Take One Daf Yomi

On today’s page, Chullin 12, the rabbis wrestle with a deceptively modern question: when can we trust that someone claiming expertise actually knows what they’re doing? Is watching a person perform a task enough, or do credentials and reputation matter more than appearances alone? The daf becomes a meditation on trust, supervision, and the limits of what we can truly verify, themes that feel especially urgent in an age of AI, performance, and manufactured authority. In a world full of experts, how do we tell the real thing from the convincing fake? Listen and find out.

Also mentioned in today’s episode: A Tie in Tel Aviv

On today’s pages, Chullin 10 and 11, the rabbis grapple with the deceptively simple instruction to follow the majority. The discussion turns on a subtle but powerful distinction between situations we can actually count and situations where we merely assume the majority is probably correct. The daf presents a vision of communal decision-making that values consensus while still leaving room for uncertainty and caution, themes that sit at the heart of modern fights over democracy and judicial power, including the subject of our upcoming Tablet Studios miniseries on Israel’s battle over judicial reform. Can a society survive if it loses faith in how decisions get made? Listen and find out.

On today’s pages, Chullin 8 and 9, the rabbis ask what practical skills every Torah scholar ought to possess beyond mastery of texts alone. A true scholar, they argue, should know how to write, perform rituals, tie knots, and serve the needs of the community when called upon. The daf presents a vision of wisdom grounded not in abstraction or prestige but in competence, usefulness, and responsibility to other people. What kind of learning matters if it cannot actually help anyone? Listen and find out.

On today's page, Chullin 7, the Talmud tells the story of Pinchas ben Ya'ir, a righteous man on a mission to ransom captives, who asks the River Ginai to split — and it does, not once but three times, each time on the merit of his righteousness alone. Presidential historian Dr. Tevi Troy joins us to draw a surprising line from that miracle straight to the logic he used working as the White House Jewish liaison under President Bush. What does a river splitting in ancient Israel have to do with seating charts at a presidential event? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Chullin 6, a mysterious warning urges anyone prone to appetite to put a knife to their throat and be careful. Desire is not harmless if left unchecked, and even small choices carry real weight. What we call a soul is not something we’re born with but something we build through restraint and deliberate choice. What kind of life does it take to grow a soul? Listen and find out.