Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud page, Shevuot 12, discusses the two goats offered up on Yom Kippur, one sacrificed and the other pushed off a cliff into the wilderness. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss why this ceremony is an astonishing example of breaking the Fourth Wall and talking to God directly. Why do we sacrifice our own decision-making power? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Shevuot 10 and 11, explain what was done with the leftovers animals in the Temple, those fit to be sacrificed but never used. What insights can we learn from the rabbis to help us do better than the $160 billion worth of food we throw away every year while 50 million Americans go hungry? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Shevuot 8 and 9, raise one of the most difficult questions to ever face the rabbis: Why is a woman giving birth considered a sinner? Is she required to bring a sin offering to repent for that first sin, so long ago, by the first mother, Eve, eating from the Tree of Knowledge? Or is there some deeper lesson here about hope, connection, and gratitude? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Shevuot 7, introduces us to a very special category of sins, those we enter into fully aware of what we're doing yet somehow lose all track of our wrongdoing the more we engage in it. How is that possible? And what brilliant and compassionate atonement payment plan does the Torah prescribe? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Shevuot 6, finds the rabbis talking about what happens when you compare two great kings. Dr. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, returns to explain how the Talmud's dual approaches to power informed Ronald Regan in his struggle with the Soviet Union. How to handle a global adversary and win? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Shevuot 5, finds the rabbis talking about Tzara'at, the affliction that was punishment for slanderous gossip. What can this ancient disease teach us moderns about guarding our tongue? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Shevuot 2, kicks off a brand new tractate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to tell us a little bit about what we have in store for the next few weeks. Why must we be careful when taking the name of God? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 24, brings our tractate to a close. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to sum up what we've learned, and explain Judaism's wonderful attitude to punishment and reward. Why did Rabbi Akiva laugh when he saw Jerusalem destroyed? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 23, issues a stern warning against lashon harah, or malicious speech. But hey, we all gossip, so what's so bad about that, anyway? And what great arguments did the rabbis give to convince us to think before we open our mouths? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 22, finally sheds light on one of the tractate's central questions, namely just how many lashes must a person sentenced to lashing receive. Why did the rabbis subtract one lash from the number indicated in the Torah? And what could their behavior teach us as we think of crime and punishment? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 21, dives into the controversial issue of tattoos. Are tatted Jews really prohibited from being buried in Jewish cemeteries? And what surprisingly moving lesson do the rabbis teach us about finding compassion even as we falter and sin? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 19 and 20, contain a long list of instructions pertaining to Jewish hair. Why can't men shave their beards with a razor, but scissors are fine? And how to address the anxieties around frizzy, curly hair? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 17 and 18, the rabbis warn us that there are times when we must follow very strict procedures or rob even life's most special and sacred moments of all meaning. How is this insight relevant for anyone trying to enjoy a meal these days at a fancy restaurant? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 16, informs us that if you have to go to the bathroom and fail to do so in a timely fashion you risk making your soul detestable. Why is that? And how is relieving ourselves not just of bodily waste but of emotional and spiritual baggage as well key to staying healthy? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 15, asks a fascinating question: Are there any transgressions for which there's no punishment? It's a conundrum we've all faced when we vowed, say, to go to the gym and never did. What, if any, should be the consequences for promises unfulfilled? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 14, delivers a charming little story of three of the most important rabbis of the Talmud talking Torah while buying meat at the butcher shop. What can this slice of life anecdote teach us about the rabbis style of leadership? And what time management skill can we still learn by following their advice? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 12 and 13, take up the thorny question of why, precisely, courts do not absolve those who are truly repentant. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why we may be forgiven for our sins in shul on Yom Kippur but not before an earthly judge. What was the most famous Talmudic discussion ever held in America, and how does it relate to the question at hand? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 10 and 11, kick things off with a strange, spooky story about two murderers that soon blossoms into a gorgeous morality tale. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the important insight the story delivers. What did the rabbis mean when they taught us that we must assist a person to walk down whichever path the person chooses? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 9, delivers a subtle rebuke about the dangers of succumbing to hate. Why should we sometimes be much more attentive to those we hate than to the ones we love? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 8, delivers a stark reminder to watch the way we behave in public. Why should we be meticulously mindful when it comes to the general wellbeing of others? And how do we keep the public domain from becoming a public nuisance? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 5, 6, and 7, contain a fierce debate of the death penalty. Should courts strive as much as they can to make sure we execute as few people as is possible, if not abolish capital punishment altogether? Or is the death penalty a necessary deterrent, without which we're sure to experience more chaos and crime? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Makkot 3 and 4, gives us a good lesson on how to deal with situations of great uncertainty. Should we just trust our gut and hope for the best? Should we analyze all available metrics instead? Or is there a third, wiser solution? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Makkot 2, kicks off a brand new tractate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a rollicking preview of what lies in store. Why are the conspiring witnesses punished with the same fate they schemed to afflict on another? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 113, brings us to the end of our magical tractate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to recap what we've learned, and share Judaism's unique and inspired view of the law. Why keep the commandments when we're already guaranteed a place in the World to Come? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 112, continues the discussion of an idolatrous city and whether or not it should be destroyed. Jordan Gorfinkel returns to help us parse what part, if any, do the residents of this evil town play in determining their fate. Why is Kevin Smith's Clerks a masterful Talmudic meditation? