Elana Moskowitz: In Appreciation of My American Jewish Childhood [American Jewish History 1/4]
June 24, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readA Different Kind of Jewish Gratitude
David Bashevkin opens this episode with a confession: he read David Magerman's widely circulated "Dear Children of the Diaspora" letter—a searing critique of American Orthodox parenting that ends with a call for children to rebel against their parents and move to Israel—and it did not fully resonate with him. Where Magerman begins with apology, Bashevkin argues we should begin with gratitude. The episode, an introduction to 18Forty's series on American Jewish history, is built around a conversation with his sister Elana Moskowitz, who was raised in the same Orthodox home in the Five Towns of Long Island in the 1990s and now lives in a Haredi community in Israel. Their conversation is not a rebuttal of Magerman but an attempt to articulate something harder: what was genuinely valuable about the American Jewish childhood they shared, and why that foundation matters even if the future belongs to Israel.
The Unchoreographed Upbringing
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What you'll learn
- 1 (04:19) **David Bashevkin Introduces the Series** - Host David Bashevkin frames the month’s topic: exploring American Jewish history with gratitude, not apology.
- 2 (21:08) **Guest Introduction: Elana Moskowitz** - David introduces his sister, Elana Moskowitz, a writer and teacher living in Israel, to discuss their shared American Orthodox childhood.
- 3 (25:51) **The Hashkafa of the Bashevkin Home** - Elana details the unique, evolving religious atmosphere her parents created.
- 4 (31:52) **Family, Authenticity, and the “Black Hat”** - The conversation explores how their family navigated differences in observance within their extended family and community.
- 5 (43:20) **Learning Torah with Their Father** - A key memory of their father’s dedication to Torah study is shared.
- 6 (47:44) **Elana’s Year in Israel and Finding Her Path** - Elana describes her transformative year in Israel after high school.
- 7 (59:18) **Integrating into Israeli Society** - Elana explains how she successfully integrated into a Haredi community in Israel despite her American roots.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Moskowitz grew up Orthodox in America in the 1990s—alongside her brother David Bashevkin—before moving to Israel and joining a Haredi community in Jerusalem.
In this episode we discuss:
—What is the unique new contribution of American Judaism to the Jewish story?
—What have been the successes and failures of Judaism on American shores?
—How do familial and institutional influences shape the lives we believe we ought to lead?
Tune in to hear an inside conversation about the Bashevkin family and what it means to live in a medina shel chesed.
Interview begins at 19:40.
Mrs. Elana Moskowitz grew up in New York and earned her B.Ed in English from Michlalah Jerusalem College. She is a passionate and energetic educator who has been teaching and mentoring in various seminaries in Eretz Yisrael for the past 25 years. She currently teaches at Michlelet Mevasseret Yerushalayim (MMY) where she heads their second-year program. In addition to guest lecturing for both Anglo and Israeli-American women, Elana is a writer for Mishpacha magazine where she develops and contributes Torah content. She lives with her husband and children in Yerushalayim.
References:
"Thank You from an American Jewish Child" by David Bashevkin
“An apology from your American Jewish parents” by David Magerman
“A Kosher Home” by Elana Moskowitz
“The Grandfather I Thought I Knew” by Elana Moskowitz
"Sounds of My Childhood” by Elana Moskowitz
Reb Mendel and His Wisdom by Yisroel Greenwald
“When life is like weaving a quilt” with Frieda Vizel
“Yiddishkei
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