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Mar 08, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 65
Talking Talmud
Yardaena Osband & Anne Gordon
Learning the daf? We have something for you to think about. Not learning the daf? We have something for you to think about! (Along with a taste of the daf...)
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Episodes
Shabbat 2 (Re-release): That's No Introduction to Shabbat!
Recognizing the terms and definitions we need for this tractate: "av" melakhah, "toladah," and the two main domains from and to which one is not permitted to carry. Note: An unedited version made its way to Apple (at least) - we have no idea how, and this extra text is an attempt to see how and when it updates. Apologies to the 76 of you who listened to the original (hopefully correct!) version - when we previewed it, we only heard the edited version. Thank you for bearing with us while we figur...
Mar 08, 2020•16 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Berakhot 64: The Finish Line of Masekhet Berakhot
In this episode, and in a departure from our usual mandate, we learn through the entirety of the very short daf. Basically, tune in for some wise statements from a few rabbis, including the peace that Torah learning brings to the world. Plus the Hadran itself - please God, we will return to Masekhet Berakhot.
Mar 07, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Berakhot 63: Power Play (and Win)
Some wise moral one-liners (no, they're not funny, but they're good). The surge to maintain religious authority from Israel over Babylon. And... the primacy of learning Torah, what else? Also: apologies for audio issues today (we're not sure why it's spotty today)
Mar 06, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Berakhot 62: Sex Ed, Up Close and Personal
When one rabbi spies on another -- learning bathroom practices and sexual practices by observation. The true meaning of tzniut (modesty). Also: The theological challenge of King David's punishment.
Mar 05, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 62
Berakhot 61: Rabbi Akiva's Moment of Death and Shema
The yetzer hara and male/female norms of social interaction. And: Rabbi Akiva, his refusal to stop teaching Torah, his capture by the Romans, and his "deathbed" recitation of Shema - and what all that means to us, philosophically and religiously.
Mar 04, 2020•26 min•Season 1Ep. 61
Berakhot 60: Happy Is the Person Who Is Always Scared
The prayers to say when you traverse a city of criminals. The prayers to say when you enter a Roman bathhouse. Plus: Taking a positive stand re any news - framing our experiences, framing our days - anchoring ourselves with prayer.
Mar 03, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Berakhot 59: We Don't Bless God for the Suez Canal
The cycle of time and how it gives rise to the requirement for new blessings over our experience of the natural world. And "Ha-tov ve-ha-Metiv," redux
Mar 02, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Berakhot 58: We Are All Individuals!
A large gathering of Jewish people gets a bracha too. Also: Rav Sheshet and the power of a steely blind gaze. Celebrating the power of the individual in the congregation as a whole.
Mar 01, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 58
Berakhot 57: Deepest, Darkest, Fearsome Racy Dreams Writ Well
Sightings in your dreams that indicate miracles coming your way. And the spin that renders dreams positive taken to the extreme. Also: Sixtieths.
Feb 29, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Berakhot 56: Dreaming of Elephants
Abaye and Rava dream the same dreams, which are consistently interpreted differently in the same way. How can that be? Plus: What it means when Yishmael shows up in your dream. Or when those elephants do.
Feb 28, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Berakhot 55: Say You Had a Good Dream, and Your Dream Was Good NOTE: RELEASED PRE-EDIT. FIXED NOW
Witnessing the supernatural. What shortens a person's life? God gives wisdom to the wise. Interpreting dreams, dreams, dreams. NOTE: THIS WAS FIRST RELEASED PRE-EDIT. IT IS FIXED NOW.
Feb 27, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Berakhot 54: Hailstones Hovering in the Air
The glorious and different 9th chapter: When prayer is in vain. The radical prohibited requirement of greeting people with God's name. Miracles and their blessings. Larger than life, Moshe Rabbenu. Bentsching gomel.
Feb 26, 2020•28 min•Season 1Ep. 54
Berakhot 53: The Flame of the Candle Is Always a New Flame
Taking fire from a non-Jew for Havdalah (when is that okay?), and what that means about the dynamic between Jews and non-Jews (or the nature of talmudic exploration). Also: What if you forgot to bentsch?
