18Forty Podcast

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Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.
This episode is sponsored by Ketubah.com. Find the perfect ketubah for your wedding at Ketubah.com—beautiful designs, halachic accuracy, and personalized guidance every step of the way.

This episode is also sponsored by our friends at Sofer.Ai. 

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Talia Khan—a Jewish MIT graduate student and Israel activist—and her father, an Afghan Muslim immigrant, about their close father-daughter relationship despite their ideological disagreements. 

When Talia gained national attention in 2023 testifying before Congress and expressing her anger with the hostility toward Jews on MIT’s campus, many wondered what her Muslim father thought of her activism. In this episode we discuss: 

• What was Talia’s father’s reaction to her public advocacy on  behalf of Jews and Israel? 
• How do Talia and her father stay close despite their fundamental ideological differences?
• Why are Jewish-Muslim relations so strained? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how humanity’s story of redemption takes form in a father-daughter relationship.

Interview begins at 11:09.

Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering, the president of the MIT Israel Alliance, a Fulbright Brazil alumna, and the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Afghan Muslim immigrant father. 

References:

18Forty Podcast: “What’s Next: Higher Education for Jews: David Wolpe, Talia Khan, and Steven Pinker”

Golda (2023)

Rashi on Genesis 15:15, Bereshit Rabbah 30 

Meshekh Chokhmah by Meir Simha HaKohen Dvinsk

Genesis 17:18

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Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to bestselling author Susan Cain about her bittersweet relationship with her mother, an Orthodox Jew and daughter of a prominent rabbi. 

Susan’s book Bittersweet explores their journey together and grapples with what it means when our lives and relationships don’t exactly meet our expectations. In this episode we discuss:

• How do our relationships with our parents change in adulthood? 
• Why are sad songs often some of our favorites? 
• How can we make meaning of the yearning we experience?

Tune in to hear a conversation about “longing for the source” and “uniting with the beloved of the soul.”

Interview begins at 11:01.

Susan Cain is the  ​​No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. She is also a speaker, influencer, and the creator of the newsletter community thequietlife.net.

References:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain

“Rabbi Israel Schorr, 94; Led Brooklyn Synagogue”

The Letters Of J.R.R. Tolkien

Beit Yaakov on Torah

“Anthem” by Leonard Cohen

Einstein and the Rabbi by Naomi Levy

“Rav Shagar: Zionism and Exile Within the Home” by Ari Ze’ev Schwartz and Levi Morrow

Divrei Soferim 16 by Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin

Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought by David Bashevkin

Avodat Yisrael by Israel Hopstein of Kozhnitz

“

Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.

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. 

On Aharon’s 14th birthday, the Dardiks moved from America to the Neve Daniel in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria. Since then, their relationships to Israel have diverged but they have refused to be divided. In this episode we discuss:

• Why did Aharon initially choose to stay anonymous to protect his parents from public pushback?
• How can we identify positive qualities in people we viscerally disagree with? 
• Do differences over Israel and Zionism need to tear families apart? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how the Jewish People can learn to think less institutionally and more familially. 

Interview begins at 19:08.

Rabbi Judah Dardik is an Assistant Dean and full-time Ramm at Yeshivat Orayta in the Old City of Jerusalem, where he teaches and oversees student welfare. He is also the Dean of the Orayta Center for Jewish Leadership and Engagement. Before making Aliyah, he completed 13 years as the spiritual and community leader of Beth Jacob Congregation, in Oakland, California.

Naomi Dardik, with her husband, Judah, served the Beth Jacob community in Oakland for thirteen years. Now, she leads the team of Relationship Experts at "OurRitual," a young company based in Tel Aviv that is building new ways to help couples access relationship support. She earned her BA in psychology from Barnard College and her MSW from UC Berkeley.

Aharon Akiva Dardik is a philosophy and political science double major at Columbia University. His activism in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza was noted in The New York Times. He formerly lived in Neve Daniel with his family. 

References:

“Forgive Me, My King I Did Not Know You Were Also a Father” by David Bashevkin

Beit Yishai by Rabbi Shlomo Fisher

“It Can Be Lonely to Have a Middle-of-the Road Opinion on the Middle East” 

Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. Rosenberg

Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza by Peter Beinart

The Power of Showing Up by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

Mistakes Were Made (but Not by...

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.

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. 

Whether one serves in the IDF has become a major realm of bifurcation within the Jewish People, and it’s a gap that we often fail to bridge even within our own social circles. In this episode we discuss:

• How does making aliyah and entering the army change prior friendships? 
• Why should every Jew imagine the possibility of living an elevated life defending the Jewish People in the Land of Israel? 
• What differentiates Five Towns Judaism from spirituality in the Land of Israel? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about unifying “both sides” of the Jewish People. 

Interview begins at 8:02. 

The Samter family made Aliyah from America and now have two sons serving in the Israel Defense Forces, fighting in the wars over the last 16 months in Gaza and Lebanon.

References:

Survivor Israel

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Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Simon Jacobson—a leading rabbi in the internet age who previously worked closely with the Lubavitcher Rebbe—and his mother, Silvia, who was born into a Chabad family in Europe nearly 90 years ago.

Together, they have witnessed and experienced the development of the Chabad movement and the Jewish People over several historic eras. In this episode we discuss:

• How has Chabad managed to maintain continuity over wildly different generations and historical contexts? 
• What can the mystical notions of tzimtzum, concealment, and revelation teach us about parenting? 
• How has the way we talk about “trauma” evolved over generations?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we can transmit tradition to our children with confidence and rootedness in order to find a dwelling place for God in every generation. 

Interview begins at 11:15.

Rabbi Simon Jacobson heads The Meaningful Life Center, called a “Spiritual Starbucks” by The New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual through a wide variety of live and online programming. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life, a William Morrow publication that has sold over 400,000 copies to date. Rabbi Jacobson is a speaker, educator, and mentor.

Sylvia, Simon's mother, is the matriarch of the Jacobson family. 

References:

Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism by Eli Rubin

Toward a Meaningful Life by Simon Jacobson

“Tzomo Lecho Nafshi”

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Vanity Fair by by William Makepeace Thackeray

The Algemeiner

“Rabbi Simon Jacobson Appears on Larry King Live | June 1994”

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

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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.

College campuses have been a hotbed of contentious conversations, especially on issues around Israel, and Prof. Hersh is someone who’s been teaching his students to turn their disputes productive. In this episode we discuss:

• What happens when Hersh brings up Jewish topics in his college classes? 
• How are students discussing the issue of removing international students who support terrorist organizations? 
• How would Hersh teach Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews to understand one another?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what happens when personal subjects become the content of a college course. 

Interview begins at 7:25.

Eitan Hersh is a professor of political science at Tufts University. His research focuses on US elections and civic participation. Hersh is the author of Politics is for Power (Scribner, 2020), Hacking the Electorate (Cambridge UP 2015), as well as scholarly articles. He earned his PhD from Harvard in 2011 and served as assistant professor of political science at Yale University from 2011-2017. His public writings have appeared in venues such as The New York Times, USA Today, The Atlantic, POLITICO, and The Boston Globe. 

References:

“Where the Left Studies the Right” by Barton Swaim

“A Conservative Thought Experiment on a Liberal College Campus” by Rachel Slade

The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher

Halacha Headlines

18Forty Podcast: “Elie Schulman: Does Therapy Work? A Patient’s Journey”

The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America by Coleman Hughes

The Two-Parent Privilege by Melissa S. Kearney

Hacking the Electorate: How Campaigns Perceive Voters by Eitan D. Hersh

For more 18Forty:

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CALL: (212) 582-1840
EMAIL: info@18forty.org
WEBSITE: 18forty.org
IG: @18forty
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Subscribe to our email list here. 

In this Purim episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin talks about what Saturday Night Live has taught him about life, creativity, and running an organization. 

Prompted by the show’s 50th anniversary, we’re reflecting on lessons from five decades of laughter. In this episode we discuss: 

• How did Lorne Michaels’s unique vision and insights help him “invent” SNL?
• What are the top five lessons about Jewish life that David has learned from the life of the SNL creator, born as Lorne David Lipowitz?
• What are David’s three favorite Jewish sketches from SNL?

Tune in to hear a serious analysis of a comedic show. 

David Bashevkin is the founder of 18Forty. He is also the director of education for NCSY, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union, and the Clinical Assistant Professor of Jewish Values at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University. He completed rabbinic ordination at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, as well as a master’s degree at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies focusing on the thought of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin under the guidance of Dr. Yaakov Elman. He completed his doctorate in Public Policy and Management at The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, focusing on crisis management.  He has published four books, Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought, a Hebrew work B’Rogez Rachem Tizkor (trans. In Anger, Remember Mercy), Top 5: Lists of Jewish Character and Character, and Just One: The NCSY Haggadah. David has been rejected from several prestigious fellowships and awards.

