Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 20 and 21, talks about the building blocks of communication. The Unorthodox hosts join Liel in conversation with divinity student SueAnn Shiah about her road towards religion and a deeper understanding of herself. How does a Taiwanese, Queer musician and filmmaker find her way to divinity school? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier....
Feb 13, 2023•11 min•Season 17Ep. 20
Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 18 and 19, talks about the importance of pleasure and joy! Tablet producer Josh Kross sits down to discuss the pleasures of life. the ways that society encourages moderation, and the pleasure that he feels when he creates and shares the things that he loves. Does creating a ritual help to make things more pleasurable? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn W...
Feb 10, 2023•10 min•Season 17Ep. 18
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 17, talks about the need to be committed to a goal, but not overzealous about and it. Tablet producer Darone Ruskay discusses his determination to walk each and every day, while not feeling the need to push too hard to the point where it feels unattainable. Can one set goals for themselves without overdoing it? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller an...
Feb 09, 2023•9 min•Season 17Ep. 17
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 16, asks a tough question about a Nazir who decides to spend the entire term of his vow in a cemetery. Rabbi Lauren Tuchman joins us to talk about sacred spaces, unholy ground, and what the Talmud has to teach us about the physical and metaphysical world. Can a space truly be sacred? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also...
Feb 08, 2023•7 min•Season 17Ep. 16
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 15, tether the Nazir vow to another complicated station in life: parenthood. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the connection, and wax poetic on what it teaches us for parents' expectations for their children. What does the page teach us about Samson's dad? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie...
Feb 07, 2023•8 min•Season 17Ep. 15
Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 13 and 14, discuss, in great detail, the Nazir's obligation of shaving his or her head. Why is hair so crucial to our self-confidence? And how can a simple haircut boost our confidence and make us feel like different people? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Mark Oppenheimer, ...
Feb 06, 2023•7 min•Season 17Ep. 13
Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 11 and 12, are all about the sauce. Novelist Ruby Namdar joins us to talk about the Talmud's approach to drunkenness, and why so much of our trouble--and our inspiration--comes when we've had a few. What was the real fruit Adam and Eve tasted in Eden? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butnick, Jos...
Feb 03, 2023•12 min•Season 17Ep. 11
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 10, finds the rabbis in a pet-friendly mood, talking about cows and other animals. Cat therapist Carole Wilbourn joins us to explain how she can read the feline mind, and why humans should pay attention to what animals are saying. What does "meow" really mean? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butn...
Feb 02, 2023•19 min•Season 17Ep. 10
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 9, kicks things off on a complicated note, challenging us to think about the connection between Nazirs and priests. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on this intricate connection and what it might teach us moderns. What do fig cakes have to do with spirituality? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes S...
Feb 01, 2023•8 min•Season 17Ep. 9
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 8, asks what's the correct way to tell time. Do we measure the days? The weeks? The months? The years? Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson joins us with an insightful story about the biblical Jacob, and what it tells us about setting our priorities straight. So what should we say when someone asks how old we are? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Blei...
Jan 31, 2023•9 min•Season 17Ep. 8
Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 6 and 7, stress the importance of keeping your streak going. A.J. Jacobs joins us to break down our obsession with doing the same thing over and over without interruption, and why it gives us such a sense of purpose. What happens when you mess up your crossword puzzle streak, or neglect to play the daily Wordle? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller ...
Jan 30, 2023•10 min•Season 17Ep. 6
Today’s Talmud pages, Nazir 4 and 5, tell us a charming story about Shimon HaTzadik, the High Priest, and a handsome young shepherd. What does this tale teach us about the relationship between body and soul? Can it lead us to coming up with a better diet? And why do Jews rock back and forth while praying? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also incl...
Jan 27, 2023•8 min•Season 17Ep. 4
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 3, jumps right into the heart of the matter. Or, should we say the hair of the matter? Stephanie Butnick, co-host of the Unorthodox podcast, joins us to discuss why the Talmud spent so much time thinking about Jewish hair, curly hair in particular. Is straightening your hair a statement on your Jewish identity? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller an...
Jan 26, 2023•9 min•Season 17Ep. 3
Today’s Talmud page, Nazir 2, introduces us to a new tractate that’s all about the Nazir, the person who'd taken a very specific and powerful vow. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a preview of what to expect, and a meditation on why dedicate an entire tractate to a specific vow after already discussing vows at great length. If every part of our body corresponds to a distinct group of Jews, then who is the hair? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted b...
Jan 25, 2023•7 min•Season 17Ep. 2
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 91, brings us to the end of Tractate Nedarim. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to recap what we've learned, and what powerful lessons the tractate still offers us today. Why did the rabbis conclude the tractate with a reunion of sorts of man, woman, and snake? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butn...
Jan 24, 2023•9 min•Season 16Ep. 91
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 89 and 90, tell us a story about a canny rabbi who told a bold lie to protect a bumbling congregant. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to ponder whether or not rabbis are permitted to fib when the spirit, if not the letter, of the law so permits. Can a good rabbi save us from ourselves? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also ...
