Today, we're sharing an episode of our program Talmud Daily featuring Michelle Margolis, the Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies at Columbia University, who explores the remarkable story of how the Talmud became the book we recognize today.

You can sign up for Talmud Daily at talmuddaily.org, and you can subscribe in your podcast app by searching Talmud Daily. 

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On 20 Cheshvan, we marked the sixth yahrzeit of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. So today we're revisiting the episode we made discussing his legacy on his first yahrzeit, in 2021. 

In this special episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Professor Jonathan Haidt about the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in honor of his yahrtzeit.Rabbi Sacks had a profound impact on the Jewish world, with his eloquent words giving a voice to many. He has spoken at length about how to construct a good and meaningful life using Judaism, as well as about morality, consumerism, spiritual truth, politics, and antisemitism.

• What is the value of commitment to Judaism?
• How can Judaism contribute to our morality?
• How can Judaism contribute to our community?
• How can one keep faith in Judaism in the modern world?

Tune in to hear a conversation about the world of Rabbi Sacks.

Reference: 
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Religion and the Rise of Capitalism by Benjamin Friedman

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Lahav Harkov, senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, for a basic primer on how Israeli elections work, how Israel’s political camps came to divide the way they have, and what choice Israelis face right now.

In this episode we discuss:

—How do Israeli elections work, and why has no party ever won a majority on its own?
—How did Labor and Likud come to define Israeli politics, and how has October 7th reshaped the divide between right and left?
—What choices do Israelis face in this election on security, Netanyahu, and the Charedi draft?

Interview begins at 3:18. 

Tune in to hear a conversation about the basics of Israeli elections and what is at stake for the Jewish state and the Jewish people. Lahav Harkov is the senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, where she covers Israel’s domestic politics and diplomacy. She was previously senior contributing editor and diplomatic correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, where she spent eight years as the paper’s Knesset reporter. Raised in New Jersey, she made aliyah at 17 and earned a degree in political science and communications from Bar-Ilan University.

References: 

Lahav’s Newsletter by Lahav Harkov

Lahav Harkov at Jewish Insider

“The Iron Wall (We and the Arabs)” by Ze’ev Jabotinsky

Call Me Back with Dan Senor and Nadav Eyal

It’s Noon in Israel by Amit Segal

Haviv Rettig Gur at The Free Press

Lazar Berman at The Times of Israel

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rav Judah Mischel, executive director of Camp HASC and author of the Baderech series, about how to become a Jewish optimist by choosing to see the good in every corner of Klal Yisrael.

In this episode we discuss:

—How do we stay optimistic about the Jewish people when our visions for its future seem mutually exclusive?
—How can we tell who is truly worthy of being called raboseinu?
—Where can we look to find the redemptive light unfolding in the Jewish people today?

Interview begins at 7:15.

Tune in to hear a conversation about the effort it takes to see the good in the Jewish people, and why that effort is itself part of the redemption. 

Rabbi Judah Mischel is the executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children, and a mashpia for OU-NCSY. The founder of Tzama Nafshi, he is the author of the Baderech series, including Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuvah, The Baderech Haggadah, and Baderech: Along the Path of the Torah. A talmid of Rabbi Avraham Zvi Kluger, he previously taught at Yeshivat Reishit Yerushalayim and the Frisch School and lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife, Ora, and their children.

References: 

Baderech: Along the Path of Teshuvah by Judah Mischel 

Baderech: Along the Path of the Torah by Judah Mischel 

The Baderech Haggadah by Judah Mischel 

I Read This Over Shabbos: Reading Jewish History in the Parasha by David Bashevkin 

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

A Tzaddik in Our Time: The Life of Rabbi Aryeh Levin by Simcha Raz 

The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley 

“אהבת השם” by Ben Tzur 

Camp HASC

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we mark the yahrtzeit of Rav Ezra Dovid Halevi Neuberger with remembrances from Dovid Bashevkin and David Fohrman of a teacher who valued privacy, presence, and intellectual honesty, and who taught his students to take life seriously by becoming fully themselves.

In this episode we discuss:

—What does it mean to take life seriously while treating ourselves with mercy?
—How did Rav Neuberger teach his students to read texts closely and think for themselves?
—What is the purpose of raising children, and what does it mean for a tradition to hold many voices?