References:

Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan Morrison

Live From New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Too Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (2017)

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: “Lorne Michaels: Everybody Likes to See the Monkeys”

Tikkunei Zohar 57b

“Weekend Update: Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy on the Story of Hanukkah”

“Weekend Update: Adam Sandler on Hanukkah”

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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.” 

We also speak with Eli Kramer—a congregant instrumental in helping the shul affiliate as fully Orthodox—and Emily Appledorf, one of the newer members the shul set out to attract. In this episode we discuss:

• How can one persuade a century-old congregation with mixed seating to add a mechitza? 
• Why would a young couple finding their way religiously join a newly Orthodox synagogue?
• What draws an Orthodox rabbi to a career serving the whole spectrum of Jews?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the art of building a Jewish community. 

Interview with Eli Kramer: 14:23
Interview with Emily Appledorf: 41:46
Interview with Ken Brodkin: 1:05:37

Rabbi Ken Brodkin is the rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Manalapan, New Jersey. Rabbi Brodkin has dedicated his rabbinate to welcoming Jews of all backgrounds to the community and helping them along their Jewish journey. Rabbi Brodkin was hired by the Shul to help lead CBI’s transition to full Orthodox affiliation.

Subscribe to our email list here. 

References:

18Forty Podcast: “Lizzy Savetsky: Becoming a Jewish Influencer and Israel Advocate”

Mishnah Berurah by Israel Meir Kagan

“The Grandfather I Thought I Knew” by Mrs. Elana Moskowitz

The Tikvah Podcast: “David Bashevkin on Orthodox Jews and the American Religious Revival”

Tanya by Shneur Zalman of Liadi

Eruvin 53b

Shemot Rabbah 2

Aryeh Kaplan Anthology

Tales Out of Shul by Emanuel Feldman

The Book of Our Heritage by Eliyahu Kitov

Works of the Ramchal

Works of the Maharal


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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Lizzy Savetsky, who went from a career in singing and fashion to being a Jewish activist and influencer, about her work advocating for Israel online. 

While, in past decades, Jewish thought leaders were mainly only rabbis and rebbetzins, the current information revolution is transforming our notions of what it means to be a Jewish public figure. In this episode we discuss:

• How did Lizzy’s life path take her from being a recipient of Jewish outreach to doing a form of outreach herself? 
• How should we weigh the opportunities and dangers of social media?
• How did Lizzy decide to give up her previous career to speak out for Israel full-time?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the democratization of mass influence and what that means for the Jewish People. 

Interview begins at 11:57.

Lizzy Savetsky is a digital influencer who uses her platform to advocate for causes that are close to her heart. She shares her journey of fashionable motherhood on her social media channels, often featuring her two young daughters and baby boy. Lizzy is an outspoken activist for Israel and the Jewish People and works with numerous non-profit, philanthropic movements to support her people and homeland.

Subscribe to our email list here. 

References:

Origins of Judaism Series

Mishnah Berurah

All Who Go Do Not Return by Shulem Deen

The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller

The Rebbetzin by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer

Genesis and the Big Bang by Gerald Schroeder

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm, co-founder and president of SoulShop Studios, about doing Jewish “outreach” to non-Jews. 

Jewish texts are usually considered to be kept away from the outside world. But according to Rabbi Lamm, this is largely a misconception, as Jewish texts—from the Bible and the Talmud to the Midrash and beyond—have shaped the course of the human story. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Is “interfaith dialogue” generally ineffective?
• How did Christianity’s Protestant Reformation impact the Jewish People? 
• In what way did chazal “ignite” the American Revolution?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what the Jewish tradition has contributed—and still has to offer—to the broader culture. 

Interview begins at 7:58.

Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm is Co-Founder and President of SoulShop Studios, a new media venture for faith-driven Gen Z audiences, and Chief Executive of the Bnai Zion Foundation. Rabbi Dr. Lamm is a leading Jewish public intellectual using digital media to bring great Jewish ideas to the wider English-speaking public. He is the host of the top-ranked weekly podcast on the Bible and society, Good Faith Effort. And his popular Twitter threads on “Why Read the Bible in Hebrew?” have garnered over 4 million views to date, and been covered by major international news outlets. He joins us to talk about teaching the bible to non-Jews. 

References:

Isaiah 56:7

Isaiah 2

Genesis 12

Devarim Rabbah 5:8

A Defence of the People of England by John Milton

Common Sense by Thomas Paine

“Why Read The Bible In Hebrew?”

“Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Interviewed by Rabbi Ari Lamm”

The Hebrew Republic by Eric Nelson

Ari Lamm on “Four score and seven years ago”

Psalm 90 King James Version


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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. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Why would someone who leaves the Hasidic community become something of an emissary for her previous world?
• How does Frieda serve as a “cultural translator” between Williamsburg Hasidim and the “guests” on her tours? 
• How does one convey the “essence” of a culture to visitors who might never experience its depths? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how a community’s particularities might be precisely what makes it universally relatable. 

Interview begins at 5:42.

Frieda Vizel is a blogger and tour guide of Hasidic Williamsburg. Frieda is well-known for her informational videos with an insider’s look at the customs and traditions of Hasidic life, and for her ability to effectively navigate cross-cultural contact and communication between Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews.

References:

Take One with Liel Leibovitz

Frieda Vizel on YouTube

A Life Apart: Hasidism in America (1997)

Unorthodox (2020)

Hasidism: A New History by David Biale

A Fortress in Brooklyn by Michael Casper and Nathaniel Deutsch

Hasidic People by Jerome R. Mintz

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R. Hofstadter

Le Ton Beau De Marot: In Praise Of The Music Of Language by Douglas R. Hofstadter

Genesis 12:3

Likutei Moharan 19

Joey Rosenfeld on Translation

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This episode is sponsored by Nishmat, whose Summer Beit Midrash offers transformative Torah learning in the heart of Jerusalem for women of all backgrounds. Find more information here.

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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. 

With the tectonic shifts happening to our religious communities, political affiliations, and technological tools, conversations across social boundaries are becoming increasingly crucial. In this episode we discuss:

• How do we reach out to people “outside our communities,” in the many senses of that phrase? 
• How do the needs of the American Yeshiva World differ from the needs of the Israeli Haredi World? 
• How should we address the worldwide realignment that cultures of all kinds are experiencing?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the importance of being “translators” across communities as we exchange ideas with one another. 

Interview begins at 21:34.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein is a senior staff member at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group and international NGO. He also holds the Sydney M. Irmas Adjunct Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Rabbi Adlerstein is the co-founder of Cross-Currents, an online journal of Orthodox Jewish thought, and regularly contributes to that site. He is on the editorial board of Klal Perspectives, an online journal of issues facing the Orthodox community. 

References:

Iyun Podcast with Rabbi Ari Koretzky

18Forty Podcast: “Ari Koretzky: In Conversation With Dovid Bashevkin”

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz

“We Need To Start Befriending Neo Nazis” by Bethany Mandel

Ben Torah For Life by Rabbi Aaron Lopiansky

Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

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Take our annual survery: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WZKXNWR

We don't have a new episode this week, but we want to share with you an episode of our podcast 18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers, recorded on Jan. 13. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to catch the latest episode every Monday. 

Antisemitism and assimilation are threatening the Jewish People, says Natan Sharansky, but to both Israel offers a solution.

Born in the Soviet Union and imprisoned by the authorities when trying to immigrate to Israel, Sharansky experienced brutal interrogations, forced feedings, and torture — sparking international campaigns to fight for his freedom in 1986. 

Today, Natan is Chairman for the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy and has an extensive record as a human rights activist, Israeli politician, and advocate for the Jewish People. He is the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1986 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006. 

Now, he joins us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including anti-Zionism, hostage negotiations, and the threats of antisemitism and assimilation. 

This interview was held on Jan. 13.

Here are our 18 questions:

1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
3. How do you think Hamas views the outcome and aftermath of October 7—was it a success, in their eyes?
4.  What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
5. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
6. Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
7. What role should the Israeli government have in religious matters?
8. Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
9. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
10. Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
11. If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
12. Can questioning the actions of Israel’s government and army — even in the context of this war — be a valid form of love and patriotism?
13. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
14. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
15. What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the war?
16. Is Israel properly handling the Iranian threat?
17. Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
18. Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?

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We don't have a new episode this week, but we invite you to revisit our initial conversation with Professor Haym Soloveitchik, originally aired on Feb. 8, 2022.

In this episode of 18Forty Podcast, we had the privilege of speaking with Professor Haym Soloveitchik, University Professor of Jewish Studies at Yeshiva University.

