Yoma 53

Today’s Daf Yomi page, Yoma 53, opens up one of the strangest and most terrifying deaths in a book, the Bible, thick with them: the striking down of the two sons of Aaron, Moses’s brother. Why did they have to die?

Rabbi Shmuel Hain joins us to explain their sin, its interpretation in rabbinic literature, and why the ongoing fascination with Aaron’s sons reflected the rabbis’ insecurities about their own role as teachers and students.

Why is humility more important than learnedness, and how is being modest better than being correct? Listen and find out. 

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Take One is hosted by Liel Leibovitz and produced by Josh Kross, Sara Fredman Aeder, and Robert Scaramuccia.

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