Take One Daf Yomi

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 142, revolves around a curious question: can an unborn child receive gifts? It's not just a hypothetical thought exercise; it is, as the rabbis teach us, a lesson in prioritizing the real over the ideal. Why should we stop pursuing the perfect and learn instead to grapple with reality in all its complications? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 141, shows us the rabbis once again arguing that God is furious with anyone who doesn't leave behind inheritors. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain this curious passage, and give us insight into the Talmud view of what truly matters in life. How is having children a reflection of one's values? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud Page, Bava Batra 140, raises a dilemma: As the Torah tells us that sons inherit their fathers, and as Jewish tradition instructs us that fathers must support their unmarried daughters, what happens if a man with both sons and daughters dies and has no money to sustain them both? It's a drama that touches on so much that is human, from family dynamics to the sometimes tense relationship between men and women. How to resolve it? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud Pages, Bava Batra 138 and 139, dip in to the age-old battle between introverts and extroverts. Is this distinction even real? And what's the one thing Talmud and science alike tell us you need if you're going to go ahead and grow and change? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud Pages, Bava Batra 136 and 137, treat us to a complicated case of inheritance law that's really about making sure that we remain forever hopeful. Tablet Magazine's Editor in Chief Alana Newhouse joins us to discuss why all American Jews, no matter who they voted for, see this week's election as a beacon of hope. What's the one thing history teaches us about American politics and institutions ? 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.

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.

Today's Talmud Page, Bava Batra135, teaches us that a will means nothing unless it was passed down to the next of kin. Tablet podcast producer Josh Kross joins us to discuss how this insight shaped his parenting sensibilities, and how it inspired his son, Miles, who voted this week for the very first time. What must we pass down to our children, and how to make sure we do so properly? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 134, tells us about two of Rabbi Hillel's students, one of them the greatest and one the least impressive. What can we learn from this story about the nature and essence of genius? And what does Isaiah Berlin's most famous essay have to do with it? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Batra 133, shows us something we rarely see in contemporary politics: A senior official refusing to play the blame game and instead being kind and supportive of his errant colleagues. Dr. Tevi Troy, our very own Presidentischer Rav, joins us to discuss in a very special election day episode. What should the McCain and Clinton campaigns have learned from the wise rabbis of the Talmud? 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.

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.

oday’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 131 and 132, ask what we may or may not do with things that don't physically exist yet, like trading futures or, somewhat more spiritually, banking on our share in the World to Come. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why Jews don't consider heaven an ephemeral entity but rather a very concrete thing that exists, in part, right here in this world. Which famous person literally sold their share in the World to Come? 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.

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.

Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Batra 129 and 130, pose a difficult question about Halacha, or Jewish law. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explore this profound and beautiful insight into how Halacha is not a stringent set of rules but a language that helps all Jews figure out their connection to each other. How do we learn to speak Halacha? 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.

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.