Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 36, raises the thorny question of how you should go about dividing your earthly possessions among your children. It's the stuff of much drama, and Mark Oppenheimer, one of four siblings and himself the father of five, joins us to shed light on the age-old family-rattling question of who gets what and when. Can grandpa get back that heirloom he gave you if he decides he actually really likes it? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag...
Apr 12, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 36
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 34 and 35, deliver the story of Er and Onan, among the Talmud's most NSFW tales. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this R Rated discussion of spilling one's seed, and find profound insights in the profane subject matter. What urgently needed modern wisdom might we find in this ancient debate? 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 Faceboo...
Apr 11, 2022•11 min•Season 14Ep. 34
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 32 and 33, instruct us that the place of our burial matters. Rivkah Slonim, the Associate Director at the Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University, joins us with a primer on souls and what happens to them when we pass from this world to the next. So why does it matter where a person is buried, and what's the point in visiting a gravesite? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @tak...
Apr 08, 2022•12 min•Season 14Ep. 32
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 31, deals with what to do when the circumstances of a person's death are uncertain but his widow wishes to remarry. Rabbi David Yosef joins us to talk about his late, great father, Rav Ovadia Yosef, who, after Israel's 1973 Yom Kippur War, presided over a major undertaking to help that war's widows. How did the celebrated rabbi reconcile ancient rabbinic rulings with the modern circumstances of the battlefield? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at ...
Apr 07, 2022•13 min•Season 14Ep. 31
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 30, grapples with divorce, and when it is and isn't truly final. Author Judith Ruskay Rabinor joins us to offer some concrete insights and reflections on what to do and not to do when a marriage ends. Can you still stay friends with your ex? 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 a Tablet Studios production. The show is...
Apr 06, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 30
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 29, asks that most ageless of questions: What makes a marriage a marriage? Tablet Magazine's Samantha Hacker joins us 36 hours after her wedding to share her thoughts as the newest member of the married club, and offer some of the advice she and her husband received as they prepared for their joyous day. What is the one insight nearly all happily married friends and relatives had to offer? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com....
Apr 05, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 29
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 27 and 28, reiterate that old chestnut about never getting a second chance to make a first impression. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about why the first things we say or do when we meet someone new matter so much, and why so many human relationships revolve around these magical and unplanned first moments. What did the Talmud know about babies and attachment theory? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on ...
Apr 04, 2022•8 min•Season 14Ep. 27
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 25 and 26, give us a journalism master class on sorting out rumors and telling fake news apart from the real deal. Tablet Magazine's Editor in Chief, Alana Newhouse, joins us to talk about what the ancient rabbis understood about reporting and tell us how to be savvy news consumers in the age of mis- and disinformation. What did Abaye's mother get about Tik Tok? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @t...
Apr 01, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 25
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 24, kicks things off with a shocking statement: Only those who converted when the Jews were suffering can truly become part of the Jewish people. Quinn Waller, this show's editor who is herself currently in the process of converting to Judaism, joins us to document her own journey, and how she decided to cook her way into better understanding Jewish life and culture. What's the one neat trick to making more delicious chicken soup? Listen and find out. This segment ...
Mar 31, 2022•15 min•Season 14Ep. 24
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 23, teaches us a master class in labor relations, reminding us that our domestic workers deserve special protection precisely because they are so often seen as just part of our family life. Law professor, employment discrimination attorney, and union representative Tim Oppenheimer joins us to survey the state of the law, and suggest a few ways to make sure we protect the most vulnerable employees. Did the Talmud get labor law right? Listen and find out. Like the sh...
Mar 30, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 23
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 22, casually informs us that the moment a person converts to Judaism, his or her non-Jewish family should be forgotten. Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy joins us to talk about her own conversion, and about how her observant Christian family came to feel about her journey back home to Judaism. What can be gained by inviting your non-Jewish family to be a part of your Jewish life? Listen and find out. Rebecca Cynamon-Murphy can also be heard in episode 219 of Unorthodox talkin...
Mar 29, 2022•9 min•Season 14Ep. 22
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 20 and 21, tell us that listening to our sages is a mitzvah, or a commandment. Reverend Sarah Condon, an Episcopal priest at Rice University and a participant in our month-long multi-faith experiment, The Tent, joins us to talk about learning how to hear wisdom when it's buzzing in our ears, why you should absolutely take your kids to church or shul, and why children and the elderly often make the best sages. How is a Google search like a prayer? Listen and find o...
Mar 28, 2022•13 min•Season 14Ep. 20
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 18 and 19, bring up a question that hasn't gotten any less complicated since the days of the ancient rabbis, the question of consent. Quinn Waller, this show's editor and a young woman currently converting to Judaism, joins us to talk about love, marriage, the patriarchy, and other pressing matters. What do guys on the dating scene these days think about gender roles? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter...
Mar 25, 2022•9 min•Season 14Ep. 18
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 17, touches on one of the most hotly debated topics in Jewish life: Intermarriage. Keren McGinity, author and interfaith specialist at the USCJ, joins us to discuss what we're getting wrong--and right--when we talk about interfaith marriage. What is the one thing that most people just don't get about the reality of intermarriage? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the convers...
Mar 24, 2022•9 min•Season 14Ep. 17
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 16, tells us a long and charming story about three rabbis setting out to learn why a respected elder reportedly went rogue in his teachings. How do the three famed wise men handle the delicate situation? And what superpower did the great Rabbi Akiva have that we could all use today? 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 i...
