Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 56 and 57, find the rabbis in the mood to exalt the deliciousness of vegetables. Why are leeks and radishes important? And why should you eat more than meat? Mark Oppenheimer returns to teach us a lesson on the importance of a healthy and plant-based diet. How is what you eat related to how you vote? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 54 and 55, ask a pressing question: What does the Bible teach us about how we should practice politics? Rabbi Ari Lamm returns to introduce us to the world's first politician, and teach us two Hebrew words that are essential if we'd like to heal our broken political system. What bit of inspiration does the Talmud have in this grim political moment of ours? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 53, finds the rabbis in a mood to talk about what makes good teachers and good students. Professor Agi Legutko of Columbia University joins us to discuss whether or not the Talmud's ancient pedagogical philosophy holds up. How do the best teachers approach their craft? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 52, presents us with an image of a man standing with one foot inside the boundaries of the eruv and another outside. Why do the rabbis conjure such a strange case? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to argue that the rabbis were so obsessed with geographic boundaries because they realized that holiness, like community, was only possible if practiced in a specific and clearly defined place. What mystical meaning did the great hassidic master Rabbi Tzadok find in thinking about eruvin? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 51, brings up the importance of trusting your friends, especially when you're feeling a bit out of your element. Lily and Annabelle, two nine-year-old friends, join us to discuss the power of friendship and share stories of that time when they just couldn't have made it through without the other's help. What does being a friend really feel like? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 49 and 50, the rabbis caution us not to lose sight of the community-building aspect of an eruv. Brian Benjamin, a New York State Senator, joins us to share how he and his colleagues struggled to keep New Yorkers working together during Covid-19, and what is still to be done to make the state a cohesive community. What can the idea of an eruv teach us about running a modern city? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 47 and 48, the rabbis discuss personal space, and just how much of it a person really needs. Stephanie Butnick returns to offer insights into life in a very small New York City apartment during months of Covid lockdown, and how two people managed to negotiate their own personal space and each other's. How did a long quarantine change the meaning of home for many New Yorkers? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 46, contains a striking permission for a tractate so thick with rules and regulations: When in doubt about some question pertaining to an eruv, just follow the more lenient opinion. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain this unexpected ruling, and shed light on what's so special about an eruv that the rabbis would permit leniency as the default. How does an eruv build a community? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 45, gives permission to sometimes violate the strictures of the eruv if one is rushing to save a life. Dr. Teresa Amato, director of Emergency Medicine at one of the New York City hospitals that treated more Covid-19 patients than any other in the nation, joins us to share stories from the front lines of the war against the plague, and recount which rules and procedures had to be broken, bent, or ignored to care for the mass of patients requiring urgent care. What did nurses and doctors who are observant Jews did when duty called on Shabbat? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 44, asks a thorny question: Can you use a live human being to demarcate an eruv? Producer Josh Kross returns to offer a lively soccer analogy and muse on why sometimes, being a team player means simply trusting your friends even if they're asking you to literally put your body on the line. What do you think about when Cristiano Ronaldo is about to kick a ball right into your crotch? Listen and find out.