Take One Daf Yomi

Today's Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 7 and 8, raises a question that pierces the heart of every New Yorker: Can your home even be considered a real home if it's, you know, just too small? Stephanie Butnick, co-host of Tablet's popular Unorthodox podcast and a dweller of several very small apartments, returns to describe life with no space at all and argue that nothing says private domain more than having absolutely no privacy. What Talmudic lessons can be learned by living in a studio apartment in the West Village? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 6, continues the discussion about private versus public domains, and lands on a peculiar question: Is the desert a real place? The rabbis seem unsure, so we called up Tzipi Perl Turner, friend of the show and proud resident of Arizona, to talk to us about life amid the hot desert sands and why it can be both challenging and rewarding. What did the rabbis get wrong about sun and sand? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 5, asks us to take a moment and think about our books. How should we treat them, and, more importantly, why should we not mistreat them? Author and editor Lisa Ann Sandell joins us to talk about why dog-earing a book is sometimes ok, why books make the best traveling companions, and why no gadget will ever take the place of the printed page. Should you scribble notes in the margins of a beloved novel? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 4, raises a difficult moral question: Is it okay for you to break a few laws in order to allow your friend to win a big mitzvah? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, author of the definitive book about sin and transgression in Jewish thought, joins us to talk about the difference between doing a few wrong things for the good of the community and bending the rules for the benefit of just one other person. Why does the Talmud believe, like airlines, that you should put on your own oxygen mask before helping others? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 2 and 3, launch a brand new tractate, dedicated to all the things we can and can't do on our holy day of rest. But rather than jumping right into a list of forbidden work, the Talmud starts us off with a discussion of the private versus the public domain and the intricacies of carrying objects from one to the other. Why, and what does any of it have to do with modern technology and our work-life balance? Listen and find out.

