Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 33 and 34, delivers a crucial lesson about prioritizing those among us who can barely defend themselves. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why we should take special care when dealing with the disadvantaged. Why did the rabbis insist on a special oath when doing business with orphans? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 31 and 32, deliver a bit of wisdom that served the rabbis well while discussing property rights, but that couldn't be more relevant to us in these contentious political times. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss the fascinating and timely notion of being presumed Kosher. Why should we treat everyone as if they're worthy of our trust? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 30, tells us the story of a man who was so busy he failed to notice his friend was living in his house for three years. What can we learn from this outlandish tale about our own relationship with productivity and stress? And was the wise Rava right to rule that keeping really, really busy is kind of good for you? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 29, finds Rava and Abaye locked in a fierce argument over everything from legal deeds to human psychology. Why should we sometimes slow down our reading of the Talmud and learn from these great wise rabbis? And what might today's discussion teach us about the way we interact with each other? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 28, discusses what it takes to truly take possession of something, like a field, say, or a house. But can the same rules prescribed by the rabbis teach us how to take possession of our own country? And might the Talmud have a prescription on how we should to about, in the midst of a very volatile political moment, and reclaim democracy? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 26 and 27, advise us to distance ourselves from our neighbors in order to avert fractiousness and violence. We share the latest episode from Tablet’s podcast What Really Matters with Walter Russell Mead, which discusses the rise of J.D. Vance, America’s nervous allies in Europe and Asia, Silicon Valley’s break right, and the near-slaying of Donald Trump. Is there hope for our country? Listen and find out. 

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 24 and 25, kick things off by regulating how to design cities so that they don't smell. What surprising factor brought about London's Great Stink of 1858? And what does Rabbi Akiva have to teach us modern city dwellers struggling with overly fragrant streets? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 23, gives us a masterclass on Talmud thinking. What to do when you don't know all the facts? And is there a sound way to go ahead and eliminate doubt? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 22, gives us a shocking admission: Sometimes, jealousy is good. Terrific, even. Perhaps essential to human growth and greatness. But how can we tell the good kind of jealous from the bad? And how does jealousy help explain the Beatles? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 21, delivers a brief history of Jewish education. Once upon a time, it was only up to parents to make sure their kids learned Torah, until the rabbis noticed that this arrangement favored the few and the privileged. And so, they erected a system of education that still has much to teach us today. What are the four insights the rabbis have for everyone interested in the question of education? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 19 and 20, continue the discussion on the best way to be a good neighbor. We share an episode from our sister podcast, Sivan Says, about neighbors getting together after tragedy and helping each other out. What can neighborliness achieve? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 17 and 18, find the rabbis advocating the merits of building sturdy walls and keeping a healthy distance from the folks next door. But does their ancient wisdom really hold up in the complex, globalized, modern world? And do good fences really make good neighbors? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 16, raises one of the most profound questions in human morality: the question of theodicy, or why would an all-merciful God allow evil to exist in the world. As the rabbis read the ancient book of Job, they deliver a surprisingly modern, and acutely relevant, wisdom. So what should we do when the going gets a little bit too tough for us to take? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 15, brings us a mystery for the ages. Liel discusses the conundrum of Moses recording his own demise. Who actually wrote the Torah? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 14, discusses the ideal size of a Torah, and the output of several renowned scribes. Dr. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, joins us to talk about how to measure success in your writing. Is it quality or quantity? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 12 and 13, discuss the owners of prophecy after the destruction of the Temple. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss the difference between the prophecy that comes directly from Hashem, and that which comes from wisdom from the mysteries of the world. Are the true prophets only children and fools? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 10 and 11, relate to a parable that challenges us to think about who is responsible for taking care of those around us. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss the responsibilities we all have with regard to each other. Who is more talmudic, Neil deGrasse Tyson or Norm Macdonald? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 9, discuss the value of emotional support in addition to charitable donations. Tablet’s religious affairs correspondent Maggie MacFarland Phillips joins Liel Leibovitz and Stephanie Butnick to discuss how some non-Jews have been attempting to support Jews since Oct. 7. What makes a righteous gentile? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 8, shares a discussion over whether or not Torah scholars should be required to pay taxes. These discussions are a powerful reflection of the present debate about Israel’s Haredi community and military service. What can this ancient and modern debate teach us about leaning on our affinities over our divisions? