Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 106 and 107 ask why a debtor must take an oath when they claim that the money owed is some portion of the debt that the lender indicates is owed, but does not have to take such an oath when they claim that they don’t owe any money at all. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to explore why someone might admit to some of the debt because admitting to none of it is too difficult to do. The Talmud indicates that it is easier to believe someone who indicates that they owe part of a debt, than someone who denies the debt entirely. Why is it so difficult to lie to someone who has done something for you? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.

We think that you may also enjoy Liel's new book How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice from a Very Old Book, available directly from the publisher, or wherever you purchase books.

Take One is a Tablet Studios production. The show is hosted by Liel Leibovitz, and is produced and edited by Darone Ruskay, Quinn Waller and Elie Bleier. Our team also includes Satephanie Butnick, Josh Kross, Robert Scaramuccia, and Tanya Singer. 

Listen to the Testimonies Archive, a partnership between Tablet Studios and the USC Shoah Foundation, for eyewitness audio accounts from Israel in the wake of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks.

Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.