Professor Soloveitchik is a world-renowned scholar whose research has focused on the development of halacha—including martyrdom, pawn-broking and usery, as well as the laws of gentile wine. Much of his popular renown can be attributed to the publication of his article "Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy" in Tradition (Summer 1994 28:4). The essay explores how halacha developed following the rupture of the Holocaust and moved from a mimetic tradition into a text based tradition. Following the article's publication, there have been several critical exchanges, collections of reflections, and conversations—a testimony to its enduring impact. The article and many of the critical exchanges have been collected into a new volume that has recently been published by the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization. It was a unique privilege to have Professor Solovetichik as a guest on 18Forty. In this episode, we discuss:

- How has the shift from a mimetic tradition to a text based tradition affected Jewish life?
- How does the approach of Professor Soloveitchik differ from the notion found within the Conservative movement of Catholic Israel?
- Where can the sense of yirat shamayim—awe of heaven—found instinctively in previous generations, be discovered today?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the implications of the development of halacha from a world renowned scholar and how these changes can affect our lives.

Interview starts at 30:40.

For more, visit https://18forty.org/halacha

References:

Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy, Haym Soloveitchik (Tradition, Summer 1994, 28:4)
On Haym Soloveitchik's "Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodox Society": A Response, Isaac Chavel  (The Torah U-Maddah Journal 1997 vol. 7)
Clarifications and Reply, Haym Soloveitchik (The Torah U-Maddah Journal 1997 vol. 7)
Responding to Rupture and Reconstruction, Hillel Goldberg (Tradition 1997 31:2)
Rupture and Reconstruction Reconsidered, Tradition Symposium (free e-book)
On the Reception of Rupture and Reconstruction, Zev Eleff
Thoughts on Rupture and Reconstruction Twenty Five Years Later, David Brofsky

Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik graduated from the Maimonides School which his father founded in Brookline, Massachusetts and then received his B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1958 with a major in history. After two years of postgraduate study at Harvard, he moved to Israel and began his studies toward an M.A. and PhD at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, under the historian Professor Jacob Katz. He wrote his Master's thesis on the halacha of gentile wine in medieval Germany. His doctorate, which he received in 1972, concentrated on laws of pawnbroking and usury. He is considered a pioneer and leader in the study of the history of Jewish law.


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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we hear questions, criticisms, complaints, thoughts, and feedback from our listener community. 

We respond to your comments about the direction of the podcast, the diversity of Jewish experience, and the increased centrality of Israel of our lives. In this episode we discuss:

• How has the 18Forty mission evolved in light of changes in the world and in Jewish life?
• Is there an opposite phenomenon to “gvir culture”?
• How should we discuss important issues that are contentious and divisive, such as the Haredi draft and the identity of the messiah?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how 18Forty might become “a beis medrash for the Jewish People.”

Voicemails begin at 19:23

References:

“Switch To Orthodoxy: Continuity Rather Than Triumph” by Sergey Kadinsky

“First-ever Solomon Schechter day school in North America goes Orthodox” by Jackie Hajdenberg

Donate to 18Forty

Subscribe on YouTube

18Forty Podcast: “Pawel Maciejko: Sabbateanism and the Roots of Secular Judaism”

18Forty Podcast: “Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort: How Progressive Activists Rediscovered Traditional Jewish Life”

Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Future of American Jewish Orthodoxy by Samuel C. Heilman

Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism by Adam S. Ferziger

Authentically Orthodox: A Tradition-Bound Faith in American Life by Zev Eleff

Modern Orthodox Judaism: A Documentary History by Zev Eleff

18Forty Podcast: “Eli Rubin: Is the Rebbe the Messiah?”

Basi Legani, 5711 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe

18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers

“My Chevruta” by Itzhak David Goldberg

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak with Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik—a pioneer and leader in the study of the history of Jewish law—about how halacha mediates our relationship to God in 2025.

We’ve already spoken with Dr. Soloveitchik in our Halacha series, but a closer reading of his essential work, "Rupture and Reconstruction," demands that we explore it more deeply. In this episode we discuss:

• Why do Jews feel bound by the Talmud in a multicultural world? 
• What does it mean to live in a society that increasingly learns from books and online rather than from mimetic tradition?
• Is a sense of security as a People a breeding ground for unnecessary social differences?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might ensure a more vibrant environment for Jewish life to thrive in a changing world. 

Interview begins at 5:03.

Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik graduated from the Maimonides School which his father founded in Brookline, Massachusetts, and then received his B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1958 with a major in history. After two years of postgraduate study at Harvard, he moved to Israel and began his studies toward an M.A. and PhD at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, under the historian Professor Jacob Katz. He wrote his Master’s thesis on the halacha of gentile wine in medieval Germany. His doctorate, which he received in 1972, concentrated on laws of pawnbroking and usury. He is considered a pioneer and leader in the study of the history of Jewish law.

References:

Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Modern Orthodoxy by Haym Soloveitchik

Collected Essays: Volumes I, II, and III by Haym Soloveitchik

Jews and the Wine Trade in Medieval Europe: Principles and Pressures by Haym Soloveitchik

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Obituary in The Jewish Observer

Igros Hagrid Halevi by Rabbi Joseph B....

We don't have a new episode this week, but we invite you to revisit our conversation with Reuven and Shani Taragin on the future of Religious Zionism, originally aired Jan. 16, 2024.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rav Reuven and Rabbanit Shani Taragin, educational directors of World Mizrachi, about what comes next for Israel’s Dati Leumi (Religious Zionist) community. Additionally, we speak with Gideon Davis, a Religious Zionist soldier serving in Gaza.

Mistakenly, we tend to think of the Dati Leumi community as Israel’s analog to Modern Orthodoxy. That makes us miss, however, that Religious Zionism is a rich worldview unto itself, and is something we all can learn from. In this episode we discuss:

• How does the Dati Leumi community differ from the American Modern Orthodox community?
• What can American Jews better understand about the sacrifices and contributions made by Religious Zionists?
• What does it mean to be a member of the Dati Leumi community in 2024?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how a religious mindset can expand beyond personal piety to include a deep commitment to the Jewish People and the world.

Interview with Gideon Davis begins at 6:09.
Interview with Reuven and Shani Taragin begins at 36:42.

Rav Reuven Taragin is a former Wexner Fellow and Musmach of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Rav Taragin is the Dean of Overseas Students at Yeshivat Hakotel where he is responsible for the program’s quality and message and the welfare of each of its talmidim. Rav Taragin is also the Rosh Beit Midrash at Camp Moshava (I.O.), and Rav of Kehillat Eretz Chemdah in Katamon.

Rabbanit Shani Taragin is a noted author and teacher at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Midreshet Torah V’Avodah, MaTaN, Migdal Oz, Sha’alvim for Women, Lander College, and the Women’s’ Beit Midrash in Efrat and Ramat Shilo.

The Taragins are the Educational Directors of World Mizrachi and the RZA (Religious Zionists of America), and they also serve as Roshei Beit Medrash for the Beit Medrash Program in Camp Moshava IO during the summer. They have six children and live in Alon Shvut, Gush Etzion.

References:

The Matrix

Adjusting Sights by Haim Sabato

Tanakh

The Rav Speaks by Joseph B. Soleveitchik

“How Will Redemption Begin?” by David Bashevkin

Meshekh Chokhmah by Meir Simha HaKohen Dvinsk

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

We're taking a week off from our main podcast, but we want to share with you an episode of our new podcast, 18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers, recorded on Nov. 25. Subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to catch the latest episode every Monday. 

The true enemy in Israel's current war, Einat Wilf says, is what she calls "Palestinianism."

Once part of the Israeli left, Einat Wilf is a popular political thinker on Israel, Zionism, and foreign policy. Her 2020 co-authored book, "The War of Return," outlines what she believes lies at the core of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: the Palestinian people's "Right of Return" is what makes this conflict unresolvable.

Einat served in Israel's Knesset from 2010 to 2013 and now lectures and writes widely on contemporary issues. She is the author of seven books and hosts the "We Should All Be Zionists" podcast. She has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from INSEAD in France, and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Cambridge. 

Now, Einat joins us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including what Palestinianism is, why Israel's war aims are flawed, and the future of Gaza.

This interview was held on Nov. 25.

Here are our 18 questions:

1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
3. How do you think Hamas views the outcome and aftermath of October 7—was it a success, in their eyes?
4.  What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
5. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
6. Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
7. What role should the Israeli government have in religious matters?
8. Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
9. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
10. Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
11. If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
12. Can questioning the actions of Israel’s government and army — even in the context of this war — be a valid form of love and patriotism?
13. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
14. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
15. What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after the war?
16. Is Israel properly handling the Iranian threat?
17. Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
18. Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to a panel of rabbis about yeshiva, seminary, and the “year in Israel.” Additionally, we hear from Dov Rosenblatt, who more than two decades ago wrote the satirical song “Flippin’ Out.” 

