Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 123, kicks things off with a long disquisition on tools and how to use them. Producer Josh Kross, a geek's geek, returns to explain why it's important to know how something works before buying it, and lament the mistakes too many people make by buying very powerful tools they neither need nor can properly use. Which questions should you ask yourself before shelling out for that powerful new computer or that snazzy kitchen gadget? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 121 and 122, give us a clash for the ages: The sage, who urge us to go ahead and kill creatures that may threaten our lives, and the pious, who argue that taking a life, under any circumstance, should be avoided. Which, if you think about it, mirrors much of the logic of our contemporary debate about guns: Mark Oppenheimer returns to tell us about his experience as a staunchly anti-gun person taking an NRA shooting course, and to debate Liel about firearms, public discourse, and the soul. What spiritual training should we give to those wishing to own and operate firearms? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 119 and 120, deliver a wise warning from the rabbis: You don't have a lot of time on this planet, so use it wisely. Scholar Penina Levy joins us to share a profound teaching from her grandfather, the late Rabbi Norman Lamm, on how we should spend our leisure hours ethically and Jewishly. Is Netflix and chill kosher? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 118, finally gets to the heart of the matter: After many, many pages describing all the laws of observing Shabbat, the Talmud acknowledges that celebrating our holy day should be, well, fun. Producer Sara Fredman Aeder returns to share with us her own joyous Shabbat routine, and tell us how you can make it fun for a couple of small and adorable children. Why is candy Shabbat's secret weapon? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 117, contains a long discussion about what may and may not be saved from a fire on Shabbat, and has the rabbis insisting that food must never be wasted. Writer and activist Liz Galst joins us to discuss why 40 percent of all the food in America finds its way to the trash uneaten, and what we can do to reduce this vast waste. How is eating leftovers great for the environment? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 116, raises the curious idea that a few verses in the Torah, about the traveling of the Ark of the Covenant, should constitute a book unto themselves. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to muse on these powerful verses, and float the theory that they constitute a sort of biblical alt history, telling us what would've happened if the Israelites marched straight to the Promised Land instead of spending four decades in the desert. Why, then, all this erring in the wilderness? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 114 and 115, discuss the time-honored idea that a community ought to put its money where its mouth is and support and sustain its values. In traditional Jewish communities, this means paying for the best and brightest to continue and study Torah. Writer Eli Steinberg joins us to deliver a glimpse into a day in the life of a brilliant Torah student, and reflect on why so many outside the haredi community resent its decision to fund full-time studies. What's it like studying in a top-notch kollel? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 112 and 113, bring up one of the Talmud's most contentious ideas: Yeridat HaDorot, or the notion that each generation is just slightly worse than the one that came before it. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to challenge this thorny notion, and argue that what we may lose in wisdom we gain in empathy and compassion. So are we getting better or worse with time? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 111, delivers an uplifting observation about all of us being the sons and daughters of kings. But what does that mean? Rabbi Motti Seligson joines us to shed light on the teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whose yahrzeit is today, and to explain why we each have the power to make our lives and our world immeasurably better. What inspiration can the Rebbe offer us in these dark times? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 110, kicks things off with a terrifying tale of a curse that leads to inescapable death by snakebite. Film critic and writer Jordan Hoffman joins us to talk about the logic of horror films, about the return of the repressed, and about how film and literature help us deal with our fear of our inevitable demise. Why do we keep cheering on movie monsters? Listen and find out.