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Recommended Podcasts
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Yisroel Kaminetsky: The Goal of Jewish Education
In this edition of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to David’s rebbe, Rav Yisroel Kaminetsky, longtime principal of DRS Yeshiva High School, about the state of Jewish education in America.
podcast
David Bashevkin: ‘We are meant to teach the world how to embrace unchosen identity’
David Bashevkin discusses how to embrace holiness, the purpose of prayer, and the search for meaning in an age of distraction.
podcast
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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Fally Klein: ‘To me, God is the unanswerable question that keeps you asking’
Fally Klein joins us to discuss finding God in the everyday and where the Messiah might come from.
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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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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.
podcast
Mendel Horowitz: A Good Enough Elul
We talk to Mendel Horowitz, who introduces us to the notion of having a “good-enough Elul.”
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
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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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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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.
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
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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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
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
Yosef Bronstein: Only for Chabad? Modern Orthodoxy and the Rebbe
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yosef Bronstein—a rabbi, writer, and scholar—about the philosophy of Chabad and the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
podcast
Joey Rosenfeld: ‘All Jews are by definition mystics’
Rav Joey Rosenfeld’s entryway into mystical thought began with the writings of Franz Kafka and Albert Camus.
podcast
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.
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.
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David Bashevkin: My Dating Story – On Religious & Romantic Commitment
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, Dovid Bashevkin dives deeply into the world of dating.
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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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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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Haviv Rettig Gur: ‘Hamas is upset the death toll in Gaza isn’t higher’
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
Recommended Articles
Essays
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…
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
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.
Essays
The Torah’s Warning About Having Everything
Parshat Ki Tavo warns us what happens when everything we’ve prayed for stops feeling like a gift.
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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.
Essays
I’m a Psychodynamic Therapist. Here’s What That Means.
Psychodynamic therapy is not for everyone. But for those who dare, it can change everything.
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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.
Essays
A Letter to Parents of Intergenerational Divergees
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
Essays
A Letter to Children Estranged From Their Parents
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
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
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
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
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
‘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.
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
(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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videos
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…
videos
Intergenerational Divergence
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Teshuva
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…
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin: How Torah Gives Us Faith and Hope
In this special Simchas Torah episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin—parents of murdered hostage Hersh…
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Steven Gotlib & Eli Rubin: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast—recorded at the 18Forty X ASFoundation AI Summit—we speak with Rabbi Eli Rubin and Rabbi Steven…
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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…