Take One Daf Yomi

On today's page, Menachot 46, the rabbis are talking about priestly life in Yavne, the town that became Judaism's unlikely headquarters after Rome burned Jerusalem to the ground. It's a story that starts with a scholar smuggling himself out of a besieged city and ends with three surprisingly wise requests that have a lot to say about how any of us survive upheaval. When everything breaks, what do you actually rebuild first? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Menachot 45, we hear the spectacular story of Hananiah ben Hezekiah, the man who saved the Book of Ezekiel from being removed from the biblical canon. Hananiah famously holed himself up in an attic with 300 barrels of oil for illumination until he mastered the text. Guest Dr. Tevi Troy joins us to discuss this kind of scholarly obsession, drawing parallels to American presidents like Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt, who went to extreme lengths to satisfy their own hunger for books. What does it mean to love a text so much that you’d risk everything to understand it? Listen and find out.

On today’s page, Menachot 44, we encounter one of the Talmud’s most cinematic stories, involving a man’s journey across the sea to visit a famous woman of great beauty. At a critical moment, the ritual fringes on his garment serve as a physical reminder of his values, sparking a dramatic change of heart for both individuals. This narrative explores how our outward symbols can ground us during moments of intense temptation and ultimately lead to a path of transformation. How can a simple ritual object change the course of a person's life? Listen and find out.

On today’s pages, Menachot 42 and 43, the Talmud issues a fascinating prohibition: we may not sell tzitzit to an idolater because they might use them to impersonate a Jew, leading to dangerous social and religious consequences. Guest Dr. Tevi Troy joins us to draw a parallel to the world of American politics, where "wearing the uniform" doesn't always mean playing for the team. Can we ever truly trust the labels people wear? Listen and find out.

On today’s pages, Menachot 40 and 41, we explore the delicate laws surrounding burial garments and the symbolism of the tallit. While the Talmud wrestles with whether burying someone in tzitzit constitutes "mocking the dead"—reminding them of commandments they can no longer keep—Rabbi David Bashevkin argues that this sensitivity actually reveals the true purpose of the mitzvot. Unlike negative prohibitions that merely maintain a status quo, positive commandments are the tools we use to build a relationship with God. This daf challenges us to stop viewing ritual as a burden and start seeing it as a way to insert eternity into every passing moment. How can we make our daily actions matter as much as our final ones? Listen and find out.