Take One Daf Yomi
1,237 episodes - English - Latest episode: 21 days ago - ★★★★★ - 505 ratingsAs 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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Episodes
Bava Metzia 36 - Ever Upward
April 04, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 36, uses a somewhat complicated transactional discussion about paid and unpaid bailees to deliver a gorgeous lesson for the ages about the importance of always trying and doing and being our best. Why should we never, ever cut corners and shirk our duties? 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 gr...
Bava Metzia 35 - Righteous Groceries
April 03, 2024 04:00 - 16 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 35, speaks of the relation between debtor and creditor. Is it enough for a creditor to lend his wealth to debtors because he is an "upright person"? The producers of our sister podcast, Unorthodox, visited the Social Grocery Store in Tel Aviv just last week, a food pantry filled with upright volunteers that serve asylum seekers and migrants struggling to get by. Wondering what the bond is between wealth and righteousness? Listen and find out. Like the show? Su...
Bava Metzia 34 - Covet to Covet
April 02, 2024 04:00 - 6 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 34, unpacks the mystery of the shomer hinam, a person who agreed to watch over something free of charge and then, maybe, coveted the item for himself. Is it still a sin if he agrees to pay for it in full? And what does this seemingly dry, legalistic case teach us about remaining pure-hearted and kind? 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...
Bava Metzia 32 and 33 – Teachers' Pets
April 01, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 32 and 33, weigh in on the question of who deserves more respect: Our parents or our teachers. It's a hot-button political issue in our never-ending culture wars, and the rabbis offer a definitive, and surprising, take. What is 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 m...
Bava Metzia 30 and 31 – An American Haggadah with Stu Halpern
March 29, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 30 and 31, stress the importance of teaching things in a way people can actually understand. Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern joins us to shed light on why this passage is crucial to the Passover Haggadah, and how it inspired America's Founding Fathers. How did the Exodus story resonate with Washington et al? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 29 – Soulful Materialism
March 28, 2024 04:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 29, instructs us that we should learn to take really good care of our possessions. What's the approach known as soulful materialism? And what does it teach us about radically rethinking the way we shop for and care for our stuff? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 28 – Facebook is Down
March 27, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 28, introduces us to a magical place: The Claimant's Stone, a spot in ancient Jerusalem where anyone who had lost or found anything would come to hang out and connect. It was, if you will, a sort of Facebook before Facebook; but did digital technology rob the idea of its meaning and purpose? And what advice, while we're at it, does Judaism have to offer us about navigating the thicket of social media? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekl...
Bava Metzia 27 – Elementary, My Dear Watson
March 26, 2024 04:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 27, is a masterclass in deductive reasoning. What's deductive reasoning? Why did the rabbis of the Talmud cherish it? And what does any of it have to do with a certain famous British detective known for his deerstalker hat and his cranky companion? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 25 and 26 – Too Late
March 25, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 25 and 26, raise a terrifying proposition: That no matter how firmly we believe there's always time to do the right thing and make amends and fix what we've broken, sometimes we may simply and sadly be too late. How do we extract something positive and sweet from this bitter teaching? 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 conversati...
Bava Metzia 23 and 24 – Apples to Apples
March 22, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 23 and 24, ask what makes an item immediately and distinctly recognizable. As it happens, the same exact question occupied some of our finest trademark lawyers as they did battle in court to protect their clients' unique and immediately recognizable brands. What makes something distinct enough to merit a trademark? And why did the Beatles duke it out with Steve Jobs over this very question? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newslett...
Bava Metzia 22 – Dinner is a Battlefield
March 21, 2024 04:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 22, discusses one of society's most pressing, and most tragically misunderstood, topics, namely how to host a dinner party. What solemn responsibilities do hosts, and guests, have when breaking bread? And why is a good dinner party more like a shootout than like a picnic? 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...