Gap-year programs have become one of the primary points of contact that American Jews have with Israel. But, paradoxically, the year in Israel is a quintessentially American experience. In this episode we discuss:

• What are the signs of a healthy gap-year experience? 
• How can gap-year programs become more focused on Israel? 
• How has the year in Israel changed in a post–October 7 world?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how the gap year can meet the needs of this generation.

Interview with Dov Rosenblatt begins at 16:25.
Shaalvim Dinner panel with Ari Waxman, Judah Mischel, and Gershon Turetsky begins at 33:36.

References:

“Flippin' Out” by Blue Fringe

Flipping Out? Myth or Fact? The Impact of the "Year in Israel" by Shalom Z. Berger, Daniel Jacobson, Chaim I. Waxman

“Why Space Tourists Won't Find the Awe They Seek” by Henry Wismayer

18Forty Podcast: “Rav Judah Mischel: A Change in Progress”

“‘Dumbed-Down Catholicism Was a Disaster’” by Molly Worthen

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Mickey and Ortal Flaumenhaft—David Bashevkin’s Israeli neighbors in Teaneck—about their experiences living Jewishly in three different countries. 

When the Flaumenhafts were in Israel for their son’s bar mitzvah on October 7, Mickey made the decision to join his unit in Gaza. In this episode we discuss:

• What does a couple consider when making the decision to leave Israel? 
• What can Americans learn from the way Judaism permeates Israeli culture?
• How has the American Jewish community’s connection to Israel deepened since October 7?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to hold the entirety of the Jewish People in our hearts, no matter where we might be. 

Interview begins at 7:45.

Mickey Flaumenhaft is the Director of Development at American Friends of Migdal Ohr, a welfare organization for Israel’s orphaned and at-risk youth. Mickey served reservist duty in Gaza this past year. Ortal Flaumenhaft is a first-grade teacher for Hebrew and Judaic studies at Yeshivat He'Atid in Teaneck.

References:

A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut

To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility by Jonathan Sacks

The Legends of Rabbah Bar Bar Hannah with the Commentary of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook by Bezalel Naor

18Forty Podcast: “Bezalel Naor: Rav Kook’s Mystical Vision of Zionism”

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Yehuda Turetsky—a rosh mesivta of Yeshiva Sha’alavim—and Dr. Ilana Turetsky—a Yeshiva University faculty member supervising student-teachers in Israel—about their experience raising kids in Israel.

North American Orthodox Judaism has developed strong boundaries deciding who is in and who is out of the community. But, when we look to our friends in Israel, we find that our approach is by no means the only one. In this episode we discuss:

• How does Israel’s Hardal community differ from America’s Centrist Orthodox community? 
• What do olim parents think of the way religion and politics are intertwined in Israel? 
• How has “flip-out” culture in gap-year programs evolved in recent decades?

Tune in to hear a conversation about understanding religious growth in ways that transcend “right” and “left.” 

Interview begins at 11:41.

Rav Yehuda Turetsky is a rosh mesivta of Yeshiva Sha’alavim. After attending Shaalvim, he returned to Yeshiva University, where he received a B.A. in Psychology, M.S. in Jewish Education, and Semicha as a member of the Wexner Semicha Honors Program. He has published articles on a variety of topics, including Gemara, Medical Halacha, Jewish Education, and the Sociology of the Modern Orthodox community. 

Dr. Ilana Turetsky is a faculty member at Azrieli Graduate School of Yeshiva University, teaching online courses and supervising student-teachers in Israel. She holds a Doctorate and Master’s degree from Azrieli Graduate School, a Bachelor’s degree from Stern College, and a Misrad HaChinuch Te’udat Hora’ah in Tanach Education from Herzog College. 

References:

Machshava on the Parsha with Rabbi Yehuda Turetsky

“Sliding to the Left? Contemporary American Modern Orthodoxy” by Yehuda Turetsky and Chaim I. Waxman


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details.

Noam Taragin, son of our recent guest Rabbi Moshe Taragin, was seriously injured in Lebanon. We ask to pray for his quick healing: Noam Avraham ben Atara Shlomit.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Shayna Goldberg—a teacher, mashgicha ruchanit, yoetzet halacha, and author—about the unique features of Israel’s Religious Zionist community.

Jews in America are proud of the institutions and culture built over the past century, but we tend to forget that Israel’s Dati Leumi community has developed its own parallel—and vastly different—culture. In this episode we discuss:

• How did Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rav Kook lay the groundwork for our different religious communities today? 
• How does religious life in Israel compare with America?
• How have religious Israeli women’s attitudes toward army service evolved over the years?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how deeply Jewish practice and spirituality penetrate everyday life in Israel’s religious communities. 

Interview begins at 12:42.

Rabbanit Shayna Goldberg teaches Israeli and American post-high school students and is the mashgicha ruchanit in the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz, an affiliate of Yeshivat Har Etzion. She is a yoetzet halacha, a contributing editor for Deracheha: Women and Mitzvot, and the author of the book, What Do You Really Want? Trust and Fear in Decision Making at Life's Crossroads and in Everyday Living (2021).

References:

“Rabbi Soloveitchik Meets Rav Kook” by Jeffrey Saks

Orot HaTeshuvah by Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook

Prepare My Prayer by Rabbi Dov Singer

Works of Rav Shagar

Sus Anochi by Rabbi Jacob Sasson

Zeved Tov by Rabbi Zevulun Charlop

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details. 

Noam Taragin, son of our previous guest Rabbi Moshe Taragin, was seriously injured in Lebanon. We ask to pray for his quick healing: Noam Avraham ben Atara Shlomit.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Malka Simkovich—a scholar of Jewish history, the editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society, and a three-time 18Forty guest—about previous Jewish diasporas. 

We tend to think of “Israel-diaspora relations” as a modern phenomenon. But, as Dr. Simkovich reminds us, that situation existed well over 2,000 years ago, when some Jews returned to the Land of Israel following the Babylonian exile while others remained abroad. In this episode we discuss:

• What are the differences between the notions of golah, diaspora, and galut?
• Did ancient diaspora Jews have a political equivalent to “supporting Israel”? 
• How should Jews live when in a partial state of exile?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the “proto-messianic mindset” throughout Jewish history and today. 

Interview begins at 8:58.

Dr. Malka Simkovich is the director and editor-in-chief of the Jewish Publication Society and previously served as the Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and Director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She earned a doctoral degree in Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism from Brandeis University and a Master’s degree in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. She is the author of The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria (2016), Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism (2018), and Letters From Home: The Creation of Diaspora in Jewish Antiquity, (2024). This is her third time speaking on 18Forty.

References:

18Forty Podcast: “Malka Simkovich: The Mystery of the Jewish People”

18Forty Podcast: “Malka Simkovich: The Secrets of Second Temple Judaism”

Letters from Home: The Creation of Diaspora in Jewish Antiquity by Malka Z. Simkovich

The Antiquities of the Jews by Josephus

This episode is sponsored by Eden Beit Shemesh. Contact Rina Weinberg at info@edenbeitshemesh.com for more details. 

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rav Moshe Taragin, rosh mesivta at Yeshivat Har Etzion, about the interrelated missions of American and Israeli Jews—and the stake that each of us holds in the Jewish redemptive story. 

In this episode we discuss:

• How should young American Jews experience Israel in their formative years? 
• How has October 7 altered the diaspora community’s orientation toward Israeli society?
• How can we be less intimidated by the differences between frumkeit in America and Israel’s religious culture?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to engage with the “front stage” of Jewish history.

Interview begins at 19:21

Rav Moshe Taragin has been a rosh mesivta at Yeshivat Har Etzion in the Gush since 1994. He has semikha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, a BA in Computer Science from Yeshiva College, and an MA in English Literature from City University. Rabbi Taragin previously taught Talmud at Columbia University, lectured in Talmud and Bible at the IBC and JSS divisions of Yeshiva University, and served as Assistant Rabbi at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue. In addition, Rabbi Taragin currently teaches at the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. He is a 1983 alumnus of Har Etzion.

References:

Reclaiming Redemption by Rabbi Moshe Taragin

Dark Clouds Above, Faith Below by Rabbi Moshe Taragin

“The Waste Land” by T. S. Eliot

Berakhot 5a

18Forty Podcast: “Yosef Bronstein: Only for Chabad? Modern Orthodoxy and the Rebbe” 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

We're taking a week off from our main podcast, but we want to share with you an episode of our new podcast, 18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers, recorded on Sept. 9. Subscribe to on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to catch the latest episode every Monday. 

Until Hamas is gone, Haviv Rettig Gur says, Gaza will be unable to recover after the war.

