The Gemara raises one model of a case, following on the positions of the mishnah,that then is applied to several different halakhic cases. Our case study of this? A case of 2 babies who need brit milah on Shabbat and the day after Shabbat, respectively. Or Friday and Shabbat, in turn. What happens when the wrong baby is circumcised on Shabbat? The outcome is different in those two scenarios, in terms of whether the mohel would be obligated in a korban chatat (and whether the baby is considered c...
Feb 01, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 72
Does a korban brought in rejoicing (shlamei simcha) have to be at the time of the holiday? Of course, it's a machloket, with a key implication with regard to what should happen on Shabbat. Also, how the chagigah differs when offered on Erev Pesach. And: another very long mishnah... this time, the halakhic discussion on the lack of intent or purpose for the Korban Pesach when it is slaughtered on Shabbat (as compared to previous such discussions, which were about the korban itself, and whether it...
Jan 31, 2021•29 min•Season 4Ep. 71
More on the Korban Pesach and the korban chagigah that is offered with it - Ben Teima's opinion whether the chagigah has to be roasted becomes essential [What's What: Yehuda ben Teima]. The 5th question of the 4 Questions is also telling. Also: What if everyone were impure - how would they bring the Korban Pesach? And also, however would there ever be a case of everyone being impure?! Plus: The story of Ben Dortai, who traveled far enough away so as not to be obligated to bring the Korban Pesach...
Jan 30, 2021•21 min•Season 4Ep. 70
More on R. Eliezer, R. Yehoshua, and R. Akiva, and their dispute from the mishnah - in terms of what, if anything, can be done on Shabbat, if it could have been done in advance. Also, a new mishnah, on when the korban hagigah comes together with the Korban Pesach, and when you don't. Plus: Acknowledging a pitfall of the podcast and our focus on the discussion along the way.
Jan 29, 2021•18 min•Season 4Ep. 69
A departure from the regularly scheduled topics. First, some intricacy in explicating biblical verses, specifically to make a comment on the righteous and the resurrection of the dead - with a real dive into the esoteric, philosophical material. Also, revisiting Shmuel's comment on what will change (and what won't) in the time of the messiah, and God's role in life and death - and resurrection. Plus: On the essence of the day if yom tov, and heat we should do with the day. Also, the sages' appre...
Jan 28, 2021•30 min•Season 4Ep. 68
An introduction to the challenges of this daf. A comment on the "isolation" of the metzora. And on the combination of a positive and negative commandment. Plus, on the range of impurities, and the implications of those degrees for what camp one could enter. And - what it may mean to learn these details at some remove from the experience of the Beit HaMikdash.
Jan 27, 2021•22 min•Season 4Ep. 67
Chapter 6! We open with a long mishnah on the conflict between what needs to be done on Erev Pesach and what is prohibited on Shabbat. Also: Hillel on this same conflict. [Who's Who: Bnei Beteirah] Among other points, he notes that the Korban Pesach isn't the only korban to conflict with Shabbat - there are sacrifices every week! Plus: How our emotions, or character traits, can get the better of us, whether anger or arrogance, and result in our forgetting Torah because of it, or losing prophecy.
Jan 26, 2021•35 min•Season 4Ep. 66
Finishing the 5th chapter: On the third group of the Korban Pesach, which was called the "lazy group" (but doesn't the Gemara stipulate that there are 3 groups? How is it fair to knock the third one??). The world is built to contain the range of professions, both males and females, and more, but some of those are praised and others denigrated (cough, female, cough). Namely, the third group had to exist, but that doesn't make it ideal. Also: A mixture of the blood on the floor would be collected ...
Jan 25, 2021•22 min•Season 4Ep. 65
A very long mishnah, describing the offering of the Korban Pesach, as presented by 3 separate groups. Also, can we, should we rely on miracles, even in the Beit HaMikdash? Abaye and Rava disagree. Who's Who: Akavya ben Mehalalel. Plus: Two notable Pesachs, as recalled by the Gemara.
Jan 24, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 64
When it comes to the shechitah of the Korban Pesach, is it one full action, or are the many component parts considered separate parts? For example, the intent in the kohen's mind vs. what he says about uncircumcised, who cannot participate. Do a person's mouth and heart have to be in agreement?How can this even be a question?! But people misspeak all the time, and they should be protected from those goofs. The question is when does "pigul" (for the wrong intent) kick in? Also, what happens if th...
