Your Daily Dose of Jewish Wisdom

If you haven’t listened to Take One, our daily Talmud podcast hosted by Unorthodox’s Liel Leibovitz, now is the perfect time to start. Take One focuses on one piece of Jewish wisdom a day, with guests joining Liel to find modern meaning in an ancient text.

Jews across the world read a page a day of Talmud, for a full seven-year cycle. Our show has been running since the most recent cycle began in 2020. If you were listening but fell behind (or if you’re not convinced a podcast about the Talmud is for you), now’s the perfect time to jump in.

Here are five of our favorite Take One episodes that show how the Talmud can be timeless, relatable, and even entertaining.

You can find Take One on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Join our community on Facebook and Instagram to continue the daily conversation.

• Unorthodox co-hosts Stephanie Butnick and Mark Oppenheimer join Liel to discuss what a Jew needs to know today to not be considered an ignoramus:

• Rabbi Rachel Ain of Manhattan’s Sutton Place Synagogue meditates on the ancient custom of candlelighting and its surprisingly modern resonance:

• Liel is joined by his wife, sailing enthusiast Lisa Ann Sandell, to discuss the Talmudic complexities of setting sail just before Shabbat starts, and Lisa shares a story of hijinks on the high seas:
  

• Producer Josh Kross joins Liel for a lively discussion about what soccer teams can teach us about Jewish law and community:

• Take One regular Dovid Bashevkin tells us about the closest thing in the Talmud to a rap battle: a heated disagreement between the rabbis of Eretz Yisrael and the rabbis of Babylon.