Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 26 and 27, inform us that for an eruv to truly turn disparate private domains into one shared public domain, food should be involved. And not just any food—only the kind that sustains us and gives us comfort. Producer Sara Fredman Aeder joins us to talk about how a few perfect cakes brought her community together in the time of Covid-19, and muse about the connection...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 25, raises the question of the often complicated relationships between Jews by choice and their non-Jewish families. Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy kept an audio diary right before her conversion, touching, in large part, on this very subject. What’s the hardest thing about her family traditions for a Jew by choice to leave behind? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 24, comes just in time to wave farewell to summer with a brisk discussion of swimming and swimming pools. Mark Oppenheimer returns to talk to us about that great suburban fantasy, a pool of one’s own. Why so little love for above-ground pools, anyway? Listen and find out.

Today's Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 23, sparks a debate that may sound strange to us: is a shul a place of residence? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss the changing status of synagogues through the ages, and propose a radical rethinking of how we approach our houses of worship today. Is it alright to stretch out on the pews and enjoy a good night’s sleep? Listen and find out.

Today's Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 21 and 22, raise the question of divine reward: What, in other words, do we get if we’re very good and obey all the commandments? Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern joins us with a meditation on prizes, punishments, and personal responsibility. Is it true that good things always happen to good people? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 19 and 20, raise one of Judaism’s most difficult questions: Do we believe in hell? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns with a soulful and evocative reading of eternal damnation. What can we do in life to avoid getting to the Bad Place? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 18, tell us a truly fantastic story: At some point after the whole business with the apple and the snake, Adam gave birth to a bunch of demon children. Shira Telushkin joins us to talk about these primordial pests, and explain why the world of the Talmud is thick with otherworldly creatures. Are demon children simply what you get if you don’t properly educate your kid...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 17, dives into some of the laws of warfare. Rabbi Avi Shafran, a signatory of a recent letter calling on Jews to abandon the pugilism of partisan politics, joins us to discuss why Jews should look up to Sinai, not Washington, when making their political decisions. Why is our hyper-divisive culture anathema to Jewish values? Listen and find out.

Today's Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 16, deals with the rules of keeping an eruv while camping. Aimee Friedman, author and notable hater of all things outdoorsy, joins us to consider the thorny relationship between some Jews and nature. What to do if you’re in a tent and hear noises late at night? Listen and find out.

Today's Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 14 and 15, continue to dive deeper and deeper into the concept of the eruv. Rabbi Yaakov Taubes joins us to recap everything we’ve learned in the tractate so far, and give us an insightful look into what eruvin are really for. Why is an eruv the first thing a community usually builds? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 12 and 13, teach us about the majestic power of editing. Lisa Sandell, an editor of young adult books, joins us to discuss the editorial process and how it can make—or destroy—a book. What do the best writers understand about their editors? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 11, gives us a heartwarming story of one great rabbi humbly and eagerly learning from another. Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm joins us to shed light on what even the most erudite and confident among us have to learn from others, and how that impacts the very nature of learning itself. What key Talmudic message about learning was hidden in the TV show Scrubs? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 10, gives us an insider’s look into how the Talmud raises—and answers—questions. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on how Jewish law conceptualizes questions versus conclusions. What’s the best way to decide how to live your life? Listen and find out.

Today's Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 9, riffs on the importance of being kind to the folks next door. Harvard professor Nancy Rosenblum, author of Good Neighbors: The Democracy of Everyday Life in America, joins us to talk about what we owe—and don’t owe—our neighbors, and how the public sphere is influenced by our neighborly relations. Are neighbors more or less important in a time of quarantine? Listen...

Today's Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 7 and 8, raise a question that has haunted American politics from the very first: How to resolve conflicts elegantly and gracefully. Tevi Troy, former Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services and the author of Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump, joins us to share some of the most notable examples of big political disagreements handled...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 5 and 6, have the rabbis debating what, precisely, qualifies as a public space. Justin Davidson, New York Magazine's Pulitzer Prize-winning architectural critic, joins us to talk about how politicians, activists, and urban planners grappled over the exact same question, and what the implications of their discussions had been on our lives. How will cities change in the...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 4, concerns itself with the mikvah, the ritual bath where Jewish women and men are commanded to purify themselves. Writer and editor Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt joins us to explain the magic of fulfilling this commandment. How can dipping cleanse not just the body but also the soul? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 3, begins with a strange admission: Even though all units of distance are supposed to be precisely the same, the rabbis tell us that there's a happy cubit and a sad one. Historian and author Gil Troy joins us to talk about his latest book, a collaboration with legendary refusnik leader Natan Sharansky, and tell us why some places are indeed inherently happy and some p...

Today's Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 2, is the first in a tractate that's widely considered one of the most difficult, intricate, and, thankfully, rewarding in the entire Talmud. Rabbi Adam Mintz joins us to explain the concept of eruv, the logic behind it, and its contributions to keeping the Jewish people together. Why is there a box of matzo lying around the lobby of a synagogue on Manhattan's Upper W...

Today's Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 156 and 157, bring to its conclusion the Talmud's longest tractate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to sum up the wisdom we've learned over the last few months, and deliver a much-needed reminder of the beauties and difficulties of being an adult. Why was so much of the tractate spent on technicalities and so little on the magic of our day of rest? Listen and find ou...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 154 and 155, teach us that God has a soft spot in His heart for dogs. Lily, 9, and Hudson, 7, join us to talk about their love of dogs, and dispense advice on how to be kinder to your pooch. What's the most important thing you can do to make your dog happy? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 153, delivers a stunning teaching from the rabbis: Repent one day before your death. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to help us unlock this quizzical statement, and teach us how to repent better. How does your need to make amends change as you mature and grow? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 152, contains one curious bit of life advice from the rabbis: You should spend your first forty years on this planet taking pleasure in food, but once you turn forty, it's time to get serious about drinking. Alana Newhouse, Tablet's editor in chief, returns to talk about how drinking in your forties is different than drinking in your twenties, and what different insi...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 151, delivers a painful reminder of a universal truth rarely acknowledged: That poverty is cyclical, and that we are all, at some point or another, likely to feel its sting. Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author, joins us to compare the attitudes to poverty in the Jewish and Catholic traditions, and leave us with some useful advice about how to be more comp...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 149 and 150, find the rabbis raising one of the humanity's most ancient and most difficult questions: What, exactly, is art? Ben Kovalis, co-founder of a company that uses artificial intelligence to create original works of art,  joins us to talk about what it takes to train a computer to generate something that previously took a human artist. What would Rashi say a...