Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 79, finds the rabbis permitting building a fire on Shabbat to make a woman giving birth more comfortable. Dr. David Jay Berman, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins, joins us to share some troubling statistics about the risks expecting mothers, and particularly expecting mothers of color, face, and what we must do to heal them. How do race and socioeconomic status impact the health of mother and baby alike? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 77 and 78, drill down on which laws must be rigorously observed and which may sometime be overlooked. Officer Jacob Novikov, vice president of the NYPD's Shomrim Society, joins us to talk about the decisions he has to make every day when deciding how to handle infractions and interact with the community he has sworn to serve and protect. How does a cop know when to be strict and when to be merficul? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 75 and 76, find one of the rabbis, Rav Yosef, making a blunder. Rabbi Eric Wisnia joins us to explain why Rav Yosef's response can teach us everything we need to know about learning from our mistakes, and why this message is one we particularly need to hear in this troubled moment in American history. What should we do when asked a question about something that pertains directly to our interests? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 74, tells a sad and strange story of a man who built an eruv for just one home: His own. Was it kosher? Or must an eruv, designed to connect several abodes, include at least two houses? Adina Fredman joins us to shed light on this instructive anecdote, and offer a surprising look at the central question of what makes a home a home. How has COVID-19 driven us to reconsider our domestic sensibilities? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 73, raises a sharp question: What's in a home? Is it the place where you eat? Sleep? Both? Something else? Rabbanit Leah Sarna joins us to talk about the intricacies of domesticity, and about what we think about when we think about home. Did the definition of home change once so many of us started working from home? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 72, has the rabbis channeling their inner interior designers: What, they ask, makes a room a room? Author Lisa Sandell joins us to discuss how, while redecorating her very small Manhattan apartment, she found herself contemplating some of the very same questions as our ancient sages. Would the rabbis love shopping on Wayfair.com? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 70 and 71, tell us that one point of setting up an eruv is to teach our children about the laws of eruvin. It's a surprisingly profound lesson, as Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern argues: In focusing so much attention on seemingly mundane technicalities, Judaism is showing us that the best way to engage in religious practice isn't by waiting for revelations but by working hard, day after day, at what's less exciting but far more important. What does all of it have to do with the month of Cheshvan, which begins today? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Eruvin 68 and 69, raise the issue of disbelief, and ask a thorny question: How much doubt is too much doubt? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to shed light on this complicated subject, and help us navigate the difficult but necessary turf of dealing with spiritual transgressions and transgressors. Which sins are worthy of absolute rebuke, and which are more forgivable? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 67, finds the rabbis in an usual state of mind: starstruck. Journalist and seasoned celebrity profiler Romy Oltuski joins us to share what it's like to sit in a room with a very famous person you admire very much, and what meeting celebrities can teach us about ourselves. Is celebrity worship a sign of a shallow culture, or is there some deep wisdom behind our obsession with the rich and famous? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Eruvin 66, dives down into a sensitive subject: What does it take to build a community where Jews and non-Jews live together peacefully? Alan Newman, the author of the new novel A Good Heart, joins us to talk about Christian-Jewish relations, and what life in small town America taught him about making friends across different communities of faith. How might the Talmud inspire contemporary Christian-Jewish relations? Listen and find out.