Bava Metzia 21 – Introducing Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally
March 20, 2024 04:00 - 22 minutesOn today’s episode, we again take a break from Talmud and today's page, Bava Metzia 21, to play you our brand new podcast, Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally. It’s a weekly parsha podcast with me, Liel Liebovitz, and Israeli journalist and Torah scholar Sivan Rahav Meir. In our debut episode, Sivan tells us all about the story of Purim; explains how this year's Taanit Esther - Esther's Fast - takes on new meaning for the families of female hostages; and teaches four purim commandments fo...
Bava Metzia 20 – Talmud, Meet Torah with Sivan Rahav Meir
March 19, 2024 04:00 - 12 minutesOn today’s episode, instead of bringing you an episode about Bava Metzia 20, we take a break from Talmud to tell you about a new podcast we’re launching tomorrow called Sivan Says: Taking the Torah Personally. It’s a weekly parsha podcast with Israeli journalist and Torah scholar Sivan Rahav Meir. Sivan joins us on Take One to tell us about the 2000 year old “home page” of the Jewish people. You can find Sivan Says at TabletMag.com/sivansays, or whever you listen to podcasts. Like the show? ...
Bava Metzia 18 and 19 – God is in the Details
March 18, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 18 and 19, are a master class in paying attention to detail. Do details really matter? And is it better, when doing anything from looking for your keys to handling your legal documents, to sweat the small stuff or look at the big picture instead? 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 t...
Bava Metzia 16 and 17 – Seek and You Shall Find
March 15, 2024 04:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 16 and 17, begin as an ordinary sounding discussion of legal documents but soon blossom into a profound, and profoundly relevant, life lesson. Why does Rabbi Yohanan urge us to slow down and take a closer look at life's seemingly most ordinary interactions? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 15 – Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny with Menachem Butler
March 14, 2024 04:00 - 16 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 15, we're actually going to take a look at a new anthology from Tablet colleague Menachem Butler and co-editor Aviad Hacohen. The anthology, called Praying for the Defenders of Our Destiny: The Mi Sheberach for IDF Soldiers, was prepared in response to the October 7th massacre. It collects over seventy contributions from scholars, rabbis, and thinkers, that investigate the history, composition, and controversies surrounding the Mi Sheberach prayer, highlightin...
Bava Metzia 14 – The Pursuit of Home with Scott Harris
March 13, 2024 04:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 14, ponders why so many of us, from Talmudic times onwards, have been so obsessed with owning real estate. Scott Harris, real estate agent and the host of a new podcast about the spiritual side of home ownership -- The Pursuit of Home -- joins us to talk about how property assuages our longing for permanence and about why no piece of real estate is ever without its emotional meanings. What mistakes do you usually make when we're house shopping? Listen and find...
Bava Metzia 13 – Going Green
March 12, 2024 04:00 - 6 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 13, has the rabbis doing some creative recycling. What to do with a bit of papyrus that's no longer a useful legal document? And how could the ancient world's habits teach us a very valuable lesson about being less wasteful? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 11 and 12 – Adulting with Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin
March 11, 2024 04:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 11 and 12, raise a question that troubles many of us: What, precisely, makes a person an adult? Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to shed light on the meaning of growing up and becoming a man or a woman in full. How was Moses the ultimate practitioner of adulting? 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 Faceb...
Bava Metzia 9 and 10 – In God's Shadow
March 08, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 9 and 10, wonder how we truly assume ownership of an animal, which is really another way of asking how we assume ownership of our own lives. Do the rabbis want us to devote our days to study and contemplation? Or should we focus on constant and fruitful action instead? 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 O...
Bava Metzia 8 – Mornings on Horseback with Lily Leibovitz
March 07, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 8, asks us to ponder what it actually means to ride a horse. Lily Leibovitz, a 12-year-old master equestrian, joins us to share the magical sensation of bonding with a strong, enormous animal, and why this connection had enchanted humans for millennia. How do you get the animal to listen to your wishes, and how do you tune in to its needs? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow u...