Jan 23, 2021•30 min•Season 4Ep. 63
What can impurity teach about the uncircumcised, who cannot eat from the Korban Pesach? Also, the Book of Yuchasin, lineage, spurs the question: Where are you from? Which grants a window into the travels of Chazal, from Lod to Nehardeah. And the put-downs of Chazal, too. On the one hand, Beruriah is held up as an example of her exceptional learning; on the other, the insult of being obviously upstaged by a woman may be worse than if she'd been male. Which takes the Gemara back to the intent ques...
Jan 22, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 62
Offering the Korban Pesach with intent for those who are not registered to eat it, or who are not eligible to eat it would disqualify the sacrifice. Unless some of the people who are part of that intent can eat, at least or the mishnah. The question of a mixed crowd - valid and not valid to eat the Korban Pesach - complicates matters, but salvages the karbanot. Also: The Gemara cites a passage from the Tosefta of a parallel case to the mishnah, wherein the kohen's intent was for the wrong group....
Jan 21, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 61
Improper intention invalidates the Korban Pesach. Note 4 essential component parts of the sacrifice. The degree of intent here is specific - and yet the case this daf considers is one where correct intent is there together with mistaken intent. Namely, that one could intend for the sacrifice before him to be the Korban Pesach, and also have intent for it to be a korban shelamim... How do those different intents affect the korban? What about a Korban Pesach that is slaughtered with correct intent...
Jan 20, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 60
The order of the ritual on Erev Pesach: daily offering, Korban Pesach, incense, lighting menorah. Why so? Including, a specific detail about the menorah that makes the difference. Also: What happens when something runs interference to the completion of a sacrifice? Who gets the residual effects? Plus: On acclimating to korbanot.
Jan 19, 2021•23 min•Season 4Ep. 59
Turning to the 5th chapter of Pesachim, and embarking on the many details of the Korban Pesach. Which means we must first consider the other korbanot that are offered on that same day, namely the Tamid shel Shacharit and the Tamid shel Bein HaArba'im on the 14th of Nisan. The afternoon offering that takes place every day must be completed before the Korban Pesach (plus a What's What run-down of the possible korbanot). Also: How do we know that the Korban Pesach should be slaughtered at the 8.5th...
Jan 18, 2021•21 min•Season 4Ep. 58
NOTE: Tomorrow, we start a new chapter, for those who want to start dad yomi - or start again! || More on how peah isn't relevant for vegetables. Also, the negative history of the kohanim, after corruption crept in. Several examples, including the way they became a disappointment, and worse. Plus, the archeology that backs the Gemara up. Also: 4 times that the Temple courtyard cried out... with a focus on specific stories of where the kohanim went wrong, as well as some comment on how other koha...
Jan 17, 2021•25 min•Season 4Ep. 57
Establishing practices as authoritative, by whom, and how? For example: Grafting palm trees on Erev Pesach. Bundling Shema. Trimming hekdesh. Setting aside peah for fields of vegetables. Also: 6 things that Hezkiyahu did, including his famous water tunnel. Plus: A focus on the "bundling of Shema," the famous story on the placement of "Baruch Shem kavod malchuto le-olam va-ed," and whether it should be said out loud or under one's breath. Plus, more on peah, beyond the usual field.
Jan 16, 2021•31 min•Season 4Ep. 56
More on talmidei chachamim, and whether everyone should try to practice as per the approach for them. [What's What: Yuhara] With regard to the bridegroom on his wedding night, as well as the previous case of not working on Tisha B'Av in a place where people do work. Also, an abundance of mishnayot, on what was allowed as per different people's practice on Erev Pesach, etc., including calling in a craftsperson then or on chol hamoed.
Jan 15, 2021•19 min•Season 4Ep. 55
The blessing on fire comes through Havdalah, which was reportedly created after Shabbat. Which brings us to a list of 10+ things that were created Erev Shabbat, on twilight. Why these things? Why at that time? Also, 7 things created before the world was created. Plus, the creation of tongs - for which you need tongs. Also: That which was created in partnership with man. Fire... and the mule! Also: Things that are kept from people, including the day of consolation. And things that had to be creat...
Jan 14, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 54
Defining Israel's topography based on what grows where. Also, more on different practices in different places. Beginning with commerce between Jews and non-Jews, in the context of animals - more taboo than we might have thought. And back to Pesach practice - whether you intentionally eat roasted meat on seder night, or intentionally do not. Plus: Making sure not to specify that your meat is for Pesach, lest it seem like designating consecrated meat for Pesach. Also: Theodosius of Rome, and his p...
