18Forty Podcast

Mar 25 2025 223 ep. 78 mins 568
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Helping you find meaning in life through the exploration of Jewish thought and ideas.

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  Religion & Spirituality
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Sylvia and Simon Jacobson: How Different Generations Talk About Jewish Life [Divergence 1/4]

Mar 25 2025 109 mins  
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 Chaba

Eitan Hersh: Can the Jewish Left Talk With the Jewish Right? [Outreach: Bonus]

Mar 18 2025 72 mins  
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 studen

David Bashevkin: 5 Things SNL Taught Me About Life (Purim Special)

Mar 11 2025 43 mins  
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 insigh

Ken Brodkin: A Shul Becomes Orthodox [Outreach 5/5]

Mar 04 2025 114 mins  
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

Lizzy Savetsky: Becoming a Jewish Influencer and Israel Advocate [Outreach 4/5]

Feb 25 2025 75 mins  
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 p

Ari Lamm: Teaching Non-Jews To Love the Bible [Outreach 3/5]

Feb 18 2025 66 mins  
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 s

Frieda Vizel: How the World Misunderstands Hasidic Jewry [Outreach 2/5]

Feb 11 2025 76 mins  
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

Yitzchok Adlerstein: Zionism, the American Yeshiva World, and Reaching Beyond Our Community [Outreach 1/5]

Feb 04 2025 82 mins  
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.Take our annual survey.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 c

Natan Sharansky: 'If you don't have faith or Zionism, your grandchildren will not be Jewish' (18 Questions, 40 Israeli Thinkers)

Jan 28 2025 68 mins  
Take our annual survery: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WZKXNWRWe 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, bu

Haym Soloveitchik: The Rupture and Reconstruction of Halacha (Halacha Series Re-Release)

Jan 21 2025 80 mins  
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 res