Link to video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/aeVekOqP7-Y
The tables have turned! The wonderful, renowned Orthodox Jewish podcaster Dovid Bashevkin, host of 18forty, who interviewed me for his podcast, returned the favor and joined me for a candid conversation about the inside-outside perspectives. He inside, I outside, together we have an interest in the same thing from different angles.
Bashevkin is one of the most thoughtful voices in the Orthodox Jewish world, for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, doubt, Shabbos, Jewish identity, community, America, Israel, assimilation, spirituality, and what it means to build a meaningful Jewish life in 2026.
What makes this conversation especially interesting to me is that Dovid and I approach many of the same questions from different locations. He speaks from deep inside Orthodox communal life; I often speak from the margins, or from outside looking in. And yet we share a fascination with how people search for meaning, belonging, transcendence, and authenticity.
Links:
• Dovid Bashevkin on Twitter/X: [@DBashIdeas](https://x.com/DBashIdeas?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• 18Forty podcast: [18Forty](https://18forty.org/podcasts/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
• My appearance on his podcast: [My conversation with Dovid Bashevkin on 18Forty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEaI-Paltfc&t=1s&utm_source=chatgpt.com)
We talked about:
• why he created the 18Forty podcast
• the “institutional scaffolding” of modern Jewish life
• why younger Jews are restless even inside successful communities
• Shabbos as both beautiful and difficult
• assimilation, identity, and the pressure to “earn” love
• celebrity culture and existential longing
• the future of American Orthodoxy
• why so many young Orthodox Jews are drawn to Israel
• cultural translation between Jewish worlds
• gum as contraband in Hasidic childhoods 😭
Thank you to all channel members, subscribers, viewers, and commenters who make these conversations possible.
Frieda
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