Feb 25, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Berakhot 52: Ignore That Voice from Heaven Telling You What to Do
Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai may have been more argumentative than was strictly necessary, but their disputes populate this daf, with a lot of food for thought. Also: The bat kol, a voice from on high, gets into the debate.
Feb 24, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 52
Berakhot 51: What Would Make YOU Smash 400 Barrels of Wine?
Yalta! Also: 3 things that you can do to prevent a visit from the Angel of Death. And: 10 things pertaining to the proper handling of wine at kiddush.
Feb 23, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Berakhot 50: Transformations
The Gemara borrows from a foreign field to understand the current topic, in this case: from the impure bed to zimun. Also: How wine becomes wine and stays wine.
Feb 22, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Berachot 49: Eat When You Want
Who's Who: The Resh Galuta (Exilarch). And: What is the difference between Birkat HaMazon and prayer?
Feb 21, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Berakhot 48: When Abaye and Rava Were Little Kids
More on zimun: when a child is eligible. When Yannai left nearly nobody left alive to lead the zimun. And: Finally, the basic texts and structure of Birkat HaMazon . Who's Who: Abaye and Rava (and Rabbah). Yannai and Shimon Ben Shetach. What's What: Kal VaChomer.
Feb 20, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Berakhot 47: Ignoramuses in Our Midst
Etiquette, as dictated by Halakhah -- we'd still have manners without the Gemara, right? Also: The talmudic category of "am ha-aretz" and its halakhic applications, against the backdrop of our contemporary sensibilities.
Feb 19, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Berakhot 46: God's Favor: The Corpses Did Not Decompose
Honoring your guests, honoring your betters - who breaks bread for the meal? The Persian banquet and its divans. "Ha-tov ve-ha-metiv" - in and out of context.
Feb 18, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Berakhot 45: Zimun vs. Bentsching (Also Women)
Ignorance is not bliss when you don't know the halakhah. Also: The honor of leading is truly an honor. Also: The holy congregation that is formed when 3 people sit down to eat together. What's What: The Meturgaman
Feb 17, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Berakhot 44: Were Hazal on Drugs?
A very sweet fruit, eaten in large quantities, and needing a salty fish accompaniment. The intoxicating beauty of the world. Also: Back to some basics, putting in place some building blocks of the past several dapim (Birkat HaMazon, 7 species, etc.).
Feb 16, 2020•24 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Berakhot 43: Dress Up a Pig and It Will Still Roll in the Mud
The personal and the halakhic loss that happens with the death of Rav. Also: The naturalist blessings for all of us in God's perfect world. And: Don't disgrace others or yourself.
Feb 15, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Berakhot 42: Warning: Gluten Ahead
Pat HaBa BeKisnin: If you fill up on cakes and cookies and pretzels (snacks and desserts), you may not need to say Birkat HaMazon. You said you had HOW MUCH? You might have to daven as it is. If you fill up, you might need to bentsch after all. And a question a claim that IF this, THEN that -- immediately (what exactly does that entail? Perhaps you know.
Feb 14, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Berakhot 41: A Barley-grain-sized Piece of Bone from a Corpse (Understanding the 7 Species)
The power of HaMotzi. The 7 species and their halakhic meaning in our land, including impurity because of Tzaraat. What's What: Asmakhta
Feb 13, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Berakhot 40: Adam and Eve Ate What?!
Identifying the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Also, how flexible is the formula for blessings? And the very flexible Shehakol blessing. Note: Talking Talmud is now on Facebook.
Feb 12, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Berakhot 39: What's Better Than Sliced Bread?
Also, the story of how two students incurred Bar Kapara's wrath. And: how big an olive?
Feb 11, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Berakhot 38: Breaking Bread
The careful wording of HaMotzi, and the transformative partnership we recognize from the blessing's allusion to the Exodus from Egypt. Also, Who's Who: Ulla.
Feb 10, 2020•20 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Berakhot 37: So, You Think Rice Is HaMotzi?
What do we do when the a Gemara gets detailed in the different halakhic intricacies on one daf. Plus: Rice and Rabban Gamliel vs. Rabbi Akiva.
Feb 09, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 37
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