One of the fundamental mitzvot of the Torah, one we acknowledge at least twice a day, is the command to love G-d. “And you shall love the Lord your G…
Yoma 69: Who is Great
It is hard to imagine Jewish life without davening or brachot. They are amongst the most important of our religious practices. One of the ways COVID-…
Yoma 38: The Printing Press
“Talmud Torah k’neged kulam, Torah study equals them all”. And in our tradition, learning equates with teaching. The Torah records no actual mitzvah…
Yoma 23: Misplaced Priorities
In our last post, we discussed the tragic murder carried out in the Temple by a religious zealot who had lost a race to determine who would have the…
Yoma 23: The Height of Impurity
Newton’s third law of motion teaches that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This law explains why it is much easier to hit a…
Yoma 18: Will You Marry Me
We have often noted the refreshing openness of our Sages. They tell it as it is, and made no efforts to cover up the foibles or even sins of their…
Yoma 9: Sins of Omission
When discussing the gravest of sins—say, for example, the three cardinal sins of murder, adultery and idolatry—we are dealing with sins of commission…
From Pesachim to Yoma
In a rather fortuitous coincidence, the daf yomi cycle concluded masechet Pesachim just a few days before Pesach. In the Talmud Bavli, masechet…
Some Concluding Thoughts on Masechet Yoma
Masechet Yoma deals almost exclusively with mitzvoth between man and G-d. Most of the tractate painstakingly records the intricate details of the…
Yoma 77: Swimming on Yom Kippur
“Our Sages compared the (positive) mitzvoth in the Torah to the limbs of the body and (the negative) to the days of the year” (Makkot 23b…
Yoma 75: The Penalty Box
One of the most challenging roles for a parent or teacher is to figure out how to administer discipline that it fair, effective, and meaningful. The…
Yoma 74: Great Looking Food
Thanks to Rabbi Jonathan Ziring for his help with this Daily Daf and with countless other divrei Torah. After seven chapters detailing the Temple…
Yoma 72: Time For Some Fun
"Any Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside [whose piety does not match their learning] is no Torah scholar" (…
Yoma 70: Don't Waste My Time
Torah reading as we know it today is a rabbinic innovation, beginning with Moshe Rabbeinu who--in his rabbinic role (as opposed to his role …
Yoma 67: A Cliffhanger
The ritual of the sa'ar la-azazel is a most incomprehensible one. Howcan atonement of the Jewish people be in any way connected…
Yoma 66b: A Walk in the Desert
"Some of the nobility of Jerusalem would escort him to the first booth" (Yoma 66b). The "temple" ritual was not complete until…
Yoma 66a: Barbers in the Temple
"Everybody is eligible to walk it, but the kohanim made a permanent rule not to let an Israelite walk it" (Yoma 66a). The …
Yoma 66: Between the Lines
One of great and tragic figures in our Talmudic corpus is that of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus. Hailed by his teacher, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zackai, as a…