Bava Metzia 7 – Serving At the Pleasure Of the President with Tevi Troy
March 06, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 7 discusses the validity of a bill of divorce if it is handed to a woman by her husband while he still holds on to it with a string, indicating that if he can pull the string and take it back, the bill of divorce is not legitimate, but if the string is too flimsy, or he can not pull it back, then the divorce is final. Tevi Troy returns to focus on the question of possession, and the specific question of when one truly takes possession of a job in the White Hou...
Bava Metzia 7 – Serving At the Pleasure of the President with Tevi Troy
March 06, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 7 discusses the validity of a bill of divorce if it is handed to a woman by her husband while he still holds on to it with a string, indicating that if he can pull the string and take it back, the bill of divorce is not legitimate, but if the string is too flimsy, or he can not pull it back, then the divorce is final. Tevi Troy returns to focus on the question of possession, and the specific question of when one truly takes possession of a job in the White Hou...
Bava Metzia 6 – Until Proven Innocent
March 05, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 6, interrogates that old chestnut of TV cop dramas, namely that a guilty suspect is always cool and in command when interrogated while an innocent one is distressed. Is that true? And what impact did this prevalent theory of policing have on wrongfully convicting people of crimes they didn't commit? 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 ...
Bava Metzia 4 and 5 – In Praise of Not Knowing with Josh Kross
March 04, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Metzia 4 and 5, tell us a story of theft and accusation riddled with uncertainty. Producer Josh Kross joins us to talk about what we can do when we simply don't have enough information to go on, and why sometimes doubt isn't the worst thing to experience. What to do when you're trapped on a mountain with no power and no clue? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @tak...
Bava Metzia 2 and 3 – Welcome to Tractate Bava Metzia with Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin
March 01, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Metzia 2 and 3, introduce us to a brand new tractate. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us with a preview of what's in store. What life lessons are we to learn from the famous story about two dudes holding on to a Tallis, each insisting that it belongs to him? 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 t...
Bava Kama 119 – The Far Side of Tractate Bava Kama
February 29, 2024 05:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page is Bava Kama 119, and it is the ending of tractate Bava Kama. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to reflect on how all the rules about cows tell us really how we should treat each other. Should we really sweat the small stuff? Listen and find out. If you would like to read Rabbi Bashevkin’s essay about the end of this tractate, you can read it here. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedafy...
Bava Kama 118 – Buyer beware
February 28, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages are Bava Kama 118, gives us a long list of transactions that can and do go awfully wrong. And while not many of us these days buy calves from women in the Sharon region of Israel, we do shop on apps that frequently leave much to be desired. What do the rabbis of the Talmud have to teach us about shopping experiences gone bad? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @takeonedaf...
Bava Kama 117 – The Price of Being Visibly Jewish
February 27, 2024 05:00 - 19 minutesToday’s Talmud pages are Bava Kama 117, tells a story of a Jew harassed for being visibly Jewish, a problem that, sadly, plagues many of us today. Gayle Kirschenbaum joins us with a moving personal essay addressing this question precisely. Should we wear our Stars of David proudly and openly? 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 Faceboo...
Bava Kama 115 and 116 – The Genius of Daf Yomi
February 26, 2024 05:00 - 10 minutesToday’s Talmud pages are Bava Kama 115 and 116, but they inspire us to ask a bigger question. With thousands of years of Talmud study already in the books, why do we need new translation and new editions to study? Rabbi Menachem Evan-Israel, son of famed Talmud scholar and translator Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, joins us to discuss. Why, in 2024, do we need to keep revisiting the work? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tab...
Bava Kama 113 and 114 – The Fabrics of our Lives
February 23, 2024 05:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 113 and 114, asks whether Jews can use prohibited fabrics to protect ourselves from paying customs duties levied only on Jews. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us and explains that this kind of subterfuge is generally frowned upon, but also a garment that helps save a life through trickery may be the best choice. How can a story about American soldiers in World War II help us decide? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a n...