Interview begins at 19:53. 

Tune in to hear a conversation about a teacher whose greatest lesson was to be present, honest, and unafraid of questions.

Rabbi Ezra Dovid Halevi Neuberger was the rosh kollel and senior maggid shiur of Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Pikesville, Maryland, where he was a leader for more than three decades. The youngest son of Rabbi Herman Neuberger, the yeshiva’s longtime president, he was appointed rosh kollel in 1994 by Rabbi Yaakov S. Weinberg and passed away on 7 Cheshvan at the age of 68. Known to decades of students as Rav Ezra, he is remembered for his humility, his depth, and his devotion to his talmidim. Rabbi David Fohrman, a former student, is the founder and lead scholar of Aleph Beta and the author of The Beast That Crouches at the Door, The Queen You Thought You Knew, and The Exodus You Almost Passed Over.

References: 


Ezras Yisrael: Shiurim of Rav Ezra Neuberger

The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements by Eric Hoffer

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel

How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

Aleph Beta

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In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Elliot Kaufman, a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and co-author of In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis, about what happened inside Israel's war room after October 7 and how Israel came to lose the battle over its own story.

In this episode we discuss:

—Was October 7th part of a larger plan to destroy Israel?
—How did the anti-Israel narrative take hold in the West so quickly?
—What is the vision for the Jewish state once the security threats recede?

Interview begins at 3:40. 

Tune in to hear a conversation about the fight for Israel's survival on the battlefield and its fight for its narrative on the world stage. Elliot Kaufman is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, where he writes on Israel, Iran, and the Middle East, and previously served as the paper's letters editor. Raised in Toronto and a graduate of Stanford University, he has covered the war for the Journal since October 7th. He is the co-author, with Yonah Jeremy Bob, of In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis.

References:

In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman

Target Tehran by Yonah Jeremy Bob and Ilan Evyatar

One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict by Benny Morris

The Jews of Modernity by Milton Himmelfarb

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In this episode, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin and Nachi Weinstein discuss Jewish history, reading, publishing, podcasting, and the ideas behind Bashevkin’s book I Read This Over Shabbos.

They explore how accessible writing and serious historical study can deepen Jewish knowledge while preserving intellectual depth, historical honesty, and the centrality of Shabbos.

In this episode we discuss:

—How can Jewish history can deepen our understanding of the Jewish present? 
—Why is serious reading and careful sourcing matter for Jewish intellectual life? 
—How does I Read This Over Shabbos seek to make Jewish history accessible while preserving intellectual depth?

Tune in to hear a conversation about Jewish history, serious reading, the culture of books, and how accessible scholarship can strengthen Jewish intellectual life.

Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin is a writer, educator, and podcaster whose work focuses on Torah, Jewish history, education, and contemporary Jewish life. His writings include B'rogez Racheim Tizkor, Sinagogue, an NCSY Haggadah, Top 5, and I Read This Over Shabbos.

Nachi Weinstein is the creator of Seforim Chatter, a podcast devoted to Jewish books, scholarship, and history. His work has explored subjects including Shabbetai Tzvi, Spanish Jewry, the Ten Lost Tribes, the Zohar, and Italian Jewish history.

References: 

I Read This Over Shabbos: Reading Jewish History in the Parasha by David Bashevkin

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

B'rogez Rachem Tizkor by David Bashevkin

Just One: The NCSY Haggadah by Dovid Bashevkin

Top 5: Lists of Jewish Character and Characters by Dovid Bashevkin

"The Sabbath Is a Chance to Read Again" by David Bashevkin, Wall Street Journal

"The End of Reading Is Here" by Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic

"Sabbatai Zevi Series" on Seforim Chatter

Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626–1676 by Gershom Scholem

Changing the Immutable: How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History by Marc B. Shapiro

Rashi by Avraham Grossman

Hakham Tsevi Ashkenazi and the Battlegrounds of the Early Modern Rabbinate by Yosie Levine

A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe by Debra Kaplan and Elisheva Carlebach

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Today, we're sharing one of our episodes from our new program Talmud Daily, featuring our dear friend Liel Leibovitz. 