Mar 23, 2022•13 min•Season 14Ep. 16
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 15, tells a moving little story about empathy. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to talk about why being honest about your feelings and other people's intentions is the key to a happier, kinder life. Why did the starving rabbi turn down a delicious offering of olives? 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 hosted by Liel Leibo...
Mar 22, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 15
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 13 and 14, deliver a powerful reminder that we oughtn't let factionalism get the better of us. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain this idea in depth, and tell us why we ought to stay together rather than divide ourselves into disparate tribes. What does partisanship have to do with mourning? 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 g...
Mar 21, 2022•8 min•Season 14Ep. 13
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 11 and 12, warn us against the sin of being wasteful. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a heartwarming story from his childhood that teaches us a desperately needed lesson. Why did the esteemed educator rummage through the garbage in front of all his students? 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 hosted by Liel Lei...
Mar 18, 2022•8 min•Season 14Ep. 11
Today’s Daf Yomi page,Yevamot 10, forces us to deal with difficult questions. And as we celebrate Purim, the Talmud asks us to contemplate the toughest bits of the Esther story, the part about the Jews killing 75,000 of their foes. Why celebrate a festival revolving around mass murder? 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 hosted by Liel Leibovitz a...
Mar 17, 2022•25 min•Season 14Ep. 10
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 9, kicks things off with a desperately needed reminder: Even those who hold the highest office in the land must be held accountable. Garrett M. Graff, the author of Watergate: A New History joins us to shed new light on the ultimate story of power and those who abuse it, and tell us why the real story of Watergate is so much stranger than the one we think we know. What urgently needed modern lessons might we learn from a decades-old political scandal? Listen and fi...
Mar 16, 2022•9 min•Season 14Ep. 9
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 8, is all about marriage, particularly in the aftermath of widowhood or divorce. Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, the editor of Esther in America, joins us to discuss that other Queen mentioned in the book of Esther, namely Vashti, whether she was killed or banished, and might her fate make a difference. Did Vashti really have a tail? 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...
Mar 15, 2022•12 min•Season 14Ep. 8
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 6 and 7, introduce us to the concept of Hechsher Mitzvah, a situation in which a righteous deed can only be fulfilled by violating a prohibition. Lenny Dykstra, a member of the Mets team that won the 1986 World Series, joins us to talk about why it's always better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, reflect on his achievements and his mistakes, and ponder the state of contemporary baseball. Why must you always play like losing isn't an option? Listen and f...
Mar 14, 2022•11 min•Season 14Ep. 6
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Yevamot 4 and 5, kick things off with some deep questions, like what's the nature of knowledge and can religion be trusted to deliver anything approaching concrete truth. Jeffrey Bloom, the editor of the new book Strauss, Spinoza, and Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith, joins us to discuss what one of the 20th Century's best-known thinkers had to say about this question, and why it still matters to us today. What was Leo Strauss's take on the debate bet...
Mar 11, 2022•12 min•Season 14Ep. 4
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 3, makes one curious caveat to its list of forbidden relationships, making us ask what, precisely, defines us as people: Is it the labels and categories that make up what we call Big Data, or the simpler, fleeting, and unreplicable human experiences? 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 hosted by Liel Leibovitz and pr...
Mar 10, 2022•7 min•Season 14Ep. 3
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yevamot 2, introduces us to a new tractate that's all about love, marriage, and family dynamics. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a preview of what to expect, and a meditation on why Judaism is just as much of a family as it is a religion. How is being Jewish a bit like checking into the Hotel California? 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...
Mar 09, 2022•10 min•Season 14Ep. 2
We are about to start a new tractate, masechet Yevamot. It’s the fourteenth 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.
Mar 08, 2022•3 min
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 27, brings our beloved Tractate Chagigah to an end. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to sum it up, and teach us a very timely lesson about the difference between information and experience. Who was that mysterious woman who showed up wailing at a reclusive rabbi's funeral? Listen and find out. Plese enjoy the article Feeling Seen, Rabbi Bashevkin's reflections on Tractate Chagigah. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @take...
Mar 08, 2022•11 min•Season 13Ep. 27
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 25 and 26, reflect on the importance of having a permanent residence. Shams DaBaron, also known as Da Homeless Hero, joins us to talk about his years of living on the streets and about how he overcame rage and despair to become one of the most consequential activists in the struggle to end homelessness. What should we keep in mind next time we meet a homeless person? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter...
Mar 07, 2022•14 min•Season 13Ep. 25
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Chagigah 23 and 24, tell a story of a rabbi who begged generations past to forgive him for not being sufficiently respectful. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explore this moving tale, and what it can teach us about being more respectful of our elders. Why might dismissing parents and grandparents turn your mouth black? 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 Tak...
Mar 04, 2022•7 min•Season 13Ep. 23
In today's Daf Yomi page, Chagigah 22, the rabbis deliver a poetic teaching about how putting all of our vessels together in one big basket can make them all pure. Tablet Editor-in-Chief Alana Newhouse joins us to introduce a new month-long project, The Tent, which, like Uber for religion, brings faith on demand to people of all traditions. How can coming together with people of different faiths help us to find our own spiritual paths? Listen and find out. Like the show? Send us a note at takeon...
Mar 03, 2022•12 min•Season 13Ep. 22
