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On Presence, Questions, and Independence: Remembering Rav Ezra Neuberger
We mark the yahrtzeit of Rav Ezra Dovid Halevi Neuberger with remembrances from Dovid Bashevkin and David Fohrman.
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Meir Sendor: ‘God is manifest in plain sight’
Rabbi Dr. Meir Sendor joins us to discuss prayer, human will, and the dangers of mysticism.
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Elliot Kaufman: October 7 and What Came After
We talk to Elliot Kaufman about what happened inside Israel’s war room after October 7 and how Israel came to lose the battle over its own story.
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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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Efraim Palvanov: ‘Every person can be the Messiah’
Efraim Palvanov answers questions on misinformation, prayer as self-reflection, and every Jew’s role in bringing Mashiach.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Seforim Chatter x 18Forty: How Jewish History Changes the Way We Learn Torah
Dovid Bashevkin and Nachi Weinstein discuss the ideas behind Bashevkin’s book ‘I Read This Over Shabbos.’
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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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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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Shmuel Braun: ‘When it comes to God, I’m the object and God is the subject’
Rabbi Shmuel Braun joins us to discuss spirituality and free will.
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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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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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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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Michael Oren: ‘We are living in biblical times’
Israel is a heroic country, Michael Oren believes—but he concedes that it is a flawed heroic country.
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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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Kayla Haber-Goldstein: Questioning the Answers: Rebuilding Your Faith
On this episode of 18Forty, we have a frank conversation with author Kayla Haber-Goldstein about her personal, painful journey to find God.
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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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A New, Illustrated Midrash on the Beginning
Koren’s latest Tanakh Graphic Novel brings a fresh midrashic lens to Bereshit and Noach.
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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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Hiding in Plain Sight: Raising an Orthodox Family While Being Agnostic
At some point, my husband and I will need to tell my children that I’m agnostic. But for now, we’re focused on…
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Can Morality Be Trained?
Silicon Valley promises ethical AI. But do we even know how to raise ethical children?
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Barefoot in Uncertainty: Reflections on Sukkot and Psychotherapy
What temporary spaces can reveal about attention, exposure, and the experience of not knowing.
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What Jewish Peoplehood Means to Me
The connections and collectiveness of the Jewish People become clearer when we break down the barriers that we think divide us.
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The Mind of God and the Order of the Cosmos
Five takeaways from Parshat Bereishit—and what they reveal about faith and science
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Writing the Unspeakable: October 7 in Jewish Novels
Can Jewish fiction make sense of October 7?
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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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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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(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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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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5 Things Noach Teaches About the Psychology of Starting Over
When the world you knew no longer exists, how do you rebuild a self—or a world—that is worth returning to?
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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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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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‘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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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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A Letter to Parents of Intergenerational Divergees
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
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The New Tower of Babel
Watching AI spread through every corner of life raises an unsettling question: What kind of world are we building for our children?
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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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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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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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Is Israel the Future of Judaism? Israeli and Diaspora Jews Weigh In.
Israel is clearly important to Jews. The question becomes: To what extent?
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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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Intergenerational Divergence
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Liel Leibovitz: Why the Talmud Is So Hard To Love—and Worth Loving
In this episode, Liel Leibovitz reflects on falling in love with the Talmud precisely because it is so difficult—and on how its…
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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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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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Why Be a Believer?
We talk to author and theoretical physicist Berel Leib Epstein about rational reasons to choose to believe in Judaism and live a…
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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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Jewish Peoplehood
What is Jewish peoplehood? In a world that is increasingly international in its scope, our appreciation for the national or the tribal…
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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…
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Etan Epstein: New Journeys in Torah Learning
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Etan Epstein, the founder of The 300 Club, a program of…
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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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Why Naftuli Moster Left Haredi Education Activism
We speak with Naftuli Moster about how and why he changed his understanding of the values imparted by Judaism.
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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.
