Take One Daf Yomi

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.
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On today’s page, Bekhorot 6, the rabbis wrestle with et, a tiny, ubiquitous Hebrew word that has no English equivalent, and with a sage who built an entire method of interpretation around it before deciding he had gone too far. From Proust to Pope to Finnegans Wake, Liel explores what happens when even our greatest writers and readers reach the limits of language. Can knowing when to stop searching for meaning be its own kind of wisdom? Listen and find out.
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On today’s page, Bekhorot 5, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish disagree about when the Israelites began sanctifying their firstborn: before entering the Promised Land or only after they arrived. Their dispute raises a much bigger question about how we approach the things we hope to accomplish. Do we wait until everything is in place before getting to work, or can doing the work be what gets us there in the first place? Listen and find out.
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On today’s pages, Bekhorot 2, 3, and 4, we begin a new tractate by learning about the special status of firstborn animals. Rabbi David Bashevkin joins us to ask why Judaism cares so much about who comes first—and what the arrival of a firstborn changes for everyone who follows. What can Steve Martin teach us about becoming responsible for someone other than ourselves? Listen and find out.
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On today’s pages, Chullin 141 and 142, we reach the end of Tractate Chullin and look back at what months of studying meat, kashrut, and the intricacies of eating have taught us. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin joins us to explain why our most basic need for nourishment can become an expression of Jewish identity—and a reminder that we depend on something beyond ourselves. What does keeping kosher ultimately ask us to sanctify? Listen and find out.

Also, celebrate the end of Tractate Chullin with Chullin out, our playlist of every song we referenced along the way.
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