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We are about to start a new tractate, masechet Shababt. It’s the second tractate, out of the sixty three in the Talmud. Before we start, join us to get a sense of the topics that we will explore and the guests we will be learning with.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 63 and 64, bring us to the end of our first tractate. After weeks of thinking about which blessing to say over which foodstuff, how to throw a proper dinner party, what's the meaning of havdalah, what's the deal with sushi, how to think about sex, and how to face down a dictator, we've come to the end of tractate Berakhot. We've heard from rabbis and community leaders, NBA stars and Hollywood actors, podcasters and psychotherapists and a whole host of other people who joined to remind us that the Talmud is for everyone, regardless of education or observance or background or anything else. To commemorate our first siyum, or finishing a Talmudic tractate, we welcome producer Josh Kross to reflect on what we've learned. What advice does the Talmud give those who look around them and are not too happy with what they see? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 62, contains one of the Talmud's most astonishing stories. One of the rabbis sneaks under his teacher's bed, and observes as the teacher and the teacher's wife make love. He is discovered, and his defense teaches us a lesson that's more urgent today as it's ever been. Dr. Batsheva Marcus, a certified sex therapist inspired by this story, joins us to talk about what this strange tale of voyeurism can teach us about talking to our kids about sexuality. Why is sex like the Torah, and what does it have to do with keeping kids off of porn? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 61, finds the rabbis in an existential state of mind. They're talking about the creation of Man, or, more accurately, of Man and Woman. Rabbi Sari Laufer joins us to shed some light on the Talmud's approach to gender, warn us against judging ancient texts according to modern standards, and teaches us a lesson on introspection and how to contemplate our essential meaning. What to make of the Talmudic warning against men walking behind women? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 60, tells an eerie story of the great Rabbi Akiva and a night that begins darkly and ends with miracles. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns with a lesson about one of the Talmud's most famous rabbis, and about how life is anything but a dull, linear story. What can Akiva teach us about coming to terms with the hardships of our life? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 58 and 59, begin with a beguiling story of a wise blind rabbi and culminates in a searing moral about why we should never let the pomp and circumstance of life distract us. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain why it's silence, not sensationalism, that reveals to us life's greatest mysteries. What does any of this have to do with the death of Superman? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 56 and 57, continue the journey into the unconscious with a host of strange things you may see in your dreams, and an explanation of what each one means. Writer and psychotherapist Alter Yisrael Shimon Feuerman returns to make sense of this surreal landscape, and explain why the Talmud believes a $300 therapist is better than one that charges only $100. What does it mean when you dream of cats? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 55, takes a sharp turn in an odd direction: No longer concerned with what blessing to say over which food, it now enters the magical, mystical field of dreams. Writer and psychotherapist Alter Yisrael Shimon Feuerman joins us to explain how, millennia before Freud, the Talmud already understood the mysteries of the unconscious mind. Why did the rabbis believe that you must know not only the Torah but also yourself? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 54, raises one of the most difficult edicts in all of the Talmud: We must, it informs us, recite a blessing of gratitude when bad things happen just as we would give thanks over good things. Tablet's Jake Siegel, a former captain in the U.S. Army, joins us to talk about struggling with the existence of evil while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and coming to terms with God's role in allowing evil to persist. What blessing should we say when things get dark? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page Berakhot 53, asks an obvious but surprisingly difficult question: Should we say "amen" when we hear schoolchildren recite blessings? It's a question our culture should seriously contemplate, enamored as we are with elevating the very young, from Greta Thunberg to Billie Eilish, to stardom. Are we doing our children a disservice when we expect them to be social, cultural, and political leaders? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page Berakhot 51, brings us a debate over the the intricacies of the havdalah prayers. Friend of Tablet Harold Lindenthal brings us the story of his father, Rabbi Haskel Lindenthal, and a deeper insight into the prayers at the end of Shabbat. What is the real meaning of the order? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 51, gives us a long and jaunty meditation on a favorite subject: the art of preparing and delivering the perfect toast. The show's producer and a master at speaking while holding a flute of champagne, Josh Kross, returns to give us some pointers and explain why raising a glass to your loved ones is a sacred act. What to say when you have the attention of the room? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 49 and 50, bring up a familiar concept: Does practice really make perfect? And if so, does it apply to all areas of religious life, or only those we choose to take upon ourselves? The show's producer, Josh Kross, returns to talk about the comforts and challenges that come with religious observance. Does it really take 10,000 hours of practice to be a good Jew? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 48, raises a question we've all bumped up against now and then: What's the proper way to behave when you find yourself in a room with very powerful and important people? For today's guest, Enes Kanter, this has been a reality from a very young age: The Turkish-born star ballplayer was still a teenager when he found himself drafted into the NBA, playing with and against some of the legends he'd grown up idolizing as a boy. How do you keep your cool when you have to interact with the high and mighty? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 47, asks a big, tough question: Exactly what does a Jew need to know and do in order to be considered anything but an Am Ha'aretz, or an ignoramus? The rabbis, of course, each offer wildly divergent answers, and to address this thorny conundrum we invited Stephanie Butnick and Mark Oppenheimer, co-hosts of Tablet's popular Unorthodox podcast, to ascertain once and for all the best way to engage with Jewish life. Is the ability to listen the only true prerequisite we should insist on when welcoming someone to our midst? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 46, finds the rabbis in a hospitable mood: They're talking dinner parties, and who should be seated where to ensure a fun evening for all. Alana Newhouse, Tablet Magazine's Editor in Chief and a celebrated convener of unmatched soirees, joins us to talk seating arrangements, class structure, and how the Internet killed the art of dinner party conversation. Should you let your guests sit wherever they please or create an intricate seating chart? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 44 and 45, begin with talk of the fruit of Ginosar, magical treats that are so potent they make the rabbis literally lose their minds. It's a passage so deliciously comical that even the Gemara acknowledges it's pure hyperbole. But reflect on it long enough, and you'll see a lesson in longing, for home and youth and freedom. What do the fruit of Ginosar have to do with modern-day Tel Aviv? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 42 and 43, introduce us to a curious concept: Pas HaBah B'kissnin, a sort of sweet pastry that is made without water and is therefore exempt from the traditional blessing over bread. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain the great debate about whether or not you have to ritually wash your hands when grabbing a slice or two of pizza, and unlocks a host of other doughy mysteries. What are Mezonos Rolls, and why do airlines love sticking them in Kosher meals? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi, Berakhot 41, gets us into the nitty-gritty of how to say different blessings over different foodstuffs. It's all fine and well when we're talking wine, say, or bread, or an apple; but what about Sushi? Do we bless the fish? The rice? The occasional bit of avocado? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a breakdown of a fascinating conversation about how to think about what we eat. Why does every single kosher restaurant, even the pizza parlors and burger joints, also offer sushi? Listen and find out.

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Today's Daf Yomi, Berakhot 40, teaches us an important lesson: We're not allowed to eat before feeding our animals. But how does that compassionate commandment fit in with a religion that isn't shy about slaughter? Mark Oppenheimer, a casual vegetarian and animal lover, returns to offer his insights into how we should treat all of God's creatures. Should we change the definition of kosher to insist that the animals we consume have been ethically raised? Listen and find out.

