Take One Daf Yomi

On today’s pages, Zevachim 103 and 104, the rabbis debate whether the absence of prior examples can serve as proof in halacha. Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin shows how this question has echoed from Temple times to modern issues like machine-made matzah. When does tradition guide us, and when does it limit us? Listen and find out. To support Tablet and make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

On today’s page, Zevachim 102, the Gemara suggests that Moses was too preoccupied with the Divine Presence to fulfill a basic priestly duty. Israeli rabbi Avihud Schwartz unpacks why that startling answer explains not just Moses’s role, but Judaism’s broader vision of sanctity. Is being “too spiritual” ever a real excuse for skipping the work of this world? Listen and find out. To support Tablet and make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

On today’s page, Zevachim 101, the rabbis revisit the terrifying story of Pinchas, whose violent zeal halts a deadly plague but raises lasting moral questions. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks reflects on why religious passion, however sincere, can never be a blueprint for leadership. When does moral urgency cross the line into dangerous certainty? Listen and find out. To support Tablet and make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

On today’s page, Zevachim 100, the rabbis dwell on acute mourning, a moment when grief interrupts routine, obligation, and even meaning itself. The late Norman Podhoretz offers a powerful meditation on the role of ideas and intellectual responsibility at precisely such moments of rupture. What happens when loss forces us to reconsider what truly shapes history and our lives? Listen and find out. To support Tablet and make a tax-deductible donation, click here.

On today’s pages, Zevachim 98 and 99, we encounter the rules for priests in the period of acute mourning, when they cannot offer sacrifices or partake in the ritual meat. Our teacher and friend, Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, helps illuminate what this stage says about grief, ritual, and the human confrontation with mortality. How do we make space for loss without losing connection to life’s sacredness? Listen and find out. To support Tablet and make a tax-deductible donation, click here.