Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 93 and 94, deliver a stunner: Never, the rabbis insist, underestimate the power of an ordinary person cursing at you. Can using four-letter words actually be good for your body and soul? And did the rabbis figure it all out long before cable TV had? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Fol...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 92, brings up the question of justice, not just of the earthly courts but of the Heavenly Court as well. Asaf Romirowsky, a historian who runs Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, joins us to discuss one recent travesty of justice, the story of Hamas's first American victim and a family trying to hold the men who aided his assassins responsible. What does a decad...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 91, teaches us a very important lesson from none other than Rabbi Akiva about the importance of treating others with respect and, more urgently, treating ourselves the same way. Why is despair the greatest conceivable sin? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeon...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 90, starts out by talking abou the way we treat animals, and ends up revealing a major insight into how religious belief ought to work. Should we keep the mitzvot blindly and without questioning them? Or are we permitted, even obliged, to stop and ask just why it is that God is asking us to do this or not do that? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to ou...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 88 and 89, dive into the question of what, precisely, is a worker working in the field permitted to eat. Lisa Ann Sandell, book editor and writer and Chili's alum, joins us to reflect on life in the food service industry, and the moral conundrums that keep coming out of the kitchen. What can being a server teach us about food, justice, and humanity? Listen and fin...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 86 and 87, recount the story of a sage fleeing government malignment and persecution. Tevi Troy returns to the show to discuss cases of malignment in presidential history. How disastrous can the effects of defamation be? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeone...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 85, finds the rabbis asking themselves the same question so many of us have been asking since Oct. 7, 2023: What did we do to deserve such a catastrophe? Their answers are subtle, surprising, and incredibly relevant. Why are blessings the key to rebuilding after disaster? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at take...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 84, tells a tragic tale of two great rabbis and their heartbreaking end. Liel recounts this story of a teacher and student, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish, and the disagreement that led to both of their demises. What happens when we don’t make peace with the people we disagree with? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 83, discusses one method of catching a thief: by profiling those drinking at taverns in the wee hours of the morning. Tevi Troy returns to the show to discuss the tension between law and order and caution regarding over-criminalization in presidential campaigns. Does the early bird catch a worm or a conviction? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our w...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 81 and 82, bring to light an apparent rabbinic mistake. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why this mistake wasn’t actually a mistake. What happens when a rabbi makes an incorrect ruling? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conve...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 79 and 80, hold a lesson about our responsibility to our faith hidden within a discussion about labor. Rabbi David Bashevkin joins us to tease out this lesson. What level of responsibility do we have to the unchosen gifts that we have been given? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 78, introduces us to a new word - angaria, a term used to describe a situation in which the government has the right to seize property for public service. Tevi Troy returns to the show to discuss a personal experience with eminent domain. Is eminent domain the modern version of angaria? Listen and find out. This episode is in memory of Bernard Dov Troy - Dov Moshe...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 77, asks what to do when the item we ordered is not the item we receive. Producer Josh Kross joins us to recount a recent experience in France that speaks to this question. Is it ever okay to send a dish back to the kitchen? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @take...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 76, kicks things off with an almost comical tale of people confusing each other until all interaction grinds to a halt. Which, alas, is still a very big problem in corporate America these days. Why is it so hard for us to simply understand each other? And what can we do about it? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 74 and 75, make an exception to the prohibition against charging interest. We examine the balance between equity and excellence. Why can the righteous sometimes lend with interest? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 72 and 73, talk about the life changing power of conversion. We share a story from the 2018 Conversion episode of Unorthodox about a 13-year-old converting to Judaism. What happens when a Jew borrows money from a gentile and then that gentile converts? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com....

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 71, gives us a fiery lesson in business ethics. We investigate the Talmud’s claim that lending with interest is akin to denying Hashem’s existence. How should businesspeople commit to ethics in a way that’s more than just lip service? Listen and find out.  Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitt...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 70, tells us of a king who takes pity on the poor. We investigate this pages modern relevance in light of our time’s astonishing income inequality. Is meritocracy the backbone of American greatness and ingenuity, or a vicious cycle that makes everyone, even the winners, miserable? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a not...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 69, tells a tale of reconciliation. We investigate a Samaritan business deal mediated by a rabbi. Will our foes forever be against us? Listen and find out. Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group....

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 67 and 68, report that one of the Talmud's greatest rabbis refused to identify as a Torah scholar. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this strange and inspiring case, and what it has to teach us today. Are we being humble enough? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twi...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 65 and 66, raise the question of just how much enticement we truly need before doing something we understand is risky. Shavit Romero, a non-Jewish son of Colombian migrants to Israel who joined the IDF, is converting to Judaism, and was badly injured in Gaza, joins us to speak of his journey. What drew him to the army and the perils of war? Listen and find out. Li...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 64, teaches us a lesson in fair rent rates and practices. Why, then, is New York City ignoring the age-old wisdom of the rabbis? And what to do about its surge in illegal squatters seizing property all over town? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi a...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 61, 62, and 63, find the rabbis making strange comparisons between the Exodus and weights and measurements. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this strange choice, and how it teaches us that we all have our own unique purpose in life. How to tell things apart when they look a lot alike? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter....

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 58, 59, and 60, deliver sound advice from the rabbis about the three sins you mustn't commit if you don't wish to end up in hell. Our very own Presidentscher Rav, Tevi Troy, joins us to shed light on these transgressions, and how presidents and politicians have delighted in them for decades. What did RFK wish he'd never done to LBJ? Listen and find out. Like the s...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 56 and 57, sing the praises of double standards. Why are some bits of property valued much more than others? And what does it teach us about choosing excellence over equity? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take O...