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 7, shares a debate over when someone is considered a resident of a city. Producer Josh Kross joins to give insight into the best ways to become part of a new community. When exactly should you consider yourself a local? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 5 and 6, relate to the disagreement between two neighbors over the need for fences to keep them separate. One, Ronya, believes they are not necessary until his neighbor, Ravina, uses a practical example to show otherwise. Do good fences make good neighbors? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 3 and 4, tell the bloody story of Herod's revolt, which ended with the massacre of many rabbis. Dr. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, joins us to talk about the tradition of massacres in the modern political imagination, and how the term continues to repel and excite us alike. Why is it never a good idea to plan a wholesale assault on enemies real or imagined? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 2, introduces us to a brand new tractate, Bava Batra. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to preview the wisdom and thrills we've in store, from the Sinbad-like tales of a seafaring rabbi to the profound lessons on living as a minority in non-Jewish communities. What are the tractate's surprisingly modern insights? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 119, brings our tractate to a close. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to review Bava Metzia's greatest hits, and remind us why its insights are so urgently needed today. What can we learn from the Talmud's most famous story? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 118, raises the question of whether or not it is permissible to pay someone in a currency other than cash. Hudson Leibovitz, age 10, is grappling with this question himself now that he has an allowance, and he joins us to discus the merits of a Starbucks gift card and the freedom of having a few dollars in his pocket. Is it better to receive biggish gifts or buy them yourself with your own money? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 116 and 117, describe a situation in which a house falls apart, and its two owners cannot agree how to rebuild. Congressman Ritchie Torres (D.-NY) joins us to discuss America's future, and why it may be far rosier than many of us believe. How can we rediscover common ground? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 114 and 115, tell us a fantastic, and heartbreaking, story about how to get and stay truly rich. What did the broke rabbi say to the prophet Elijah in the cemetery? And what life-changing financial advice did he receive on his magical trip to heaven? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s page, Bava Metzia 113, delivers what, at first glance, appears to be the most annoying bureaucratic stipulation. But, as the rabbis explain, there’s a subtle beauty to bureaucracy, one that forces us to stay mindful of other people’s needs. Why should we cheer for red tape? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s page, Bava Metzia 112, discusses ownership of the work of artisans. Tablet editor-in-chief, Alana Newhouse, joins us to discuss two different kinds of artisans and their work. Who owns a piece of art, the person in possession of the art or the creator? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s page, , discusses our duty to pay our employees in a timely fashion, but it’s really underlines how justice and, yes love, drive the morals behind the commandments. Rabbi Shai Held joins to discuss his new book Judaism is about Love which mirrors the obligation in the page today. What is the Jewish take on justice, love, and grace? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 109 and 110, discuss how to fire someone correctly. Producer and former fired employee Josh Kross joins us to talk about the good and bad sides of employment termination. When can you fire someone without warning, and when do you need to go through a deeper process? Listen and find out.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 106. 107, and 108, contain a challenge about the specificity of prayer Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to discuss whether prayer is a monologue or a dialog with Hashem. Why does it matter if your prayer isn’t specific enough? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 104 and 105, contains a strange and hilarious discussion on what to do if you're wearing Tefillin but must take out the garbage. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to find surprising meaning in this seemingly pedestrian debate, and explain why the rabbis were sending us a timely reminder about hope, resilience, and aspiration. Why wasn't the Torah given in the Land of Israel, and why should it matter to us today? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 102 and 103, inform us that, wherever we go, we must endeavor to respect the local customs and traditions. And yet, as recent surveys show, local customs and traditions are everywhere imperiled. Why should we still care about the old ways? And what's the potential danger of letting in the new? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 100 and 101, unfurl a tall tale that begins with a river washing away some olive trees and ends with a reminder of what may very well be the most important mitzvah of them all. Why is it so important to settle the Land of Israel? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 99, wonders whether a person who has secretly moved in to his pal's empty home should pay the owner rent. Must every transaction have winners and losers? Or should we cultivate what a famous self-help author called the abundance mentality and strive for win-win situations in life? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 98, asks a deceptively simple question: When, precisely, are we responsible for something? The question isn't just a moral conundrum; it's at the heart of so much of our contemporary political conversation. Should we, then, help the less fortunate, or assume they must've done something to deserve it? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 97, delivers a rabbinic master class in making clever business deals. Why should you always ask someone for a glass of water before signing on the dotted line? And are you entitled to all of your teacher's money, or is it the other way around? Listen and find out.