You can sign up for Talmud Daily at talmuddaily.org, and you can subscribe in your podcast app by searching Talmud Daily. 

In this episode, Liel reflects on falling in love with the Talmud precisely because it is so difficult—and on how its questions, frustrations, and intricate details can transform the way we live.

This episode was sponsored by Daniel and Jessica Courtney in memory of Dr. Stuart A. Courtney.

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This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi YY Jacobson, one of the foremost online teachers of Torah, about how each of us can experience redemptive consciousness by feeling Hashem's infinite love and presence in this moment.

In this episode we discuss:

—Why has there been a shift in the way we approach publicly sharing Torah?
—What is the nature of the Torah approach to vulnerability?
—What are we trying to achieve with our own teshuva?

Interview begins at 5:02.

Tune in to hear a conversation about the pain of existing seemingly separately from the Divine.

Rabbi YY Jacobson is a Chabad rabbi, teacher, and scholar of Torah and Jewish mysticism. He is the founder and dean of TheYeshiva.net, where his classes reach thousands of students around the world. A sought-after speaker, Rabbi Jacobson draws on Torah, Chassidic thought, Kabbalah, and Jewish philosophy to explore contemporary questions of faith, spirituality, relationships, and Jewish life.

References:

The Dance of Teshuva by David Ebner

Likkutei Torah

Ben Porat Yosef

The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein M.D.

To Live with an Open Heart: Tanya through the eyes of a Psychotherapist by Devorah Leah Nussbaum

Talmud Daily

Tzidkat HaTzadik

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This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar.

Join Talmud Daily! A new free program from 18Forty. Ten-minute episodes a day (video + audio). Plain English. No prior knowledge assumed. No Hebrew required. Join here: Talmuddaily.org

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Etan Epstein, the founder of The 300 Club, a program of committing to learning Torah for five minutes a day.

We also speak with two participants in the program, Richard Weissberg and Susan Sorosky. 

In this episode we discuss:

—How does one begin a path of Torah learning?
—How can we avoid burning out and maintain consistency on our learning journey?
—Why are Torah and repentance so intertwined together?

Interviews begin at 8:56.

Tune in to hear a conversation about how the process of interpretation of Torah is a mirror image of a process of interpretation of the self.

Rabbi Etan Epstein studied at Yeshivat Shaalvim after graduating from Ramaz, before earning his B.A. from Yeshiva University and spending three years at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood. He then spent seven years studying at the Brisker Kollel in Israel, developing a deep expertise in analytical Torah learning. After returning to the U.S. in 2016, Rav Etan settled in Monsey and founded the New Rochelle Torah Center, where he became known for his thoughtful, engaging, and inspiring classes. In 2023, he founded the 300 Club, dedicated to helping every Jew experience the depth and beauty of Torah every day, five minutes at a time.

References:

“Mirror, Mirror of The Fall” by Maureen Dowd

The 300 Club

Mesillat Yesharim

Sefer HaChinukh

Psalms 27

Lamentations 3

Pirkei Avot

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This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar.

Join Talmud Daily! A new free program from 18Forty. Ten-minute episodes a day (video + audio). Plain English. No prior knowledge assumed. No Hebrew required. Join here: Talmuddaily.org

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Tania Friedlander, leadership-and-performance coach, attorney by training, and former champion athlete, about how her husband’s Parkinson’s diagnosis challenged her expectations and taught her to become capable of more.

In this episode we discuss:

—What does it mean to make our expectations a central focus of our teshuva?
—How do we increase our capacity to handle the life we have?
—How can we embrace both the joy and pain that accompany the challenges of life?

Interview begins at 11:42.

Tune in to hear a conversation about taking on challenges head-on and finding the capacity to meet life as it comes.

Tania Friedlander is a leadership and performance coach, attorney by training, and former champion athlete. A Professional Certified Coach and Gallup Certified Global Strengths Coach, she works with executives and emerging leaders to leverage their strengths, overcome challenges, and achieve their professional and personal goals.

References:

Tanya

Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel on the 18Forty Podcast

I'm Not Alone by Riva Pomerantz

Loving Someone Who Has Dementia by Pauline Boss

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Chop Wood Carry Water by Joshua Medcalf

Likutei Moharan, Part II 23:1

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