Mishna Accomplished

We get back to the regular routine with Shabbat 9:2-3, featuring two more mishnayot where the rabbis take seemingly-random topics and try to back them up with verses from Tanach. We study them in their entirety - even the challenging parts. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accom...

Today’s episode is the 100th episode celebration with my top two chavrutot, Ren and Rivka! We finish chapter 8 with a discussion of what quantity of earthenware shards will make you liable if you carry it in the public domain on Shabbat. We briefly discuss how to learn difficult mishnas, and then learn Shabbat 9:1, which is a difficult mishna. You can find these mishnas here . I must be the Korban...

Top podcast spouse Ari Baronofsky joins me today to continue our conversation about carrying raw materials in public on Shabbat. We talk a bit about the history of my mishna project and what it's like to be the non-mishna-learning parent. Ari’s joining me as I build up to my 100th episode next week. Thanks to everyone for getting me here! You can find today’s mishnas here . I also refer to the hal...

Today’s episode covers more minimum amounts for carrying raw materials in a public domain on Shabbat. The mishna refers to the size of the smallest piece of parchment that would be put into Tefillin, so I asked Jamie Conway, who is a scribe, to answer my questions about the parchment in today’s tefillin. You can find this mishnas here .   For a deeper cultural dive, watch this clip from My Girl ab...

Today, we keep talking about minimum amounts of specific items that lead to liability when they are carried four cubits in a public domain on Shabbat. First, we learn about beverages, and then we move on to supplies: rope and paper to start. We’ll see more of these materials next time. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here...

Today’s episode returns to the 39th melacha - carrying items in public on Shabbat. The rabbis talk generally about what carrying is halachically significant, and then specify in the cases of animal and human food what minimums and rules apply. You can find these mishnas here .  Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna A...

Today, we finally get to some major principles of Shabbat, including the 39 Avot Melacha of Shabbat. It’s a long episode because we list all 39. You can find these mishnas here .  The book I was raving about today is “The 39 Avoth Melacha of Shabbath”, which you can get on Amazon here (and I imagine in many other fine bookstores.) Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTub...

Today, Rabbi Wendy Zierler joins me to dive into Shabbat 6:9, whose words were the inspiration for her book “Going Out With Knots: My Two Kaddish Years with Hebrew Poetry”. We go deep on the mishna, her life growing up in Toronto and her experience saying Kaddish for 22 consecutive months. At the end, I rush us through a quick discussion of whether home remedies like a locust egg can be used on Sh...

Today’s mishnas finish discussing items women are allowed to wear in public and move on to discussing items that an amputee can wear or use in public. These mishnas are challenging in places, so I talk a bit about having these challenging conversations. You can find these mishnas here . Today is October 7. The Times of Israel has a “Those We Have Lost” section. I shared a bit from this story of Yo...

Today’s mishnas focus on items women may wear in public on Shabbat without violating the prohibition of carrying. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAliza" or by using this link . ( buymeacoffee.com/rabbaali...

tl;dr: We'll be back with episodes on T 10/6, W 10/7, Th 10/8, and F 10/9.

We continue with the mishna listing ‘gear’ that does not count as clothing or accessories and therefore cannot be worn in public on Shabbat without incurring a sin-offering. You can find these mishnayot here .   I dedicate today’s episode to those who fell on 10/7/2023. You can learn more about the Yakir Unity Yizkor project here .   Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the You...

Today, we start chapter 6, which discusses items the rabbis decreed could not be worn in public on Shabbat. For women, we’ve mostly got accessories and for men, we’ve got armor and footwear. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and s...

We continue to discuss gear for animals to wear in public on Shabbat, today covering items that are unacceptable for ‘going out’ on Shabbat. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAliza" or by using this link ....

We begin chapter 5, which discusses which gear is considered too burdensome for animals to wear on Shabbat. Today’s two mishnas focus on gear that is allowed to be worn. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAl...

We’re doing a whole chapter of Shabbat today! (Perhaps for the first time?) Our chapter covers insulating food items before Shabbat so that they will stay warm on Shabbat. A new kind of muktze also makes an appearance. Find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to Bu...

Today’s episode finishes our discussion of hot water with rules about a hot pot that has been removed from the stove. What are you allowed to put into it? We also veer back to Shabbat lamps as we talk about putting a tray under a lamp and carrying a lamp on Shabbat. We touch upon about half of the kinds of muktze! Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! Yo...

Today’s mishnas continue the conversation about cooking on Shabbat - first about using indirect heat to cook an egg, then considering water insulated on Shabbat, and which methods of insulation actually add heat on Shabbat and are therefore forbidden. You can find these mishnas here .  Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of...

Today, we talk about leaving food on a hot surface on Shabbat, which is called “shehiya”. Today’s mishnas discuss how the law differs depending on which kind of hot surface and what kind of fuel. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com...

I welcome my colleague Rabba Amy Newman to the pod as we discuss Shabbat 2:6-7. These mishnas include a difficult rabbinic statement and a checklist for pre-Shabbat preparations. You can find these mishnas here . The article I wrote about Shabbat 2:6 for JOFA in 2018 can be found here . You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "Rabba...

Today the mishna moves to discussing how a lamp could be constructed that would permit or forbid its use, depending on how likely you are to indirectly extinguish the flames. We also discuss what circumstances would warrant extinguishing a flame on Shabbat in general. You can find these mishnas here . Did you miss my class for the Valley Beit Midrash? Watch the YouTube video here ! You can dedicat...

We move into “do’s” as the mishna tells us what we CAN light with as well as what we can’t light with. I reference this Wikipedia page . We close our mishnayot by veering into applications of purity and impurity that relate to lighting a wick on Yom Tov. You can find these mishnas here . You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "Rabb...

We conclude chapter 1 with an example of a case where you could put something on the fire close to Shabbat. Then we begin “Bameh Madlikin”, the chapter that discusses candlelighting. We are given a preliminary list of materials that are not acceptable for use as wick or oil. You can find these mishnas here .   As Yizkor approaches next week, I am dedicating today’s episode in the memory of my gran...

My brother Avi joins me today as we discuss the household of Rabban Gamliel’s laundry habits and try to figure out whether Beit Shammai won over Beit Hillel or the other way around when it comes to starting something before Shabbat that will keep ‘working’ on its own over Shabbat. You can find these mishnayot here . You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffe...

Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel continue their fundamental disagreement about what you can do Friday afternoon by discussing when you have to stop engaging in business with non-Jews on Shabbat. Beit Shammai say you have to finish with them early enough that they can complete the melacha before Shabbat. Beit Hillel says you just have to finish with them before Shabbat. You can find these mishnas here...