Join us Tuesday, June 11 from 9 p.m. to midnight for a special event featuring Liel Leibovitz, Tablet critic-at-large Marco Roth, and special guests reading and moderating a discussion of modernist literature in the upstairs lounge of The Russian Samovar at 256 West 52nd Street in Manhattan. In the spirit of Shavuot, expect riffing on passages by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf, as well as from the Torah. Register here.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 95 and 96, stress the important of building strong, cohesive communities. Jason Guberman, Executive Director of the American Sephardi Federation, joins us to speak about a true coming-together of community a star-studded Sephardi film festival. Are these films here to change the way we look at how Jews are represented on screen? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 93 and 94, deliver a stunner: Never, the rabbis insist, underestimate the power of an ordinary person cursing at you. Can using four-letter words actually be good for your body and soul? And did the rabbis figure it all out long before cable TV had? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 92, brings up the question of justice, not just of the earthly courts but of the Heavenly Court as well. Asaf Romirowsky, a historian who runs Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, joins us to discuss one recent travesty of justice, the story of Hamas's first American victim and a family trying to hold the men who aided his assassins responsible. What does a decades-old murder have to teach us about our current chaotic moment in time? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 91, teaches us a very important lesson from none other than Rabbi Akiva about the importance of treating others with respect and, more urgently, treating ourselves the same way. Why is despair the greatest conceivable sin? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 90, starts out by talking abou the way we treat animals, and ends up revealing a major insight into how religious belief ought to work. Should we keep the mitzvot blindly and without questioning them? Or are we permitted, even obliged, to stop and ask just why it is that God is asking us to do this or not do that? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 88 and 89, dive into the question of what, precisely, is a worker working in the field permitted to eat. Lisa Ann Sandell, book editor and writer and Chili's alum, joins us to reflect on life in the food service industry, and the moral conundrums that keep coming out of the kitchen. What can being a server teach us about food, justice, and humanity? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 86 and 87, recount the story of a sage fleeing government malignment and persecution. Tevi Troy returns to the show to discuss cases of malignment in presidential history. How disastrous can the effects of defamation be? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 85, finds the rabbis asking themselves the same question so many of us have been asking since Oct. 7, 2023: What did we do to deserve such a catastrophe? Their answers are subtle, surprising, and incredibly relevant. Why are blessings the key to rebuilding after disaster? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 84, tells a tragic tale of two great rabbis and their heartbreaking end. Liel recounts this story of a teacher and student, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish, and the disagreement that led to both of their demises. What happens when we don’t make peace with the people we disagree with? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 83, discusses one method of catching a thief: by profiling those drinking at taverns in the wee hours of the morning. Tevi Troy returns to the show to discuss the tension between law and order and caution regarding over-criminalization in presidential campaigns. Does the early bird catch a worm or a conviction? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 81 and 82, bring to light an apparent rabbinic mistake. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why this mistake wasn’t actually a mistake. What happens when a rabbi makes an incorrect ruling? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 79 and 80, hold a lesson about our responsibility to our faith hidden within a discussion about labor. Rabbi David Bashevkin joins us to tease out this lesson. What level of responsibility do we have to the unchosen gifts that we have been given? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.