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
Shabbat 25: Who Is Rich? Those Who Have Indoor Plumbing
Some basic terms of what invalidates kodshim - the sanctified offerings - including immediate mourners who cannot partake. Also: welcoming Shabbat with nice…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 24: Ambivalence about the Sages' Ambivalence about Chanukah
The influence of Chanukah: should it be mentioned in Birkat HaMazon? What about Musaf? How do we incorporate new-fangled holidays into the liturgy, without…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 23: Like It or Not, People Gossip
Blessing the "commandment" of Chanukah. Lighting at every entrance to prevent suspicions. Pe'ah - leaving gleanings the right way. Also: human nature. And…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 22: Repurposing Chanukah Candles? Nope
How do we treat ritual objects? Disgracing a mitzvah. Are the tools and byproducts of a mitzvah inherently holy? 3 debates between Rav and Shmuel, including R…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 21: There's No Masekhet Chanukah
Bad oil, bad wicks. Also: Chanukah! Embarking on everything you wanted to know about the holiday and its halakhot, at least from the texts of the Sages.
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 20: Does My Toast Have Crunch?
What does it mean for something to be cooked? How much must be cooked before Shabbat starts? The measurement of Ben Dorsai. Welcoming Shabbat - to exclude a…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 19: Your Dog Can Break Shabbos
All kinds of things come together: Jew/non-Jew interaction, Pesach, selling chametz... Kutach. Shabbat responsibility (when those who are not obligated in…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 18: "Set It and Forget It" - A Daf of Modern Shabbat Issues
A new mishnah, a new machloket between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai: beginning a process before shabbat that continues into shabbat, with no new involvement on…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 17: The Sword in the Study Hall
Hillel and Shammai. Harvesting grapes in purity, sure, but what about olives? Preserving Hillel's honor in the face of Shammai's decree. Also: the passions…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 16: When All of the Vessels in the Palace Were Impure
The oddity of the decree to make vessels made of metal impure. Breaking vessels to renew their pure status. What makes rain Waters become standing water, and…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 15: When Rabbinic Decrees Create Stability
Impure land - who said, and when? Six decrees out of Usha (Who's Who and What's What). What's the purpose of a rabbinic decree? Specifically: When terumah…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 14: Making the Torah Off-Limits
The impurity of the Sefer Torah - what? Why?! Busy hands. With a note that pure/impure are not value judgements. Now, who decided what? What was ascribed to…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 13: A Fool Is Not Harmed (or: The Dead Feel No Pain)
R. Hananya ben Hizkiyah ben Garon, who saved the Book of Yezhekel (Ezekiel). Plus, Megillat Taanit. We're a product of our times, whenever that may be.
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 12: Did Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Break Shabbos?!
Tefillin on erev Shabbat, and the message of awareness of God at all time. Bikur Holim, and God's presence in the visit. Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha - and the…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 11: If All the Seas Were Ink
A powerful statement that encompasses the Talmud's action, in full. Then, small actions to avoid on erev Shabbat, lest you forget, into shabbat (the Mishnah…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 10: Is Prayer Like a Good Meal?
Rav Kahana's exceptional approach to prayer - and the fact that we can turn to God in different frames of mind. Plus: The potential conflict between prayer and…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 9: Get Your Hair Done in the Morning
Examining the essence of the threshold - inside, outside, fluctuating? Establishing space before time... And now on to time: What activities to avoid before…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 8: It Doesn't Matter How You Use Your Domain
The definitions and oddities of these four domains, from a large barrel to a basket -- objects vs. domains. Also some reflections on our definitions of space…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 7: Throw a Juicy Cake of Figs against a Wall
The Karmalit - defining what it is and what it is not, in relation to reshut ha-rabim and reshut ha-yachid. Plus: Exploring the outer parameters of the…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 6: Looking for the Beginning, Middle, and End
Defining the 4 domains (well, two of them). Paying attention to the differences in our space. Carrying in and carrying out, including from an "exempt place"…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 5: What If You Never Stop Walking?
Answering Rabbi Akiva (from Shabbat 4). The importance of one's hands in completing the act of Hotza'ah. Probing what counts as a resting place to constitute…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 4: When Is Flying through the Air Like Resting on the Ground?
The Gemara tries to figure out why the poor person in the first mishnah of the masekhet would be in violation of Hotza'ah on Shabbat. Rabbi Akiva has an…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 3: Uprooting and Letting Rest - Carrying in Halakhah
Each tractate is a unit unto itself. Levels of violation of Shabbat. Who's Who: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, Rav, Rav Hiya. What's What (Shabbat edition): Mezid…
- Talking Talmud
Shabbat 2 (Re-release): That's No Introduction to Shabbat!
Recognizing the terms and definitions we need for this tractate: "av" melakhah, "toladah," and the two main domains from and to which one is not permitted to…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 64: The Finish Line of Masekhet Berakhot
In this episode, and in a departure from our usual mandate, we learn through the entirety of the very short daf. Basically, tune in for some wise statements…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 63: Power Play (and Win)
Some wise moral one-liners (no, they're not funny, but they're good). The surge to maintain religious authority from Israel over Babylon. And... the primacy of…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 62: Sex Ed, Up Close and Personal
When one rabbi spies on another -- learning bathroom practices and sexual practices by observation. The true meaning of tzniut (modesty). Also: The theological…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 61: Rabbi Akiva's Moment of Death and Shema
The yetzer hara and male/female norms of social interaction. And: Rabbi Akiva, his refusal to stop teaching Torah, his capture by the Romans, and his…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 60: Happy Is the Person Who Is Always Scared
The prayers to say when you traverse a city of criminals. The prayers to say when you enter a Roman bathhouse. Plus: Taking a positive stand re any news -…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 59: We Don't Bless God for the Suez Canal
The cycle of time and how it gives rise to the requirement for new blessings over our experience of the natural world. And "Ha-tov ve-ha-Metiv," redux
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 58: We Are All Individuals!
