Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 147 and 148, bring up a point that couldn't be any more pertinent: What to do when you feel a strong need to criticize someone? Writer Bethany Mandel joins us to share some of her experiences of being frequently lambasted online, as well as a heartwarming story of what happens when the better angels of our nature prevail. Why should you sometimes try to engage with...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 146, begins with a meditation on original sin and then goes on to ask whether converts were present at Mount Sinai. Fresh off of her visit to the mikvah, Kerigan Kelly joins us to talk about her conversion process, what inspired her, and what she finds comforting and challenging about being Jewish. Why did the rabbis believe converts each had a guardian angel? Listen...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 145, ponders the differences between scholars in Israel and in Babylonia, and delivers a powerful meditation on belonging, exile, and redemption. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain why sometimes being a minority means having to strive to translate your own experience to the rest of the nation, and how such an experience can create great artistic and religious d...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 144, encourages us to question authority. Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern joins us to explain why the relationship between rabbis and their congregations is a delicate dance, not a series of dictates. What to do when you disagree with your rabbi, your boss, or your Congressperson? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 142 and 143, find the rabbis in full parenting mode, discussing whether or not it's permitted to bend the rules on Shabbat for the emotional well-being of your kids. Writer Jordana Horn joins us to talk about the rules we set for ourselves and our families, and the times we decide to break them for everyone's sake. What advice should parents heed now that we're prep...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 140 and 141, find the rabbis discussing the intricacies of preparing some of their favorite food dishes. Producer Josh Kross returns to share a confession about his coffee addiction, and explain how having a counter-full of specialized gear can lead to mindfulness. What spiritual teachings might there be in using a burr grinder? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 139, kicks things off with a sharp pronouncements: Unless our judges are righteous, a heap of trouble will be visited on our generation. New York City Judge Ilana Marcus joins us to explain how knowledge of the law and a capacity for empathy are a judge's best tools, and talk about her work in a community court that stresses aid and education rather than punishment....

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 138, strikes a dramatic note: The Jews, one of the rabbis predicts, are destined to one day forget the Torah. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain this menacing passage, and why it should be seen not as a doomsday prophecy but as an invitation to appreciate our own diverse moment in time. Why should we rejoice in divergent opinions? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 137, revolves around a question that has troubled males for millennia: What does it mean to be a man? We seek a modern answer in a very personal story about crime, punishment, and parenthood. What do you do when your father isn't who you thought he was? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 135 and 136, ask a difficult question: How must we confront that most terrible of ordeals, the loss of a child? Rabbi Dr. Ari Lamm joins us to share his own personal experience and find hope and meaning in the wisdom of the rabbis. What, according to the Talmud, is the meaning of life? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 133 and 134, urge us that we ought to strive and be as beautiful and as merciful as God. But what does that mean? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to introduce us to one of the Talmud's most famous concepts, and tell us how it should inform our daily behavior. What is the one thing in each happy occasion we should always strive to make as beautiful as possible? Listen...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 132, finds the rabbis in a cutting state of mind: They talk about circumcision, and whether or not it is permissible on Shabbat. Dr. Emily Blake, a physician and a mohel, joins us to walk us through the specifics of the sacred ceremony, and share some of her tips to soothing anxious parents. Why is a bris on Shabbat a rare and special thing? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 131, raises the painful question of what we're supposed to do when we can't celebrate the holidays in the joyous and festive fashion to which we're accustomed. Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky joins us to talk about preparing for High Holidays in the Covid-19 era, and what we can do spiritually and practically to have a meaningful Tishrei even if it might not happen in shul....

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 130, tells a miraculous tale of tefilin transformed. What happens when we start our day by wrapping the leather straps around our arms and our head? And why are tefilin the world's greatest spiritual technology? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 128 and 129, give us a long discussion of the intricacies of giving birth. Dr. Jennifer Mieres, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Northwell Health, joins us to talk about how bias still sadly impacts the way we do everything from treat patients to conduct research, and what we can do fix that. What are the particular challenges facing women's health today? Li...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 126 and 127, give us a heart-warming and timely tale of what happens when you keep and open mind and an open heart and give others the benefit of the doubt. What does this story have to teach us now, as we grapple with mean-spiritedness online and with the ravages of cancel culture? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 125, contemplates building, a labor that's prohibited on Shabbat. But what does building mean? Are you allowed, for example, to open a window on Shabbat, an activity that changes the facade of a structure? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to shed light on this intricate question, and find in it a beautiful metaphor for always keeping our windows, and our hearts, open. A...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 124, teaches us a valuable lesson about practicing what we preach. Dr. Erica Brown returns to help us make sense of a tense conversation between two wise rabbis, and teach us about the importance of walking the walk when you talk the talk. What does today's page have to offer both rabbis and congregants today? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 123, kicks things off with a long disquisition on tools and how to use them. Producer Josh Kross, a geek's geek, returns to explain why it's important to know how something works before buying it, and lament the mistakes too many people make by buying very powerful tools they neither need nor can properly use. Which questions should you ask yourself before shelling o...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 121 and 122, give us a clash for the ages: The sage, who urge us to go ahead and kill creatures that may threaten our lives, and the pious, who argue that taking a life, under any circumstance, should be avoided. Which, if you think about it, mirrors much of the logic of our contemporary debate about guns: Mark Oppenheimer returns to tell us about his experience as...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 119 and 120, deliver a wise warning from the rabbis: You don't have a lot of time on this planet, so use it wisely. Scholar Penina Levy joins us to share a profound teaching from her grandfather, the late Rabbi Norman Lamm, on how we should spend our leisure hours ethically and Jewishly. Is Netflix and chill kosher? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 118, finally gets to the heart of the matter: After many, many pages describing all the laws of observing Shabbat, the Talmud acknowledges that celebrating our holy day should be, well, fun. Producer Sara Fredman Aeder returns to share with us her own joyous Shabbat routine, and tell us how you can make it fun for a couple of small and adorable children. Why is candy...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 117, contains a long discussion about what may and may not be saved from a fire on Shabbat, and has the rabbis insisting that food must never be wasted. Writer and activist Liz Galst joins us to discuss why 40 percent of all the food in America finds its way to the trash uneaten, and what we can do to reduce this vast waste. How is eating leftovers great for the envi...

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 116, raises the curious idea that a few verses in the Torah, about the traveling of the Ark of the Covenant, should constitute a book unto themselves. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to muse on these powerful verses, and float the theory that they constitute a sort of biblical alt history, telling us what would've happened if the Israelites marched straight to the Prom...

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 114 and 115, discuss the time-honored idea that a community ought to put its money where its mouth is and support and sustain its values. In traditional Jewish communities, this means paying for the best and brightest to continue and study Torah. Writer Eli Steinberg joins us to deliver a glimpse into a day in the life of a brilliant Torah student, and reflect on wh...