Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 70, tells us of a king who takes pity on the poor. We investigate this pages modern relevance in light of our time’s astonishing income inequality. Is meritocracy the backbone of American greatness and ingenuity, or a vicious cycle that makes everyone, even the winners, miserable? 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.

The Deeper Causes of Brittle Nails