Bava Kama 112 – The Cow and The Playstation
February 22, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 112 asks what is a child’s obligation if their parent borrows a cow to use for agricultural work, and then dies. Hudson Leibovitz joins us to discuss a more modern version of this quandary, and shares what he thinks about being responsible for the deals that his father made. He also shares the difference between what he is responsible for versus what might just be an accident. What is an unavoidable accident, and who is responsible when one occurs? Listen and fi...
Bava Kama 111 – A Memorable Story
February 21, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 111 asks whether a child is responsible to pay back a debt left by a parent who has robbed. Tablet’s Executive Editor Wayne Hoffman joins us to discuss his book The End of Her in which he attempts to solve the murder of his great-grandmother. He discusses the double agenda in writing his book of setting out to solve the mystery of this murder, and to figure out the value of the story that had been passed down about this horrible event, and the value of storytell...
Bava Kama 110 – We Are All Converts
February 20, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 110 continues the conversation of repaying a debt to a convert to Judaism after they have died. To our modern ears, it is difficult to consider the idea that a convert is different than one born a Jew. Instead, perhaps we should consider how we all make the choice to be Jews each day as we go through our lives. The food we choose to eat, the prayers we choose to take part in, the mitzvot we commit to making a part of our lives, are affirmations that we make to d...
Bava Kama 108 and 109 – Like A Baby Reborn
February 19, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 108 and 109 ask what should happen if a robber needs to repay a debt to someone who has converted to Judaism after they have died, as while most debts can be paid to an heir, a convert (who has not married and had children of their own) has no heir. The Talmud answers this question by saying that the debt should be paid to a priest. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin introduces the Talmudic principle that a person who chooses to become a Jew, is like a baby reborn, and how ...
Bava Kama 106 and 107 – Loving Me into Being
February 16, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’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...
Bava Kama 105 – Strict Adherence to The Rules
February 15, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 105 explains that a Nazarite who is obligated to shave their head, has not fulfilled their obligation if two hairs remain on their head. To our modern ears, this determination appears extreme, but the Rabbis ask us to consider that there are times when compromise is not the appropriate response, and the strict adherence to certain principles is. Are there certain lines that we must maintain with strict adherence in order to ensure a system of true justice? Liste...
Bava Kama 104 – Acting As An Agent
February 14, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 104 continues the conversation about whether one can designate an agent to accept payment on your behalf, and the Rabbis are not in agreement. Tevi Troy returns to discuss the many agents that Presidents must appoint to aide them in their administration, and the correct ways that such an agent should behave if they do not agree with the policies of the President that appointed them. During the Clinton administration, Peter Edelman, who was appointed by the Presi...
Bava Kama 103 – Enabling Repentance
February 13, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 103 begins by explaining that a robber must travel across the world in order to repay a debt for something they stole, indicating that they are not able to send someone else to repay it, or give it to a family member instead of directly to the person they stole from. But then, they say that a debt can be paid by giving it to an agent of the court. This piece of Talmud teaches us of the importance of repentance, but also teaches us that we should not make it so d...
Bava Kama 101 and 102 – A Birthday Surprise
February 12, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 101 and 102 asks what happens when a carpenter is asked to make a chair, but instead makes a bench, which is of lower value, or the reverse, where the carpenter who is hired to make a bench, makes a chair instead. The larger question that one might ask is whether one should create something beautiful that only can be enjoyed by one, or something that could be enjoyed by a community. Arie Dosoretz, joins Stephanie Butnick to discuss his choice of a birthday gift...
Bava Kama 99 and 100 – Deference To Experts
February 09, 2024 05:00 - 26 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 99 and 100 asks whether what deference we need to give to experts who may get something wrong. In considering this question, we share an interview from our sister podcast Unorthodox, where we chat with Thomas Nichols, professor of national security at the United States Naval War College, about his book The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters. He explains the dangers of experts being branded as out-of-touch elites an...
