A Child in Recovery
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.
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Nechumi Yaffe: ‘I hate the idea that we are being killed and need to kill’
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.
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Etan Epstein: New Journeys in Torah Learning
We talk to Rabbi Etan Epstein, the founder of The 300 Club, a program of committing to learning Torah for five minutes a day.
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Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz: A Healthy Relationship with Halacha
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.
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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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Ari Bergmann: Talmud as an Agent of Chaos
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.
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Rav Moshe Weinberger: Can Mysticism Become a Community?
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.
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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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Shlomo Pill: When a Rabbi Doctor Struggles With Addiction
We talk to Rabbi Shlomo Pill about how Torah and teshuva have helped him handle his struggle with addiction.
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Joey Rosenfeld: Can Mysticism Heal Us?
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.
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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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When a Parent Becomes Estranged
In this episode, we talk to a father and daughter who were estranged and then reunited.
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Tania Friedlander: Teshuva and Becoming Capable of More
We talk to Tania Friedlander about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.
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Yehoshua Pfeffer: ‘The army is not ready for real Haredi participation’
Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer answers 18 questions on Israel, including the Haredi draft, Israel as a religious state, Messianism, and so much more.
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Ben and Yael de Toledo: Baalei Teshuva Building Community in Israel
We talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo about doing teshuva by returning to community.
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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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Michael Eisenberg: Iran, USA, Israel: What Comes Next
We talk to Michael Eisenberg about the state of the Jewish People in Israel and the diaspora.
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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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Dr. Ora Wiskind: How do you Read a Mystical Text?
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.
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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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Yoni Rosensweig: How Does Mental Health Affect Halacha?
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.
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Self-Deception and Redemption in the Book of Jonah
One can read the whole story of Jonah as a reflection on the lies we tell ourselves and the redemption that is…
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3 Arguments for God’s Existence
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Why Moshe Leaves Behind a Song
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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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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…
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Why the Confusion? On Disputes in the Oral Torah
If legal codes tell us the laws, then the Mishna is less like a legal code than a record of disagreements about…
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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.
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How to Prep for Talmud Daily
Before you open a page of Gemara, meet the people, ideas, and arguments that make the Talmud worth opening.
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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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A Letter to Parents of Intergenerational Divergees
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
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Why Is Meir Kahane Making a Comeback Among Orthodox Jews?
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wears the mantle of Kahane in Israel. Many Orthodox Jews welcomed him with open arms.
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How the Lubavitcher Rebbe Teaches Us to Transcend Ourselves
I consider the Rebbe to be my personal teacher, and I find this teaching particularly relevant for us now.
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What Are the Origins of the Oral Torah?
A bedrock principle of Orthodox Judaism is that we received not only the Written Torah at Sinai but also the oral one—does…
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‘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…
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Change and Self-Acceptance: Rav Shagar’s Paradox of Teshuva
Is teshuva about changing ourselves, or is it about accepting who we are? For this paradox, Rav Shagar says, it’s both.
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5 Ways Atonement Works (Even When the Text is Hard)
In Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, we learn that holiness requires moving beyond the letter of the law to its spirit.
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‘Don’t Wait as Long as I Did’: Seven Stories of Aliyah
A 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, a lone soldier, and more. Here are seven olim sharing their stories of aliyah.
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Do We Care Too Much? Furor Sanandi and Our Desire to Heal
From Freud through today, our desire to heal asks us to consider why we care so badly—and maybe if it’s hindering the…
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The Words They Left Behind
If You’re Reading These Words is a book in which all the heroes have died, yet it overflows with life.
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Can Censorship Edit Our Past?
It isn’t only censorship that creates the narrative of our history, but it is every creative endeavor that we engage in.
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YY Jacobson: The Teshuva of Coming Back to Yourself
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi YY Jacobson, one of the foremost online teachers of Torah, about…
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Etan Epstein: New Journeys in Torah Learning
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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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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…
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The Five Questions
What is the Zohar — and why has it captivated mystics, scholars, and seekers for nearly a thousand years?
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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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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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Tania Friedlander: Teshuva and Becoming Capable of More
We talk to Tania Friedlander about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.
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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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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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Ben and Yael de Toledo: Baalei Teshuva Building Community in Israel
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Ben and Yael de Toledo, founders of Pnima Jerusalem, a soulful community…
