18Forty Podcast25 Maalis 2025

Sylvia and Simon Jacobson: How Different Generations Talk About Jewish Life [Divergence 1/6]

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 Rubin

Toward a Meaningful Life by Simon Jacobson

“Tzomo Lecho Nafshi”

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Vanity Fair by by William Makepeace Thackeray

The Algemeiner

“Rabbi Simon Jacobson Appears on Larry King Live | June 1994”

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler

For more 18Forty:

NEWSLETTER: 18forty.org/join
CALL: (212) 582-1840
EMAIL: info@18forty.org
WEBSITE: 18forty.org
IG: @18forty
X: @18_forty

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/18forty-podcast--4344730/support.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(276)

Menachem Penner and Gedalia Robinson: A Child's Orientation [Divergence 3/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Rabbi Menachem Penner—dean of RIETS at Yeshiva University—and his son Gedalia—a musician, cantor-in-training, and member of the LGBTQ community—about...

22 Maalis 20211h 19min

Daniel Grama & Aliza Grama: A Child in Recovery [Divergence 1/4]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbi Daniel Grama—rabbi of Westside Shul and Valley Torah High School—and his daughter Aliza—a former Bais Yaakov student and recovered addict...

8 Maalis 20211h 28min

Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel: How Can God be Found After Trauma? [God 3/3]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel—speaker, educator, and yoetzet halacha— about the effects of tragedy on emunah. In 2014, Rabbanit Rachelle Fraenkel’...

23 Helmi 20211h 22min

Dr. Aaron Segal: Can God Be Proven? [God 2/3]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Aaron Segal, philosophy professor and student of both Rav Aharon Lichtenstein and Alvin Plantinga, to discuss God from the perspective of a...

16 Helmi 20211h 28min

Rabbi David Aaron: How Should We Talk About God? [God 1/3]

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down with Rabbi David Aaron, author, thinker, and educator, to discuss what God is and isn’t. People often think of God as a powerful, heavenly figure gi...

9 Helmi 20211h 16min

OTD Highlights

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down for a special session with our host, David Bashevkin, to discuss one of the podcast’s first topics: going off the derech. There are many preconcepti...

26 Tammi 202156min

Talmud Highlights

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down for a special podcast with our host, David Bashevkin, to review the first topic that 18Forty covered: Talmud. Though Judaism has many facets to its ...

19 Tammi 20211h

Why 1840?

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we sit down for a special podcast with our host, David Bashevkin, to discuss the podcast’s namesake, the year 1840. Though humanity’s history is long and rich, ...

12 Tammi 202137min