The Samter Family: American Parents With Israeli Sons Fighting in Gaza [Divergence 2/6]

Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.This episode is sponsored by Yeshivat Shalshelet, which gives children with language-based learning differences the confidence and skills to thrive academically, emotionally, and spiritually. Donate to its matching campaign at theshalsheletdifference.org.In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Bayla Gopin—a student with dyslexia— and her mother, Chana, who brought Bayla to Yeshivat Shalshelet when her previous school was ignoring her needs.We also sit down with Shulamit Roth, Shalshelet’s founder, to talk about how we can expand the circle of who Yiddishkeit is for. In this episode we discuss: Does our emphasis on text-based learning leave some students out? How do we handle the perceived social stigma of needing to deviate from our “Plan A”?How does a child deal with switching schools when school is such a huge part of their world?Tune in to hear a conversation about how we can nurture every student the way he or she was created. Interview begins at 11:40.Shulamit Roth is a language and speech pathologist who has dedicated her career to helping students with language based learning disabilities. Her passion for teaching Jewish students with language-based learning disabilities led her to founding Yeshivat Shalshelet, where she helps students access the beauty of Torah and achieve their academic and personal potential.References:Born Losers by Scott A. Sandage“Amen al Ha'yeladim” by Chanan Ben AriBaby-Sitters Club by Ann M. MartinProverbs 22:6Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz M.D.18Forty Podcast: “Yehuda and Ilana Turetsky: Why Would an American Rabbinic Couple Move to Israel?”For more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyWhatsApp: join hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

6 Maj 1h 25min

Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.This episode is sponsored by Ketubah.com. Find the perfect ketubah for your wedding at Ketubah.com—beautiful designs, halachic accuracy, and personalized guidance every step of the way.This episode is also sponsored by our friends at Sofer.Ai. In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Talia Khan—a Jewish MIT graduate student and Israel activist—and her father, an Afghan Muslim immigrant, about their close father-daughter relationship despite their ideological disagreements. When Talia gained national attention in 2023 testifying before Congress and expressing her anger with the hostility toward Jews on MIT’s campus, many wondered what her Muslim father thought of her activism. In this episode we discuss: What was Talia’s father’s reaction to her public advocacy on  behalf of Jews and Israel? How do Talia and her father stay close despite their fundamental ideological differences?Why are Jewish-Muslim relations so strained? Tune in to hear a conversation about how humanity’s story of redemption takes form in a father-daughter relationship.Interview begins at 11:09.Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering, the president of the MIT Israel Alliance, a Fulbright Brazil alumna, and the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Afghan Muslim immigrant father. References:18Forty Podcast: “What’s Next: Higher Education for Jews: David Wolpe, Talia Khan, and Steven Pinker”Golda (2023)Rashi on Genesis 15:15, Bereshit Rabbah 30 Meshekh Chokhmah by Meir Simha HaKohen DvinskGenesis 17:18For more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyWhatsApp: join hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

29 Apr 54min

Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to bestselling author Susan Cain about her bittersweet relationship with her mother, an Orthodox Jew and daughter of a prominent rabbi. Susan’s book Bittersweet explores their journey together and grapples with what it means when our lives and relationships don’t exactly meet our expectations. In this episode we discuss:How do our relationships with our parents change in adulthood? Why are sad songs often some of our favorites? How can we make meaning of the yearning we experience?Tune in to hear a conversation about “longing for the source” and “uniting with the beloved of the soul.”Interview begins at 11:01.Susan Cain is the  ​​No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. She is also a speaker, influencer, and the creator of the newsletter community thequietlife.net.References:Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan CainBittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain“Rabbi Israel Schorr, 94; Led Brooklyn Synagogue”The Letters Of J.R.R. TolkienBeit Yaakov on Torah“Anthem” by Leonard CohenEinstein and the Rabbi by Naomi Levy“Rav Shagar: Zionism and Exile Within the Home” by Ari Ze’ev Schwartz and Levi MorrowDivrei Soferim 16 by Tzadok HaKohen of LublinSin•a•gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought by David BashevkinAvodat Yisrael by Israel Hopstein of Kozhnitz“The Transformation of ‘Next Year in Jerusalem’ in the Postwar American Haggadah” by Jonathan D. SarnaFor more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