A large gathering of Jewish people gets a bracha too. Also: Rav Sheshet and the power of a steely blind gaze. Celebrating the power of the individual in the…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 57: Deepest, Darkest, Fearsome Racy Dreams Writ Well
Sightings in your dreams that indicate miracles coming your way. And the spin that renders dreams positive taken to the extreme. Also: Sixtieths.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 56: Dreaming of Elephants
Abaye and Rava dream the same dreams, which are consistently interpreted differently in the same way. How can that be? Plus: What it means when Yishmael shows…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 55: Say You Had a Good Dream, and Your Dream Was Good NOTE: RELEASED PRE-EDIT. FIXED NOW
Witnessing the supernatural. What shortens a person's life? God gives wisdom to the wise. Interpreting dreams, dreams, dreams. NOTE: THIS WAS FIRST RELEASED…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 54: Hailstones Hovering in the Air
The glorious and different 9th chapter: When prayer is in vain. The radical prohibited requirement of greeting people with God's name. Miracles and their…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 53: The Flame of the Candle Is Always a New Flame
Taking fire from a non-Jew for Havdalah (when is that okay?), and what that means about the dynamic between Jews and non-Jews (or the nature of talmudic…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 52: Ignore That Voice from Heaven Telling You What to Do
Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai may have been more argumentative than was strictly necessary, but their disputes populate this daf, with a lot of food for…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 51: What Would Make YOU Smash 400 Barrels of Wine?
Yalta! Also: 3 things that you can do to prevent a visit from the Angel of Death. And: 10 things pertaining to the proper handling of wine at kiddush.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 50: Transformations
The Gemara borrows from a foreign field to understand the current topic, in this case: from the impure bed to zimun. Also: How wine becomes wine and stays wine.
- Talking Talmud
Berachot 49: Eat When You Want
Who's Who: The Resh Galuta (Exilarch). And: What is the difference between Birkat HaMazon and prayer?
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 48: When Abaye and Rava Were Little Kids
More on zimun: when a child is eligible. When Yannai left nearly nobody left alive to lead the zimun. And: Finally, the basic texts and structure of Birkat…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 47: Ignoramuses in Our Midst
Etiquette, as dictated by Halakhah -- we'd still have manners without the Gemara, right? Also: The talmudic category of "am ha-aretz" and its halakhic…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 46: God's Favor: The Corpses Did Not Decompose
Honoring your guests, honoring your betters - who breaks bread for the meal? The Persian banquet and its divans. "Ha-tov ve-ha-metiv" - in and out of context.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 45: Zimun vs. Bentsching (Also Women)
Ignorance is not bliss when you don't know the halakhah. Also: The honor of leading is truly an honor. Also: The holy congregation that is formed when 3 people…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 44: Were Hazal on Drugs?
A very sweet fruit, eaten in large quantities, and needing a salty fish accompaniment. The intoxicating beauty of the world. Also: Back to some basics, putting…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 43: Dress Up a Pig and It Will Still Roll in the Mud
The personal and the halakhic loss that happens with the death of Rav. Also: The naturalist blessings for all of us in God's perfect world. And: Don't disgrace…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 42: Warning: Gluten Ahead
Pat HaBa BeKisnin: If you fill up on cakes and cookies and pretzels (snacks and desserts), you may not need to say Birkat HaMazon. You said you had HOW MUCH?…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 41: A Barley-grain-sized Piece of Bone from a Corpse (Understanding the 7 Species)
The power of HaMotzi. The 7 species and their halakhic meaning in our land, including impurity because of Tzaraat. What's What: Asmakhta
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 40: Adam and Eve Ate What?!
Identifying the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Also, how flexible is the formula for blessings? And the very flexible Shehakol blessing. Note: Talking…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 39: What's Better Than Sliced Bread?
Also, the story of how two students incurred Bar Kapara's wrath. And: how big an olive?
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 38: Breaking Bread
The careful wording of HaMotzi, and the transformative partnership we recognize from the blessing's allusion to the Exodus from Egypt. Also, Who's Who: Ulla.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 37: So, You Think Rice Is HaMotzi?
What do we do when the a Gemara gets detailed in the different halakhic intricacies on one daf. Plus: Rice and Rabban Gamliel vs. Rabbi Akiva.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 36: Medicine Is Not Food
Promoting a deep appreciation for the world around us, from time to the land, and the food we eat. Applying the blessings over food. Also: Orlah, the one…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 35: Don't Steal from God!
[WE HAVE MUSIC! (Still fine-tuning, literally, but excited to include our theme here)]. Birkat HaNehenin. Plus: tending your fields vs. learning Torah - How…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 34: God Knows Who You're Praying For
Prayer is not magic. The Messianic Era won't be magic either. Also: Some "chazzan" etiquette. And the powerful need and effect of praying on behalf of others.
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 33: Lions and Snakes and Scorpions, Oh My!
Clear demarcations on the expected violence from various specious of wildlife, and the miraculous doings of R. Chanina Ben Dosa in withstanding all that…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 32: The Golden Calf Was All God's Fault
How much are we masters of our own fate? If God influences our actions, do we have free will? To what degree must human beings overcome themselves to reach the…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 31: No, of course Hannah wasn't drunk
More on prayer (of course). Giving rebuke even when it turns out that you're wrong (and standing up for yourself!). Also, focus in prayer... And the unsung…
- Talking Talmud
Berakhot 30: Kavanah, Kavanah, Kavanah!
We begin with location, we continue to constituency, and close with context - the many factors that are designed to drive our focus and intent in prayer. Do…