The Times of Israel journalist and political analyst has emerged as a leading voice for the Israeli public and the Jewish world for deeper understandings of the war's developments. Haviv has covered Israeli politics — domestic and foreign — for nearly two decades and speaks internationally about Zionism, the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, and Israel's future.

Haviv was previously the director of communications for the Jewish Agency for Israel, and currently teaches history and politics at Israeli premilitary academies.

Now, he joins us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including the country's leadership, Western media, and the Palestinian future.

Here are our 18 questions:

1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
3. Do you think Western media covers the Israel-Hamas War fairly?
4. What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
5. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
6. What role should the Israeli government have in religious matters?
7. Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
8. Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
9. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
10. Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
11. If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
12. Can questioning the actions of Israel’s government and army — such as in the context of this war — be a valid form of love and patriotism?
13. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
14. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
15. What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict after the war?
16. Where do you read news about Israel?
17. Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
18. Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by dailygiving.org.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to musician Matisyahu Miller—known as “Matisyahu”—who has publicly re-embraced his Judaism and Zionism since October 7.

Matisyahu’s public persona has long been subject to scrutiny and analysis. Comparatively few people, though, have listened to his story in depth. In this episode we discuss:

• How has the public expression of Matisyahu’s Jewish identity ebbed and flowed throughout his life?
• Is there anything Matisyahu would change about the Orthodox community?
• How has the inwardness of Matisyahu’s Jewish identity guided him throughout his life?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to be, in Matisyahu’s words, “a pnimius Yid.”

Grammy-nominated artist Matisyahu is a singer, songwriter, rapper, and alternative rock musician. He's known for his skill in blending reggae and hip hop as he provides a raw expression of his spirituality. His long and winding career consists of seven albums including chart-topping Light, Youth, Spark Seeker, Akeda, and Undercurrent with hits such as "One Day", "Sunshine", and "King Without A Crown". Through his lyrics, Matisyahu develops a personal, artistic, and sophisticated way to express the yearning for deep spiritual meaning, and as his own beliefs opened up to find more variety and depth, the desire for his performances to match the unpredictable flow of life developed as well. 

References:

The Office 

Light by Matisyahu

Akeda by Matisyahu

Holy Brother: Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Politics Of Experience by R.D. Laing

"Spiritual Schadenfreude: The Case of Matisyahu’s Beard" by David Bashevkin

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

In this special episode of the 18Forty Podcast, in honor of the anniversary of October 7, we revisit and reflect on the conversations we’ve had that have helped us process this tumultuous time. 

The past year has been long and painful, and we’ve been constantly reminded that the trajectory of Jewish history is still at stake. This makes it imperative for us to examine our lives and our relationship to God and to the Jewish People during these Ten Days of Repentance. In this episode we discuss:

• What is the role of memory in the Jewish experience, and what are the memories of October 7 that we will hold with us? 
• How has the terror attack altered the way we live and the way we understand the world?
• How have our theological and ideological beliefs developed over the past year?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to be a Jew during this consequential period in the Jewish story.

Interview highlights begin at:

    Rachel Goldberg-Polin: 16:17
    Danny Brom: 23:27
    Dina: 30:23
    Jonathan Gribetz: 37:29
    Doron Perez: 46:29
    Noa Lewis: 59:22

References:

Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi

“The Man in the Arena” by Theodore Roosevelt

“Shomer Yisroel” by Omek Hadavar

18Forty Podcast: Rachel Goldberg-Polin: “A Hostage’s Mother Fighting for His Freedom”

18Forty Podcast: “The Trauma of War: Mental Health Professionals in Israel”

18Forty Podcast: “A Haredi Mother Sending Her Children To Serve”

Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and the Early Zionist-Arab Encounter by Jonathan Marc Gribetz

Reading Herzl in Beirut: The PLO Effort to Know the Enemy by Jonathan Marc Gribetz

18Forty Podcast: “Jonathan Gribetz: Teaching the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict”

18Forty Podcast: “Doron Perez: One Child Married, One Child Missing”

18Forty Podcast: “On Loss: Defending Israel on Oct. 7”

This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by dailygiving.org.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Emmi Polansky, known on social media as @livingemunah, about her journey finding agency as a single mother. 

Sometimes, when we talk about teshuva, we’re referring to repentance for our specific sins. Another type of teshuva, as we explore, is a return to God as we celebrate our own worthiness and tzelem Elokim. In this episode we discuss:

• What is it like to participate in chagim and simchas during the process of divorce?
• How do we pick up the pieces when our plans for a perfect familial and spiritual life fall apart?
• How did fitness help improve Emmi ‘s mental and emotional health?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to repeatedly return to God in times of apparent loneliness. 

Interview begins at 12:21.

References:

Chagigah 15a

As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg

Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought by David Bashevkin

@livingemunah on Instagram 

Emunah Minute on WhatsApp

Bilvavi Mishkan Evne

18Forty Podcast: “Rav Moshe Weinberger: Can Mysticism Become a Community?”

18Forty Podcast: “Moshe and Asher Weinberger: Heart of the Fire”

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by dailygiving.org.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Tuvia Tenenbom, a formerly Haredi and now secular Jew and the author of Careful, Beauties Ahead!, about how he developed a new love for Haredi religious life.

When Tuvia Tenenbom wrote a book about Haredim in Mea Shearim, he found that all Jews—no matter how different their communities—are interconnected in more ways than we might think. In this episode we discuss:

• How did the Haredi community respond to October 7?
• What do outsiders misunderstand about Haredi Jews?
• Is humor the universal Jewish language? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to truly love the entirety of the Jewish family. 

Interview begins at 28:37.

Tuvia Tenenbom is an Israeli-American theater director, playwright, and author who is the founding artistic director of the Jewish Theater of New York. He authored several books that deal with themes of Jewish life, Jewish culture, antisemitism, and the Holocaust, including his well-known Catch The Jew!. He joins us to discuss the year he, a secular Jew, spent with the Haredi Jews of Mea Shearim. 

References:

18Forty Podcast: “Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort: How Progressive Activists Rediscovered Traditional Jewish Life”

Tosafot on Pesachim

Careful, Beauties Ahead! by Tuvia Tenenbo

Catch The Jew! by Tuvia Tenenbom

Works of Tuvia Tenenbom

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by dailygiving.org.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yussie Zakutinsky, rabbi of K’hal Mevakshei Hashem in Lawrence, New York, about his vision for a Judaism that unites the entire Jewish People—no matter how wide the gaps between us. 

Since October 7, of the many schisms within the Jewish People, some have mended while others are torn anew. As a nation, we have much further to go. In this episode, we discuss:

• How can we see the divinity in Jews with whom we profoundly disagree?
• What do we mean when we say “the entirety of the Jewish People is an expression of God”?
• How can we rescue the divinity within ourselves and within one another?

Tune in to hear a conversation about, as the Baal Shem Tov described it, vanquishing the dragon and redeeming the princess—i.e., elevating the good in all the Jewish People. 

Interview begins at 20:27. 

Rabbi Yussie Zakutinsky is a rabbi and spiritual leader. He is the rabbi of K’hal Mevakshei Hashem in Lawrence, New York, and is a sought-after lecturer and leader of spiritual happenings.

References:

Mesillat Yesharim by Moses Chaim Luzzatto

Derekh Hashem by Moses Chaim Luzzatto

Avodah Zarah 9a

rabbiywilk.com

Genesis 12:5

18Forty Podcast: “Rabbi YY Jacobson: How Did the Rebbe Revolutionize Judaism?”

Works of Rav Kook

Works of Rav Tzadok HaKohen

Divrei Soferim 16

Pachad Yitzchok by Rav Yitzchok Hutner

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by dailygiving.org.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Joshua Leifer and Shaindy Ort, married progressive activists who are reembracing traditional Jewish life.

Joshua and Shaindy grew up in Conservative and Yeshivish communities, respectively, but struggled to find a Jewish community as they joined left-wing circles, specifically those highly critical of Israel. 

After October 7, Joshua resigned from the anti-Zionist magazine Jewish Currents, and in August, he published Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, which made headlines after a Brooklyn bookstore canceled Joshua’s planned talk because it included a Zionist rabbi. In this episode we discuss:

• Has October 7 changed anything for progressive Jews highly critical of Israel?
• Why do left-wing circles struggle to maintain engaged Jewish life?
• What differentiates the Israeli left from the American left?

Tune in to hear a conversation about return and renewal for progressive Jews seeking a life of traditional Jewishness.

Interview begins at 16:44.

Joshua Leifer is a journalist, editor, and translator. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere, and he is the author of the new book Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life.

Shaindy Ort-Leifer is an attorney who works in the fields of strategic litigation and international law.

Joshua and Shaindy are married.

