Begin exploring
today’s
biggest Jewish
questions…
×
Recommended Podcasts
podcast
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.
podcast
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.”
podcast
Lahav Harkov: Israel’s Next Election: What’s Really at Stake?
We talk to Lahav Harkov for a basic primer on how Israeli elections work, how Israel’s political camps came to divide the way they have, and what choice Israelis face right now.
podcast
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.
podcast
Hanan Schlesinger: ‘From the river to the sea is all Israel and all Palestine’
Zionism asked the Jewish People if they could wield power properly, Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger says. The answer, according to him, is now clear: They cannot.
podcast
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.
podcast
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.
podcast
Judah Mischel: How To Be a Jewish Optimist
We talk to Judah Mischel about how to become a Jewish optimist by choosing to see the good in every corner of Klal Yisrael.
podcast
Emanuel Feldman: On Being a Jewish Writer
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Emanuel Feldman about writing styles.
podcast
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.
podcast
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.
podcast
Shmuel Ozhekh: ‘The greatest blockage to a person’s spirituality is their own mind’
Rabbi Shmuel Ozhekh joins us to discuss prayer, spirituality, and connection.
podcast
Bezalel Naor: Rav Kook’s Mystical Vision of Zionism
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Bezalel Naor—author, translator, and expert on Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook—about Rav Kook’s relationship to the Land of Israel.
podcast
When a Parent Becomes Estranged
In this episode, we talk to a father and daughter who were estranged and then reunited.
podcast
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.
podcast
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
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.
podcast
Sarah Hurwitz: Reclaiming Judaism from Shame and Blame
We speak with writer Sarah Hurwitz about what it means to be a “knowing Jew.”
podcast
Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel: How Can God be Found After Trauma?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel—speaker, educator, and yoetzet halacha— about the effects of tragedy on emunah.
podcast
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.
podcast
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.
podcast
Eitan Hersh: Can the Jewish Left Talk With the Jewish Right?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Eitan Hersh, a professor of political science at Tufts University, about teaching students of radically different political and religious views how to speak to one another.
podcast
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.
podcast
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.
Recommended Articles
Essays
The Jewish Answer to American Loneliness
As America grows lonelier, Rav Soloveitchik’s vision of the self offers a challenge to Emersonian self-reliance.
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.
Essays
What Does Shabbos Even Mean to Me? Part I
The 18Forty guide to making meaning on Shabbos, part I
Essays
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks at the Intersection of Science & Religion: A Tribute
In the midst of crises of faith, Rabbi Sacks’ course of thought profoundly impacted so many, especially in the area of science…
Essays
5 Things Vayera Teaches Us About Moral Courage
What does it mean to stand for what’s right when even faith itself feels uncertain?
Essays
Diving Into The World of Mysticism
Joy and meaning can be found not only despite the brokenness, but even because of the brokenness.
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.
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
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.
Essays
What Shabbos Means to Me
Over time, one’s relationship with Shabbos can be indicative about other things and a view into one’s inner self as well.
Essays
A Letter to Parents of Intergenerational Divergees
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
Essays
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.
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
A Letter to Children Estranged From Their Parents
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
Essays
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.
Essays
(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
I Keep Shabbos, but My Husband Doesn’t. Our Marriage Still Thrives.
The most important message from my end is to not let religious differences prevent you and your spouse from loving and respecting…
Essays
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…
Essays
Army Service is Essential for Every Jew: Letter From an IDF Combat Soldier in Gaza
Yes, the Israeli army needs Jews to draft, but more than that, Jews need to experience what it means to serve.
Essays
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.
Essays
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.
Essays
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.
Recommended Videos
videos
Lahav Harkov: Israel’s Next Election: What’s Really at Stake?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Lahav Harkov, senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, for a basic primer…
videos
Judah Mischel: How To Be a Jewish Optimist
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rav Judah Mischel, executive director of Camp HASC and author of the…
videos
Intergenerational Divergence
videos
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…
videos
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…
videos
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,…
videos
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…
videos
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.
videos
Jewish Peoplehood
What is Jewish peoplehood? In a world that is increasingly international in its scope, our appreciation for the national or the tribal…
videos
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…
videos
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…
videos
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…
videos
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…