Take One Daf Yomi

On today’s page, Bekhorot 20, Rabbi Yehoshua wastes no time correcting Rabbi Yishmael when his former student gets a point of halacha wrong. But years before that rebuke, Rabbi Yehoshua had encountered the young prodigy imprisoned in Rome, recognized his extraordinary potential, and paid a fortune to free him. What does it mean to care enough about a student to both invest everything in him and tell him when he’s wrong? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 19, the rabbis discuss the rite of the Egla Arufa, or the decapitated calf, sacrificed whenever a stranger was murdered by an unknown assailant as a way to shock us all into understanding that we are responsible for each other. Still, why such a brutal ritual? And why a calf? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 18, a ewe gives birth to two males whose heads appear at precisely the same moment, leaving the rabbis with a problem: Which one is actually the firstborn? What follows is a wonderfully intricate argument about stronger lambs, weaker lambs, competing claims, and the burden of proof. What can two newborn lambs teach us about the extraordinary precision of Talmudic reasoning? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 16 and 17, the rabbis ask what happens when an animal no longer looks the way its species is supposed to look. Centuries of breeding and natural change make that ancient question surprisingly modern, with implications for everything from wool to matzah. What does Jewish law consider meaningful change, and what can safely be chalked up to nature taking its course? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 14 and 15, a discussion of private altars raises a surprisingly fundamental question: Why should sacrifice be confined to the Temple in Jerusalem? From backyard altars to IMAX theaters, Liel explores why the most powerful experiences sometimes require a special place—and what happens when the sacred becomes too familiar. Why might getting closer to holiness require keeping it at a distance? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 13, the rabbis ask why the humble donkey, alone among non-kosher animals, has a firstborn that must be redeemed. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed offers three answers involving gratitude, holiness, and the surprising spiritual potential of the material world. What can a lowly beast of burden teach us about finding the sacred in even the most ordinary things? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 12, the rabbis wrestle with sheep-goat hybrids and the mysterious koy, an animal so difficult to classify that the sages couldn’t even agree on what it was. With some help from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, we discover that this strange creature may have a surprisingly familiar relative. What can a zoological mystery teach us about making sense of the unfamiliar? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, we set aside Bekhorot 11 to celebrate Sukkot with Professor Richard Hidary and his new book, Discovering the Jewish Holidays: Eight Talmudic Readings. Drawing on Michelangelo, Moses, the Ark of the Covenant, and one very short sukkah, Hidary explores the mysterious boundary separating Heaven and Earth. Can we ever reach across the gap and encounter the Divine? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 9 and 10, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya completes his astonishing mission against the 60 sages of Athens, proving that winning an argument sometimes requires considerably more than having the better argument. Presidential historian Tevi Troy joins us to explain why the story reminds him of Richard Nixon facing down Nikita Khrushchev in a model American kitchen in Moscow. What can two very different confrontations teach us about courage under pressure? Listen and find out.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 7 and 8, the Roman emperor challenges Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya to prove that he can outsmart the legendary sages of Athens. What follows is an extraordinary battle of wits involving riddles, disguises, impossible tasks, and one very clever pair of backwards sandals. Can Rabbi Yehoshua beat 60 of the ancient world’s wisest men at their own game? Listen and find out—or at least, find out half the answer, because we’re ending on a cliffhanger. Come back next episode for Part 2.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices