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5 min readAn Orthodox Rabbi Interviews a Reform Rabbi
The 18Forty Podcast opens with host David Bashevkin describing a famous 1976 New Yorker cover: a view from Ninth Avenue where New York City is rendered in vivid detail, but everything beyond the Hudson River—Jersey, Chicago, the Pacific, China, Japan, Russia—collapses into an undifferentiated blur. Bashevkin uses this image as a metaphor for how most Jews imagine the Jewish people. We know our own three blocks intimately—our denomination, our community, our struggles—and beyond that, other Jews become a vague mass. We talk about "Orthodox Jews" or "Reform Jews" as if they were monoliths, not people with interior lives, real commitments, and genuine struggles.
This episode is the first of a two-part series in which Bashevkin, an Orthodox rabbi and educator, interviews Rabbi Diana Fersko, a Reform rabbi and head of the Village Temple in Manhattan. The conversation is not an attempt to erase differences or create a single unified Judaism. It is an attempt to redraw the map—to listen across denominational lines without requiring anyone to change their practice.
The moment demands a reorganized map
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction & Sponsors** - Host David Bashevkin opens with sponsorship messages for Magen David Adom and the new Talmud Daily program.
- 2 (04:54) **The "New Yorker" Map of the Jewish People** - Bashevkin introduces the core metaphor of the episode: the "View of the World from 9th Avenue" New Yorker cover.
- 3 (07:44) **The Purpose of the Dialogue** - Bashevkin introduces the two-part series with Reform Rabbi Diana Fersko, framing it as an attempt to "reorganize our map" of Jewish peoplehood.
- 4 (26:16) **The Question of "What's Next?"** - Bashevkin asks Rabbi Fersko about the future she sees for her Reform congregation, framing it within the context of three major traumas: COVID, October 7th, and AI.
- 5 (30:20) **Critiquing the "Rule" That Got Us Here** - Bashevkin uses a scene from *No Country for Old Men* to ask what "rules" need to change within the Reform movement to create a stronger future.
- 6 (36:49) **The Pain of Judgment and Lack of Trust** - The conversation turns to the mutual judgment and lack of trust that exists between the Orthodox and non-Orthodox worlds.
- 7 (40:00) **The "Third Rail" of Patrilineal Descent** - Bashevkin identifies the Reform movement's 1980s decision on patrilineal descent as the most painful and divisive issue eroding trust between the movements.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
In this episode we discuss:
- How do we re-determine how to be Jews in America?
- Is there really an “education gap” between Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews?
- How should we handle the question of “who is a Jew” across denominations?
Interview begins at 22:11.
Diana Fersko is the Senior Rabbi of The Village Temple, a Reform synagogue at the heart of downtown Jewish life in New York City. An internationally recognized author, speaker, and thought leader, she is a defining voice in the contemporary Jewish world, known for her clarity, compassion, and ability to bring Jewish tradition into meaningful dialogue with modern life.
References:
View of the World from 9th Avenue
Tzidkat HaTzadik 54
No Country for Old Men
The Tapestry of Jewish Time: A Spiritual Guide to Holidays and Life-Cycle Events by Nina Beth Cardin
A Letter in the Scroll by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
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