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 110 and 111, kick off a discussion of an idolatrous city and whether or not it should be destroyed. Jordan Gorfinkel has thought about this question a lot, particularly as one of the leading creative forces behind Batman, whose native Gotham is an idolatrous city if there ever was one. Should Gotham be destroyed? Were there innocent people on the Death Star? And what can this Talmudic conversation teach us about, say, Gaza? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 108 and 109, tell the great tale of Nahum Gam Zo, a man whose motto in life was "This, too, is for the best." How did this outlook save him from certain death? And what can it teach us on handling life's thorniest challenges? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 107, tells the heartbreaking story of how Jesus came to leave Judaism's fold. What was his great and wise teacher's sin? And what can it teach us about the need to always do much more to draw people near than we do to drive them away? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 106, dive deep into the story of Balaam, the wicked prophet who set out to curse the Jews and ended up blessing them instead. Courtney Hazlett, Rabbi Diana Fersko, and Josh Kross, the hosts of Tablet's How to Be a Jew podcast, are joined by Jordan Rosenblum, the author of the award-winning book Forbidden: A 3000-Year History of Jews and the Pig, to discuss about how this animal became such a strong and problematic part of Jewish identity. Why is it that sometimes it's the things that are least like us that define us? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 105, instructs us that God is angry with the world each morning, mainly because so many of us get their morning routines all wrong. What should we do as we get out of bed to make sure the rest of our day goes right? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 103 and 104, argue that slanderers, flatterers, liars, and cynics are the only four groups who will not receive the Divine Presence. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why these four, and they alone, were singled out. What was their particular sin, and why we moderns must still watch out for it today? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 101 and 102, kick things off with a strange warning: whoever reads a verse from the Song of Songs and renders it in the form of a secular song introduces evil into the world. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this quizzical yet profoundly important statement. What precious advice about love and marriage were the rabbis giving us with this prohibition? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 100, brings us a fiery story involving laser eyes, an arrogant student, and a strange and sudden death. What can it each us about the scientific method? And what warning does it carry for those who think they've got the world all figured out? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 99, makes a startling claim: When the Messiah comes, very little about life as we know it would change. What is this anti-climactic bit of theology teach us about personal responsibility? Listen and find out

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 98, tells us a striking story about the coming of the Messiah. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain what the Messiah meant when he assured a wise rabbi he was coming that very day. How may we each work to bring about the Messiah's speedy arrival? Listen and find out

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 96 and 97, ask the question of who among us may truly be called wise and privy to the Divine order. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, joins us to explain why thinking that you alone have all the answers has rarely served our political leaders well. How did Richard Nixon conceive of his political frenemies? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 94 and 95, the rabbis advise us that meeting truly means prayer. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to unpack this gorgeous idea and explain what it has to teach us about building community. Why do we only really meet someone when we become deeply invested in their wellbeing? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 93, insists that our worse enemies are actually secretly our most valuable life partners. How can that be true? And what surprisingly timely lesson can we learn from the incense burnt by the ancient priests? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 92, commands us never to demean ourselves, even when in great and mortal danger. How did Mordechai, whose bravery we just celebrated this Purim, embody this ideal? And what does it have to teach us about leadership? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 91, recounts the adventures of a master debater named Geviha ben Pesisa. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, joins us to explain what this ancient sage can teach modern day politicians. Why is debate prep so important? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 89 and 90, give us a startling dialogue between Isaac and Ishmael about the nature of faith, pain, and sacrifice. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why this conversation is still relevant today, when the enemies of the Jewish people bring up the same ancient allegations to justify their hatred. What does true sacrifice look like? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 87 and 88, return to the notion of Ben Sorer u'Moreh, the rebellious son who the Torah instructs must be put to death. But on today's pages, the rabbis add a twist: His parents may save him simply by forgiving him. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this legal exception, and what it has to tell us about the resilience of the Jewish people. Why must we all believe in hope at first sight? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 86, asks what precisely do we mean when we call someone a "brother." Does a brother have to be related to us by blood? Or are there other, loftier things that bind us to each other? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 85, has the rabbis locking horns trying to explain a complicated phrase, before alighting on a very surprising, and very relevant, conclusion. Why is keeping things simple sometimes the wisest option? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 84, discusses the severe punishment due to those who strike their parents. Hadas Yaron, star of the new show Kugel, a prequel to the smash-hit Shtisel, joins us to discuss why the shows are so successful. What is it about a troubled father-daughter relationship we find so captivating? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 82 and 83, remind us of our personal responsibility to act when, God forbid, God's very name is being desecrated. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about the lessons we can learn from the Biblical hero Pinhas, and why we must never wait for someone else to do what we know we must do ourselves. What profoundly Talmudic insight inspired Teddy Roosevelt? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Sanhedrin 80 and 81, bring up a form of punishment that has been previously all but missing from the discussion: prison. Why do the rabbis rarely mention incarceration as a form of punishment? And what can we learn from them to reform our own profoundly broken criminal justice system? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 79, focuses on the relations between actions and intentions. Is a person who intended to kill one person and killed another instead guilty of murder? And why did the rabbis disagree on this puzzling question? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 78, informs us that if ten people beat an eleventh to death together they are exempt from punishment. What's the moral logic of this controversial statement? And what does it teach us about waging war on Hamas and its many willing executioners? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Sanhedrin 77, dives deep into the matter of taking responsibility. At what point are we liable for another person's suffering or death? And why does the distinction matter so much, morally as well as legally? Listen and find out.