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15 OCT 2024 · We're taking a week off from our main podcast, but we want to share with you an episode of our new podcast, https://18forty.org/topics/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers-pod/https://18forty.org/topics/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers-pod/, recorded on Sept. 9. Subscribe to on https://open.spotify.com/show/4wvHoRh4fOhCYobNRH7xOM?si=d5a8f96636134d31 or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers/id1752742435 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:
- As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
- What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
- Do you think Western media covers the Israel-Hamas War fairly?
- What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
- Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
- What role should the Israeli government have in religious matters?
- Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
- Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
- Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
- Is the IDF the world’s most moral army?
- If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
- 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?
- What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
- Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
- What should happen with Gaza and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict after the war?
- Where do you read news about Israel?
- Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
- Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?
8 OCT 2024 · This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by https://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:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386676/
https://open.spotify.com/album/0ZWXIBvYjY13xIbDyWdnBN by Matisyahu
https://open.spotify.com/album/43EhTRuWe2BPQ5hnrvVDvB?si=aoBNVphVT_GRbWIT-UOcxQ by Matisyahu
https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Brother-Inspiring-Enchanted-Carlebach/dp/0765762099 by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum
https://www.amazon.com/Sabbath-Classics-Abraham-Joshua-Heschel/dp/0374529752 by Abraham Joshua Heschel
https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Experience-R-D-Laing/dp/0140134867 by R.D. Laing
"https://18forty.org/content/uploads/2024/10/Spiritual-Schadenfreude-1.pdf" by David Bashevkin
7 OCT 2024 · 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:
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Illuminated-Jonathan-Safran-Foer/dp/0060529709 by Jonathan Safran Foer
https://www.amazon.com/Zakhor-Jewish-History-Lectures-Studies/dp/0295975199 by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
“https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx” by Theodore Roosevelt
“https://youtu.be/15IARj3rFnM?si=hHaet2nD4vIqsnFY” by Omek Hadavar
18Forty Podcast: Rachel Goldberg-Polin: “https://18forty.org/podcast/rachel-goldberg-polin-a-hostages-mother-fighting-for-his-freedom/”
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/the-trauma-of-war-mental-health-professionals-in-israel/”
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/a-haredi-mother-sending-her-children-to-serve/”
https://www.amazon.com/Defining-Neighbors-Zionist-Arab-Encounter-Christians/dp/069117346X?ref_=ast_author_dp by Jonathan Marc Gribetz
https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Herzl-Beirut-Effort-Enemy/dp/0691176809/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= by Jonathan Marc Gribetz
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/jonathan-gribetz-teaching-the-palestinian-israeli-conflict/”
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/our-heart-one-child-married-one-child-missing/”
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/on-loss-defending-israel-on-oct-7/”
https://www.sefaria.org/Ecclesiastes.3?lang=bi
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/how-can-we-help-israel-finding-our-purpose/”
https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.29.17?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi&with=Translations&lang2=en
https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.29.17?lang=bi
“https://www.yutorah.org/lectures/1109925/Forgive-Me,-My-King-I-Did-Not-Know-You-Were-Also-a-Father:-On-Jewish-Peoplehood-in-the-American-Orthodox-Community” by David Bashevkin
https://www.sefaria.org/Yoma.39b?lang=bi
30 SEP 2024 · This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by https://dailygiving.org/.
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Emmi Polansky, known on social media as https://www.instagram.com/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:
https://www.sefaria.org/Chagigah.15a.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
https://www.amazon.com/As-Driven-Leaf-Milton-Steinberg/dp/0874419506 by Milton Steinberg
https://www.amazon.com/Sinagogue-Failure-Thought-Perspectives-Post-Rabbinic/dp/1618117971/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AV0R3WZIH38Q&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VL9N6y96zMjysrTQ99YLIgaltibGlO6GQWyC0X1UcOhTfHHooW-Sf8I7O5Mf5jg3zhs2gBqjpYZZzL-hk5R-JD0DqcLoB8pAaho3gXE0hHd0MLfDu27gdC5ajTiBrtNluDgqwqZG8A0GSHyBK_FKTa-BgKdFYumgIICF9-11himaqQ90qisgUp550png1-wPtHkUJ_tQS9bGdVX5yYy9pg.d3zvQLpPFC39TMMXXIp7wU7ZYkxYOk5neMPtEXWur44&dib_tag=se&keywords=bashevkin&qid=1727649788&s=books&sprefix=bashevkin%2Cstripbooks%2C124&sr=1-1 by David Bashevkin
https://www.instagram.com/livingemunah/ on Instagram
https://chat.whatsapp.com/JFU6TXMUpRP9LOQY4mvFUH on WhatsApp
https://www.eichlers.com/bilvavi-mishkan-evne-1-2-hs.html?srsltid=AfmBOorKjm69ybBUpE5yubOe_kIy1ROCQRreeBIkBPQUg0ZMfx_7YOHM
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/rav-moshe-weinberger/”
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/moshe-and-asher-weinberger-heart-of-the-fire-together-even-with-small-differences/”
https://www.amazon.com/Tuesdays-Morrie-Greatest-Lesson-Anniversary/dp/076790592X by Mitch Albom
24 SEP 2024 · This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by https://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 https://www.amazon.com/Careful-Beauties-Ahead-Tuvia-Tenenbom/dp/9657801559/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=LTAj5&content-id=amzn1.sym.f76d456a-cb0d-44de-b7b0-670c26ce80ba&pf_rd_p=f76d456a-cb0d-44de-b7b0-670c26ce80ba&pf_rd_r=136-6473302-5522723&pd_rd_wg=kcUhi&pd_rd_r=20e0a85d-f786-42bc-961d-c64c074afb3a&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk, 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 https://www.amazon.com/Catch-Jew-Tuvia-Tenenbom/dp/9652297984. He joins us to discuss the year he, a secular Jew, spent with the Haredi Jews of Mea Shearim.
