Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud pages, Yevamot 95 and 96, deliver a zany tale about a man who married again and again. Mark Oppenheimer joins us to talk about his own grandfather, who sped through no less than six marriages, and how the old man's example shaped his family's attitude to wedded bliss. What crucial relationship advice is the Talmud offering us today? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Yevamot 94, gives us a rare glimpse into how two of the Talmud's giants approached their craft. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on these wise men and their divergent intellectual traditions, and explain why their differences still matter to us today. How does a person's upbringing influence the way he or she sees the world? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 93, finds one of the rabbis musing about currency, exchange rates, and the precise nature of our economy. Cryptocurrency expert and writer Ben Samuels joins us to explain what the rabbis would've made of Bitcoin, and why the Talmud is surprisingly forward-thinking when it comes to thinking about money. What's money worth anyway? Listen and find out. Like the show? S...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 90, 91, and 92, deliver one of the most poetic evocations of justice in all of Judaism, instructing us that the law must always pierce the mountain, meaning that we should never abandon our inquiry into what is right in an effort to fashion a more perfect world. One hundred and six years ago this week, Louis Brandeis became the first Jew appointed to the United Sta...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 88 and 89, teach us that judges and leaders are like fathers to us and therefore deserve special rights and privileges. Producer Josh Kross joins us to talk about being a member of an early stay-at-home dad group, the looks he got from moms in the park, and why our modern understanding of fatherhood changed a bit since Talmudic times. How's the patriarchy doing thes...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 87, introduces a surprising legal ruling intended to release agunot, literally meaning women chained to their marriages. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to speak of this still deeply painful and, sadly, relevant subject, and offer an inspiring story from a recently departed American rabbi who devoted his life to helping agunot. What did the Talmudic rabbis do to help...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 86, kicks things off with a hilarious story of two of the Talmud's most famous rabbis quibbling with each other. Our very own Presidentscher Rav, historian and former official in the George W. Bush administration Dr. Tevi Troy joins us with an amusing story from the Ford White House that shows that this kind of rivalry among the powerful and influential is still ali...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 85, raises thorny questions about the rights and responsibilities men and women face when it comes to marriage, childbirth, sin, and other human pursuits. Yeshiva University's Dr. Shaina Trapedo joins us with a riveting tale of Henry VIII and how his very Talmudic understanding of these questions shaped world history. How did Shakespeare forever change the historica...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 83 and 84, tell us a maddening story about a rabbi shouted down by a group of his peers. Is the Talmud trying to warn us about so-called "cancel culture"? Or is it teaching us a deeper lesson about how to argue, and, more importantly, how to educate our children? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @t...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 81 and 82, give us an accounting of several non-binary gender experessions. Shoshanna Wechter, a woman of trans experience, joins us to talk about how reading the rabbinic deliberations makes her feel, and what this hotly debated modern subject can learn from Judaism's ancient wisdom. What does being in the women's section of the synagogue feel like for Shoshanna?...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 80, raises the painful subject of infertility. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to offer a reflection from a wise Hasidic master on having and not having children and on finding hope in dark places. Why did so many of the Bible's heroes struggle with fertility issues? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at ...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 79, gives us a beautiful passage about the essence of the Jewish people, suggesting that at the core of our spirituality is a commitment to mercy and compassion. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to unpack this lovely meditation, and explain what it has to teach us today. Are shy people particularly holy? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletm...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 78, warns us against judging our historical heroes too harshly. Douglas Murray, author of the bestselling The War on the West, joins us to explain our recent appetite for tearing down statues of our heroes, and why seeing the past through the very narrow lens of current ideological convictions is a very bad idea. Does Thomas Jefferson still represent the values of t...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 76 and 77, tell us about a man named Barzilai who was so licentious, he would get aroused merely by looking at a woman's dress. What can this Talmudic dude teach us about the pitfalls of Internet pornography? And what dangers do we face when we turn the holy work of sexual arousal into something fast, flat, cheap, and dirty? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 74 and 75, deliver a master class in how to have difficult conversations about controversial subjects. What can those of us who spend so many hours each day engaged in heated exchanges about politics learn from the wise rabbis? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversat...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 73, gives us a lesson in purity. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about coming to terms with our own imperfections, and why only those who have stumbled can help others rise. What should we be looking at when we gauge holiness? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conv...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 72, introduces a moving image of a cool breeze blowing every night at midnight to give the Israelites erring in the wilderness some comfort. Poet Maya Pindyck joins us to meditate on this passage and read out one of her recent and relevant poems. Is there such thing as a magical moment in time? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag....

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 71, brings up a piercing question: What happens when a MAN who was already circumcised as an infant decides to convert to Judaism as an adult? Writer and artist Christopher Noxon joins us to share his own journey, and tell us about a strangely moving ceremony at the home office of a doctor friend in Los Angeles. What's the circumcision ceremony like for the already...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 69 and 70, remind us that we're all converts to Judaism, which means that even if we come from the most pristine lineage we still have to choose and do Jewish, rather than merely be Jewish, a choice we're asked to make again and again every day. What does that teach us about being kind to others, and about forgiving ourselves? Listen and find out. Like the show? Se...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 67 and 68, contain what is likely the first recorded instance of the disclaimer that retweets do not equal endorsements. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about what the Talmud teaches us about having an argument, and why agreement isn't necessary but acknowledgment is. What other useful bits of Twitter etiquette did the rabbis have in store? Listen and find ou...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 66, dives into the painful and traumatic topic of slavery. Activist Charles Jacobs joins us with a frightening reminder that there may be more people enslaved today than at any other moment in human history, and a report on some of the good work being done to free those in bondage. Which countries still openly support modern-day slavery? Listen and find out. Like th...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 65, makes a controversial claim: Because conquest is not in the nature of a woman, the commandment to be fruitful and multiply applies exclusively to men. Writer, podcaster, and mother of six Jordana Horn joins us to try and make sense of this baffling argument, and offer her take on the Bible's first--and, arguably, most important, mitzvah. What does this rabbinica...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 64, argues that time flows differently in Israel than it does anywhere else in the world. Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, formerly of New Jersey and now a resident of Modi'in, joins us to talk about his first Yom Ha'Shoah as an Israeli, and what that moving experience taught him about time. How is an Israeli week different from weeks anywhere else? Listen and find out. Like...

Today’s pages of Talmud, Yevamot 62 and 63, delivers a striking vignette of God congratulating Moses after the latter smashed the first set of tablets, displaying real leadership. Pano Kanelos, president of the newly inaugurated University of Austin, joins us to discuss courage, leadership, and why so many contemporary universities seem to lack both. Can leadership even be taught? Listen and find...

Today’s page of Talmud, Yevamot 60 and 61, expounds on the Bible's first, and arguably most important, mitzvah, the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz joins us to talk about America's precipitous decline in childbirth, explain why no one is having babies, and suggest a few points of light in an otherwise grim demographic picture. Who are the only peopl...