Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yoma 9, teaches us what might, without much exaggeration, be called the Talmud's most urgent lesson: How to have profound disagreements without devolving into tribalism and needless hatred. This conversation between Liel Leibovitz and Jay Michaelson — two radically divergent thinkers who disagree on everything from Israel to American politics is a lesson in how to put this sage wisdom to the test. How do you talk to someone who sees the world in a radically different way? Listen and find out.You can find the entire unedited conversation here.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, Yoma 7 and 8, deliver a neat meditation on the ways the garments of the priests helped them feel a little bit closer to God. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to tell us about how the tefillin Jewish men are commanded to wear every morning is simply a continuation of the same idea, and how every day contains a few small opportunities to transcend from the mundane to the divine. How can our daily actions help us overcome our sins and be a bit more like the High Priest on the holiest day of the year? 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, Yoma 5 and 6, contain a strong rabbinic exhortation against sharing information without explicit permission. Stephanie Butnick joins us to take issue with this edict and propose that telling stories to and about each other helps us build a warm, tight-knit community. When, then, should we chat away and when should we keep our mouths shut? 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, Yoma 4, reminds us that everything worth doing is worth doing with a profound sense of awe. For a long time, our guest today, author Michal Oshman, was struggling with that insight: The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, she grew up to have a successful career with some of the world's leading tech companies, but couldn't shake off her sense of anxiety and dread. It was meditating on Judaism's teachings about creation's inherent awe that brought her around, helping her find a sense of gratitude and peace. How can we make our life literally more awesome? 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, Yoma 3, couldn't be more timely: It's about the ways in which the priests must sequester themselves to achieve optimal holiness, a feeling that may not be too foreign to those of us who've had to spend long periods of time recently quarantined alone. Anya Lichtenstein joins us to talk about her year of living alone, and what surprising revelations came out of this solitude. Can being forced to spend a COVID lockdown alone lead to something akin to sanctity? 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, Yoma 2, introduces us to a new tractate, one that's all about Yom Kippur. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to preview Yoma and give us an idea of what to expect when discussing repentance, observance, and other key themes. What is the real meaning of Yom Kippur? 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, Shekalim 21 and 22, bring this short and strange tractate to its conclusion. What are we to learn from it? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to suggest that Shekalim is a reminder of why it's important to pay your taxes, and how our financial obligations to each other help us build community. Why is it important for each of us to contribute to the collective project? 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, Shekalim 19 and 20, contemplate the uncertainty principle: What do we do when life presents us with intricate situations? As an old Hasidic tale reminds us, the point isn't to come up with the best answers, but to learn to ask the right questions. What did the meek student in the tale ask the wise old rabbi that won him the day? 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, Shekalim 18, is all about the menorah that burned bright in the ancient Temple. Why do we continue to contemplate it even now, millennia after it was last extinguished? Podcaster Eric Silver joins us to talk about the fantasy game Dungeons and Dragons, and how, like studying the Talmud, it makes you better by forcing you to study the intricate details of alternate realities. Why does arguing, in games and in real life alike, help you see things more clearly? 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, Shekalim 17, revolves around a fantastic story that brings to mind the best of Tolkien, about a king climbing to the top of the Temple to return its holy keys to God. Rabbi Raphael Zarum joins us to talk about what the ancient Hebrew king has in common with Frodo, the protagonist of The Lord of the Rings series, and why both tales offer urgently needed insight about humans overcoming their deepest, darkest desires. What secret Hebrew messages did Tolkien code into his popular books? 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.