Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 83, ends on a brooding note, with talk of dying in the tent of Torah. Why would such a life-affirming book as the Talmud strike such a morbid tone? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns with an uplifting interpretation, teaching us that true growth and sacrifice can only begin once we've had a chance to know ourselves as individuals. What is the self-help message in today's Daf? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 82, makes number two its number one concern. How are we to wipe our behinds? Zach Schreiber, a lawyer and the co-creator of Seinfeld Law, a blog dedicated to exploring the many intricate legal aspects of everyone's favorite sitcom, joins us to talk about why toilet talk is so crucial to comedy, religion, and the justice system alike. Was Elaine being Talmudic when she asked the person in the next stall to spare a square of toilet paper? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 81, tells a fiery little story about a pair of rabbis stuck on a bewitched boat and forced to utter God's name to undo the spell. Ilana Kurshan, author of If All the Seas Were Ink, a stellar memoir of studying the Talmud, joins us to unpack the mysteries of that omnipotent and mighty name, and how our thinking about it has evolved. Why do we refer to God as Hashem, or the name? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 79 and 80, invite us to look at our stuff and rearrange it according to a hierarchy of holiness. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to share some thoughts about why you can't recycle sacred writings and how even inanimate objects can teach us a valuable lesson about always aspiring to be better. How are tefilin holier than a Mezuzah? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 77 and 78, tells us a brief anecdote containing a poignant life lesson. Reading a classic Hassidic tale, we meditate on growth through difficulty, and on what Judaism has to teach us about overcoming adversity. Why should some hardships make us burst into dance? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 76, is a beautiful meditation on wine, from drinking it to blessing it to basking in its glory. Producer Josh Kross returns to offer a soliloquy on drinking mindfully. What's the deal with diluting wine? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 75, finds the rabbis in an ecumenical mood. While we're not allowed to emulate the ways of other religions, they tell us, learning from them and understanding their ways is allowed, maybe even advisable. Ashley McKinless, co-host of the popular podcast Jesuitical, joins us to talk about finding beauty and meaning in other traditions. Why should we pay attention to the intricacies of our friends' and neighbors' religious practices? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 74, unlocks one of the most profound mysteries of the Jewish universe: Why gefilte fish? Jeffrey Yoskowitz, co-author of The Gefilte Manifesto, joins us to shed some light on the much-maligned dish's origins, and why we can't get enough of it. Why is gefilte the ultimate Shabbat dish? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 72 and 73, finally give us the 39 labors we're not allowed to perform on Shabbat. Why did it take so long? Why go through more than 70 pages before getting to the point? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to shed light on this seminal question, and help us understand the real meaning of Shabbat. How is the Talmud like a Quentin Tarantino movie? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 70 and 71, bring up a fascinating concept: Yediah, or knowing. Are we responsible for the sins we commit if we don't really know that we've committed them? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explore the intricacies of this complicated question. How do we resolve the tension between divine intervention and free will? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 69, shares an anecdote that feels deeply relatable these days, about a man who wanders in the desert and loses all track of time. Dr. Erica Brown joins us to talk about the centrality of time in Judaism, and what to do when, sheltered in place, time itself becomes a challenge. How do we find a sense of direction when the days just seem to melt into one another? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 68, introduces an astonishing concept, that of the captive child. Just as a child kidnapped from his parents holds no responsibility for the way he was raised, the rabbis tell us, so do those of us who have never studied the intricacies of Jewish law not necessarily liable if and when we break them. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to talk about this intriguing and seminal concept. How do we learn to forgive ourselves? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 67, asks a very timely question: How open should we be to different putative potions and cures? Should we forbid anything not proven to work? Or should we keep an open mind, recognize that there's much we don't know, and that healing is both physical and emotional? Writer Lisa Ann Sandell, herself recovering from Covid-19, joins us to talk about what it's like to try and manage your care when so much remains unknown about the virus. How do we sort out which medical...