Jan 23, 2023•9 min•Season 16Ep. 89
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 87 and 88, teach us a beautiful lesson about mindfulness, grief, and belonging. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain what the rabbis understood about love and mourning, and how their ancient insights continue to inspire us today. Why do we rend our garments when losing a loved one? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our tea...
Jan 20, 2023•6 min•Season 16Ep. 87
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 86, informs us that forbidden things tend to have an inherent sanctity. Which, for those of us who started keeping kosher later in life, hits close to home. How did one kosher-keeper grapple with losing his most beloved breakfast meat? And can parting with bacon really be considered a spiritual triumph? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie...
Jan 19, 2023•10 min•Season 16Ep. 86
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 85, asks whether or not we can consecrate things that don't technically exist yet. Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone joins us to talk about the halachic status of digital assets, like crypto currency, that aren't, at least strictly speaking, really real. What's an NFT, and how is it a little like a mitzvah? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bl...
Jan 18, 2023•9 min•Season 16Ep. 85
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 84, teaches us that while charity is a necessity, the specific cause we support is our choice. Hudson Leibovitz, age 9, joins us to talk about his habit of donating to charity every year on Hanukkah, and share some pointers about selecting the most deserving cause to support. Is there such a thing as a fish shelter? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Wa...
Jan 17, 2023•8 min•Season 16Ep. 84
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 82 and 83, talks about the ways in which we grieve? Tablet Magazine's Tanya Singer joins us to discuss the ways that she works through the grief that she experienced and continues to experience after the recent loss of her father. Is it a question of whether you grieve, or just a question of how? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleie...
Jan 16, 2023•13 min•Season 16Ep. 82
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 80 and 81, deliver a strange pronouncement: Torah scholars are almost never the sons of other Torah scholars. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this idea, and how the rabbis excelled in checking their privilege and making sure no one gets an unfair advantage when it comes to studying Torah. Did the Talmud discover the original Nepo Babies? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and ...
Jan 13, 2023•12 min•Season 16Ep. 80
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 79, urges us to reflect on the choices we make when we vow not to eat this food or that. Rabbi Shuli Passow joins us to talk about her custom, inspired by one of the greatest rabbis in modern times, to refrain from eating meat during the week but consume it on Shabbat. Can you be a part-time vegetarian? And why did a major New York synagogue decide to boycott lox? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and ...
Jan 12, 2023•9 min•Season 16Ep. 79
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 78, raises a question familiar to many a married couple: How long are you allowed to annoy your spouse? Mark Oppenheimer, the Corduroy Rav himself, joins us to discuss the ways in which spouses annoy one another and asks if it has been the same throughout time, and all over the world. How long is too long for you to hold on to this type of annoyance? Listen to find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and...
Jan 11, 2023•8 min•Season 16Ep. 78
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 77, brings up that most stinging of human emotions, regret. Rabbi Gabi Weinberg, the start-up rabbi, joins us to discuss why so many stories of successful companies focus on the regrets of those who failed to recognize their potential early on. How, then, should we approach regret constructively without succumbing to sorrow and paralysis? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by ...
Jan 10, 2023•10 min•Season 16Ep. 77
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 75 and 76, teach us that time is elastic, a unit of measuring change. How did the Talmud capture the central themes behind one of television's most successful science fiction shows? And what can the rabbis and our most famous time traveler teach us about seizing the day? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes ...
Jan 09, 2023•13 min•Season 16Ep. 75
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 73 and 74, teach us a lesson about illeism, or the practice of speaking about yourself in the third person. Why did the rabbis favor this type of rhetoric? And what does modern psychology confirm about its benefits to being better listeners and friends? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Stephanie Butnick,...
Jan 06, 2023•7 min•Season 16Ep. 73
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 72, raises the very modern problem of being too distracted to remember what it is you've heard and what it was that you were supposed to do. Producer Robert Scaramuccia joins us to talk about his own attention span, and how it was impacted after suffering a serious concussion recently. Did the rabbis have some wisdom that could help an overwhelmed millennial recovering from brain injury? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted...
Jan 05, 2023•13 min•Season 16Ep. 72
Today’s Talmud page, Nedarim 71, asks the thorny question of just how final is divorce. Tablet Editor in Chief Alana Newhouse joins us to discuss what saying goodbye really means, and how the Talmud's concept of marriage may be radically different, and more soulful, than our own. What did the Talmud's rabbis teach Mrs. Doubtfire? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie B...
Jan 04, 2023•9 min•Season 16Ep. 71
Today’s Talmud pages, Nedarim 70 talks about the ways that a daughter is still considered in her father’s house and under his jurisdiction as long as she is a minor. Tablet producer Josh Kross and his daughter Stella sit down to discuss the ways that she does and does not listen to her father, and the ways that she thinks things should be. Can she be independent while still living under his roof? Listen and find out. Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, ...
Jan 03, 2023•8 min•Season 16Ep. 70