22 Apr 1h 12min

Receive our FREE newsletters at 18forty.org/join.Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Judah, Naomi, and Aharon Akiva Dardik—an olim family whose son went to military jail for refusing to follow to IDF orders and has since become a ceasefire activist at Columbia University—about sticking together as a family despite their fundamental differences. On Aharon’s 14th birthday, the Dardiks moved from America to the Neve Daniel in the West Bank/Judea and Samaria. Since then, their relationships to Israel have diverged but they have refused to be divided. In this episode we discuss:Why did Aharon initially choose to stay anonymous to protect his parents from public pushback?How can we identify positive qualities in people we viscerally disagree with? Do differences over Israel and Zionism need to tear families apart? Tune in to hear a conversation about how the Jewish People can learn to think less institutionally and more familially. Interview begins at 19:08.Rabbi Judah Dardik is an Assistant Dean and full-time Ramm at Yeshivat Orayta in the Old City of Jerusalem, where he teaches and oversees student welfare. He is also the Dean of the Orayta Center for Jewish Leadership and Engagement. Before making Aliyah, he completed 13 years as the spiritual and community leader of Beth Jacob Congregation, in Oakland, California.Naomi Dardik, with her husband, Judah, served the Beth Jacob community in Oakland for thirteen years. Now, she leads the team of Relationship Experts at "OurRitual," a young company based in Tel Aviv that is building new ways to help couples access relationship support. She earned her BA in psychology from Barnard College and her MSW from UC Berkeley.Aharon Akiva Dardik is a philosophy and political science double major at Columbia University. His activism in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza was noted in The New York Times. He formerly lived in Neve Daniel with his family. References:“Forgive Me, My King I Did Not Know You Were Also a Father” by David BashevkinBeit Yishai by Rabbi Shlomo Fisher“It Can Be Lonely to Have a Middle-of-the Road Opinion on the Middle East” Nonviolent Communication by Marshall B. RosenbergBeing Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza by Peter BeinartThe Power of Showing Up by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne BrysonMistakes Were Made (but Not by Me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson“Family Ties” by David Bashevkin“Spending the Seder Alone” by David BashevkinBaderech by Rabbi Judah Mischel“Pesach Letter to My Child” by Rabbi Ahron LopianskyFor more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

8 Apr 1h 47min

Our Intergenerational Divergence series is sponsored by our friends Sarala and Danny Turkel.This episode is sponsored by an anonymous friend who supports our mission.In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Simon Jacobson—a leading rabbi in the internet age who previously worked closely with the Lubavitcher Rebbe—and his mother, Silvia, who was born into a Chabad family in Europe nearly 90 years ago.Together, they have witnessed and experienced the development of the Chabad movement and the Jewish People over several historic eras. In this episode we discuss:How has Chabad managed to maintain continuity over wildly different generations and historical contexts? What can the mystical notions of tzimtzum, concealment, and revelation teach us about parenting? How has the way we talk about “trauma” evolved over generations?Tune in to hear a conversation about how we can transmit tradition to our children with confidence and rootedness in order to find a dwelling place for God in every generation. Interview begins at 11:15.Rabbi Simon Jacobson heads The Meaningful Life Center, called a “Spiritual Starbucks” by The New York Times, which bridges the secular and the spiritual through a wide variety of live and online programming. He is the author of the best-selling book Toward a Meaningful Life, a William Morrow publication that has sold over 400,000 copies to date. Rabbi Jacobson is a speaker, educator, and mentor.Sylvia, Simon's mother, is the matriarch of the Jacobson family. References:Kabbalah and the Rupture of Modernity: An Existential History of Chabad Hasidism by Eli RubinToward a Meaningful Life by Simon Jacobson“Tzomo Lecho Nafshi”The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasVanity Fair by by William Makepeace ThackerayThe Algemeiner“Rabbi Simon Jacobson Appears on Larry King Live | June 1994”The Way of All Flesh by Samuel ButlerFor more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

