On today’s page, Zevachim 87, the rabbis debate whether suspended offerings become sanctified by the altar’s “airspace,” expanding holiness into the invisible vertical realm above it. That same question animates New York City’s obsession with air rights, where the unseen world above a roofline becomes the site of future growth. What happens if we start treating the space above our own lives—our ambitions, potential, imagination—as buildable terrain? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Zevachim 86, we revisit the principle that holiness only increases, never diminishes, no matter how humble the vessel. Our guest today, Rabbi Eli Sapo of Chabad of the West Side, helps us connect this idea to the spirit of Hanukkah and the growing light we share. How do we notice the ways sanctity rises in our own lives? Listen and find out.

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On today’s pages, Zevachim 84 and 85, the rabbis teach that even legal debates require stories, because only stories reveal the human stakes beneath the rules. Our guest, producer Josh Kross, reminds us that this is precisely why Jewish storytelling still works: it’s grounded in people, in curiosity, and in the refusal to be boring. If the Talmud resonates across centuries, he suggests, it’s because its tales—strange, raw, hilarious, profound—still sound like us. What can today’s daf teach us about telling the stories that endure? Listen and find out.

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On today’s pages, Zevachim 82 and 83, the rabbis teach that an offering placed on the altar cannot be lowered or diminished—it has crossed a threshold from which it can only rise. Our guest, Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs, helps us see how that same idea animates Hanukkah: once the menorah was kindled, its light became part of an unbroken chain that still burns in our homes today. Her new children’s book, The Light That Lasted, available from Doorway Books at doorwaybooks.shop, places each child directly inside that ancient moment, revealing that they, too, sustain the miracle. How does understanding ourselves as part of a story that can only ascend change the way we celebrate? Listen and find out.

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On today’s page, Zevachim 81, we dive into the technical rules of blood offerings and discover a larger lesson about making things more holy rather than less. Could pausing before acting, speaking, or posting help us elevate even small moments in life? Listen and find out.

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On today’s page, Zevachim 80, the rabbis debate what happens when regular water mixes into a flask meant for purification and whether the ritual can still be performed. It raises a quiet question about how much change a sacred act can absorb before it becomes something else. How do we decide when a mixture has tipped too far? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Zevachim 79, we learn that the status of a mixture can hinges on a variety of disparate factors. These distinctions highlight a larger truth: eating well isn’t just about rules but about cultivating awareness of what goes into our bodies and why. What changes when we slow down long enough to honor the ingredients, flavors, and intentions behind every bite? Listen and find out.

On today’s pages, Zevachim 77 and 78, the rabbis teach that even substances normally prohibited on the altar may be burned if they serve only to create a pleasing aroma, raising the deeper question of why scent is the Torah’s chosen language for divine acceptance. Our guest, Rabbi David Bashevkin, helps us explore how fragrance becomes a symbol of memory, lingering presence, and the subtle traces of holiness that remain even when the source is gone. How does this unique sense invite us to notice what came before and what still echoes in our lives? Listen and find out.

On today’s pages, Zevachim 75 and 76, we learn that when two sanctities are found in separate bodies, one sacred offering may not be diminished in order to preserve another. Our teacher, Rabbi David Bashevkin, joins us to explain how this principle echoed through Jewish history, including debates over whether auctioning off a Torah scroll to fund communal needs dishonors one holy object for the sake of another. What can this tension teach us about honoring the distinct value of the sacred things in our lives? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Zevachim 74, we honor the daf by letting it quietly sit in the background while we mark Thanksgiving with a different kind of offering: a conversation about gratitude. When he joined us on Unorthodox back in 2018, A.J. Jacobs talked about his quest to thank a thousand people for his daily coffee and what it taught him about Jewish gratitude, interdependence, and noticing the good. What happens to our hearts when we start treating every small comfort as the work of a whole hidden community? Listen and find out.