Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 49, delivers a stunningly poetic passage, telling us that Torah, like a thigh, should always be revealed and explored only in intimate settings. Dr. Batsheva Marcus joins us to unpack this surprising bit of instruction, and explain why the study of Torah should be both a public and a very private undertaking. How is talking about sex like studying scripture? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 48, tasks us with a hard mission: learning to rejoice even when it's the very last day of the holiday and the weight of ordinary life beckons. Hudson Leibovitz, eight years old, joins us to explain how he is preparing for the end of summer vacation, and to teach adults how kids manage to have fun even in unlikely circumstances. What is the secret to the childhood zen that the rabbis understood so well? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Sukkah 46 and 47, remind us just how important it is to count our blessings and to make sure we're very specific when we thank God for all of the plenty. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the logic of blessings, and why the rabbis disagreed on precisely how we should be thankful. How are blessings a good preparation for a solid marriage? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Sukkah 44 and 45, tell us again, in no uncertain terms, that each one of us has the power to change and redeem the entire world. We're inspired by the story of Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who gave his life for another inmate at Auschwitz, teaching us how to be free and holy even in the world's darkest place. What might we learn from his example? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 43, gives us an all-too-familiar, and very funny, scene of Jews bickering among themselves. Historian Zev Eleff joins us to shed light on our people's propensity for in-fighting, explains its historical and structural roots, and regales us with a long-lost tale of a synagogue spat turned violent. Which famous American rabbi had to spend Rosh Hashanah in jail after punching the shul president in the face? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 42, asks perhaps the one question that matters most: When and how should we start educating our kids to love the Torah? Educator Adina Fredman joins us to talk about the Talmud's approach to early childhood education, and how it measures up to her experiences as a long-time teacher and scholar. How young might a child be before she truly starts grasping complicated concepts like monotheism? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 41, dives deep into the reasons why we remain so obsessed with the memory of the Beit Hamikdash, the ancient Temple. Novelist Dara Horn joins us to explain this eternal preoccupation of ours, how it's different from, say, a Civil War reenactment, and how the rabbis of the Talmud created an ingenious system of virtual reality to transform and preserve our religious traditions. Why did Judaism have to fake its own death to survive? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Sukkah 39 and 40, kick things off with a tough conundrum: Why do we often say blessings for mitzvot prior to performing them? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to talk about the ancient rabbinic discussion about the purpose and mechanics of blessings, and how they still inform our worship today. Why do we first pick up the etrog upside down and only then turn it rightside up? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Sukkah 37 and 38, raise the age-old question: Why do we shake the lulav and etrog on Sukkot? Isn't simply lifting them enough? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain the mystical symbolism behind these acts, and how they help us imagine that the whole world is one body, begging God for mercy. What does that have to do with the practice of many religious Jews to sway back and forth as they pray? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Sukkah 36, finds the rabbis in a judgy mood: rats, they tell us, are downright repulsive. Dr. Rivka Schwartz joins us to share her experience of life with adorable pet rats, and help us figure out if humans and rodents can find true companionship. Were the rabbis just too harsh on our little mousy friends? Listen and find out.Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.