Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 106 and 107 ask why a debtor must take an oath when they claim that the money owed is some portion of the debt that the lender indicates is owed, but does not have to take such an oath when they claim that they don’t owe any money at all. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explore why someone might admit to some of the debt because admitting to none of it is too difficult to do. The Talmud indicates that it is easier to believe someone who indicates that they owe part of a debt, than someone who denies the debt entirely. Why is it so difficult to lie to someone who has done something for you? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 105 explains that a Nazarite who is obligated to shave their head, has not fulfilled their obligation if two hairs remain on their head. To our modern ears, this determination appears extreme, but the Rabbis ask us to consider that there are times when compromise is not the appropriate response, and the strict adherence to certain principles is. Are there certain lines that we must maintain with strict adherence in order to ensure a system of true justice? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 104 continues the conversation about whether one can designate an agent to accept payment on your behalf, and the Rabbis are not in agreement. Tevi Troy returns to discuss the many agents that Presidents must appoint to aide them in their administration, and the correct ways that such an agent should behave if they do not agree with the policies of the President that appointed them. During the Clinton administration, Peter Edelman, who was appointed by the President, disagreed with certain policies and chose to do the honorable thing and resign from his post. Is it appropriate for someone in the administration to publicly disagree with the President and remain in their post? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 103 begins by explaining that a robber must travel across the world in order to repay a debt for something they stole, indicating that they are not able to send someone else to repay it, or give it to a family member instead of directly to the person they stole from. But then, they say that a debt can be paid by giving it to an agent of the court. This piece of Talmud teaches us of the importance of repentance, but also teaches us that we should not make it so difficult that one cannot attain forgiveness. Is getting justice about punishment, or trying to affect change? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 101 and 102 asks what happens when a carpenter is asked to make a chair, but instead makes a bench, which is of lower value, or the reverse, where the carpenter who is hired to make a bench, makes a chair instead. The larger question that one might ask is whether one should create something beautiful that only can be enjoyed by one, or something that could be enjoyed by a community. Arie Dosoretz, joins Stephanie Butnick to discuss his choice of a birthday gift for his wife Jane Bernstein. Instead of a gift just for her, he chose to sponsor a special Beautifully Jewish event to celebrate Jane and to foster a sense of community and belonging. How can we all celebrate our special milestones in a way that will be enjoyed by us and our larger community? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 99 and 100 asks whether what deference we need to give to experts who may get something wrong. In considering this question, we share an interview from our sister podcast Unorthodox, where we chat with Thomas Nichols, professor of national security at the United States Naval War College, about his book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters. He explains the dangers of experts being branded as out-of-touch elites and experience itself being shunned—and how President Trump is the avatar of this cultural shift. What does a five-time Jeopardy champion have to teach us about the Talmud? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 98 begins with the claim that if someone throws another person’s coin into the sea, they are not obligated to pay restitution as the coin is still accessible to the one who lost it. This idea encourages us to consider acting rather than just feeling aggrieved. Are there times when we need to stop pitying ourselves and just deal with it? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 97 discusses the difference between a stolen coin that cracks and one that is invalidated. Tevi Troy returns to discuss the times in our history when governments have had to deal with changes in the monetary system, from abandoning the gold standard to contemplating the ramifications of cryptocurrency. What happened when Milton Friedman spoke truth to power? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 96 is a discussion of whether a robber must pay back the value of the oxen that they stole, or whether they must also include in their payment some portion of the enhancement of the land that occurred while the robber used the animals to work the land. The discussion ends with the Rabbi Nachman agreeing that a payment beyond the value of the oxen is unusual but was necessary in a specific case because the robber was infamous and needed additional punishment. Are there times when the general rules should be ignored in favor of looking at the specifics of a case? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 94 and 95 ask whether it is allowed to say a blessing over something that is ill-gotten. Rabbi Dovid Beshevkin returns to explore the debate amongst the Rabbis on whether it is appropriate to make a blessing over unkosher food, or if that would be considered blasphemy. We explore the question of whether saying a blessing isthe act of asking for permission or an act of recognition of the creator of all things. Should you make a blessing over food if you are eating on a Yom Kippur? 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.Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 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.