References:

Orot HaTeshuvah by Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook

Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life by Joshua Leifer

Siddur Sefard: “Upon Arising, Upon Entering Synagogue”

Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul Of American Jewry by Samuel G. Freedman

After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre

Hirsch Haggadah by Samson R. Hirsch

Arukh HaShulchan by Yechiel Michel Epstein

Kitzur Shulchan Arukh by Shlomo Ganzfried

Deuteronomy

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This episode is sponsored by Nishmat, the Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Study for Women, whose Online Beit Midrash returns on Sept. 8. Women of all backgrounds can learn Talmud, Tanach, Halacha, and more from the comfort of home. For a full class schedule and registration, go here. 

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to historian and professor Pawel Maciejko about the false messiah Sabbatai Zevi, Sabbateanism, and the roots of Jewish secularism. 

Gershom Scholem, the scholar of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, saw a connection between the 17th-century messianic movement of Sabbateanism and the later movement of Jewish secularism. Was he right? In this episode we discuss:

• What was the impact of Sabbateanism after its messianic fervor died down? 
• How can studying Jewish history deepen one’s connection with Judaism? 
• What is Frankism, and why is it a fascination of present-day antisemitic conspiracy theorists?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what the rupture from the Sabbatean movement can teach us about the wide range of Jewish identities we see today. 

Interview begins at 17:05.

Pawel Maciejko is an associate professor of history and Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Chair in Classical Jewish Religion, Thought, and Culture at Johns Hopkins University. Between 2005 and 2016 he taught at the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first book, The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755–1816, was awarded the Salo Baron Prize by the American Academy of Jewish Research and the Jordan Schnitzer Book Award by the Association for Jewish Studies.

References:

Not in the Heavens: The Tradition of Jewish Secular Thought by David Biale

Makers of Jewish Modernity: Thinkers, Artists, Leaders, and the World They Made edited by Jacques Picard, Jacques Revel, Michael P. Steinberg, and Idith Zertal 

“The Holiness of Sin” by Gershom Scholem

Mishnah Chagigah 2

Ezekiel 1

Accounting for the Commandments in Medieval Judaism by Elliot R. Wolfson

Sabbatian Heresy: Writings on Mysticism, Messianism, and the Origins of Jewish Modernity edited by Pawel Maciejko

The Mixed Multitude: Jacob Frank and the Frankist Movement, 1755-1816 by Pawel Maciejko

“The Messianic Feminism of Shabbatai Zevi and Sarah Ashkenazi” by Jericho Vincent

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we speak to the Perez family, whose son Daniel, Hashem yikkom damo, was killed defending Israel and the Jewish People on October 7. 

We’re joined by Daniel’s father, Doron; his mother, Shelley; and his siblings, Shira, Adina, and Yonatan, to hear about Daniel’s courageous life and the unfathomable loss endured by his family and the Jewish People. In this episode we discuss:

• What does living a life of sanctity and purpose mean, especially in the face of terror and tragedy? 
• How did Daniel’s siblings cope with the loss of their beloved brother? 
• Amid the absence of loss, how can we find the presence of purpose?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the clarity of mission that might help us heal from the trauma of October 7.

Interview begins at 28:00.

References:

Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 2:4 

Parshat Sh'lach

Shuvi V'nechze Al H'torah by Rabbi Moshe Shapiro

Peri Tzadik by Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin

Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 1:1

Psalms 121

“Brother” by Kodaline

Ezekiel 16:6

The Bayit in every Bayit

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We're taking a week off from our main podcast, but we want to share with you an episode of our new podcast, 18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers  Subscribe to on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to catch the latest episode every Monday. 

The Israeli government’s draft of Haredi men is no simple matter—but Yehoshua Pfeffer has some ideas for moving forward.

Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer is a Haredi social thinker and activist intimately involved in Haredi affairs. He heads the Iyun Institute—which operates programs and publications in the Haredi space—is the founding editor of Tzarich Iyun journal, and serves on the executive board of Netzah Yehuda, which serves Haredi soldiers in the IDF.

While also teaching as a professor at Hebrew University’s law school, he is the rabbi of Ohr Chadash in Ramot Bet, Jerusalem. Yehoshua’s life is guided by his convictions.
Now, he sits down with us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including the Haredi draft, Israel as a religious state, Messianism, and so much more.

This interview was held on July 2.

Here are our 18 questions:

1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
3. What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
4. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
5. Should Israel be a religious state?
6. Do you think the State of Israel is part of the final redemption?
7. Is Messianism helpful or harmful to Israel?
8. Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
9. Should all Israelis serve in the army?
10. Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
11. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
12. If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
13. Can questioning the actions of Israel’s government and army — even in the context of this war — be a valid form of love and patriotism?
14. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
15. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
16. Are political and religious divides a major problem in Israeli society?
17. Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
18. Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Eli Rubin—a scholar, Lubavitcher Hasid, and author of the forthcoming book Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism—about life’s big cosmic questions.

Chabad and the Rebbe are so ubiquitous in Jewish life that we tend to overlook Chabad’s underlying philosophy. Here, we take the time to look under the hood of the Mitzvah Tank. In this episode we discuss:

• At its core, what is Hasidism about, and how did the Rebbe implement these essentials in a new time and a new land? 
• What should we picture when we imagine moshiach? 
• Has Chabad splintered off from mainstream Judaism the way some have feared?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what it means to want moshiach now. 

Interview begins at 11:27. 

Eli Rubin, a contributing editor at Chabad.org, is the author of Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism (forthcoming from Stanford University Press). He was a co-author of Social Vision: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Transformative Paradigm for the World (Herder and Herder, 2019). He studied Chassidic literature and Jewish Law at the Rabbinical College of America and at Yeshivot in the UK, the US and Australia, and received his PhD from the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, University College London.

References:

Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism by Eli Rubin

Social Vision: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Transformative Paradigm for the World by Philip Wexler, Eli Rubin, and Michael Wexler

18Forty Podcast: “Eli Rubin: How Do Mysticism and Social Action Intersect”

Tanya, Part I; Likkutei Amarim 32

Tanya, Part I; Likkutei Amarim 36

Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson by Elliot R. Wolfson

Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 12

Eruvin 13b

The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference by David Berger

Join our email list to receive, among other great 18Forty content, a coupon code for 10% off your Koren Publishers order, good through Aug. 31. 

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. 

For much of the Jewish world, the Chabad movement plays a part in our lives, but it’s not necessarily something we understand deeply. Rabbi Bronstein, author of the newly published Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Koren), helps us fix that. In this episode we discuss:

• What draws a Litvak to the Torah of the Lubavitcher Rebbe? 
• What were the Rebbe’s essential innovations of Judaism?
• How might a messianic consciousness enhance our Torah lives?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what Orthodox Jews outside of the Lubavitch community can learn from Chabad. 

Interview begins at 15:33

Yosef Bronstein received rabbinic ordination and a PhD in Talmudic Studies from Yeshiva University. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of Machon Zimrat Ha’aretz, a community learning center and rabbinical training program in Efrat, Israel, and also teaches Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College. Rabbi Dr. Bronstein is a beloved lecturer, writer, and teacher on topics of Jewish thought, and is the author of The Authority of the Divine Law: A Study in Tannaitic Midrash and Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

References:

Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Rabbi Dr. Yosef Bronstein

Tanya

The Steinsaltz Tanya

Lessons in Tanya

Heaven on Earth Reflections on the theology of Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe by Faitel Levin

Halakhic Man by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

18Forty Podcast: "Yosef Bronstein: Rav Tzadok & Rav Kook on Jewish History"

Pirkei Avot 1

Kuzari

Mishneh Torah

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Chava Green—an emerging scholar who wrote her doctoral dissertation on “the Hasidic face of feminism”—about how the Lubavitcher Rebbe infused American sensibilities with mystical sensitivities, paying particular attention to the role of women.

Some stereotype mysticism as something out of this world. But the Lubavitcher Rebbe showed us the importance of having mysticism inform our everyday lives, emphasizing the cosmic impact of the mitzvos done by men, women, and children. In this episode we discuss:

• Was the Rebbe really “the biggest feminist”?
• How did the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s mysticism translate to the lived experience of his followers? 
• How did Green come to be a self-identified Hasidic feminist? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how both the Jewish and feminist worlds contain a wider range of ideas than one might expect. 

Interview begins at 8:55.

Chava Green is a writer, teacher, and perpetual student. After graduating with her B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies, she attended Mayanot Women’s Program in Jerusalem and Machon Alta in Tzfat. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Jewish studies at Emory University and lives with her family in Morristown, New Jersey. Her work considers the relationship between Chabad teachings and feminism.

References:

Hidden Heretics: Jewish Doubt in the Digital Age by Ayala Fader

Mitzvah Girls: Bringing Up the Next Generation of Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn by Ayala Fader

Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers by Stephanie Wellen Levine

Social Vision: The Lubavitcher Rebbe's Transformative Paradigm for the World by Philip Wexler

Chava Green on Chabad.org

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to renowned Chabad speaker Rabbi YY Jacobson about Chassidus, Chabad, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. 

