In light of recent antisemitic violence and the Israel-Hamas war, Rabbi Aviva Richman reflects on the complex lessons of the Purim story, focusing on themes of Jewish vulnerability and the use of force for self-defense.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, Rabbi Menachem Penner, dean of RIETS at Yeshiva University, and his son Gedalia, a musician and cantor-in-training who identifies as LGBTQ+, discuss their journey in reconciling their family's religious tradition with Gedalia's sexual orientation.