Today’s Daf Yomi pages, Sukkah 39 and 40, kick things off with a tough conundrum: Why do we often say blessings for mitzvot prior to performing them? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin returns to talk about the ancient rabbinic discussion about the purpose and mechanics of blessings, and how they still inform our worship today. Why do we first pick up the etrog upside down and only then turn it rightside up? Listen and find out.
Like the show? Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafyomi and join the conversation in the Take One Facebook group.
Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.
Check out all of Tablet’s podcasts at tabletmag.com/podcasts.

Take One: Sukkah 39 and 40

As Jews around the world engage in a seven-and-a-half year cycle of Daf Yomi, reading the entire Talmud one page per day, Tablet Magazine's new podcast, Take One, will offer a brief and evocative daily read of the daf, in just about 10 minutes. New episodes will be released daily Monday through Friday.

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Today’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 53, 54, and 55, make us contemplate the priests and the practices they upheld to keep us whole and holy. Rabbi Jeff Salkin joins us to talk about the sacred ritual of Pesach, and why we should take some time this year to think about Armenia and its struggles, so much like our own. Why must we see the Exodus as a universal event rather than the exclusive property of the Jewish people? Listen and find out.

Bava Metzia 53, 54, and 55 - A Very Armenian Seder with Rabbi Jeff Salkin

Today's pages, Bava Metzia 51 and 52, discuss prohibitions on financial exploitation. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to ask: Why do markets exist? What do they have to do with societal redemption? Why do we chase things we don't really want, and certainly don't need? And what does Martin Shkreli have to do with the Talmud? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. 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.

Bava Metzia 51 and 52 - Greed is...good? with Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 50, discusses the important of honesty in the marketplace. Producer Josh Kross joins us to discuss the importance of being able to trust your debate partners. What can the Talmud tell us about modern discourse? Listen and find out

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. 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.

Bava Metzia 50 – Honest Dealers with Producer Josh Kross

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 49, discusses whether your intentions and your actions should match in business dealings. Comic book creator and cartoonist Jordan B. Gorfinkel, aka Gorf, joins us to to discuss whether only our actions need to be good, or do our intentions matter as well.

Also, he shares his attempt to use the power of Batman to rescue some of the hostages that have been held by Hamas for over 6 months. Finally, he also shares with us a song for Passover!

What kind of talmudic superhero are you? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. 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.

Bava Metzia 49 - Iron Man vs Captain America with Jordan B. Gorfinkel

Today’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 48, talks about reneging on your previously agreed upon transactions. Rabbi David Bashevkin tells us what this daf has to do with Sodom and Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel, and the Egyptians standing before the splitting Red Sea. Why shouldn’t we call everyone we don’t like Hitler? Listen and find out.

Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletmag.com. 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.

Take One: Sukkah 39 and 40

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