References:
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/joshua-leifer-and-shaindy-ort-how-progressive-activists-rediscovered-traditional-jewish-life/https://18forty.org/podcast/joshua-leifer-and-shaindy-ort-how-progressive-activists-rediscovered-traditional-jewish-life/”
https://www.sefaria.org/Tosafot_on_Pesachim?tab=contents
https://www.amazon.com/Careful-Beauties-Ahead-Tuvia-Tenenbom/dp/9657801559/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=LTAj5&content-id=amzn1.sym.f76d456a-cb0d-44de-b7b0-670c26ce80ba&pf_rd_p=f76d456a-cb0d-44de-b7b0-670c26ce80ba&pf_rd_r=136-6473302-5522723&pd_rd_wg=kcUhi&pd_rd_r=20e0a85d-f786-42bc-961d-c64c074afb3a&ref_=aufs_ap_sc_dsk by Tuvia Tenenbo
https://www.amazon.com/Catch-Jew-Tuvia-Tenenbom/dp/9652297984 by Tuvia Tenenbom
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Mr-Tuvia-Tenenbom/author/B006R1DTTK?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
17 SEP 2024 · This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by https://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:
https://www.sefaria.org/Mesillat_Yesharim?tab=contents by Moses Chaim Luzzatto
https://www.sefaria.org/Derekh_Hashem?tab=contents by Moses Chaim Luzzatto
https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.9a?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
http://rabbiywilk.com
https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.12.5?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi&with=Translations&lang2=en
18Forty Podcast: “https://18forty.org/podcast/rabbi-yy-jacobson-how-did-the-rebbe-revolutionize-judaism/”
Works of https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Jewish%20Thought/Modern/Rav%20Kook
Works of https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Chasidut/R'%20Tzadok%20HaKohen
https://www.sefaria.org/Divrei_Soferim.16?ven=Sefaria_Community_Translation&lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
https://www.amazon.com/Pachad-Yitzchok-Selected-MaAmarim-Shabbos/dp/142264071X by Rav Yitzchok Hutner
10 SEP 2024 · This series is sponsored by Mira and Daniel Stokar, and this episode is sponsored by https://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 https://www.amazon.com/Tablets-Shattered-American-Jewish-Century/dp/0593187180, 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:
https://www.sefaria.org/Orot_HaTeshuvah?tab=contents by Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook
https://www.amazon.com/Tablets-Shattered-American-Jewish-Century/dp/0593187180 by Joshua Leifer
https://www.sefaria.org/Siddur_Sefard%2C_Upon_Arising%2C_Upon_Entering_Synagogue.1?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en
https://www.amazon.com/Jew-Vs-Struggle-American-Jewry/dp/1416578005 by Samuel G. Freedman
https://www.amazon.com/After-Virtue-Study-Moral-Theory/dp/0268035040 by Alasdair MacIntyre
https://www.amazon.com/Hirsch-Haggadah-Samson-R/dp/0873064615 by Samson R. Hirsch
