In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yehuda, Bayla, Elisha, and Avi Samter—members of a family that made aliyah from the comfortable Five Towns life a decade ago—about the divergence between Jewish life in America and in Israel.
Transcripts are typically available the week an episode is released.
We speak with Rabbi Aaron Kotler about the beginnings of the American yeshiva world.
We speak with Professors Elisheva Carlebach and Debra Kaplan about women’s religious, social, and communal roles in early modern Jewish life.
Haviv answers 18 questions on Israel.
Dr. Chava Green joins us to discuss the role of women in the Messianic Era and seeing God in the everyday.
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, Dovid Bashevkin dives deeply into the world of dating.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Pini Dunner and Rav Moshe Weinberger about the Yabloner Rebbe and his astounding story of teshuva.
The true enemy in Israel’s current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls “Palestinianism.”
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.
How can our generation understanding mysticism, philosophy, and suffering in today’s chaotic world?
Prof. Moshe Idel joins us to discuss mysticism, diversity, and the true concerns of most Jews throughout history.
We speak with Rabbis Eitan Webb and Ari Israel about Jewish life on college campuses today.
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.
Yossi answers 18 questions on Israel.
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.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we discuss parental alienation.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin opens up about his mental health journey.
Israel is facing several existential crises—at least three, by Netta Barak-Corren’s account.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we launch our new topic, Outreach, by talking to Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, a senior staff member at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, about changing people’s minds, the value of individuality, and the “no true Scotsman” fallacy.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Ken Brodkin, rabbi of New Jersey’s Congregation B’nai Israel, about how he helped turn it into “the Orthodox synagogue for all Jews.”
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.
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.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with conservative journalist and cultural commentator, Bethany S. Mandel, to talk about the entrances and exits of her life, reconstructing Jewish identity, and creating a Jewish home outside of the Jewish community.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to author Bruce Feiler about family narratives.
Divorce often upends emotional and financial stability. A Jewish organization in Los Angeles offers a better way forward.
After years of unsolicited advice, I now share some in return.
These four forces are quietly determining what our schools prioritize—and what they neglect.
These recent works examine disagreement, reinvention, and spiritual courage across Jewish history.
Perhaps the most fundamental question any religious believer can ask is: “Does God exist?” It’s time we find good answers.
Parshat Terumah suggests that chesed is part of the DNA of every synagogue.
Christianity’s focus on the afterlife historically discouraged Jews from discussing it—but Jews very much believe in it.
From verses in Parshat Bo to desert caves, tefillin emerge as one of Judaism’s earliest embodied practices.
What Mishpatim teaches about human nature, moral fragility, and the structures a just society requires.
In Parshat Mishpatim, the Torah embeds one of its most radical emotional demands inside its civil code: Help your enemy.
After the revelation at Sinai, Parshat Terumah turns to blueprints—revealing what it means to build a home for God.
David Eliezrie’s latest examines the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe’s radical faith that Torah could transform America.
Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wears the mantle of Kahane in Israel. Many Orthodox Jews welcomed him with open arms.
To talk about the history of Jewish mysticism is in many ways to talk about the history of the mystical community.
The “way” of myself and other formerly Reform Jews is unclear, but our desire for spiritual growth is sincere.
What if the deepest encounter with God is found not in texts, but in a people? Rav Kook and the Lubavitcher Rebbe…
Children cannot truly avoid the consequences of estrangement. Their parents’ shadow will always follow.
Dr. Judith Herman has spent her career helping those who are going through trauma, and has provided far-reaching insight into the field.
I think the topic of commitment is about our very humanity—how we deal with doubt, make decisions, and find and build healthy…
Religious Zionism is a spectrum—and I would place my Hardal community on the right of that spectrum.
Jews from the Land of Israel prayed differently than we do today—with marked difference. What happened to their traditions?
Jewish students, parents, and educators weigh in about what helps, what hurts, and what we need to do.
Missing from Tanach—the Jewish People’s origin story—is one of the central aspects of Jewish life: the observance of halacha. Why?
In reprinted essays from “BeyondBT,” a father and daughter reflect about what happens when a child finds faith.
In this special Simchas Torah episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin—parents of murdered hostage Hersh…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin answers questions from Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue,…
We speak with Joey Rosenfeld about how our generation can understand suffering.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rabbis Eitan Webb and Ari Israel, head of a campus Chabad and…
Why did this Hasidic Rebbe move from Poland to Israel, only to change his name, leave religion, and disappear to Los Angeles?
There is circularity that underlies nearly all of rabbinic law. Open up the first page of Talmud and it already assumes that…
In a disenchanted world, we can turn to mysticism to find enchantment, to remember that there is something more under the surface…
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Mark Wildes, founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience, about Modern Orthodox…
This series, recorded at the 18Forty X ASFoundation AI Summit, is sponsored by American Security Foundation.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Diana Fersko, senior rabbi of the Village Temple Reform synagogue, about denominations…
We speak with Naftuli Moster about how and why he changed his understanding of the values imparted by Judaism.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, recorded live at Stern College, we speak with Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, director of NCSY Kollel,…
Love is one of the great vulnerabilities of our time. Can we handle it?
What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake?
As a Chabad Hasid, Rabbi Zevi Slavin’s formative years were spent immersed in the rich traditions of Chassidut and Kabbala.
We talk to Matisyahu, who has publicly re-embraced his Judaism and Zionism.
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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