Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 92 and 93, bring up a tricky question: How can we really measure distance? The answer, of course, is through time, which teaches us a valuable lesson on how to go very far even when we may think it impossible. What crucial time management skill can we learn from the rabbis? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 90 and 91, bring up the question of whether a portion of the Paschal sacrifice may count as payment to a prostitute for her services. Rabbanit Leah Sarna joins us to make sense of this thorny passage. Is the Talmud belittling prostitutes, or being wildly inclusive? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 89, gets downright uncomfortable when it talks about how members of a community act when they share finite resources and believe that one of them has gotten more than his share. Cantor Jacob Greenberg joins us to talk about the ethics of the COVID vaccine, and how we behave when demand for a cure is high and the rules less than clear. Why can't we all simply wait our turn? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 88, kicks things off with an audacious claim: When all Jews return home to the Land of Israel, it will be a more monumental day than the day the heavens and the earth were created. Marc Rosenberg, the Vice President of Nefesh B'Nefesh, joins us to talk about making aliya, and about the emotional insights the Talmud has into emigration. What three questions must everyone contemplating moving to Israel ask? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 87, tells us the rolicking story of the prophet Hosea, which includes rancor and despair and prostitution. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to celebrate this minor prophet's very major and timely message. What does Hosea teach us about getting along even, or especially, with those we don't really like? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 85 and 86, ponder whether or not the prayers of outsiders are heard just as loudly and clearly. Rabbi Hart Levine joins us to tell us to talk about the logic of prayer, and why God listens even to those who go nowhere near the shul. What is the number one reason some people just don't feel comfortable with prayer? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 83 and 84, warn us against breaking the bones of the paschal sacrifice. Dr. Adina Minkowitz Silberman joins us to tell us why this act is an invitation to dignity even under the most dire circumstances, and share with us a few delicious bone-related recipes. Why is there a secret dignity in bones? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 82, is all about shaming. Is it ever OK to shame someone if by embarrassing them we can make sure they do the right thing? Rabbi Josh Lookstein joins us to discuss shaming in the time of COVID-19 and how the school he runs works hard to make sure no kid feels embarrassed or left out. Why do we still feel so much shame about shaming? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 81, brings up a mysterious concept: the impurity of the deep. Put simply, it revolves around the following question: If someone, somewhere in the world dies and no one knows about it, are all of us impure because of the possibility that we might've inadvertently come into contact with a dead body? Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Zuckier joins us to explain this Jewish Zen koan and its tremendous impact on Jewish thought. Who was the first Jew ever to suggest we just not worry so much? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 80, raises the question of how to proceed with the Paschal sacrifice if some tribes are pure and others impure, which is a great way of thinking about the divisions that still tear the Jewish people apart. Moshe Koppel joins us to discuss why religious and secular Jews often see the world in starkly different terms, and what could be done to bring them closer together. Is tribalism truly a fundamental human emotion? Listen and find out