Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 101 and 102 asks what happens when a carpenter is asked to make a chair, but instead makes a bench, which is of lower value, or the reverse, where the carpenter who is hired to make a bench, makes a chair instead. The larger question that one might ask is whether one should create something beautiful that only can be enjoyed by one, or something that could be enjoye...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 99 and 100 asks whether what deference we need to give to experts who may get something wrong. In considering this question, we share an interview from our sister podcast Unorthodox, where we chat with Thomas Nichols, professor of national security at the United States Naval War College, about his book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowled...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 98 begins with the claim that if someone throws another person’s coin into the sea, they are not obligated to pay restitution as the coin is still accessible to the one who lost it. This idea encourages us to consider acting rather than just feeling aggrieved. Are there times when we need to stop pitying ourselves and just deal with it? Listen and find out. Like the...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 97 discusses the difference between a stolen coin that cracks and one that is invalidated. Tevi Troy returns to discuss the times in our history when governments have had to deal with changes in the monetary system, from abandoning the gold standard to contemplating the ramifications of cryptocurrency. What happened when Milton Friedman spoke truth to power? Listen a...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 96 is a discussion of whether a robber must pay back the value of the oxen that they stole, or whether they must also include in their payment some portion of the enhancement of the land that occurred while the robber used the animals to work the land. The discussion ends with the Rabbi Nachman agreeing that a payment beyond the value of the oxen is unusual but was n...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 94 and 95 ask whether it is allowed to say a blessing over something that is ill-gotten. Rabbi Dovid Beshevkin returns to explore the debate amongst the Rabbis on whether it is appropriate to make a blessing over unkosher food, or if that would be considered blasphemy. We explore the question of whether saying a blessing isthe act of asking for permission or an act...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 92 and 93 explore the idea that even if one pays the fine for the damages they cause, they are not forgiven in the heavenly courts until they ask for forgiveness from the victim. Rabbi Dovid Beshevkin joins us to explore why the Mishna insists that you must apologize to be forgiven in the eyes of God. Is settling damages about paying off your debts, or is it about c...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 91 asks whether the amount paid when one humiliates a rich person should be higher than that paid of a poor man, as the rich are accustomed to more respect than the poor. The Talmud resolves that as all people are deserving of the same payment as we all come from the same honorable lineage. This is an important reminder that we all are deserving of respect and human...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 90 discusses the penalties that one must pay to another if they slap them. There are different levels of penalty that must be paid depending on the type of slap, and the location on the body that is slapped. Tablet’s Courtney Hazlett returns to explore the story of the slap heard around the world, that being the slap by Will Smith of comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 A...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 89 asks whether a woman can use the financial value of her marriage contract to pay restitution to someone she has damaged. The Rabbis go on to discuss the potential difference between an actual possession and a promise of a possession listed in words. This idea reminds us of the financial bubble that came out of the growth of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the mo...

Covering Their Tracks is the extraordinary story of a young man’s escape from a moving train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust, and his fight to hold the French national rail company, the SNCF, accountable for their actions as they later bid for lucrative high-speed rail contracts in the United States. For more information visit http://tabletmag.com/coveringtheirtrack...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 87 and 88 asks what Jewish ethics permit us to do when we are on the retaliating end of atrocities. This is an especially important question in the aftermath of October 7. We welcome Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Brody, author of Ethics of Our Fighters: A Jewish View on War and Morality to discuss the complicated balance between indiscriminate killing and maintaining our defense...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 85 and 86 follows a discussion where the question of what happens when someone receives a harsh punishment, and the decision must be made on how to dole out such a horrible punishment. This topic is very timely, as the State of Alabama is preparing to execute Kenneth Smith, after his conviction on the charges of murder. In response to his immanent death, religious l...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 84 focuses on one of the most famous phrases in Biblical justice, “An Eye For An Eye”. While this concept may seem barbaric and encourage severe responses to actions that you befall, the Rabbis saw it in a different light. They indicate that because we all feel things differently, pain included, it is impossible to ensure that an even punishment is given in this form...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 83 begins with Yehuda HaNasi proclaiming that one should speak either the sacred language of Hebrew, or the language of the environment, at that time, Greek. Tablet Magazine’s Courtney Hazlett returns today to share her journey in learning Hebrew. While she began to learn in preparation for her Bat Mitzvah, she has double downed on her commitment to learning the lang...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kamma 82, issues a strange warning against... education? Rabbi Ari Lamm joins us to explain what the rabbis meant when they spoke of Greek Wisdom, and how Jewish culture and values have always had to struggle with divergent and popular ideas. What can the rabbis' wisdom teach us about the current state of secular education? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 80 and 81 begin by discussing what animals one was allowed to take in as pets in their homes. It then moves on to discuss other horrible calamities that may befall a community, including the mosquito. The Environmental Protection Agency recently approved a new technology that would stop mosquitoes from procreating, which might finally end this scourge on our society...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 78 and 79 ask why a thief must pay a larger fine than a robber. The Talmud goes on to explain that a robber is only transgressing against other people, but the action of the thief is a sin against God as well as he tries to hide his actions by stealing at night. What can we learn about our actions from the fines put upon a thief versus that of a robber? Listen and f...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 77 discusses the difference in payment that a thief must make if they steal an animal and then sell only part of it, or if they slaughter it in an impure way, versus the punishment payment that they must make it they sell it entirely, or in a ritually pure manner. Tablet’s own Sam Hacker joins us to tell her tale of a pair of pants that she has coveted over a long pe...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 76 tells of the Rabbis of the Talmud discussing the sacrificial meat that is still present after its allotted time to be used. Unorthodox co-host Stephanie Butnick returns to discuss the age-old question of leftovers, and more specifically, how long you can keep leftovers for future meals. With the improvement of refrigeration since the times of the Talmud, the lengt...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 75, begins by telling the story of two rabbis who meet and one admits to hurting their slave. The other indicates that for there to be a fine (the freeing of a slave) there would need to be witnesses for that action. The rabbis of the Talmud then get into a discussion of whether or not that would still be the case since the rabbi to whom the confession was made was t...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 73 and 74 discuss the time limit between saying two phrases that either makes them a single comment, or two separate comments, and indicates that the pause must be the shorter than the length of time that it takes for a student to greet their teacher in order for it to be considered a single statement. Education expert and educator at the Shefa School in Manhattan V...

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 71 and 72 share the story of a Rabbi changing his mind on an issue and explaining that the reason that he changed his mind was that the first answer came when he hadn’t eaten, and the second was his decision after eating a fine meal of meat. Tablet producer Josh Kross returns to discuss whether a good decision can be made if you haven’t eaten a meal of meat, or if a...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 70 warns us not to make judgements based on partial information, but rather to wait until we have all of the information. This feels as though it was ripped right from our current newspaper and social media centric world. How often are reports made or posts shared when only a piece of the full story has come to light? What do we lose when we rush to judgement rather...

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 69 explores the lack of a requirement to demarcate your vineyards during the sabbatical year when it is unlawful for anyone to eat from the vine as it is understood that you are not required to take precautions to protect the wicked from the consequences of their sins. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss the story of the poison sandwich, the story of a bullied...