Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 40, asks what respect, precisely, we owe the dead. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to offer a radical musing on what the dead can teach us about living and about being kind to each other. Why won't the dead mind being buried in a halakhically impure garment? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 39, finds the rabbis in a culinary mindest, as they declare that no other bitter herb has quite the pungent profile as horseradish. Famed cookbook author Adeena Sussman joins us to talk about the bitterest of bitter herbs, why it's a perennial star at the Seder table, and what happens when you mix it with a bit of mayo and eat it with a nice, rich meat. How is horseradish like 2020? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 38, sets things off by discussing the obligations of dinner guests and hosts. Stephanie Butnick joins us to talk about what you should and should never do at a dinner party, and why the Seder is your perfect guide. Why should you never outshine the host? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 36 and 37, ask a question that should be obvious: What, exactly, is a Matzah? Rabbi Ethan Tucker, himself an enthusiastic Matzah-baker, joins us to explain the many traditions and arguments that went into creating our beloved unleavened bread. Why does the Matzah have holes? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 34 and 35, start off with a Talmudic take on a rap battle, with the rabbis of Eretz Yisrael calling the rabbis of Babylon dumb. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain the tensions between the two communities, and offer a surprisingly relevant nugget of wisdom for our troubled times. Why does dwelling in darkness inspire talking to God? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 33, dives down into accidents and mistakes. Does action matter most? Or is it intentionality? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to riff on Judaism's majestic, complicated, and deeply humane system of adjudicating errors and slip-ups. Why do we treat mistakes on Shabbat differently? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 32, tells us a bit about the privileges of the Kohanim, the priests who served in the ancient Temple. But do modern-day Kohens still enjoy any perks now that the Temple is gone? Rabbi Nuriel Klinger joins us to shed light on some well-known, and some largely obscure, benefits of being a Kohen these days. Why must a Kohen redeem the firstborn donkey? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 31, is all about the boundaries Jews and gentiles must keep to live peacefully with each other. Rabbi Stuart Halpern joins us to help us to argue that respecting clear distinctions and differences makes society more, not less, cohesive. Why wouldn't he, a TV afficionado, let his kids watch that very special episode starring Santa? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 29 and 30, introduce the peculiar concept of Noten Ta'am, something that gives flavor, an idea that sounds like it belongs more on a cooking show than a page of Talmud. Rabbah Sarah Hurwitz joins us to explain this idea, and what it teaches us about the essence of Kashrut. What does taste have to do with keeping exclusively kosher pots and pans? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 27 and 28, raises everyone's favorite Passover pastime, the selling and buying of Chametz. Elana Stein Hain returns to make sense of all this wheeling and dealing, and explain why sometimes the deepest and most profound truths rest in legal loopholes. Is their secret poetry in our fine print? Listen and find out.