Xai, how are you?

We've got a sugye today about the mystical past of babies raised in courtyards who ride on oxen with doors for saddles. Totally normal stuff. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail. Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music by Ben Schr...

Svara is a concept that comes up a LOT in queer Talmud world, and listeners want to know what it is. Trying to answer that got us into a juicy discussion on the nature of rationality and math, and what makes Talmud special. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail. Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xai...

Xava got COVID but is recovering and feeling a lot better. We're taking this Sunday off, but back with a bonus episode later in the week. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail. Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music by Ben Schreibe...

What's the deal with Elisha Ben Abuyah, a.k.a the Axer, a.k.a the ultimate emo bad boy of Talmud, the only guy who HaShem (maybe) told not to repent? Listen and find out! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @mi...

A Patron was wondering if the tradition had anything to offer to help us in times of heartbreak and being wronged by loved ones, so naturally we studied a story about a fox in the temple and what preceded creation. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou...

Was Benjamin a werewolf, or one of the world's first serial killers? Inquiring minds wanted to know! The answer (as you may have guessed), is complicated. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Sign up for Planting Cucumbers by Magic here: www.eventbrite.com/e/planting-cucu…ts-309952645707 Support us o...

A listener wants to know why we say brakhot and why all the rabbis seem gay, which leads to a discussion of the perils of divine parenting. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Sign up for Planting Cucumbers by Magic here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/planting-cucumbers-by-magic-or-how-to-get-away-wi...

A dear listener writes in about an incredibly challenging roommate situation, and we discover that saying your sorry, in Judaism, requires knowing what you did! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured...

Can dogs go to heaven? What even is a soul, in Judaism? Why is it that there are so many righteous donkeys? We're doing our best to track down an answer. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music...

What's the deal with secular humanist conversion? In this episode, we're doing our best to bring our own hot takes and the takes of the sages. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music by Ben Sch...

Xava is at a wedding in Texas so we're replaying a recent bonus episode. What are the various stages of male hyena transformation? What do our spines turn into after we die? Which animals are inherently naughty? Barukh HaShem, Michael is here to help us find out. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail!...

A listener wanted to know: what's the deal with animal sacrifice in the world to come?! So we had the honor of having Sara Eifler of Jewish Veg on to enlighten us about some Jewish views on eating (or not eating) animals! Check out the Passover Zeder here: https://tinyurl.com/yc44c6v8 Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and...

Is saying the pledge of allegiance avodah zarah? Is it an oath, and if so is it allowed? A listener wanted to know, so we did our best to find out! Tune in for our findings and our usual nonsense. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twi...

Xava got her wisdom teeth out, so we're taking the week off. Enjoy this formally Patron-only episode about what we can learn from animals. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music by Ben Schreib...

A listener wants to know: do the Rabbis have anything to say about mental and emotional readiness to convert to Judaism? Well, they do and they don't! They thought a lot of different things, and we're bringing some of them to you in this hot, tasty episode. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Suppor...

Listeners wanna know and we wanna tell you! We got a couple sugyes on how the Rabbis felt their feels and how they though we should feel ours. Some of it is good! Some of it is...weird. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaiho...

A wonderful listener question came in about gender presentation and yarmulkes, so we're explore the origins of the kippah and the Torah verses on gendered clothing. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_fig...

Joanna Ware and Jordan Gershon Mann of the Jewish Liberation Fund join us today to talk funding the left, the woes of Torah scholars, Rabban Gamliel and redistribution of power. Check out and support JLF at https://www.jewishliberation.fund/ ! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreo...

The fabulous and insightful Abraham Riesman returns to the show! He's here to talk apocalypse, creation, Torah trope, staying in our leyn, and to help us pick apart some rabbinic discourse. Check out his work at abrahamriesman.com! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon...

Sometimes, no matter how much want them to endure, friendships come and go. The Talmud has stuff to say about this, and today we're digging it up! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured. Music by Ben...

We're taking on lots of listener issues today, like where does the term shiur come from, why don't we make longer episodes and creating a glossary of Talmudic terms! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_fi...

Today's listener question is about conversion under a Rabbi who seems to view Zionism as mandatory. Michael and Xava bring a relevant Talmudic tale and our own experiences to answer. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowar...

A listener wrote in to ask us whether anthrophagy was ever allowed by halaxa, so we're diving into the range of scenarios it might be, and the many situations where it's definitely not. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaiho...

Goy Goth Girl wrote in to ask about practicing while not Jewish, which helped us discuss the concept of commandedness as it applies to a lot of different folks! Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @miss_figured...

A listener wrote us a question about their ex, who only wants them when they're not there, so we're doing our best to answer it with a little piece of divorce contract law. Visit our website to ask us questions at xaihowareyou.com and call or Text the Talmud Hotline at 401-484-1619 and leave us a voicemail! Support us on patreon at patreon.com/xaihowareyou. Follow us on twitter @xaihowareyou and @...