Shows / Talking Talmud
Talking Talmud
Learning the daf? We have something for you to think about. Not learning the daf? We have something for you to think about! (Along with a taste of the daf...) Join the conversation with us!
Episodes
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 7: The Mezora on Chol Hamoed
We finally leave agricultural law and now discuss tzaraat. Can a Kohen examine tzaraat on Chol Hamoed and why is this an issue when examining a mezorah is not…
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 6: Accidental Kilyaim
In an agricultural society, the farm makes sense as the focus of Chol HaMoed activity... Including uprooting kilayim - but did they really do that? Isn't that…
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 5: Public Works
More on cisterns... And their role in serving the public need for water as compared to an individual's need. So can a cistern really be dug on Chol HaMoed or…
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 4: Schools of Interpretation and the Babylonian Rain
The Beit Din of Rabban Gamliel, and the parameters of shemitah, and how they are derived. What can be done before Rosh Hashanah, including when it comes to…
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 3: How Far Shemitah?
Another detail of introduction on Rashi's commentary on Moed Katan. Plus, shemitah, and how does that line up with avot and toladot, as compared to Shabbat…
- Talking Talmud
Moed Katan 2: A Spectrum of Holiday
An introduction to the new tractate, and its focus on Chol HaMoed. Also, the first mishnah, with a discussion of irrigating a field over Chol HaMoed, and also…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 32: Handling a Torah Scroll
The final daf of Megillah! Several details about Torah reading and the scroll itself, in the name of Rav Shefatya. Also, the outrage of touching a Torah…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 31: Blessing the Curses
All the different Torah readings of all the holidays of the year. Including a mention of the second day of yom tov in the Diaspora. Plus, more on the ma'amadot…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 30: Replacing the Torah Reading with... Torah Reading
Which shabbatot actually line up to have these 4 parshiyot read? Charting out the passages and the dates may be helpful. Also, when do we interrupt the regular…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 29: Exile and Return
On the Shechinah and Its travels with Bnei Yisrael. And also the path back, the rebuilding after the destruction that was wrought - which accounts for the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 28: What Is the Secret of Your Longevity?
Dedicated to the health and well-being of Yehudis bas Hinda, who, at 102, joins the rabbis of the daf with exceptional longevity (thank God). But what was the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 27: Don't Sell a Daughter for Food
Selling Torah scrolls. What can you do with the funds since you can't purchase other scrolls (not Neviim or Ketuvim)? And what about the cloths with which we…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 26: Jerusalem as Washington, DC
Chapter 4! Selling one property or item requires using those funds to purchase something that has a greater level of sanctity. From a town square to a…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 25: Heretical? Racy? Dealing with the "Inappropriate" in Shul
YEAR 3! The potential for heresy... from blessing God for everything, including the bad to see ding away the mother bird. And the decrees to protect shul…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 24: Blindness and Blemishes
The translator! And the experience of Torah reading in shul, back in the day. Noting that skipping text in a Torah reading was iffy... Plus, how the person who…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 23: The Evil Congregation
Women and aliyot. Not what you think it's going to be... until then it is. Naming Kavod Tzibur. Plus, the Maftir aliyah. Naming Kavod Torah. Also, a new…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 22: The Puzzle of Rav and the Stone Floor
Dividing the Torah's text into aliyot, including very technical parameters of 3 verses in a particular section of the text, as a minimum - and what happens…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 21: Going Up to Read the Torah
Chapter 3! Details pertaining to reading the Megillah... And reading the Torah. Including the original system of aliyot to the Torah. Also, how those aliyot…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 20: Defining Daytime
Another 2 mishnayot. First, mitzvot that need to be performed during the day... cannot be done prior to Netz HaChamah, the sunrise (after the earliest…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 18 - CORRECTED - By Heart (for Thursday, December 30, 2021)
The Megillah cannot be read out loud by heart and fulfill the reading of the megillah, but why not? What are we accomplishing by making sure we read the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 19: Who, How, When, and Why We Read Megillah
2 mishnayot - when do mitzvot need to take place, from Megillah to a whole host of other mitzvot? What about a walled-city resident who goes to an unwalled…
- Talking Talmud
Error!! Will fix for Megillah 18
The Megillah cannot be read out loud by heart and fulfill the reading of the megillah, but why not? What are we accomplishing by making sure we read the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 17: Order in the (Prayer) House!
Chapter 2! Reading Megilat Esther out of order and other ways to not fulfill your obligation of hearing the megillah on Purim. And some ways to make sure you…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 16: The Many Layers of Narrative in the Megillah
More on the personalities of the Megillah. Starting with Haman and Mordechai and an extensive expansion on how Haman must do the king's will and honor…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 15: Strengths of Mordechai and Esther
On the last of the prophets, and the way the Gemara affiliates Mordechai with Malakhi. Which leads to an investigation of the big names of the day and their…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 14: The 7 Prophetesses
The list of the 7 prophetesses, and the sources that prove them to be such: Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Avigayil, Chana, Huldah, Esther. With lots of little…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 13: What Was Esther's Real Name, Anyway?