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Today's Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 39, asks a poignant and important question that haunts us each Shabbat: Why two challahs? Isn't one loaf of doughy goodness enough, and isn't splurging on two a tad wasteful? Producer Josh Kross returns to channel the rabbis of old as well as grace us with the perfect recipe for French toast. Why is so much bread a requirement? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 37 and 38, begin with an argument resolved over a hearty meal, and raises a thorny question: Is the dinner table still the center of civic life now that so many of us simply use apps to order groceries and food straight to our door, no human interaction necessary? The show's host, Liel Leibovitz, turns to the rabbis for advice on how to make dinnertime sacred again. Why is ordering your Starbucks online bad for your soul? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 35 and 36, begin a long and intricate discussion about food and what blessing ought to be said over what fruit, vegetable, or grain. It’s a terrific reminder of why it’s so important to watch what you eat, both physically and spiritually, and it drove the show’s host, Liel Leibovitz, to meditate on going kosher and having to give up his most favorite food: bacon. Why is meaning better than meat? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 34, is all about Teshuvah, or return. Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, the social media editor of Chabad.org and the entrepreneur behind Tech Tribe, returns to tell us why the most difficult and flawed life experiences can serve as spiritual rocket fuel. Why did the Talmud suggest that those who have done Teshuvah are preferable even to the purest among the righteous? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi, Berakhot 33, features a story about a righteous person doing battle with a terrible snake. But as our guest, Jordan B. Gorfinkel—renowned comic book creator and the genius behind both the illustrated Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel and D.C. Comics’ Birds of Prey, soon to be a very major motion picture—explains, the story lives on through the generations, appearing as a major plot point in the most recent Star Wars film. What did Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa teach Rey Skywalker? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 32, tells us a strange story: God, the rabbis recount, thanked Moses for no less a miraculous feat than breathing life into the Almighty himself. Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone (known on Twitter as @mottel), the social media editor of Chabad.org and the entrepreneur behind Tech Tribe, joins us to discuss what we ordinary humans can do to serve God in the same way, and why we should all be lamplighters in this world. What can we learn from Moses? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 30 and 31, contain a grim pronouncement: Too much laughter makes you frivolous, which is why you should wipe that grin off your face and focus on Torah and good deeds. Could that really be the prescription from which emerged Groucho Marx, Mel Brooks, and Amy Schumer? Comedian Judy Gold joins us to break down one hilarious scene and make sense of the Talmudic view of laughter. Why did the rabbis cap off a wedding with a rousing song about death and dying? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 28 and 29, tell a story of an awkward meeting between two rabbis, one wealthy and imperious and the other a pious blacksmith. Feeling snubbed, the poorer rabbi rebukes his colleague for knowing very little about how hard Jewish lay leaders have to work to keep the community vibrant. Jackie Congedo, the director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Cincinnati, joins us for a conversation about what we can do to empower those who dedicated their careers to Jewish life. Why are we still paying not enough and demanding too much of the men and, mostly, women who staff our communal organizations? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berkahot 27, introduces an interesting category: the Talmid Chaver, a Torah scholar who is no longer merely his rabbi's student yet not yet a leading light in his own right. What's it like to be just a few feet from stardom? We asked Kurt Fuller, one of Hollywood's finest character actors and the star of such cult classics as Wayne's World and Ghostbusters II, to help us reflect on the toll of being so great at your craft and yet not as widely known as some of your colleagues. What can the Talmud teach us about movie stars? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 26, takes prayer seriously. Do we pray to replicate the sacrifices offered by the priests in the ancient Temple, or are we simply mimicking the ancient rituals begun by our Patriarchs, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob? And should prayer, then, be carefully regulated and orchestrated, or left up to each one of us to practice as we see fit? Andrew Rehfeld, the President of Hebrew Union College-Hebrew Institute of Religion, the Reform movement's premiere theological seminary, joins us to grapple with these questions. How to balance tradition with personal passion? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 25, raises a real stink. We mean it literally: In a book rich with discussions of bodily emissions, it stands out as one of our finest debates of what to do when the heart wants to transcend but the butt has other plans. Producer Josh Kross returns in an episode as rich in fart jokes as it is in insight. What can the Talmud teach us about breaking wind in front of our significant others? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 23 and 24, bring up one of the most controversial prohibitions to emerge from Talmudic discussion: The idea of kol ba'isha erva, meaning that a woman's singing voice is as sexually alluring as her nakedness. It's why observant women aren't permitted to sing in mixed company, and so naturally we asked one of our favorite singers, Chazan Basya Schechter, to join us and reflect on what this prohibition meant to her, growing up religious and eventually becoming both a cantor and the leader of one of the leading Jewish music groups working today, Pharaoh's Daughter. What were the rabbis thinking when they took issue with women singing? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 21 and 22, give us a torrent of bodily fluids, and one astonishing story that begins with great embarrassment and ends with transcendence. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin reminisces about his mother censoring the books he'd read as a child, and takes us on a journey that begins in the gutter and ends with hope. Why did the sages pray ardently for a clean toilet? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 20, raises a difficult conundrum: Are thoughts and speech the same thing? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin helps us parse the difference between thinking and articulating, and what role each one plays in our lives. What to do with all those thoughts and prayers? Listen and find out.