Jan 13, 2021•29 min•Season 4Ep. 53
More on practices that change from place to place. Including travel on the second day of yom tov. [What's What: Makat mordot] And transporting shemitah produce. Also: Consistency in following rabbinic authority, rather than taking on only leniencies. Plus: When is a fruit not (yet) a fruit.
Jan 12, 2021•24 min•Season 4Ep. 52
Following the practice in the place that you're in: 3 examples, including a certain kind of wide shoes. As discovered by those who violate those norms, and how they conduct themselves afterwards. Also: Another such example, specifically a difference between the Land of Israel and Babylonia, as per Rabbah bar bar Chanah's experience - and how he conducts himself (another few examples). [Who's Who: The Kutim/ Samaritans.] With some observations about the cases the Gemara discusses.
Jan 11, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 51
A side conversation that explicates a verse from Zachariah, on light and dark and priorities. Plus: The Gemara's presentation of a near-death experience. Also: Minhag in Halakhah, and "the chumrahs of both places." Plus: 4 jobs that are not blessed. Including scribes and scholars, to ensure that they keep working.
Jan 10, 2021•28 min•Season 4Ep. 50
A long daf with much to discuss. When Erev Pesach falls out on Shabbat - do you get rid of chametz before Shabbat or on Shabbat? It may depend if your chametz is terumah or not. [Who's Who: R. Tzadok] Also: Nullifying chametz in your heart (mind), by saying out loud that you negate its existence - various cases when involvement in mitzvot or trouble necessitates this approach. What about consecrated food items (that aren't supposed to leave Jerusalem)? What amount of this kind of food (chametz o...
Jan 09, 2021•33 min•Season 4Ep. 49
More on "ho'il" - how the Gemara line up the rabbis in trying to understand how far this logic can apply. Working through the tannaitic sources to figure out the rationale. Also: How do you bake bread (or matzah) with regard to the mitzvah of challah? One family separates its dough in small amounts that don't require challah to be taken - but also speed up the process, and sidesteps the worry of chametz. But what happens to the mitzvah of taking challah? A discussion of whether the portions can ...
Jan 08, 2021•24 min•Season 4Ep. 48
Lechem Ha-Panim, the "shewbread," and the restrictions on when it can be eaten. And when it can be baked in preparation for when it will be eaten. With an attempted comparison to the Shavuot bread offering of "Shtei ha-Lechem." Also: More on the "ho'il" rationale, and a discussion of how far it can be used. Plus: Muktzah - could it be a Torah-level requirement?!
Jan 07, 2021•22 min•Season 4Ep. 46
"Deaf dough" - the halakhah that pertains to it, and why it's called "deaf." Plus, the origins of the 18-minute time frame for rising in a walk along the Sea if Galilee. Also: Separating challah from dough that is already impure - can you take it after the dough is baked? Can you slow down leavening with cold water? Do you even need to worry about this dough becoming chametz? Also: "Tovat hana'ah" and more on the reasoning of "since" ("ho'il"), with its implications, in this case, that allow for...
Jan 06, 2021•30 min•Season 4Ep. 46
Marking a (solar) year of daf yomi. || When dough gets into the cracks of your mixing bowl. Is it a kezayit's worth? Does it have value for the bowl itself? Also: When 2 half-kezayits do not make a whole kezayit - specifically in the kneading bowl. But this seems counterintuitive - and indeed the case is left unresolved (teiku). Plus - food that is not fit for human consumption, but a dog would eat it.
Jan 05, 2021•22 min•Season 4Ep. 45
First, "mayim shelanu"! Now, the time component of eating. Plus the quantity component of eating. And the fact that terumah and non-kodshim do not combine to make that volume. Also, the combination of bread soaked in wine. How does this compare to meat and milk? Or rather, why isn't meat/milk the example that is brought to begin with? [What's What: Ta'am ke-Ikar] Note the rule against extrapolating from an innovation. So instead of meat and milk, the Gemara moves to kilayim, as a prohibited food...
Jan 04, 2021•26 min•Season 4Ep. 44
A general rule about grains that become leavened violates the mitzvah of not having chametz on Pesach. And then, on top of the rule, specific examples are listed. Which leads to the importance of knowing the basic terms of many dishes. Also: another example of an apparent general rule that should apply across the board, followed by specifics, in this case, women and their obligations regarding both chametz and matzah.
Jan 03, 2021•18 min•Season 4Ep. 43