25 Mars 1h 49min

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Eitan Hersh, a professor of political science at Tufts University, about teaching students of radically different political and religious views how to speak to one another.College campuses have been a hotbed of contentious conversations, especially on issues around Israel, and Prof. Hersh is someone who’s been teaching his students to turn their disputes productive. In this episode we discuss:What happens when Hersh brings up Jewish topics in his college classes? How are students discussing the issue of removing international students who support terrorist organizations? How would Hersh teach Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews to understand one another?Tune in to hear a conversation about what happens when personal subjects become the content of a college course. Interview begins at 7:25.Eitan Hersh is a professor of political science at Tufts University. His research focuses on US elections and civic participation. Hersh is the author of Politics is for Power (Scribner, 2020), Hacking the Electorate (Cambridge UP 2015), as well as scholarly articles. He earned his PhD from Harvard in 2011 and served as assistant professor of political science at Yale University from 2011-2017. His public writings have appeared in venues such as The New York Times, USA Today, The Atlantic, POLITICO, and The Boston Globe. References:“Where the Left Studies the Right” by Barton Swaim“A Conservative Thought Experiment on a Liberal College Campus” by Rachel SladeThe Benedict Option by Rod DreherHalacha Headlines18Forty Podcast: “Elie Schulman: Does Therapy Work? A Patient’s Journey”The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America by Coleman HughesThe Two-Parent Privilege by Melissa S. KearneyHacking the Electorate: How Campaigns Perceive Voters by Eitan D. HershFor more 18Forty:NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/joinCALL: (212) 582-1840EMAIL: info@18forty.orgWEBSITE: 18forty.orgIG: @18fortyX: @18_fortyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

18 Mars 1h 12min

Subscribe to our email list here. In this Purim episode of the 18Forty Podcast, David Bashevkin talks about what Saturday Night Live has taught him about life, creativity, and running an organization. Prompted by the show’s 50th anniversary, we’re reflecting on lessons from five decades of laughter. In this episode we discuss: How did Lorne Michaels’s unique vision and insights help him “invent” SNL?What are the top five lessons about Jewish life that David has learned from the life of the SNL creator, born as Lorne David Lipowitz?What are David’s three favorite Jewish sketches from SNL?Tune in to hear a serious analysis of a comedic show. David Bashevkin is the founder of 18Forty. He is also the director of education for NCSY, the youth movement of the Orthodox Union, and the Clinical Assistant Professor of Jewish Values at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University. He completed rabbinic ordination at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, as well as a master’s degree at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies focusing on the thought of Rabbi Zadok of Lublin under the guidance of Dr. Yaakov Elman. He completed his doctorate in Public Policy and Management at The New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, focusing on crisis management.  He has published four books, Sin·a·gogue: Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought, a Hebrew work B’Rogez Rachem Tizkor (trans. In Anger, Remember Mercy), Top 5: Lists of Jewish Character and Character, and Just One: The NCSY Haggadah. David has been rejected from several prestigious fellowships and awards.References:Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live by Susan MorrisonLive From New York by Tom Shales and James Andrew MillerBossypants by Tina FeyToo Funny to Fail: The Life & Death of The Dana Carvey Show (2017)Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: “Lorne Michaels: Everybody Likes to See the Monkeys”Tikkunei Zohar 57b“Weekend Update: Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy on the Story of Hanukkah”“Weekend Update: Adam Sandler on Hanukkah”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

11 Mars 43min