In honor the Rebbe’s 30th yahrtzeit, YY Jacobson helps us explore the purpose of Creation, our role in the world, and how the soul of the universe relates to the soul of the human being. In this episode we discuss:

• What is Hasidic thought, and what differentiates it from Kabbalah? 
• How did Jewish emancipation and integration lead to Jews turning inward and focusing on the soul and God’s Presence in the world?
• What was the Rebbe’s understanding of messianism and Zionism, and what might it mean for how we live our lives? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how the Rebbe brought oneness to the Jewish People during some of our most turbulent times.

Interview begins at 6:18.

Rabbi YY Jacobson, founder and dean of TheYeshiva.net, is a popular teacher of Chabad Chassidus. Having been an “oral scribe” of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Jacobson was a close follower of the Rebbe in the last stages of the Rebbe’s life. Rabbi Jacobson has additionally been the editor-in-chief of The Algemeiner Journal and the spiritual leader of Congregation Bais Shmuel. 

References:

Tanya

Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 11

Shulchan Arukh

Shulchan Arukh HaRav

Rashi on Genesis 1:1

Likkutei Sichot

Toward a Meaningful Life by Simon Jacobson

Torah Studies by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Turning Judaism Outwards by Chaim Miller

Rebbe by Joseph Telushkin

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we follow up with Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch to break down the anti-Zionist crisis facing the Reform Movement.

As young Jews feel increasingly disconnected from the Jewish People, America’s non-Orthodox synagogues, summer camps, and day schools are challenged to ensure continuity and unity for the Jewish future. In this episode we discuss: 

—Do we need to choose between caring about our fellow Jews and caring about the world? 
—Why are younger Jews more antagonistic toward Israel than previous generations?
—Can American Jewry survive without a connection to Israel? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about the past, present, and future of American Jewry. 

Interview begins at 6:12.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is a leader of the Reform Movement. He is the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and former executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America/World Union for Progressive Judaism, North America. He wrote two books: The Lilac Tree: A Rabbi’s Reflections on Love, Courage, and History (2023) and One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them (2003), which he co-authored with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman.

References:

18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers

Leviticus 19:17

Genesis 12:3

Amos 9

The War of Return by Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf

Jewish Wisdom by Joseph Telushkin

The Book of Jewish Values by Joseph Telushkin

This episode is sponsored by Twillory. New customers can receive a discount by using the coupon code 18Forty.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

Subscribe to 18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to catch the latest episode every Monday. 
 
—

If you want to understand Israel, then you need to know Benny Morris.

Prof. Benny Morris is a leading Israeli historian who revolutionized the field of Israeli history by digging into the government’s declassified archives in the ‘80s, ushering in the era of “New Historians” who challenged traditional views of Israel’s history. After peace talks failed and the Second Intifada began in the early 2000s, his views drastically shifted regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict—specifically its prospects for resolution. Praised and criticized across the political divide, Benny Morris’ work lies at the bedrock of Israeli history today. 

Now, he sits down with us to answer 18 questions on Israel, including what should happen with Gaza after the war, Palestinian-Israeli peace prospects, whether the IDF is the world’s most moral army, and so much more. 

This interview was held on June 10.

Here are some of our 18 questions:

1. As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
2. What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
3. How do you think Hamas views the outcome and aftermath of October 7—was it a success, in their eyes?
   
   
4. What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
5. Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
6. Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
7. Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
8. What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
   
   
9. Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
10. What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict after the war?

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Adam J. Raskin—a  Conservative rabbi in Maryland—and Mia Raskin, his Orthodox daughter. 

In discussing the ideological and sociological realities of Jewish denominations, we often lose sight of their real-world manifestation in Jewish life. By hearing how a real family navigates denominational differences, we might, in fact, learn a lesson or two about Jewish unity. In this episode we discuss:

• What does a Conservative rabbi think about the practice of his less observant congregants? 
• How did Mia deal with religious observance as a Division I basketball player?
• How do the apparent barriers between Jewish groups play out when we interact in the world?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might think more deeply than the labels of “secular,” “frum,” “baal teshuva,” and the like.

Interview begins at 6:58.

Rabbi Adam J. Raskin is the rabbi and spiritual leader of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, Maryland. Adam is a member of the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly, the international organization of Conservative Rabbis, and is a founder of the Potomac-Area Interfaith Communities. 

Mia Raskin is a program director and Marketing Analyst for Athletes for Israel, a graduate of Binghamton University, where she played college basketball while keeping Shabbos.

References:

God in Search of Man by Abraham Joshua Heschel

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

While we return to Jewish Denominations next week, enjoy this ever-necessary 2020 conversation about Jewish infighting, division, and unity—pulled from the 18Forty vault. 

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Professor of Journalism at Columbia and author, Samuel G. Freedman, to talk about dissent not as a cause of ugliness and divide, but of beauty and unity.

Some would say that disagreement isn’t a bug of the Jewish community, but a feature. We have a rich history of debate in the Talmud and haven’t been able to shake this dubious quality even in the modern day United States. The internet has only exaggerated this, and while one can argue for the benefits of dissent, the fact that Jews seem embroiled in a perpetual state of debate remains.

• Is debate a healthy state of mind for our community?
• Should we be looking to avoid debate or embrace it?
• Does dissent cause only divide or can it be used as a means of understanding the other members of our community?

Tune in to hear Samuel discuss the roles that individual Jews play in the larger debate that is the Jewish community.



Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to author and historian Dr. Marc B. Shapiro about the blurry borders that distinguish Reform, Conservative, yeshivish, Modern Orthodox, and the many other Jewish sects from one another.

We take today’s Jewish denominational and cultural differences for granted, but they were not inevitable. Moments in history formed our sects, and Dr. Shapiro helps us unpack them. In this episode we discuss:

• How did the Conservative movement diverge from Orthodoxy?
• Where did the “yeshiva world” come from?
• How have Jews historically maintained friendship despite denominational divisions?

Tune in to hear a conversation about Jews’ tangled relationship between ideology and lived experience. 

Interview begins at 13:36

Dr. Marc B. Shapiro holds the Weinberg Chair in Judaic Studies at the University of Scranton. Marc received his PhD from Harvard, and he is the author of numerous books, articles, and reviews, including Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy, The Limits of Orthodox Theology, and Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History. 

References:

Halacha Headlines

Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy by Marc B. Shapiro

Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox by Marc B. Shapiro

Changing the Immutable by Marc B. Shapiro

Marc B. Shapiro on The Seforim Blog

Judith Berlin Lieberman: Autobiography and Reflections edited by Menachem Butler and Abraham Lieberman

A Few Good Men

Toras HaNazir by Rav Hutner

Iggerot Malkhei Rabanan by Marc B. Shapiro

Orthodox Jews in America by Jeffrey S. Gurock

Reading Jewish History in the Parsha with David Bashevkin

All Parsha

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Jack Wertheimer, a professor of American Jewish History at JTS, about the radical transformations of American Jewish practice over the last century.

We can’t understand the Jewish People without a sobered look at what happens in our synagogues, homes, and communities. We can talk about a movement’s ideological ideals, but amid those discussions we cannot ignore the on-the-ground realities of a community’s practice. In this episode we discuss:

• How does a Jewish movement’s "lived religion" differ from its stated ideals?
• What is the cost of radical inclusivity?
• What misconceptions do Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews have about each other?

Tune in to hear a conversation about what Judaism means for us in our current time. 

Interview begins at 28:28.

Dr.  Jack Wertheimer is a leading thinker and professor of American Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He is the former provost of JTS, and was the founding director of the Joseph and Miriam Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism. Jack has written and edited numerous books and articles on the subjects of modern Jewish history, education, and life. He won the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Contemporary Jewish Life in 1994 for A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America. 

References:

“Sometimes Mashiach Is Not the Solution” by Aaron Lopiansky

“Politics and the Yeshivish Language” by Cole S. Aronson

The New American Judaism by Jack Wertheimer

A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America by Jack Wertheimer

Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Future of American Jewish Orthodoxy by Samuel C. Heilman

Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal by Dana Kaplan

“What Jewish Denominations Mean to Me” by David Bashevkin

Michtav Me'Eliyahu by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler

The 18Forty Podcast: “Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik: The Rupture and Reconstruction of Halacha”

“Shomer Yisroel” by Omek Hadavar



Become a...

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and a leader of the Reform Movement, about the way Jewish Peoplehood is understood among the non-Orthodox majority of American Jews.