On Mordechai... and his generation. On Esther... and why she is called both Esther and Hadassah. And what was her relationship with Mordechai? Also, the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 12: Inserting God into Vashti's Removal
More explication of Megillat Esther, from the description of the king's feast, his guests from Persia and Medea (or the reverse, as the case may be). Plus, the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 11: Wicked by Association
Explicating the name "Ahashverosh," and connecting its owner to Nebuchadnezzar. Plus, the 127 provinces of his realm. Also, how do we calculate the 70 years of…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 10: Transportable Religion
More distinctions between "this" and "that," in this case, Shiloh vs. Jerusalem. Plus, exegesis of the Megillah text, beginning with, "It was in the days of…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 9: Translation by the 70
On the Torah scrolls themselves - beginning with the scribal arts, and what it takes to make sure that writing is a holy book. Plus, the Targum. Also, the…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 8: The "Only" Distinction(s)
5 mishnayot, comparing and contrasting and delineating... For a variety of unexpected topics, including oaths, bodily fluids, and scribal requirements for a…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 7: The Year Rabbi Zeira Woke Up Dead after Purim
Establishing Purim as a holiday for the generations, and Esther as a book to be read. Plus, including the Book of Esther in the canon of Tanakh. Also, how to…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 6: Adar I vs. Adar II
Aligning Tiberias and Tzipori (and Ginosar) with other places named in the Bible (of course, debatable). One of the ways of proving the case was from eulogies…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 5: Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi: Mishnah Compiler and... Gardener
A new mishnah! What is considered a "large city"? [Including What's What on the "10 batlanim"] And how these days of gathering carry implications as joyous…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 4: Rabbinic Megillah Reading (by definition)
The Gemara notes: The women were part of the miracle of Purim, and are therefore obligated in reading the megillah. Also, speaking about the specific day on…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 3: Translation Is Interpretation
Translations of the Torah into Aramaic, the vernacular of the time - the authoritative versions were ascribed to Onkelos (on Torah) and Yonatan ben Uziel (on…
- Talking Talmud
Megillah 2: So Many Days of Reading the Megillah
Introducing... Megillah. What are the dates when Megillat Esther may be read - beyond the 14th (Purim) and 15th (Shushan Purim). Which brings us the categories…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 31: Dancing for Salvation
Closing the tractate with the joy of the 15th of Av, including the burial of Beitar, and the girls dancing in the vineyard, with the young men who seek them…
- Talking Talmud
Taaanit 30: The Mourning of Tisha B'Av
The mourning practices of Tisha B'Av, a clear prescription for the experience of the day. Including not learning Torah. Plus, customs for Erev Tisha B'Av. And…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 29: Grim History
The various historical events that took place, as accepted by tradition, on the 9th of Av, including some wrenching stories, including on the topic of…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 28: Liturgical Growth
Rosh Chodesh Tevet had no ma'amad service. Why would this day be exempt? What was to be expected on Rosh Chodesh? Plus, Hanukkah. How is it different from…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 27: Sourcing the Ma'amadot
Ma'amadot - and their Torah source. The cycle of groups coming from Jerusalem, Jericho, and locations throughout the Land of Israel. Plus, what is essential…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 26: No Drunk Duchening (aka Birkat Kohanim)
The fourth and final chapter - including the historical fasts. Another very long mishnah, beginning with Birkat Kohanim, the mishmarot, ma'amadot, and more…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 25: Fasting, Praying, and Provoking God
R. Hanina Ben Dosa, pious miracle worker, appears here again. Plus, back to rain... When a rabbinic leader decrees a fast, and the outcomes are different. What…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 24: Who Wants a Miracle?
The charity collectors would hide from Elazar of Birta, because he would divest himself of everything, and they didn't want to let him go that far. Even when…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 23: Much More Than a Jewish Rip Van Winkle
More of Choni (or Honi) the Circle-Maker's story, including the rest of his life, and the inheritance (or presumed inheritance) as told with regard to his…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 22: Are We in Danger Yet?
More narrative. Rabbi Beroka and Elijah the prophet - when they met, first in the marketplace... Plus, the significance of black shoes as non-Jewish attire…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 21: All for the Best
The potential positive impact of the righteous. Beginning with Nachum Ish Gamzu, who was blind, and a 4-limb amputee, with boils, in a bed with its feet in…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 20: The Strength of the Reed
A daf of stories... Nakdimon, and trading in water, when no rain had fallen. In comparison and contrast to Choni ha-Me'agael. Also, a presentation of curses…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 19: Beyond Rain
A new chapter, with a new marathon mishnah: The long process of increased severity of fasting and going public with it, etc., only applies to troubles from a…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 18: Bad for the Jews
A potential conflict between the days when one can read Megilat Esther and days that are dedicated to Nikanor and to Trajan. What are these days (Yom Nikanor…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 17: The King's Daily Haircut
More working off the long mishnah - beginning with discussion of the watches of the kohanim, and when they would need to cut their hair and launder their…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 16: Sackcloth and Ashes Are Not Where It's At
Following the mishnah's order if the day, with a mnemonic to help one remember in order. For example, why do they go out to the square? Why do they wear…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 15: A Mega Mishnah Read
Chapter 2! With all the mishnah of the chapter. The mishnah goes through the order of the activities in a day of fasting for rain. Plus, a comparison to the…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 14: The Rain in Spain (really, anywhere Diaspora)
The hot topic of whether women who are pregnant or nursing should be fasting when it comes to fasting for rain. Also, a reflection when. There was (non-rain)…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 13: How Do We Mourn
How did the mishah in of mourning develop and why are their differences? The practice of saying Aneinu is an integral part of praying on a fast day but where…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 12: When Not Eating Is Not Fasting
One cannot take on a fast of a few hours and call it a fast - it doesn't count in that regard. And separating from a community fast is not acceptable either -…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 11: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, for One Who Fasts Is a Sinner
Suffering through famine should save the person who chooses to do so from a strange death. Plus, other outcomes of famine, like avoiding sexual relations to…
- Talking Talmud
Taanit 10: When the Rain Doesn't Fall
A dispute between R. Eliezer and R. Yehoshua over the source of rain - from the heavens or the oceans. Plus, a new mishnah: when we really start asking for…