Yabloner Rebbe: The Rebbe of Change (Teshuva Re-Release)
18Forty Podcast
18Forty
4.7 • 704 Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 85 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, originally released in 2021, we talk to Rabbi Pini Dunner and Rav Moshe Weinberger about the Yabloner Rebbe and his astounding story of teshuva.
The Yabloner Rebbe was a chassidishe rebbe who helped found Kfar Chassidim. He disappeared and went to Los Angeles, where he went off the derech, but he later returned to Judaism and Kfar Chassidim in a remarkable example of teshuva.
- Who was the Yabloner Rebbe?
- Why did he leave his faith?
- What inspired him to return?
References:
The God of Loneliness by Philip Schultz
The Amazing Return of the Yabloner Rebbe by Rabbi Pini Dunner
The Astonishing Story of the Yabloner Rebbe by Rabbi Pini Dunner
Mavericks, Mystics & False Messiahs by Rabbi Pini Dunner
Rabbi Pini Dunner Website
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, friends. I am so excited to announce our second season of 18 question 40 thinkers. |
| 0:06.1 | If you love season one, 18 questions 40 Israeli thinkers hosted by Surylifur, |
| 0:11.4 | then you are going to absolutely love our second season of this podcast, 18 questions 40 mystics. |
| 0:18.4 | This podcast and video series are interviewing the leading voices in Jewish mysticism, |
| 0:23.2 | from rabbis and teachers to scholars and artists, to explore the biggest questions about God |
| 0:28.2 | existence to Jewish people, Messianism, and so much more. We are partnering with Rabbi Benji |
| 0:33.8 | Levy and our friends at Cher to bring this to life. And if you are someone itching for deeper spirituality, penimiot, or inspiration, |
| 0:42.1 | or you just want to learn more than this is the podcast for you. |
| 0:45.6 | Each week we interview a different scholar of Jewish mysticism |
| 0:49.7 | and ask the same 18 questions so you get to compare their answers to get the entire spectrum of Jewish thought. |
| 0:56.5 | Subscribe now wherever you get your podcast at 18 Questions 40 Mystics on Apple, Spotify, or whatever else. |
| 1:03.9 | 18 questions, 40 mystics, an incredible season that will open your eyes to the depth of Jewish thought. |
| 1:22.5 | Hello and welcome to the 1840 podcast, where each month we explore different topic balancing modern sensibilities with traditional sensitivities to give you new approaches to timeless Jewish ideas. |
| 1:30.6 | I'm your host, David Bischofkin, and this month we're exploring Teshuvra transformative |
| 1:36.1 | religious change. This podcast is part of a larger exploration of those big, juicy, Jewish |
| 1:42.6 | ideas. So be sure to check out 1840.org. That's the number |
| 1:47.0 | 1-8-F-O-R-T-Y.org where you can also find videos, articles, and recommended readings. |
| 1:53.3 | You may or may not know that I wrote a book about failure called Synagogue, Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought. I'm not here to plug |
| 2:04.1 | the book, but I do want to open up this very special episode with the very same poem that I used |
| 2:13.6 | to open up my book. It's from a Pulitzer Prize winning poet named Philip Schultz, |
| 2:21.0 | who has a collection of poems called The God of Loneliness. And when I saw a collection of poems |
| 2:28.6 | with the title of The God of Loneliness, I realized that this is how I needed to start a book about contending with sin and |
... |
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