Mishna Accomplished

Today’s mishnas kick off tractate Sukkah with a discussion of building requirements for the sukkah. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .   In the episode, I reference Mishnayot Me’irot series of books. You can find those online here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you get your po...

Today’s mishnas finish our tractate with a discussion of what you cannot do to access a shofar on Yom Tov and then outline the order of the shofar blasts. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I take the opportunity to thank many of the people who helped me get to this point. In the episode, I reference the JOFA UK podcast #YourTorah, which did an individual episode about each tractate. Yo...

Today’s mishnas talk about the composition of the mussaf Amidah and the placement of Shofar blowing. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . You might also want to refer to the Rosh Hashana machzor itself, which can be found here . I continue my discussion of siyyums and when they are useful. (The source I reference talking about the fast of the firstborn is Aruch Hashulchan Orach Chayim 470:...

Today’s mishnas continue our discussion of Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai’s rabbinic enactments. I am joined by Tzipporah Machlah Klapper to discuss them. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  Content note: I often oversimplify concepts when I’m trying not to get too bogged down in secondary details. More accurately, the Biblical prohibition discussed is “carrying an object four cubits in a pu...

Today’s mishnas talk about blowing the shofar on Shabbat in the Temple, and how the rabbis created new traditions after the destruction of the Temple to keep this observance alive. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . I also talk a bit about siyum planning. You’ll notice that I mention that siyums are useful twice a year - this episode talks about one, and episodes 16-17 will talk more abo...

Today’s mishnas talk about intention when performing a mitzvah, and about the role of symbolic actions in two famous stories in the Torah. The mishna tells us three categories of people who cannot blow the shofar for others, which leads to a brief discussion of how to tackle exclusionary content. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out...

Today’s mishnas continue the discussion about which days the shofar was used in the Temple with the addition of Yom Kippur of the Yovel year. Then we shift to the physical shofar, discussing situations when it is too broken to be used or repaired. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast?...

Today’s mishnas tell us about the shofars used in the Temple on Rosh Hashana and public fast days. Special guest Jamie Conway joins us to tell us about being a shofar blower on Rosh Hashana. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you get your podcasts....

Today’s mishnas finish our study of the witness testimony that has taken up much of the last two chapters. Then we begin our discussion of the shofar, starting with what animals are appropriate to provide the shofar. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it where...

Today’s mishnas describe to us how Rabban Gamliel showed the witnesses pictures when he interviewed them. We are told two stories of what happens when the witnesses give dubious testimony. One is a very famous confrontation between Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua that has an epilogue in the Talmud. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check...

Today’s mishnas describe to us how the witnesses were interviewed, and what would happen if there were no witnesses who saw the new moon after the 29th day of the month. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here .  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you get your podcasts. Interested in purcha...

Today’s mishnas tell us where exactly the torch-waving happened, and then discuss rules that apply to the witnesses and people who have to travel to save lives on Shabbat. I talk a bit about how to handle things when one or both of you does not read Hebrew well.  I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wher...

We visualize how the torches were lit to send the message about Rosh Chodesh to the diaspora using a video clip as part of our study of Rosh Hashana 2:2-3. It’s a short episode, so you have plenty of time to watch these two videos of the same scene: Shorter clip: https://youtu.be/i6LGJ7evrAg?si=6Bj8VWOOlCrQnUSz   Longer clip: https://youtu.be/CbNIkPkMwvg?si=OSgbBpH3nY45MZ4X    I use a lot of Hebre...

What edition will you use to learn Mishna? We continue with Rosh Hashana 1:9-2:1, noticing the way that different translations might choose to translate a word differently. I talk a bit about which books we used and what features we liked. I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary  here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you get your podca...

How will you explain tough topics when studying the mishna? We continue with Rosh Hashana 1:7-8, which will touch on a number of hot button issues. I'll share a bit about my approach to thinking about women being witnesses. I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary  here .  Are you enjoying the podcast? Please rate and review it wherever you get your podcasts.

Today, we welcome special guest Ren to the pod. Ren and I studied mishna together daily from 2017 to 2022 and we'll get Ren's perspective on the experience of learning mishna as a young child. We continue with Rosh Hashana 1:5-6. Our content will continue to discuss allowing witnesses to travel to the Temple on Shabbat; we'll meet recurring 'characters' like Rabban Gamliel and talk about the role...

We continue with Rosh Hashana 1:3-4. I outline the contents of the tractate and then we’ll learn the content of the mishna. I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary  here . 

We start our mishna journey with the first two episodes of Masechet (tractate) Rosh Hashana. We’ll learn the content of the mishna and I’ll explain why we started with Rosh Hashana. I use a lot of Hebrew terms when I'm talking. Check out my glossary here . 

Join Rabba Aliza Libman Baronofsky to study two mishnas per episode and hear about how she studied all six orders of the mishna with her children in advance of their bnai mitzvah.