Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 53, is a work of stable compassion, asking just what we're permitted to do to keep our horses comfortable on Shabbat. Lily Leibovitz, an eight-year-old horseback riding enthusiast, joins us to talk about the importance of being nice to animals, and what it feels like to ride a horse for the very first time. What can we learn from our animal friends? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 51 and 52, have a nice ring to them. We mean this literally: The rabbis give us an intricate discussion about rings and purity, and the implications are still felt today. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to tell us all about the Lord and the rings. Why do some Orthodox men still refrain from wearing wedding rings? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 49 and 50, tell us a moving story of a righteous man, Elisha, who teaches us a more spiritual approach to confrontation. We welcome back Dr. Bat Sheva Marcus to give us a very therapeutic take on this tale, and, since she's a celebrated sex therapist, ask her to answer a listener question about the Talmud's take on masturbation. What can the rabbis teach us about self love in all of its varieties? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 48, is all about pillows. Are you allowed to stuff yours on Shabbat? The rabbis' decree is fascinating: If the pillow is old, go right ahead, but if it's new, no dice. To understand this principle of interior design, we called on the one and only Simon Doonan, author and judge on the Emmy-nominated show Making It. Why do some of us have trouble getting used to the new stuff we buy? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 47, dives into a discussion about a very modern-sounding thingamajig: a collapsible bed, the Talmud's take on the IKEA catalogue. Are we allowed to assemble and disassemble this modular piece of furniture on Shabbat? Rabbi Sari Laufer, Director of Congregational Engagement at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, joins us to shed some light on the idea of using things in different ways on Shabbat than we would during the week. How can we keep the spirit of the holy day even if we don't observe the letter of halakhic law? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 46, contains one of those delightful little stories that the Talmud likes to tell to make much bigger points. It's about Rava and Rav Avya, two brilliant men engaged in a fierce disagreement about a particular manner of halakha. To make his point, Rav Avya walks into his friend's house and puts his muddy feet on the bed. To help us decipher this act of aggression, we welcome the Corduroy Rav, Mark Oppenheimer, who helps guide us through the intricacies of arguing with dignity and meaning. How to talk to people who hold very different opinions without merely bickering? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 44 and 45, introduce us to the Muchni, a bit of detachable wheel that keeps the rest of the items in the wagon from being rendered impure. Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern of Yeshiva University joins us to talk about technology's ability to both flood our lives with unholy things and help insulate us from disaster, and shares with us how his modern Orthodox community learned to rethink technology after the outbreak of Covid-19 forced many of the rituals that were previously conducted in person to move online. What can an ancient detachable wheel teach us about our lives today? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 40 to 43, cover a wide array of crucial questions, from why we're not allowed to take a hot shower on Shabbat to precisely what men should do with their members while urinating. Because we've been off for a few days, celebrating Pesach, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to help us catch up on the Talmudic majesty we've missed. What is muktzah, and how can it help us see Shabbat in a whole new light? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Shabbat 39, acknowledges what every amateur chef already knows: There's nothing more difficult to cook to perfection than the lowly egg. A minute here or there can make the difference between jammy perfection and a gray-hued mess, so producer Josh Kross, himself an egg enthusiast, joins us to interpret the rabbis' hard-boiled disquisition on the different approaches to egg-cooking. What might an omelet teach us about life? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Shabbat 37 and 38, find the rabbis mulling the precise nature of a Kupah, a smallish stove that was popular in their day. And while the specifics of their conversation may sound archaic, its essence couldn't be more timely: What they're really trying to figure out is what to do when a new technology is thrust into our lives, and how our gadgets shape so much about the way we interact with the world. How is the Kupah just like an iPhone? Listen and find out.