Daf Shvui/Weekly Daf: Give me forty minutes or so and I'll give you a daf or so

Send us Fan Mail We are more or less done with the daughters of Zelophehad, (though are we ever really done with the daughters of Zelophehad?), but we are continuing with a midrashic sugya dedicated to the sanctification of the month/shabat/the curious holiday of the fifteenth of Av and what that is all about—and it seems to be about a lot of stuff. All in this week's daf. This week's da...

Send us Fan Mail On this pod, recorded and uploaded just before Pesach, we are gliding in for a landing on the large Daughters of Zelophehad midrashic run we've had for the past few dapim. Great to go into the seder thinking about the history of standing up to authority, maybe. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. H...

Send us Fan Mail There's more to talk about and learn about. The seemingly endless tale of the daughters of Zelophehad and Moshe. Including in this week's episode—what happened in the study hall? All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and...

Send us Fan Mail We're still working through the halakhic details of the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, and we've added working through the details of the Josephites and their claim for more land, and others who were denied a portion in the Land of Israel. Fascinating stuff here. All in this week's daf. Join us. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna...

Send us Fan Mail Its a tour of Tannaitic texts, a veritable a Mishnah, Midrash, and Tosefta fabula in this week's daf. We focus on the daughters of Zelophehad and their inheritance and how that intertwines with the detailed discussions of inheriting the Land. Its all in this week's daf! This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrew...

Send us Fan Mail This week, within the continuing discussion of the line of inheritance we visit one of the most awful stories in the book of Judges, we check in on Solomon's worthiness to rule, we get some rules to live by and we bring to an end, the discussion of the mishnah. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Arama...

Send us Fan Mail We finish the Talmudic discussion of the first mishnah and begin the discussion of the second mishnah. We also witness a throw down between Sages and Sadducees. (Spoiler alert: the Sages win.) All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew...

Send us Fan Mail Two new questions this week: 1. How long following an acquisition, a qinyan can one renege from the acquisition? 2. Why does the mishnah twice note, in different ways, that a woman does not inherit from her son even though she may bequeath to them. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewboo...

Send us Fan Mail Still trying to figure out the order of inheritance. You'd be surprised how many different paths to bequeath and inherit there are. And then a short conversation about the judicial mechanics of inheriting, and a jaunt into "the rabbis don't know everything." All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebr...

Send us Fan Mail Once again into the breach. Can a husband inherit from his wife from the Torah? Or can only a son inherit from his mother? Three versions of the conversation in this week's daf. Also the two poems that I read this week were from Leah Naomi Green's first book of poetry  The More Extravagant Feast available through Graywolf Press . This week's daf can found in the fol...

Send us Fan Mail Still trying to figure out the patriarchal precedence in inheritance.  Zecharyah ben Haqatzav putting up futile resistance to the patriarchal hegemony. A fun little story about a rabbi on rabbi beatdown. And, of course, the gemara is worried about the estate slip-sliding away from the father's tribe/family to the mother's. It's all in this week's daf. This week...

Send us Fan Mail This week we dive into a discussion of the idol of Micah which somewhat/somehow clarifies what the importance or significance of inheritance lines is. Then we get back into about who inherits—son or daughter? All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefari...

Send us Fan Mail We are continuing our discussion of who inherits whom, and why is it the male? We also dip our toes into a more spiritual or ethical understanding of inheritance. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with many commenta...

Send us Fan Mail It's a new chapter and a new conversation in which the Mishnah and then the Talmud takes on the question of inheritance—where did possession all start? Is that good or bad? Who gets to inherit? (Spoiler alert, on the whole, inheritance is another way to preserve the patriarchal line.) Well, let's get started. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vil...

Send us Fan Mail To celebrate the completion of the second chapter of Baba Batra, I invited Charlotte Fonrobert , a professor in the Religious Studies department at Stanford University whose current research focuses on the rabbinic eruv, or Shabbat boundary, and the way that the laws and culture of eruv define Jewish identity. Our wide ranging conversation delved into the 2000 plus years of eruv—f...

Send us Fan Mail (the original description:) In order to mark and celebrate the completion of the first chapter of Baba Bathra, we invited Prof. Alyssa Gray to discuss her new book Charity in Rabbinic Judaism: Atonement, Rewards, and Righteousness . Our conversation illuminates some of the poverty relief material that we saw in the first chapter, in addition to putting that material in a larger co...

Send us Fan Mail This is a hadran episode! We are finishing the seventh chapter and wishing it "see you soon" (what hadran means). This week we continue the conversation about dividing land and how to do that fairly. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic...

Send us Fan Mail Once more unto the breach. Can we nail down what is intended in the sale of a piece of property? How much off the mark can the assessment be before it is fraud? And what about the original division of the Land of Israel? All in this week's daf. This week's daf can found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English...

Send us Fan Mail This week we delve into another case of saying things with words, and then finding out that perhaps it is not the words but the possession. We also look at an example of the artistry of the stam. Its wild; and its all in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English fro...

Send us Fan Mail And … we're back. We're still talking about what the language of buying and selling means. When is a little more or less land in a deal a mistake or a fraud? Its all in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with m...

Send us Fan Mail Its a new chapter! Its more of the same amazing conversation! What do words mean? Legally? Is a kur a kur? Is the hole part of the field? Part of the whole? Its all in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with many comment...

Send us Fan Mail We finish the Sixth Chapter this week in a discussion of found graves and abandoned graveyards. We also start the seventh chapter. just a bit. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with many commentaries from Alhator...

Send us Fan Mail Burial caves, the space of death, ground zero of space and place, in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with many commentaries from Alhatorah.org Please be in touch with any comments, criticisms, or witticisms at thewido...

Send us Fan Mail We continue this week with an interesting discussion of the ways that the people's perogatives impinge on private property. And the final space—the grave. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. Hebrew and English from Sefaria.org 3. Hebrew and Aramaic with many commenta...

Send us Fan Mail This week we conclude the conversation about the magical, mystery ark and cherubs. Then we are back with a discussion of place and ownership, and whether or not and how individual ownership intersects with or confronts public claims. All in this week's daf. This week's daf can be found in the following places: 1. Vilna page (Hebrew and Aramaic) from Hebrewbooks.org 2. He...