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Today's Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 19, asks a loaded question: What happens when religious observance clashes with personal dignity? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to guide us through everything from the complex hierarchy of the commandments to the intricacies of tearing toilet paper on the Sabbath. When does Jewish law take a back seat to basic personal concerns? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 18, asks a haunting question: What role do the dead play in the world of the living? Are they whispering to us as we pass through cemeteries, or are they removed in a realm of their own? Mark Oppenheimer, co-host of Tablet’s popular Unorthodox podcast, returns to talk superstition, premonitions, and the afterlife. What is our relationship with the departed? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 16 and 17, deliver a delightful discovery: Having concluded their prayers, the wise rabbis of the Talmud were often in the habit of uttering a few additional, and very personal, prayers of their own. What would such a modern day invocation be like? Mark Oppenheimer, co-host of Tablet's popular Unorthodox podcast, joins to deliver a meditation on this question. What can we say these days to begin and repair the world? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 14 and 15, tackle a difficult question: What's the correct order of doing things in life, from serving God to handling our earthly affairs? Shira Hecht-Koller, director of education of 929 English, returns for a close reading of a complex Talmudic disagreement that leaves us with unexpected clarity about the relationship between learning, teaching, and doing. Why should we never opine freely before we're absolutely sure we understand the thing we're opining about? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 13, brings up the complicated topic of intentionality. In other words: Is it enough to just follow all the commandments, or do you have to really mean it in your heart of hearts? We're joined by Shira Hecht-Koller, director of education of 929 English, who helps us unpack the intricacies of being fully present, no matter what it is you do. How do you direct your heart to the right place? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 12, raises a thorny question: What happens if you're at a party, say, and reach for the Budweiser, and say the appropriate blessing for beer, but then realize you've grabbed the Chardonay instead? Do you need to switch up your blessing? The question may sound confusing, but producer Josh Kross helps us arrive at an environmentally friendly meditation on why it's important to be mindful about what you eat. What does the Daf have to say about going green? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 11, begins with a loopy parable about beards that's really about something much bigger: No strangers to disagreement, the rabbis wanted to take some time and teach us all how to have a principled, respectful, and enjoyable argument. Which, frankly, is a lesson we can all use these days. So how can we fight without getting nasty? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 10, introduces us to one of the Talmud's most formidable—and only—women. Her name is Beruria, and she delivers a wise and passionate lesson to her husband, the famed Rabbi Meir, teaching him the true meaning of compassion. Want to learn the true meaning of mercy?  Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 8 and 9, begin with a thorny statement: If you don't visit your local synagogue, you're an evil neighbor. It sounds a bit gruff, but when you consider the identity of the man who passed this judgment—a former gladiator moved by lust to become one of the Talmud's wisest and most celebrated rabbis—things start to fall into place. Want to meet the legendary Reish Lakish? Curious about why freedom can only be achieved when everyone is free? Listen and find out.

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Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 6 and 7, raise a strange and wonderful question: Does God pray? And if so, what does the Almighty ask for? Because the rabbis believed God prayed for nothing more than not losing His temper with us, His misbehaved children, we asked the show’s producer, Josh Kross, a long-time stay-at-home dad, to offer his perspective on what mothers and fathers here on earth can learn from our Heavenly Father about keeping your cool and being a good parent. Want to know what God commands you to do next time your kids are being annoying? Listen and find out.

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Today's Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 4 and 5, begin with a king fretting about his sins and soul. He is King David: No stranger to all matters of transgression, the king nevertheless takes stock of his attempts to live righteously and worries about any possible future wrongdoings. Unorthodox co-host Stephanie Butnick joins us for a conversation about what men in the #metoo era might learn from King David, and about the Talmud's approach to suffering. Always wondered why bad things happened to good people? Listen and find out.

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