18Forty Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Antonio García Martínez: Optionality and Choosing Judaism [Teshuva 2/6] Sep 06, 2022

Show notes

This series is sponsored by our friends, Daniel and Mira Stokar.
In this episode of 18Forty, tech entrepreneur Antonio Garcia Martinez discusses his powerful “Why Judaism?” essay series, chronicling his conversion to Judaism and his views on the deficiencies of secular liberalism. A formerly Orthodox man who was moved to change his life after reading Martinez’s essays chimes in.
—What is the toll of a culture of optionality?
—What is the value of unchosen commitments?
—How does Martinez reconcile his deeply scientific worldview with Judaism?
Interview begins at 10:21.
Antonio García Martínez is a New York Times best-selling author and tech entrepreneur. He is a former product manager for Facebook, the CEO-founder of AdGrok, and a former quantitative analyst for Goldman Sachs. His book Chaos Monkeys: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley, an insider look into Silicon Valley, was a New York Times bestseller. Antonio reflected on his choice to engage with Judaism in a deeply thoughtful piece, “Why Judaism? On abandoning secular modernity.”
References:
Why Judaism? On abandoning secular modernity by Antonio García Martínez
Why Judaism?, part שני: On the question of God in modernity by Antonio García Martínez
Nineteen Letters by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch
The Benedict Option by Rod Dreher
Rethinking Sex by Christine Emba
Seven Types of Atheism by John Gray
The Sabbath by Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
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Rabbi Beryl Gershenfeld: What We Can Learn About Teshuva From Jewish Outreach [Teshuva 1/6] Aug 30, 2022

Show notes

In the first episode of our Teshuva series, R. Beryl Gershenfeld, one of the leaders of the Jewish outreach movement, joins us in talking about what we can learn about the process of transformation that occurs in Jewish outreach.
- What can the Jewish world learn from Jewish outreach?
- How do we engage in meaningful growth?
This series has been generously sponsored by our friends Daniel and Mira Stokar.
Interview begins at 15:25
References:
Sin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought by David Bashevkin
The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck
Sefiras Haomer: The Link Between Tushuva And Torah by Yaakov Elman
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing by Pete Davis
Mesilas Yesharim
Chovot HaLevavot
Or HaTzafun
Aspiration by Agnes Callard
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Listener Questions Aug 23, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we listen to voicemails sent in by you, our listeners, and reflect on the community we have built beyond our conversations.
- Which episode is the favorite, or least favorite, of 18Forty listeners?
- Why did David Bashevkin get outraged about pagination?
- Is “undoubtably” a word in the English language?
Tune in to hear a conversation between Batman and the Joker, and other fun feedback.
Voicemails begin at 7:24.
References:
“Portlandia”
IFC YouTube channel
Malka Simkovich: The Mystery Of The Jewish People
Bnei Yissaschar by Tzvi Elimelech Spira of Dinov
Tzidkas HaTzaddik by Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin
Oz VeHadar Mesivta Talmud
“Show and Tale”
“I Read This Over Shabbos”
Jewish Mediation: A Practical Guide by Aryeh Kaplan
The Birth of the Spoken Word by Dovid’l Weinberg
If You Were God by Aryeh Kaplan
Tefillin by Aryeh Kaplan
Waters of Eden by Aryeh Kaplan
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Ari Koretzky: In Conversation with Dovid Bashevkin Aug 16, 2022

Show notes

Among the many questions we receive at 18Forty, there are some we find recurring: Who does 18Forty serve? What is its purpose? In this episode, 18Forty Founder Rabbi David Bashevkin reflects upon those questions—except he isn’t the one interviewing. Instead, Rabbi Ari Koretzky, host of the Jews You Should Know Podcast, interviews him.
—What is the story of David’s personal religious development?
—What were 18Forty’s greatest challenges and successes?
—Where is it heading?
Interview begins at 5:44.
References:
Jews You Should Know
Saturday Night Live – "Father-Son Podcasting Microphone"
"Rav Moshe Weinberger: Can Mysticism Become a Community?"
The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman
"Journey to 18Forty: A Conversation with Mitchell D. Eichen"
"Malka Simkovich: The Mystery of the Jewish People"
"Dr. Ora Wiskind: How do you Read a Mystical Text?"
Introduction to Love's Executioner by Irvin D. Yalom
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On Loss: A Child Aug 02, 2022