Rabbi Hirsch is known in the Reform Movement and beyond for his decades-long staunch commitment to Jewish Peoplehood. We recorded this interview before Oct. 7, and especially considering Rabbi Hirsch’s leadership on issues related to Zionism, a follow-up conversation with him will follow shortly. In this episode we discuss:

• Where should the State of Israel fit into our priorities as a people? 
• How has Reform Judaism course-corrected its views on Jewish Peoplehood over time?
• How can we be a unified people when we can’t always agree on who is a Jew?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might improve the state of interdenominational relations.

Interview begins at 19:50.

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch is a leader of the Reform Movement. He is the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue and former executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America/World Union for Progressive Judaism, North America. He wrote two books: The Lilac Tree: A Rabbi's Reflections on Love, Courage, and History (2023) and One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them (2003), which he co-authored with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman.

References:

One People, Two Worlds: A Reform Rabbi and an Orthodox Rabbi Explore the Issues That Divide Them by Ammiel Hirsch and Yaakov Yosef Reinman

The Impostor by Avner Gold

18Forty Podcast: “Altie Karper: When a Book Is Banned”

“The Believer” by Armin Rosen

“Dissent in the Reform Ranks” by Armin Rosen

The Lilac Tree: A Rabbi's Reflections on Love, Courage, and History by Ammiel Hirsch

The Book of Jewish Values: A Day-by-Day Guide to Ethical Living by Joseph Telushkin

“Who Can Be Called Rabbi?” by Gil Student

“Shomer Yisroel” by Omek Hadavar


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

This series is sponsored by Joel and Lynn Mael in memory of Estelle and Nysen Mael.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we begin our Denominations series by talking to Zev Eleff—historian, author, and the president of Gratz College—about the development of the denominations of Judaism we have in America today. 

We’ve been occupied for months with defending our right to be Jews in America, so perhaps this is the right time to return to considering the purpose of the Jewish lives we want to live. In this episode we discuss:

• How did America’s Jewish “denominations”—better termed “movements”—as we know them come to be?
• What have the different Jewish movements each contributed to American Jewish life?
• How can we get back to not just fighting antisemitism, but uncovering the meaning of our Judaism?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how previous generations of American Jews have handled the issues that, to one degree or another, threatened to divide us. 

Interview begins at 49:36.

Rabbi Dr. Zev Eleff is the president of Gratz College. Zev is the author and editor of nine books and more than 50 scholarly articles in the fields of Jewish Studies and American Religion, including Modern Orthodox Judaism: A Documentary History, Dyed in Crimson: Football, Faith, and Remaking Harvard's America, and Authentically Orthodox: A Tradition-Bound Faith in American Life. Zev’s research focuses on American Jewish history, sports, and Modern Orthodox history.

References:

Jonathan Haidt on The Daily Show

Ammi Hirsch on Campus Chaos

“Failure Goes to Yeshivah: What I’ve Learned From the Failure Narratives of My Students” by David Bashevkin

Authentically Orthodox: A Tradition-Bound Faith in American Life by Zev Eleff

The Birth of Conservative Judaism by Michael Cohen

American Judaism by Jonathan D. Sarna

The Jews of the United States, 1654 to 2000 by Hasia R. Diner

Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul Of American Jewry by Samuel G. Freedman

This Is My God by Herman Wouk

Jewish Continuity in America by Abraham J. Karp

18Forty Podcast: “Halacha as a Language”

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Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

In this special episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rachel Goldberg-Polin—whose son, Hersh, was kidnapped by Hamas and is still held hostage in Gaza—about heading into Passover with our loved ones still captive.

Normally, Intergenerational Divergence feels like something of a choice. But now, Jewish families have been split apart by force. In this episode we discuss:

• How do we foster a continued connection to the members of our family who are missing?
• What difficult thoughts and questions will we bring to the Seder table this year?
• What does it mean to express hope via the Pesach Seder amid these bitter times? 

We hope wholeheartedly that this conversation about missing our children at the time of Passover will be made irrelevant and the hostages will soon return home. 

Interview begins at 7:17.

References:

“One Tiny Seed” by Rachel Goldberg-Polin

“To the Boys in the Room” by Rachel Goldberg-Polin

Sefer HaMenucha on Mishneh Torah, Leavened and Unleavened Bread 8:2

“A Prayer for Israel To Add to Your Pesach Seder” by Yosef Zvi Rimon


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to a Haredi mother named Dina about her two children who serve in the IDF, one of whom was critically wounded in the current war. 

Oct. 7 accelerated the already-complicated conversation about Haredi service in the army. Here, Dina shares with us her first-hand experience as a mother of chayalim. In this episode we discuss:

• What is it like being in the Haredi minority of IDF parents—and what is it like being one of the comparatively few IDF parents in the Haredi community? 
• What is the experience of religiously raised soldiers remaining observant in the army?
• What is it like for a mother to send her son into battle?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might, as Dina puts it, be machmir about how we relate to others.
 
Interview begins at 7:16.

References:

“A Mother’s Miracle” by Sara Bonchek

Book Journeys are already back—and we're making them better than ever. We're partnering with Maggid Books, an imprint of Koren Publishers, to ship the books directly to you for an exclusive low price. Until April 24, all the books can be purchased and delivered to your home for $20 per book, or $60 for all three! Get your books and sign up on our website. 

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Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

This episode is sponsored by the incredible organization Osey Chail, a non-profit organization serving lone soldiers from Haredi and Hasidic homes who are serving in the IDF. 

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to four Haredi soldiers who served in the IDF about breaking from family and communal expectations by enlisting, and the subsequent Intergenerational implications. 

We also speak with Yael Ruzievich of the “adoptive family” of lone soldier David Mittelman, who was killed on Oct. 7. Hashem yikkom damo. In this episode we discuss:

• How do soldiers from the Haredi world relate to their parents after joining the IDF?
• What does the “adoptive family” of a Haredi lone soldier look like? 
• How can we do more for those who make immense sacrifices to defend the Jewish People?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how to handle divisive debates—such as Haredim enlisting for Israeli military service—as a unified Jewish family. 

First soldier interview begins at 16:47.
Second soldier interview begins at 26:06.
Interview with Yael Ruzievich begins at 50:46.
Third soldier interview begins at 1:32:01.
Fourth soldier interview begins at 1:40:45.

Haredi soldiers are in a difficult place, often struggling with a lack of social and familial support, due to their community’s stance on army service. The organization Osey Chail fills this gap, supporting soldiers from Haredi backgrounds with kosher food, foster families, apartments, and unity events, among other programs. We’re honored to speak to Haredi soldiers who were part of Osey Chail, as well as families that adopted them.

References:

Shomer Yisrael

Osey Chail

נגמר by Idan Amedi

Donate Dog Tags

Donate Toward Mittelman Park

Pesach is approaching—and Twillory has what you need. New customers can use the coupon code 18Forty to get $18 off of orders of $139 or more. (Keep an eye out for their one-of-a-kind Air Suits.)

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.

A pre-Pesach message from our partners at Twillory: You can use the coupon code PESACH18 for $18 off all orders of $250  or more, or use the coupon code PESACH36 for $36 off all orders of $350 or more..

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with an intergenerational rabbinic pair: Rabbi Haskel Lookstein and his son, Rabbi Joshua Lookstein.

Following in the footsteps of a successful parent can involve a crushing degree of pressure. In the Jewish world, perhaps the quintessential case of this is the challenge of being the scion of a prominent rabbinic family (what some might call a “dynasty”). In this episode we discuss:

• How did family, friends, and congregants react to Joshua leaving the family pulpit? 
• How can children find agency amid family expectations?
• How do leaders of Jewish institutions manage the most foundational Jewish institution: the family? 

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we can grapple wisely with professional divergence across generations.

Interview begins at 12:53.

Rabbi Dr. Haskel Lookstein is the Rabbi Emeritus of Kehilath Jeshurun in Manhattan, where he served most of his entire rabbinic career. He was also the principal of the Ramaz School from 1966 through 2015. R. Lookstein has been highly involved in leadership in the Jewish community for decades. He serves as the Joseph H. Lookstein Professor of Homiletics at Yeshiva University, where he has taught since 1979. He also serves as a Vice President of the Bet Din of America. 

Rabbi Joshua Lookstein is the Associate Head of School at the Ramaz School. Rabbi Lookstein previously served as the Head of School at Westchester Day School and a Major Gifts Officer at UJA-Federation of New York, and as Executive Director of the S. Daniel Abraham Foundation. Rabbi Lookstein is responsible for ensuring the values of the school are sustained throughout a student’s education.

References:

“The Lookstein Legacy: An American Orthodox Rabbinical Dynasty?” by Adam S. Ferziger

The Shawshank Redemption

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

This episode is sponsored in honor of Robert and Sandy April, loyal congregants and students of Rabbi Lookstein for many years. May they continue to learn from Rabbi Lookstein's lessons and actions for many years to come.


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