Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 49, finds the rabbis in a hungry sort of mood. Producer Quinn Waller joins us to talk about whether you should be a stickler in the kitchen and judge other people for what they do and do not eat, and share one traumatic experience involving smoked fish. What, really, is the ultimate purpose of a well-cooked meal? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios produc...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 47 and 48, raise an interesting question: Can someone make a vow that keeps you from going to shul? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about the ways Jews fight with each other, what the rabbis understood about bickering, and why the Talmud offers us some very useful modern insights on conflict resolution. Can you sell your part in your community's synagogue? List...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 45 and 46, asks what we should do when the space we share becomes a battleground of two conflicting worldviews. Professor Richard Landes joins us to explain what a medievalist has to say about contemporary culture, and why our fantasy that, deep down, we all just want to live in peace is dangerously misguided. What can we learn about our moment in time by studying the...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 44, may be the earliest recorded discussion of the three-day rule, made popular by romantic comedies everywhere. Why is it that we can wait three days, but no longer, before coming to our senses and doing the right thing? And how might've the Talmud inspired that other canonical text of wisdom, How I Met Your Mother? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios pr...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 43, is all about the ways that we give gifts. Unorthodox co-host, and master gift giver Stephanie Butnick joins us to discuss the ways to make the act of giving meaningful, and talks about the best gifts she has received. What will Stephanie be giving as her Hanukkah gift this year? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Lie...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 42, is all about the idea of Shemitah, the seventh year of a seven-year-cycle during which we're commanded to let the earth rest. Why do this? And how is this seemingly esoteric agricultural idea related to the Garden of Eden, and to the promise of one day experiencing a return to paradise? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hoste...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 40 and 41, kick things off with a bang, arguing that young people often destroy when they intend to build and older people build even if they set out to destroy. Tablet Magazine's Editor in Chief Alana Newhouse joins us to talk about her recent piece, entitled "Brokenism," an insightful look at the two divergent ways to understand--and fix--life in America today. Are...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 38 and 39, tell an amazing story about Moses getting rich from the remnants of the second set of Ten Commandments. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this mysterious tale, and the deep, metaphysical meaning behind it. Were the Tablets really just a get-rich-quick scheme? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Le...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 37, asks a question a lot of students have been asking themselves, too: What are teachers for? Vicki Messler, who develops curricula at New York's Shefa School, joins us to talk about our shifting understanding of education, and how teachers, students, and parents can work together to make learning better. How to teach kids now that so much knowledge is just a Google s...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 36, ponders what's the best way to educate and motivate your kids. Producer Darone Ruskay and his charming twin boys join us for a frank father-sons talk about what works, and what doesn't, when trying to get the young ones going. What parenting advice does the Talmud dole out? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Lei...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 35, brings up a weighty conundrum: Do members of the clergy work for us or for God? Rabbi Lauren Tuchman joins us to opine on this barbed question, and share some tips into being a good teacher and communal leader. So, who do the rabbis truly work for? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced an...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 33 and 34, ask a very poignant question: Are we allowed to dress all fancy and pretend we're rich to get preferential treatment? Stephanie Butnick joins us to talk about fashion, material culture, and faking it until we're making it. Is there anything wrong with a little bit of dress-up every now and then? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production....

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 31 and 32, tell us the terrifying story of Moses and the unfortunate bris. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why a snake-like demon had to emerge and dispense some divine justice, and why the story is a powerful meditation on human imperfection and its beauty. What very famous reunion took place on today's page of Talmud? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tab...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 30, explores the importance of language. The rabbis discuss how to understand an oath that is made about someone not yet born, and discuss the importance of not putting language on too high a pedestal. We are joined by Tablet Director of Production Josh Kross, and former producer of a podcast about hip-hop called The Cipher.  Josh shares the ways in which hip hop has t...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 29, reminds us that sometimes the best things in life happen when we do absolutely nothing. Jonathon Stalls, who wrestled with his mental health issues by walking, very slowly and deliberately, across America, joins us to talk about the insights and illuminations that only come when everything grinds down to a halt. What do you learn when you cross America on foot? Lis...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 28, brings up an interesting question: What to do with vows taken under duress? Shakespeare scholar Dr. Shaina Trapedo joins us to explain how this very point lies at the heart of The Merchant of Venice, and how it makes the Bard's play deeper. Why did a recent theater production include the text to the seminal Yom Kippur prayer, Kol Nidrei? Listen and find out. Take O...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 26 and 27, ask a profound question: When arguing, shall we listen to the head or the heart? Author and editor Lisa Ann Sandell joins us to share stories of quibbling with Liel and preach the wisdom of thinking and processing rather than merely reacting. So, how should we conduct ourselves when having a good argument? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios p...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 24 and 25, raise a thorny question: Can you make a vow without fully understanding what it is you're vowing to do? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on Judaism's eternal promise, and on why vows have to be general and all-encompassing to work. Why did Moses make the Jewish people take a vow in his name? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios prod...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 23, tells the story of Abaye and his wife and what happens when one does not do as they are expected to do. Tablet Magazine's Samantha Hacker, our marriage correspondent joins us to talk about the trust that is built between married people, and the ways that we can be disappointed when that trust is shaken. Can trust be rebuilt after a misstep? Listen and find out. Tak...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 22, warns us against the destructive force of sheer anger. Poet and Buddhist monk Norman Fischer joins us to talk about why anger is a mighty and strangely embodied sensation, and what we can do to recognize it and stop it from taking over. How are the teachings of the rabbis about anger a lot like those of Buddhist teachers? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet S...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 21, gives us a thrilling lesson in how to speak our minds. Is it ever okay to literally say things we don't literally mean? And what do we lose when we police each other's speech rather than really taking the time to open our ears and our hearts? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edit...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 19 and 20, suggest that nothing we do really has any meaning unless we do it explicitly, intentionally, and mindfully. The late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks has a few moving thoughts about this very question, reminding us that life is about much more than happenstance. How does prayer give life meaning? Listen and find out. To join in on today's international day of lear...

Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 17 and 18, give us a peek beyond good and evil. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us for a taste of why vows and words continue to have meaning long after the people who spoke them are gone. What supremely optimistic lesson may we learn from today's page? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 16, raises one of Judaism's most central questions: Do we keep the Mitzvot, or commandments, because they're beneficial to us, or simply because we were told? Rabbi Lauren Tuchman joins us to offer an unorthodox and insightful perspective. How important is kavanah, or intentionality, when we do anything Jewish? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios producti...

Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 15, asks whether you can take a vow on something that is already prohibited to you. To discuss this further, we are joined by producer Quinn Waller who discusses the ways in which being Kosher brings her closer to God. Does abstaining from oysters and shrimp deepen her Jewish journey? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by L...