Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 17, introduces us to the prophet Haggai. No one's idea of a superhero Biblical seer, Haggai, argues our guest, Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky, is the prophet we need right now, combining a delightful sense of practicality with a sharp and timeless moral vision. What can Haggai teach us that we desperately need to hear in 2020? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 15 and 16, ask a simple and searing question: How much should you sacrifice for your beliefs? It's a particularly poignant one these days, with a majority of Americans recently responding that they were afraid to openly and candidly share their political opinions. Legendary refusnik and former Israeli government minister and head of the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky joins us, via a clip from a Tablet panel discussion earlier this winter, to talk about what happens when we no longer summon the courage to stand up for what we know is right. What advice might a former prisoner in the gulag offer us in modern-day America? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 13 and 14, give us a curious ruling: The Prophet Elijah will never come on the eve of Shabbat. Why? Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter joins us to teach us a lesson in the holy importance of preparations, one we desperately need to learn before we rush into things. Why should we wish one another a good Erev Shabbat, or Shabbat Eve, rather than a good Shabbat? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 12, is about time. How late is rude late? How early is too early? Producer Sara Fredman Aeder returns to explain to us how the rabbis thought about time, and what we hurried moderns can learn from them. Why should you plan your day in 30-minute increments? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 11, asks a question that's all too familiar: Is technology always bad? Always good? Something in the middle? Rabbi Gabi Weinberg joins us to teach us a lesson about controlling our machines lest they control us. How do we focus on traction rather than distraction? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 10, makes us wonder: What role does doubt play in religious life? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explain Judaism's obsession with constant questioning. What lesson might a couple of mice teach us about the universe and our place in it? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 8 and 9, remind us of the difficulty and importance of doing good deeds for their own sake. Producer Josh Kross returns to share a story of an emotional Thanksgiving, and teach us a lesson on life in the time of COVID-19. How does an ancient story about pilgrimage help us rethink our very modern priorities? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Pesachim 6 and 7, riff about blessings, which we always make before performing a mitzvah. With one notable exception: Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to help us make sense of one more way the night of Passover is different. How is the seder like a ritual pool? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 5, is serious about the prohibition on having any unleavened bread in the house before Passover. Author Meira Spivak joins us to share her full-proof method for physical and spiritual cleaning. Can true preparation occur in just under a week? Or is the task of prepping for Pesach a year-long obligation? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Pesachim 4, gives us a helpful reminder that any mitzvah worth doing is worth doing early. Dr. Elana Stein Hain joins us to explain this principle, and why it's essential in these busy and distracted times. Does the early bird always get the mitzvah? Listen and find out.