https://www.sefaria.org/Arukh_HaShulchan?tab=contents by Yechiel Michel Epstein
https://www.sefaria.org/Kitzur_Shulchan_Arukh?tab=contents by Shlomo Ganzfried
https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy?tab=contents
3 SEP 2024 · 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 https://nishmat.net/online-beit-midrash/.
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:
https://www.amazon.com/Not-Heavens-Tradition-Secular-Thought/dp/0691168040 by David Biale
https://www.amazon.com/Makers-Jewish-Modernity-Thinkers-Artists/dp/0691164231 edited by Jacques Picard, Jacques Revel, Michael P. Steinberg, and Idith Zertal
“https://www.commentary.org/articles/gershom-scholem/the-holiness-of-sin/” by Gershom Scholem
https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Chagigah.2.1?ven=The_Mishna_with_Obadiah_Bartenura_by_Rabbi_Shraga_Silverstein&lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.1?lang=bi
https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004460942/BP000020.xml?language=en by Elliot R. Wolfson
https://www.amazon.com/Sabbatian-Heresy-Mysticism-Messianism-Modernity/dp/1512600520 edited by Pawel Maciejko
https://www.amazon.com/Mixed-Multitude-Frankist-Movement-1755-1816/dp/0812223438 by Pawel Maciejko
“https://www.lifeisasacredtext.com/guest-post-the-messianic-feminism/#:~:text=As%20far%20as%20I%20can,the%20inequality%20between%20the%20sexes.” by Jericho Vincent
https://www.amazon.com/Repentance-Repair-Making-Amends-Unapologetic/dp/0807010510 by Danya Ruttenberg
“https://www.academia.edu/30194718/A_Portrait_of_the_Kabbalist_as_a_Young_Man_Count_Joseph_Carl_Emmanuel_Waldstein_and_His_Retinue” by Pawel Maciejko
“https://www.academia.edu/771132/Gershom_Scholem_s_dialectic_of_Jewish_history_the_case_of_Sabbatianism” by Pawel Maciejko
Seforimchatter’s https://seforimchatter.com/category/sabbatai-zevi/
11 AUG 2024 · 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:
https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Berakhot.2.4.1?lang=bi&with=Translations&lang2=en
https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.13.1?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi&with=Translations&lang2=en
https://www.shopeichlers.com/products/shuvi-vnechze-al-htorah/52685 by Rabbi Moshe Shapiro
https://www.sefaria.org/Peri_Tzadik?tab=contents by Rav Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin
https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Berakhot.1.1.1?lang=bi
https://www.sefaria.org/Psalms.121?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi
“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6TXPNybrmk” by Kodaline
https://www.sefaria.org/Ezekiel.16.6?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=bi&with=Translations&lang2=en
https://bayitineverybayit.weebly.com/
6 AUG 2024 · We're taking a week off from our main podcast, but we want to share with you an episode of our new podcast, https://18forty.org/topics/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers-pod/https://18forty.org/topics/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers-pod/ Subscribe to on https://open.spotify.com/show/4wvHoRh4fOhCYobNRH7xOM?si=d5a8f96636134d31 or https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/18-questions-40-israeli-thinkers/id1752742435 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:
- As an Israeli, and as a Jew, how are you feeling at this moment in Israeli history?
- What has been Israel’s greatest success and greatest mistake in its war against Hamas?
- What do you look for in deciding which Knesset party to vote for?
- Which is more important for Israel: Judaism or democracy?
- Should Israel be a religious state?
- Do you think the State of Israel is part of the final redemption?
- Is Messianism helpful or harmful to Israel?
- Should Israel treat its Jewish and non-Jewish citizens the same?
- Should all Israelis serve in the army?
- Now that Israel already exists, what is the purpose of Zionism?
- Is opposing Zionism inherently antisemitic?
- If you were making the case for Israel, where would you begin?
- 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?
- What do you think is the most legitimate criticism leveled against Israel today?
- Do you think peace between Israelis and Palestinians will happen within your lifetime?
- Are political and religious divides a major problem in Israeli society?
- Where do you identify on Israel’s political and religious spectrum, and do you have friends on the “other side”?
- Do you have more hope or fear for Israel and the Jewish People?
Supporters Club
10 AUG 2020 · In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David sits down with Sara Susswein Tesler, an educator from SAR Academy in Riverdale, to talk about her experiences incorporating Biblical criticism into the Orthodox Day School environment. For more, visit https://18Forty.org/bible#tesler.
Biblical criticism has long been an elephant in the room of Orthodox institutions, even among Sara’s classmates while doing a master’s in Bible studies at Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. She has always been struck by the deafening silence regarding the questions it asks, and set out to introduce the topic to her students in SAR. But she also has a persistent anxiety and fear of driving her students away from Orthodox Judaism, and thinks carefully about the effects her teaching has on her students.
-How can one go about incorporating Bible studies into their faith?
-How should one go about teaching Bible studies without risking their students’ religiosity?
-Is there any superior approach, or are there multiple valid ones?
-And how have her students responded to her curriculum?
Tune in to hear Sara discuss some of the ramifications of Biblical criticism, both educationally and for her own religious identity.
Helping you find meaning in life through the exploration of Jewish thought and ideas.
Information
| Author | 18Forty |
| Organization | 18Forty |
| Categories | Judaism |
| Website | 18forty.org |
| info@18forty.org |
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