Show notes

This episode is sponsored by our friends Victor and Jessica Kagan in honor of Rochel Mindel bas Noson Nuteh and Naftali ben Chaim Shraga Feivel.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Mirlana Morris about the loss of her son, Donny, and perpetuating the memory of a loved one.
Mirlana lost her son, Donny, in last year’s Meron tragedy when he was 19 years old. Mirlana speaks about choosing to live a life of emunah instead of being angry with God, and shares how she perpetuates the legacy of her beloved son.
- Where does a mother find the strength to move forward after confronting a loss of such large magnitude?
- How can one comfort the bereaved with sensitivity?
- What does mourning have in common with Chol HaMoed and what does it teach us?
Tune in to hear a conversation on love, loss, and moving forward.
Interview begins at 12:21
Musical Credit: Im Eshkachech by Itzhak Azulai
References:
Kedusha, Shabbos Davening
“Mimkomcha” as sung at the funeral of Donny Morris
“Donny Morris’ schedule”
Daniel Ish Chamudot: A Parsha Companion in Bein Adam L'chaveiro in Memory of Donny Morris z”l by Yeshivat Sha’alvim
Living Emunah by Rabbi David Ashear
“B’Yadcha” by Rinas Amcha
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Emanuel Feldman: On Being a Jewish Writer [Books 3/3] Jul 26, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Emanuel Feldman about writing styles.
Rabbi Feldman has the unique gift to write in multiple voices for multiple audiences. He mixes his pitches so his readers never quite know what to expect. Rabbi Feldman joins us today to talk about the unique styles of Jewish writing.
- What motivates a rabbi to begin a parallel career as a writer?
- Why is criticism something to love?
- Has Jewish writing gotten better over time?
Tune in to hear a conversation about Yinglish, thumb-driven computers, and Mrs. Cooperman.
Interview begins at 22:49
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman is the rabbi emeritus of Beth Jacob synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia. He previously served as editor-in-chief of Tradition Magazine and has authored 11 books. Additionally, he was editor of the Ariel Rashi Translation Project for 17 years.
References:
Tractate Sukkah
Mishpacha Magazine
Top Five List of Jewish Character and Characters by Dovid Bashevkin
David the Divided Heart by David Wolpe
Tradition Magazine
The Shul Without a Clock by Emanuel Feldman
“Tefillin in a A Brown Paper Bag” by Emanuel Feldman
“An Imagined Symposium” by Emanuel Feldman
Tales Out of Shul by Emanuel Feldman
“Yaakov and Jay: A Tale of Two Worlds” by Emanuel Feldman
"Tablet Magazine on the Talmud" by Dovid Bashevkin
“On His Blindness” by John Milton
“God and Mrs. Cooperman” by Emanuel Feldman
Sophie's Choice by William Styron
“Reconciling Opposites: Uncommon Connections in the Halakha of Mourning” by Emanuel Feldman
Sin-a-gogue: Sin, and Failure in Jewish Thought by David Bashevkin
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Michelle Margolis: What Do Librarians Do? [Books 2/3] Jul 19, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to our favorite librarian, Michelle Margolis.
Michelle is no stranger to the 18Forty Podcast — she was one of our first guests, and today, she returns to debut our new Show & Tale series, and talk with us about the role of a librarian and the hidden world of Judaica and rare books.
Show & Tale is a new 18Forty video series that will take you inside some of the great libraries—both public and private—to explore books and treasures from Jewish history.
Michelle Margolis is the Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies at Columbia University. We spoke with her at Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library, located in Butler Library.
- Where’s the best place to buy rare Jewish books?
- Why would a siddur need to be politically correct?
- Where should rare Judaica live?
Tune in to hear a conversation about edible glue, fake ivory, and death masks.
Interview begins at 15:04
Michelle Margolis is the Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies at Columbia University; co-director of Footprints: Jewish Books Through Time and Place; and President of the Association of Jewish Libraries. Michelle is a favorite past guest at 18Forty and joins us to talk about the work of a librarian.
References:
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
The Story of Dovid Bashevkin by Meaningful People Podcast
Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution by Yehudah Mirsky
Gershom Scholem: Kabbalah and Counter-History by David Biale
Pursuit of Heresy, Rabbi Moses Hagiz and the Sabbatian Controversy by Elisheva Carlebach
Pulp Fiction
Making of a Gadol by Nathan Kamenetsky
Columbia Hebrew Manuscripts
Footprints: Jewish Books Through Time and Place
The Sarajevo Haggadah
The Prince of the Press by Josh Teplitsky
Encyclopedia of Jewish Book Cultures edited by Emil Schrijver
The Hebrew Book in Early Italy edited by Joseph R. Hacker and Adam Shear
A Sign and a Witness: 2,000 Years of Hebrew Books and Illuminated Manuscripts by William Gross, Orly Tzion, and Falk Wiesemann
“Books Weeping for Someone to Visit and Admire Them: Jewish Library Culture in the United States, 1850–1910” by Robert Singerman
“Top Five” by Dovid Bashevkin
“Top 5 Stuff that Get Yeshiva Guys Into Jewish Studies”
Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy: The Life and Works of Rabbi Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, 1884-1966 by Marc B. Shapiro
“The Dual Role of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes: Traditionalist and Maskil” by Bruria Hutner David
“Rupture and Reconstruction” by Haym Soloveitchik
“Facing the Truths of History” by Jacob J. Schacter
Lithuanian Yeshivas of the Nineteenth Century: Creating a Tradition of Learning by Shaul Stampfer
Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul of American Jewry by Samuel G. Freedman
American Judaism: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna
The Shul without a Clock: Second Thoughts from a Rabbi's Notebook by Emanuel Feldman
Tales Out of Shul: The Unorthodox Journal of an Orthodox Rabbi by Emanuel Feldman
“The Haredim: A Defense” by Aharon Rose
By His Light: Character and Values in the Service of God by Aharon Lichtenstein
The Book and the Sword: A Life of Learning in the Shadow of Destruction by David Weiss Halivni
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Three Editors: A Conversation with Heads of the Major Jewish Publishers [Books 1/3] Jul 12, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to the heads of the three major Jewish publishing houses, Rabbi Gedaliah Zlotowitz of ArtScroll Mesorah Publications, Matthew Miller of Koren Publishers, and Altie Karper of Schocken Books.
Aside from all rejecting David Bashevkin’s work, these three pillars of Jewish publishing all share a common goal of contributing to Jewish scholarship in order to help better cultivate the Jewish People.
- How can we use storytelling to bring out the best in others?
- How was Koren revitalized?
- How did some department stores in Germany turn into one of the most successful publishing houses?
Tune in to hear a conversation about books, books, books.
Interview begins at 13:59
Gedaliah Zlotowitz
Rabbi Gedalia Zlotowitz is the president of ArtScroll Mesorah Publications, as well as the president of Mesorah Heritage Foundation.
Matthew Miller
Matthew Miller is the owner and publisher of Koren Press. Miller founded Toby Press, which published Yehuda Avner’s The Prime Ministers along with other works, and purchased Koren Press in 2007.
Altie Karper
Altie Karper is the editorial director of Schocken Books, a division of Penguin Random House. Schocken, has a long history as a major publisher of Jewish literature and an early publisher of great thinkers such as Kafka, Rosenzweig, Buber, and Agnon, among many others.
References:
““Let Me Make You Famous”: How Hollywood Invented Ben Shapiro” by Tina Nguyen
The Jewish Bookshelf as a Site of Self-fashioning: Reflections on a Historical Phenomenon in a Contemporary Moment by Elli Fischer and David Bashevkin
Top Five, A List of Jewish Character and Characters by Dovid Bashevkin
The Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Library of Jewish Thought by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
The Megillah: The Book of Esther
Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz by Yisrael Besser
All for the Boss by Ruchoma Shain
The Koren Tanakh
Amadeus
18Forty: Larry and Tzipora Rothwachs: Here Without You — A Child’s Eating Disorder
Biblical Images by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
The Covenant Kitchen: Food and Wine for the New Jewish Table: A Cookbook by Jeff and Jodie Morgan
The Patron, A Life of Salman Schocken by Anthony David
