Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 15, finds the rabbis discussing intercourse. Batsheva Marcus returns with more insight on how the Talmud viewed human sexuality, and what advice it gives that we can still apply today. How did the rabbis think about something as combustible as sex? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi an...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 14, introduces us to what may be the most famous story in all of Jewish mysticism. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to tell us this Talmudic haunted house story, and what it can teach us about knowing ourselves, others, and God. Why is knowing your own name not as simple as it sounds? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow u...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 13, mentions electricity, a few good centuries before Ben Franklin gazed longingly at his kite. DC Comics legend Jordan Gorfinkel joins us to discuss a page full of strange creatures that seem straight out of the X-Men series, and explain how the rabbis of the Talmud knew all about electric light. How is electricity a metaphor for learning? Listen and find out. Like...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 11 and 12, give us a master class in lewdness and a throwback to the 1990s. Mark Oppenheimer joins us to talk about the world-historical significance of Zima, and what the ill-fated drink can teach us about human spirituality and sexuality. What is the greater meaning of Zima? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 9 and 10, take to task one of the best-known bits of advice about whether, and how much, practice makes perfect. Stephanie Butnick joins us to talk about her days as an elite collegiate fencer, and what she learned about training to be the best. So, does doing something for 10,000 hours really make you great at it? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 8, informs us that the only real joy you could have while eating comes from eating lots and lots and lots of meat. But what is the connection between meat and happiness, precisely? Does it require us to change the ways we think and behave when we feast on flesh? And what common practice is an affront to the rabbis’ teaching about eating meat responsibly? Listen and...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 7, tells us, in a famous passage, that some things, including some mitzvot, just can’t be measured. Rabbi Mordecai Finley joins us to explain this mystical concept, and how it continues to inspire us today. What in life is so precious we just can’t put a number on it? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter a...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 6, kicks things off with a charming image of a small child partaking in the festival and taking in the sights and feelings. Historian and our very own Presidentisher Rav Tevi Troy joins us to share some formative childhood memories that shaped our finest presidents, and give parents some advice on how to raise young people to be both great and good. Which TV channel...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 4 and 5, give us a shockingly candid conversation about God’s tears. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to ponder whether the Almighty indeed weeps, and, if so, who might God weep for. What precious relationship advice does today’s page of Talmud deliver? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi an...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 2 and 3, introduce us to a brand new tractate, all about the obligation to make the pilgrimage to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem thrice a year and celebrate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the sweet mysticism of the rabbis passionately debating a ritual they knew they’d never experience firsthand. What can their dedication teach us about faith, hope, an...

We are about to start a new tractate, masechet Chagigah. It’s the thirteenth tractate, out of the sixty three in the Talmud. Before we start, join us to get a sense of the topics that we will explore and the guests we will be learning with.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 29, brings this gorgeous and mystical tractate to an end. What did it teach us about life, death, and everything in between? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with one final meditation on the wisdom of in-between days. What, exactly, are in-between days, and how may they inspire us to lead richer lives? Listen and find out.  Also, please enjoy Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin’s...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 28, reflects on history and its judgment. Presidential historian Tevi Troy joins us to assess which Oval Office occupants were celebrated in life but reviled by posterity, and which were thought to be duds when elected but heroes from the distance of decades. What did Troy's former boss, George W. Bush, think about history and his place in it? Listen and find out....

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 27, teaches us just how important it is to listen to those less powerful and privileged, and to do whatever you can to ease their anxiety. In this episode, Liel pays tribute to the man who embodied this wisdom better than most, his friend and mentor Todd Gitlin, who passed away this week. What lesson can we learn from the late professor and writer about the transf...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Moed Katan 25 and 26, ponder the question of what happens when a really famous person passes away. Erin Ben Moche, host of the Bagel Report podcast, joins us to talk about why celebrities matter, and why we feel stricken when a famous person we didn't know dies. Why is celebrity journalism a particularly Jewish occupation? Listen and find out.  Like the show? Send us a note...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Moed Katan 23 and 24, bring us a heady mixture of sadness and joy, reminding us that for each tragic event, a simcha, or a joyous occasion, is sure to follow. Shira Hecht-Koller, who runs the 929 project of reading the entire Hebrew Bible in a three-year cycle, joins us to talk about why the rabbis tethered grief and elation, and how reading Jewish texts together makes this...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 22, contains a particularly curious fashion tip, telling women they're free to mend their clothes immediately after ripping them while mourning a loved one. Leandra Medine Cohen, founder of the popular fashion publication Man Repeller, joins us with a deep dive into the Talmud's view on women, fashion sense, and everything in between. How is the rabbis' obsession...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 21, reads a bit like the plot of a particularly dark episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Stephanie Butnick joins us to reflect on why we spend so much time minding the different ways we speak to different people in different circumstances, and whether or not all this social awkwardness is merited. Are we placing too much of a premium on keeping it real? Listen and fi...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 20, ponders what one must do when a spouse's parent passes away. Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy joins us to share the story of her father's sudden illness and death, and how her family coped with the loss. What can you do to help a loved one grieve? Listen and find out.  Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and jo...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Moed Katan 18 and 19, kick things off with a stunning cautionary tale about gossip. Karen Swallow Prior, host of the new podcast Jane and Jesus, joins us to talk about what Jane Austen understood about the importance of guarding your tongue, and how her work can be read as a subtle religious commentary on the perils of reckless speech. What would Austen have made of a world...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Moed Katan 16 and 17, warn us against studying Torah with rabbis who aren't pure and upright in their ways. Mark Oppenheimer joins us to share stories from his days as a religion columnist for The New York Times, and reflect on whether or not it's fair to hold our teachers to such high standards. What obligation, precisely, do members of the clergy have to lead impeccable l...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 15, dives deep into the profound question of how we ought to mourn the passing of a loved one. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to explain what the Talmud teaches us about grief and longing, and why the image of an unmade bed is used to evoke a feeling not only of loss but also of hope. How is grief also an invitation to think about society's outcasts? Listen and find o...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Moed Katan 14, raises the question of prison. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why the rabbis compared the prison to a womb, and how this imagery continues to influence our thinking today. How should we think about criminal justice reform, according to the Talmud? 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, Moed Katan 13, treats us to a reminder that preparing for a festivity is often just as important, if not more so, than the party itself. What might we do to master the art of preparation? Listen and find out.  Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group. Take One is h...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Moed Katan 11 and 12, suggest that important people are just different than you and me and ought to be held to a higher standard. Historian Tevi Troy, the Presidentisher Rav, joins us to talk about two American presidents who grappled with this question, one getting it just right and the other very, very wrong. What did FDR serve for lunch when the Queen of England dropped...