Take One Daf Yomi

On today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 16 and 17, the sages share with us a pretty unbelievable story about a rabbi with a penchant for prostitutes. What happened next, and what lesson can be learned from this seemingly goofy story? Listen and find out.

On today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 15, the rabbis debate the sale of arms. It's an issue that is no less relevant today, and so, in this episode we are featuring an excerpt of a conversation between Dr. Chethan Sathya, a pediatric surgeon, and Fred Guttenberg, who lost his daughter Jaime in a school shooting, that originally aired on the 20-Minute Health Talk podcast. Can the gun violence epidemic be reframed as a public health issue? Listen and find out. 

On today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 14, the rabbis discuss the ethical treatment of animals and our relationship to the earth. We sidebar to hear from Joel Salatin, one of the recipients of Tablet's 2025 Sinai Awards. Joel is a farmer from Virginia, and we wanted to share his inspiring acceptance speech at the recent award ceremony. What does today's Talmud page have to do with "food freedom"? Listen and find out. 

On today's page  of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 13, the sages discuss the conditions on which a priest is allowed to leave Eretz Yisrael. What beautiful idea do we learn in the conversation that follows? Listen and find out. 

On today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 11 and 12, we learn about the legendary commentator Onkelos, who was born into Roman nobility, but later converted to Judaism. What made him so great? Listen and find out. 

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 9 and 10, we learn about the singular friendship between Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and the Emperor Antoninus. What does the Talmud teach us about their unlikely alliance? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 8, the Rabbis tell a story of Jewish bravery during the Roman Empire. When the chain of Rabbinic ordination was threatened by the Roman rulers, a group of Rabbis met to ordain students at tremendous risk to themselves. What happened next? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 7, the sages discuss how a person should pray. Should a person first say the Amidah, and then issue  their own personal requests, or should their personal prayers come first? And why does it matter? Listen and find out.  

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 6, the sages continue their discussion of "foreign worship," and parse out what it means for Jewish people to partake of non-Jewish holidays. But hey, what's so bad about New Year's Eve? Listen and find out. 

In today’s Talmud pages, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Avodah Zarah 4 and 5, the sages relate an incident between two great scholars, Rabbi Abahu and Rav Safra, and a group of heretics. The moral of the story is so simple, but applicable to anybody who cares about building a healthy and diverse society. What is it? Listen and find out.