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Rabbi Shalom Carmy: How I Ground My Faith [Rationality 4/4] Jul 05, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Shalom Carmy—philosophy and Jewish-studies professor at Yeshiva University and Editor Emeritus of Tradition—about how he grounds his faith.
Rabbi Carmy joins us to discuss the anthropological, covenantal, and experiential bases for religious belief.
•What should be the foundation of a person’s faith?
•What is the role of personal experience in relation to rational inquiry?
•How can we reinvigorate our religious outlook for the modern world?
Tune in to hear a conversation about how we handle questions that don’t come with definitive answers.
Interview begins at 14:04
Rabbi Shalom Carmy is a rabbi and professor, teaching philosophy and Jewish studies at Yeshiva University, where he is Chair of Bible and Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva College and an affiliated scholar at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Shalom is Editor Emeritus of Tradition, Contributing Editor of First Things, and has published hundreds of articles on Jewish thought, Tanach, and other subjects, along with being the mentor of many students over his years of teaching.
References:
Sefer HaChinukh
Chidushei Rabeinu Chaim Halevi – Rambam by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk
“A Room With a View, But a Room of Our Own” by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
“A Peshat in the Dark: Reflections on the Age of Cary Grant” by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
Forgive Us, Father-in-Law, For We Know Not What To Think: Letter To A Philosophical Dropout From Orthodoxy by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith edited by Jeffrey Bloom, Alec Goldstein, and Gil Student
"Editor’s Note: Homer and the Bible" by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
“Of Eagle’s Flight and Snail’s Pace” by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
“Editors Note: Lost Cause: A Conclusion in Which Nothing is Concluded” by Rabbi Shalom Carmy
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Rashi on Tanakh
Ramban on Torah
Rif on Talmud
Henry More: The Rational Theology of a Cambridge Platonist by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein
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Malka Simkovich: The Mystery of the Jewish People [Rationality 3/4] Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Dr. Malka Simkovich—Crown-Ryan Chair of Jewish Studies and director of the Catholic-Jewish Studies program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago—about Second Temple Judaism and how it can help us understand what it means to be a Jew in our own time.
Malka explores the significance of belief and observance over the history of the Jewish people.
•What is the role of mystery in how we understand covenant and chosenness?
•What is the relationship between religious life in the ancient world and the Jewish practice we know today?
•How does belief facilitate the continuity of the Jewish tradition throughout time?
Tune in to hear a conversation about the history and mystery of the Jewish nation.
Interview begins at 27:40
Dr. Malka Simkovich is 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 Masters degree in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University. She is the author of The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria (2016), and Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism (2018).
References:
The Formation of the Talmud: Scholarship and Politics in Yitzhak Isaac Halevy's Dorot Harishonim by Ari Bergmann
Introduction to the Mishnah by Maimonides
How Do We Know This?: Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism by Jay M. Harris
From Text to Tradition, A History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism by Lawrence H. Schiffman
Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith edited by Jeffrey Bloom, Alec Goldstein, and Gil Student
Response to Michael Wyschogrod by David Novak
The Making of Jewish Universalism: From Exile to Alexandria by Malka Z. Simkovich
Discovering Second Temple Literature: The Scriptures and Stories That Shaped Early Judaism by Malka Z. Simkovich
Heritage and Hellenism: The Reinvention of Jewish Tradition by Erich S. Gruen
Diaspora: Jews amidst Greeks and Romans by Erich S. Gruen
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

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