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 65 and 66, discuss various laws pertaining to people with disabilities. Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, joins us to talk about how far we've come in rethinking our approach towards people with disabilities, and how far we still have to go. Why are shuls the perfect place to start and implement positive change? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 63 and 64, wax poetic about the Beit Midrash, the house of study, where Torah learning is conducted by dividing the students into pairs who read together and spend their days arguing. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to sing the glories of this pedagogical methodology, and tell us of the intellectual and emotional benefits of learning through quibbling. Should Harvard take note? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 62, finds the rabbis in a particularly patriarchal mood, discussing the things that women do to get the attention of men. Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus joins us to discuss why objectifying women, then and now, is never a good idea. Why does the passage tell us about men, women, and the still unresolved tensions between them? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 61, asks a profound question: Does magic work? Alana Newhouse, Tablet's Editor in Chief, joins us to talk about amulets, and why some people take good-luck charms very seriously. How do we know if our amulets are truly protecting us? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 60, tells an incredible and bloody story that begins with dorky footwear and ends in a bloodbath. Stephanie Butnick, co-host of Unorthodox, joins us to talk about sandals and other problematic footwear, and explain the cycles that make some fashion trends cool again and again and again. Is it ever OK to wear flip-flops if you're not at the beach? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 58 and 59, reveal some of the ancient rabbis' habits when it came to wearing brand-name clothes. Marco Greenberg, marketing and branding expert and the author of the new book Primitive: Tapping the Primal Drive That Powers the World's Most Successful People joins us to talk about the primordial power of logos, and why we still set so much store in our favorite brands. Is it better to be cool or warm? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 56 and 57, begin with the rabbis contemplating whether or not the great King David has ever sinned. After doing away with that troublesome bit about Uria the Hittite, they come to a strange conclusion: David's only sin was adhering, just once, to gossip. What can we learn from the king's costly flaw? And what does it have to do with Leonard Cohen? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 55, tells a dramatic story of four famous Biblical figures who died without sin. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to introduce us to these Fantastic Four, and explain what their lives and deaths can teach us about leadership. Is perfection the key to greatness or a detriment? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 54 makes a startling claim: If you were in a position to protest the sinful conduct of a friend and failed to do so, you yourself must be held accountable. It's an ancient take on the principle made famous by Spider-Man, namely that with great power comes great responsibility. Rabbi David Ingber joins us and delivers a moral primer on what each one of us can do to make sure we all stand for what's right. How do we hold ourselves accountable? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 53, is a work of stable compassion, asking just what we're permitted to do to keep our horses comfortable on Shabbat. Lily Leibovitz, an eight-year-old horseback riding enthusiast, joins us to talk about the importance of being nice to animals, and what it feels like to ride a horse for the very first time. What can we learn from our animal friends? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 51 and 52, have a nice ring to them. We mean this literally: The rabbis give us an intricate discussion about rings and purity, and the implications are still felt today. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to tell us all about the Lord and the rings. Why do some Orthodox men still refrain from wearing wedding rings? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 49 and 50, tell us a moving story of a righteous man, Elisha, who teaches us a more spiritual approach to confrontation. We welcome back Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus to give us a very therapeutic take on this tale, and, since she's a celebrated sex therapist, ask her to answer a listener question about the Talmud's take on masturbation. What can the rabbis teach us about self love in all of its varieties? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 48, is all about pillows. Are you allowed to stuff yours on Shabbat? The rabbis' decree is fascinating: If the pillow is old, go right ahead, but if it's new, no dice. To understand this principle of interior design, we called on the one and only Simon Doonan, author and judge on the Emmy-nominated show Making It. Why do some of us have trouble getting used to the new stuff we buy? Listen and find out.
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 47, dives into a discussion about a very modern-sounding thingamajig: a collapsible bed, the Talmud's take on the IKEA catalogue. Are we allowed to assemble and disassemble this modular piece of furniture on Shabbat? Rabbi Sari Laufer, Director of Congregational Engagement at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, joins us to shed some light on the idea of using things in different ways on Shabbat than we would during the week. How can we keep the spirit of the holy d...
Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 46, contains one of those delightful little stories that the Talmud likes to tell to make much bigger points. It's about Rava and Rav Avya, two brilliant men engaged in a fierce disagreement about a particular manner of halakha. To make his point, Rav Avya walks into his friend's house and puts his muddy feet on the bed. To help us decipher this act of aggression, we welcome the Corduroy Rav, Mark Oppenheimer, who helps guide us through the intricacies of arguing w...
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 44 and 45, introduce us to the Muchni, a bit of detachable wheel that keeps the rest of the items in the wagon from being rendered impure. Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern of Yeshiva University joins us to talk about technology's ability to both flood our lives with unholy things and help insulate us from disaster, and shares with us how his modern Orthodox community learned to rethink technology after the outbreak of Covid-19 forced many of the rituals that were previously ...
Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 40 to 43, cover a wide array of crucial questions, from why we're not allowed to take a hot shower on Shabbat to precisely what men should do with their members while urinating. Because we've been off for a few days, celebrating Pesach, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to help us catch up on the Talmudic majesty we've missed. What is muktzah, and how can it help us see Shabbat in a whole new light? Listen and find out.
