Bava Kama 105 – Strict Adherence to The Rules

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 105 explains that a Nazarite who is obligated to shave their head, has not fulfilled their obligation if two hairs remain on their head. To our modern ears, this determination appears extreme, but the Rabbis ask us to consider that there are times when compromise is not the appropriate response, and the strict adherence to certain principles is. Are there certain lines that we must maintain with strict adherence in order to ensure a system of true justice? 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.

Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 

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.