AI Summary
5 min read“Not everyone can or should be Orthodox.” That line, repeated across multiple episodes of the 18Forty podcast, generated some of the most charged listener feedback of the past year—feedback that host David Bashevkin and producer Dina Emerson unpack in this listener-feedback episode. The episode is structured around the most commented-on series from the past year: Israel and Diaspora, denominations, outreach, and the American yeshiva world. But the throughline is something more foundational: how to build a unified Jewish conversation when the communities within it are pulling in different directions, and whether the goal should be agreement or simply the capacity to listen.
The Fourth Generation and the Covenant of the Parts
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What you'll learn
- 1 (04:19) **Episode Introduction and the Mission of 18Forty** - David Bashevkin welcomes listeners to the listener feedback episode and explains the podcast's goal of creating a single conversation for the entire Jewish world.
- 2 (10:05) **Feedback on the Israel and Diaspora Series** - Dina introduces the first major topic, the Israel and Diaspora series, which generated significant listener response.
- 3 (20:05) **The Gap Year and Long-Term Life in Israel** - Feedback on the episode with Rabbi Michael Olchin about reimagining the gap year in Israel.
- 4 (29:04) **The Haredi Critique and the "One Boat" Vision** - A critical letter from a listener named David regarding the podcast's portrayal of Haredim.
- 5 (38:51) **Denominational Divides and the Sephardic Model** - Feedback on the two-part series with Reform Rabbi Diana Frisco.
- 6 (46:26) **The Controversy of "Not Everyone Can or Should Be Orthodox"** - A listener challenges David’s recurring statement that "not everyone can or should be Orthodox."
- 7 (54:44) **The Pain of Feeling Unseen** - A heartbreaking voicemail from Paul, who describes feeling invisible and ignored by Orthodox Jews in public spaces like airports.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
In this episode we discuss:
—Should every Jew be Orthodox?
—Is the gap year in Israel “just a business”?
—How does one develop their own Jewish identity at a phase in life when it’s no longer mediated by institutions?
Tune in to hear what the 18Forty community has been thinking about regarding the conversations we’ve shared.
Voicemails begin at 9:40.
David Bashevkin is the founder and host of 18Forty. He is also the Clinical Assistant Professor of Jewish Values at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business. He completed rabbinic ordination at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, a master’s degree at the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and his doctorate in Public Policy and Management at The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs. He has published four books, including Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought and a Hebrew work, B’Rogez Rachem Tizkor (trans. In Anger, Remember Mercy).
References:
18Forty Podcast: “Michael Eisenberg: Iran, USA, Israel: What Comes Next”
Genesis 15
18Forty Podcast: “Michael Olshin: Reimagining the Gap Year in Israel”
18Forty Podcast: “Diana Fersko: An Orthodox Rabbi Interviews a Reform Rabbi”
18Forty Podcast: “Dovid Bashevkin: A Reform Rabbi Interviews an Orthodox Rabbi”
How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought by Leora Batnitzky
“The Future Is Sephardic” by Mijal Bitton
Joshua 7
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