

Take One Daf Yomi
Tablet Magazine
As Jews around the world engage in a seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, reading the entire Talmud one page per day, Tablet Magazine's new podcast, Take One, will offer a brief and evocative daily read of the daf, in just about 10 minutes. New episodes will be released daily Monday through Friday.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 15, 2024 • 7min
Bava Metzia 16 and 17 – Seek and You Shall Find
Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 16 and 17, begin as an ordinary sounding discussion of legal documents but soon blossom into a profound, and profoundly relevant, life lesson. Why does Rabbi Yohanan urge us to slow down and take a closer look at life's seemingly most ordinary interactions? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 14, 2024 • 17min
Bava Metzia 15 – Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny with Menachem Butler
Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 15, we're actually going to take a look at a new anthology from Tablet colleague Menachem Butler and co-editor Aviad Hacohen. The anthology, called Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny: The Mi Sheberach for IDF Soldiers, was prepared in response to the October 7th massacre. It collects over seventy contributions from scholars, rabbis, and thinkers, that investigate the history, composition, and controversies surrounding the Mi Sheberach prayer, highlighting its evolution and relevance in modern times.Why do we need a specific prayer for the IDF? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 13, 2024 • 9min
Bava Metzia 14 – The Pursuit of Home with Scott Harris
Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 14, ponders why so many of us, from Talmudic times onwards, have been so obsessed with owning real estate. Scott Harris, real estate agent and the host of a new podcast about the spiritual side of home ownership -- The Pursuit of Home -- joins us to talk about how property assuages our longing for permanence and about why no piece of real estate is ever without its emotional meanings. What mistakes do you usually make when we're house shopping? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 12, 2024 • 6min
Bava Metzia 13 – Going Green
Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 13, has the rabbis doing some creative recycling. What to do with a bit of papyrus that's no longer a useful legal document? And how could the ancient world's habits teach us a very valuable lesson about being less wasteful? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 11, 2024 • 8min
Bava Metzia 11 and 12 – Adulting with Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin
Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 11 and 12, raise a question that troubles many of us: What, precisely, makes a person an adult? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on the meaning of growing up and becoming a man or a woman in full. How was Moses the ultimate practitioner of adulting? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 8, 2024 • 8min
Bava Metzia 9 and 10 – In God's Shadow
Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 9 and 10, wonder how we truly assume ownership of an animal, which is really another way of asking how we assume ownership of our own lives. Do the rabbis want us to devote our days to study and contemplation? Or should we focus on constant and fruitful action instead? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 7, 2024 • 8min
Bava Metzia 8 – Mornings on Horseback with Lily Leibovitz
Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 8, asks us to ponder what it actually means to ride a horse. Lily Leibovitz, a 12-year-old master equestrian, joins us to share the magical sensation of bonding with a strong, enormous animal, and why this connection had enchanted humans for millennia. How do you get the animal to listen to your wishes, and how do you tune in to its needs? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 6, 2024 • 7min
Bava Metzia 7 – Serving At the Pleasure of the President with Tevi Troy
Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 7 discusses the validity of a bill of divorce if it is handed to a woman by her husband while he still holds on to it with a string, indicating that if he can pull the string and take it back, the bill of divorce is not legitimate, but if the string is too flimsy, or he can not pull it back, then the divorce is final. Tevi Troy returns to focus on the question of possession, and the specific question of when one truly takes possession of a job in the White House. From famous short-term White House employee Anthony Scaramucci, to a less well known employee TJ Ducklo, who worked for the Biden administration and others, the White House can be a fickle employer. What was the shortest employment record in the White House? Listen and find out.Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Mar 5, 2024 • 8min
Bava Metzia 6 – Until Proven Innocent
The podcast delves into interrogation tactics in TV cop dramas and how they can lead to wrongfully convicting innocent individuals. It explores the psychology behind false confessions and the importance of evidence-based reasoning in determining innocence and guilt.

Mar 4, 2024 • 8min
Bava Metzia 4 and 5 – In Praise of Not Knowing with Josh Kross
The podcast discusses a story of theft and accusation filled with uncertainty from Talmud pages, emphasizing the value of doubt. They explore being stranded with no power, highlighting the freedom in not knowing. The role of doubt in nurturing faith is also touched upon, with reflections on uncertainty and a humorous take on overcoming challenges.