Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 56 and 57, continue the journey into the unconscious with a host of strange things you may see in your dreams, and an explanation of what each one means. Writer and psychotherapist Alter Yisrael Shimon Feuerman returns to make sense of this surreal landscape, and explain why the Talmud believes a $300 therapist is better than one that charges only $100. What does it mean when you dream of cats? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 55, takes a sharp turn in an odd direction: No longer concerned with what blessing to say over which food, it now enters the magical, mystical field of dreams. Writer and psychotherapist Alter Yisrael Shimon Feuerman joins us to explain how, millennia before Freud, the Talmud already understood the mysteries of the unconscious mind. Why did the rabbis believe that you must know not only the Torah but also yourself? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 54, raises one of the most difficult edicts in all of the Talmud: We must, it informs us, recite a blessing of gratitude when bad things happen just as we would give thanks over good things. Tablet's Jake Siegel, a former captain in the U.S. Army, joins us to talk about struggling with the existence of evil while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and coming to terms with God's role in allowing evil to persist. What blessing should we say when things get dark? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page Berakhot 53, asks an obvious but surprisingly difficult question: Should we say "amen" when we hear schoolchildren recite blessings? It's a question our culture should seriously contemplate, enamored as we are with elevating the very young, from Greta Thunberg to Billie Eilish, to stardom. Are we doing our children a disservice when we expect them to be social, cultural, and political leaders? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page Berakhot 51, brings us a debate over the the intricacies of the havdalah prayers. Friend of Tablet Harold Lindenthal brings us the story of his father, Rabbi Haskel Lindenthal, and a deeper insight into the prayers at the end of Shabbat. What is the real meaning of the order? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 51, gives us a long and jaunty meditation on a favorite subject: the art of preparing and delivering the perfect toast. The show's producer and a master at speaking while holding a flute of champagne, Josh Kross, returns to give us some pointers and explain why raising a glass to your loved ones is a sacred act. What to say when you have the attention of the room? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Berakhot 49 and 50, bring up a familiar concept: Does practice really make perfect? And if so, does it apply to all areas of religious life, or only those we choose to take upon ourselves? The show's producer, Josh Kross, returns to talk about the comforts and challenges that come with religious observance. Does it really take 10,000 hours of practice to be a good Jew? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 48, raises a question we've all bumped up against now and then: What's the proper way to behave when you find yourself in a room with very powerful and important people? For today's guest, Enes Kanter, this has been a reality from a very young age: The Turkish-born star ballplayer was still a teenager when he found himself drafted into the NBA, playing with and against some of the legends he'd grown up idolizing as a boy. How do you keep your cool when you have to interact with the high and mighty? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 47, asks a big, tough question: Exactly what does a Jew need to know and do in order to be considered anything but an Am Ha'aretz, or an ignoramus? The rabbis, of course, each offer wildly divergent answers, and to address this thorny conundrum we invited Stephanie Butnick and Mark Oppenheimer, co-hosts of Tablet's popular Unorthodox podcast, to ascertain once and for all the best way to engage with Jewish life. Is the ability to listen the only true prerequisite we should insist on when welcoming someone to our midst? Listen and find out.

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Berakhot 46, finds the rabbis in a hospitable mood: They're talking dinner parties, and who should be seated where to ensure a fun evening for all. Alana Newhouse, Tablet Magazine's Editor in Chief and a celebrated convener of unmatched soirees, joins us to talk seating arrangements, class structure, and how the Internet killed the art of dinner party conversation. Should you let your guests sit wherever they please or create an intricate seating chart? Listen and find out.