In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rachel Grady – documentary filmmaker of One of Us and Jesus Camp – about the expressive power of documentaries.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rachel Grady – documentary filmmaker of One of Us and Jesus Camp – about the expressive power of documentaries.
While fiction and non-fiction literature are powerful creative tools to explore an issue, documentaries have a unique power to portray communities from the inside. And while these portrayals may be uniquely powerful, they can also be uniquely controversial.
Tune in to hear a conversation on documentary filmmaking, and for Rachel’s recommendations for which documentaries you should watch next.
Rachel Grady is a documentary filmmaker and director. She co-directed the Academy Award-nominated Jesus Camp, the Emmy-nominated The Boys of Baraka, and the Emmy-winning DETROPIA, as well as One of Us. Rachel’s films are powerful explorations of under-explored qualities of communities. Rachel joins us to talk about her favorite documentaries.
In this episode, we talk to a father and daughter who were estranged and then reunited.
We talk to David Magerman and his daughter Sydney, who decided to make aliyah while on her gap year in Israel.
We talk to Rabbi Shaanan Gelman and his son Ziggy about the persistence of a parent-child relationship when the latter faces addiction.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yakov Danishefsky—a rabbi, author and licensed social worker—about our relationships and our mental health.44
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.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to author Bruce Feiler about family narratives.
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.
We talk to Yakov Danishefsky about the imperfect ways in which we transmit the Jewish story.
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
Shlomo Katz joins us to discuss the challenge of technology, Torat Eretz Yisrael, and the true purpose of the Jewish People.
The true enemy in Israel’s current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls “Palestinianism.”
Mirlana Morris talks about the loss of her son, Donny, and perpetuating the memory of a loved one.
Micah Goodman doesn’t think Palestinian-Israeli peace will happen within his lifetime. But he’s still a hopeful person.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Channah Cohen, a researcher of the OU’s study on the “Shidduch Crisis.”
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we pivot to Intergenerational Divergence by talking to Rachel Yehuda, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience, about intergenerational trauma and intergenerational resilience.
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.
Tonia Chazanow joins us to discuss the role of the Jewish mystic, the goals of Torah study, and the potential dangers involved in studying mysticism.
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.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
Talking about the “Haredi community” is a misnomer, Jonathan Rosenblum says, and simplifies its diversity of thought and perspectives.
Leading Israel historian Anita Shapira answers 18 questions on Israel, including destroying Hamas, the crisis up North, and Israel’s future.
Antisemitism and assimilation are threatening the Jewish People, says Natan Sharansky, but to both Israel offers a solution.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Daniel Statman, a professor of philosophy at the University of Haifa, about what it means to wage a moral war.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David sits down with Leah Forster, a world-famous ex-Hasidic comedian, to talk about how her journey has affected her comedy.
Children don’t come with guarantees. Washing machines come with guarantees.
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
Paying spiritual leaders can feel wrong. The Torah insists that it isn’t.
In reprinted essays from “BeyondBT,” a father and daughter reflect about what happens when a child finds faith.
Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon wrote this special prayer for Israel for Jews to recite at their Pesach Sedarim this year.
In 1840, a blood libel in Damascus transformed a local accusation into an international Jewish crisis.
Christianity’s focus on the afterlife historically discouraged Jews from discussing it—but Jews very much believe in it.
Between early prayer books, kabbalistic additions, and the printing press, the siddur we have today is filled with prayers from across history.
The most important message from my end is to not let religious differences prevent you and your spouse from loving and respecting…
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
In Parshat Vayikra, we are reminded that communal belonging lies at the heart of religious identity.
Dr. Judith Herman has spent her career helping those who are going through trauma, and has provided far-reaching insight into the field.
At some point, my husband and I will need to tell my children that I’m agnostic. But for now, we’re focused on…
Joy and meaning can be found not only despite the brokenness, but even because of the brokenness.
As the holiday of Passover approaches, we take a look into a man whose life was marked by questions: Edmond Jabès.
Kosher phones make calls and send texts. No Instagram, no TikTok, and no distractions. Maybe it’s time the world embraces them.
Rav Froman was a complicated character in Israel and in his own home city of Tekoa, as people from both the right…
Why does the night of order, of freedom and liberation, have so much disorder to it? Why is it so chaotic, disjointed?
In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro asks us to reconsider what, if anything, separates humans from machines.
If God has no need for offerings, why does the Torah devote an entire book to them—and what does that reveal about…
I’d advise reading Rav Kook as you would read a poem, with an eye less to the argument or claim he is…
I’ve searched high and low for an accessible English book or essay addressing the development of the siddur, but my findings are…
Rabbi Moshe Gersht first encountered the world of Chassidus at the age of twenty, the beginning of what he terms his “spiritual…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, recorded live at Stern College, we speak with Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel,…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Shais Taub, the rabbi behind the organization SoulWords, about shame, selfhood, and…
What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake?
We speak with Naftuli Moster about how and why he changed his understanding of the values imparted by Judaism.
Talking about the “Haredi community” is a misnomer, Jonathan Rosenblum says, and simplifies its diversity of thought and perspectives. A Yale-trained lawyer…
What is Jewish peoplehood? In a world that is increasingly international in its scope, our appreciation for the national or the tribal…
As a Chabad Hasid, Rabbi Zevi Slavin’s formative years were spent immersed in the rich traditions of Chassidut and Kabbala.
In order to study Kabbalah, argues Rav Moshe Weinberger, one must approach it with humility.
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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