Bava Kama 98 – Deal With It
February 08, 2024 05:00 - 6 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 98 begins with the claim that if someone throws another person’s coin into the sea, they are not obligated to pay restitution as the coin is still accessible to the one who lost it. This idea encourages us to consider acting rather than just feeling aggrieved. Are there times when we need to stop pitying ourselves and just deal with it? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at [email protected]. Follow us on T...
Bava Kama 97 – The Invalidated Coin
February 07, 2024 05:00 - 6 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 97 discusses the difference between a stolen coin that cracks and one that is invalidated. Tevi Troy returns to discuss the times in our history when governments have had to deal with changes in the monetary system, from abandoning the gold standard to contemplating the ramifications of cryptocurrency. What happened when Milton Friedman spoke truth to power? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Send us a note at takeone@tabletm...
Bava Kama 96 – Slow Jamming the Talmud
February 06, 2024 05:00 - 8 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 96 is a discussion of whether a robber must pay back the value of the oxen that they stole, or whether they must also include in their payment some portion of the enhancement of the land that occurred while the robber used the animals to work the land. The discussion ends with the Rabbi Nachman agreeing that a payment beyond the value of the oxen is unusual but was necessary in a specific case because the robber was infamous and needed additional punishment. Are...
Bava Kama 94 and 95 – Is This Blessing Kosher?
February 05, 2024 05:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 94 and 95 ask whether it is allowed to say a blessing over something that is ill-gotten. Rabbi Dovid Beshevkin returns to explore the debate amongst the Rabbis on whether it is appropriate to make a blessing over unkosher food, or if that would be considered blasphemy. We explore the question of whether saying a blessing isthe act of asking for permission or an act of recognition of the creator of all things. Should you make a blessing over food if you are eati...
Bava Kama 92 and 93 – How To Attain Forgiveness in the Heavenly Courts
February 02, 2024 05:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud pages, Bava Kama 92 and 93 explore the idea that even if one pays the fine for the damages they cause, they are not forgiven in the heavenly courts until they ask for forgiveness from the victim. Rabbi Dovid Beshevkin joins us to explore why the Mishna insists that you must apologize to be forgiven in the eyes of God. Is settling damages about paying off your debts, or is it about creating connections among society to ensure trust? Listen and find out. Like the show? Subscribe ...
Bava Kama 91 – Deserving Of Dignity
February 01, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 91 asks whether the amount paid when one humiliates a rich person should be higher than that paid of a poor man, as the rich are accustomed to more respect than the poor. The Talmud resolves that as all people are deserving of the same payment as we all come from the same honorable lineage. This is an important reminder that we all are deserving of respect and human decency. What should we do to remember to treat everyone with the respect and dignity that they d...
Bava Kama 90 – The Indignity of a Slap
January 31, 2024 05:00 - 9 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 90 discusses the penalties that one must pay to another if they slap them. There are different levels of penalty that must be paid depending on the type of slap, and the location on the body that is slapped. Tablet’s Courtney Hazlett returns to explore the story of the slap heard around the world, that being the slap by Will Smith of comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. We discuss the ways that a slap is far more complicated than other forms of physic...
Bava Kama 89 – Word-Backed Securities
January 30, 2024 05:00 - 7 minutesToday’s Talmud page, Bava Kama 89 asks whether a woman can use the financial value of her marriage contract to pay restitution to someone she has damaged. The Rabbis go on to discuss the potential difference between an actual possession and a promise of a possession listed in words. This idea reminds us of the financial bubble that came out of the growth of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the mortgage-backed securities that followed. How can we ensure that our words don’t form a bubble of t...
Introducing: Covering Their Tracks
January 29, 2024 21:11 - 6 minutesCovering Their Tracks is the extraordinary story of a young man’s escape from a moving train bound for the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust, and his fight to hold the French national rail company, the SNCF, accountable for their actions as they later bid for lucrative high-speed rail contracts in the United States. For more information visit http://tabletmag.com/coveringtheirtracks or search for Covering Their Track wherever you get your podcasts.