Talia Khan: A Jewish Israel Activist and Her Muslim Father [Divergence 5/6]

18Forty Podcast

18Forty

Religion & Spirituality, Judaism

4.6 • 638 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2025

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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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 Dvinsk

Genesis 17:18

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi friends, a few months ago we advertised the birth of a new community in Israel.
0:05.4	Eden Bait Shemesh, a community tailored made for all those of us in need of a five-year plan,
0:12.7	and let's face it, we are living in a time when every single one of us should be drafting the five-year plan for our futures in Israel.
0:20.5	Our own listeners from within the 1840 community have purchased in Eden, an opportunity which
0:26.4	they will longingly watch unfold into a reality, a shul, and a community.
0:32.1	I am so proud that the leaders behind Aden are none other than Rabbi Benny and Khani Krohn. I know them personally because they are the rabbi and Rebitten of my own
0:42.4	personal community and they are the ones leading this new development community. And I know for my own life that
0:49.6	their stewardship, their leadership is you know this is going to be a welcoming, joyous, incredible
0:55.7	community where everyone is going to be able to feel comfortable and build a home.
1:00.2	On June 29th, Eden will be hosting a webinar to speak in detail about the vision for this project.
1:07.6	In order to register, please click the link below or email info at
1:12.7	Edenbateschemish.com to find out more. Once again, that's info at Edenbateshemesh.com
1:20.2	to find out more. Hi, friends. Before we get to today's episode, I want to talk about a sponsor who I'm so excited to
1:29.6	share with you because this company is a company that we use at 1840, anyone who has ever read
1:35.9	our transcripts or our podcasts on our website, which if you haven't done that, they're fantastic.
1:41.6	I know a lot of people who they don't want to listen to me even on
1:44.2	10 speed. So they just read the transcripts and they're all available, of course, on our website
1:48.7	on 1840.org. How do we get such great transcripts, especially because so many of our speakers
1:54.7	drop in words that are sometimes Hebrew, sometimes Yiddish or this or that? How do they understand
2:00.0	the cadence of someone who is
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	...

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