Matmonim: Daf Yomi by Rabbi David Lapin
Episodes
1214 episodes
Bechorot 18b Don’t Get it Done. Do It. - דניחא ליה דליתעביד מצוה בממוניה
Our hurried lives focus on getting things done. But growth happens from doing the right things not just from getting them done. This is especially true with respect to Torah and Mitzvot.
Bechorot 17b-18a Coincidence (Simultaneity) - אי אפשר לצמצם
The Gemarra explores the statistical chances of exact coincidence both in nature and in humanly engineered events, and our ability to measure it. It emerges that the human capacity of certainty and exactitude is inherently limited.
Bechorot 9a & 13a The Value of Money - ספק פטר חמור וחיוב עריפתו
Although the Torah is critical of a person who protects his assets against the rights of the kohein to the redemption of his first born donkey, nevertheless the Torah itself is protective of a person’s money wherever possible.
Bechorot 13a A Mitzvah to Destroy Assets - מצוות הפדיה קודמת למצוות עריפה
The instruction to behead an unredeemed first-born donkey is one of the stranger ones in the Torah. Yet in it we will appreciate the depths of the Torah’s understanding of the extent of human meanness and its root cause.
Bechorot 8b Knowledge vs. Wisdom - ר' יהושוע בן חנניה וסבי דבי אתונה
The wisdom of the Torah is sourced from a completely different place than the wisdom of the nations of the world....
Bechorot 7a-b Mental Linkages - היוצא מן הטמא
In the laws of kashrut, some substances are defined by their chemical composition, others by their conceptual definititons. Here we learn of a further definition of issur (prohibition), issur by mental association.
Bechorot 6b Is Milk Kosher - חלב דבהמה טהורה מנלן
We are careful with what we consume, both food and ideas, not only regarding their content but also the source from which they originate.
Chullin 142a Finale - ר' יעקב מעשה חזא
The ways in which we respond to events that defy our understanding, defines who we are. Source Sheet
Chullin 141a Wholeness in Intimacy - גדול שלום שבין איש לאשתו
Male-female intimacy is a unique moment where the needs of each are met by fulfilling the needs of the other. This is the ultimate meaning of shalom.
Chullin 139b Universal Principles of Morality Matter - שילוח הקן
We will never adopt universal norms against the halacha, against Torah חו"ש. However, universal principles of morality to inform the way we understand, interpret and apply the halacha.
Chullin 135a & 137b Changing Appearance Can Change Essence 2 – ראשית הגז, צבעו פטור (ב)
The potential useage of a commodity is almost infinite. Not so a manufactured product. In ideas and learning as well, there are principles that function like commodities with very wide application, and there are well-worked ideas whose applicat...
Chullin 135a & 137b Changing Appearance Changes the Essence (I) - ראשית הגז, צבעו פטור
Halacha defines things not only by their chemistry but also by the nouns that describe them and by their appearance.
Chullin 134a Becoming a Thief (II) – מתנות כהונה אינן נגזלות
Taking something that doesn’t belong to anyone else but nor does it belong to you.Source Sheet
Chullin 133a Character Trumps Intellect - תלמיד שאינו הגון
Unlike other disciplines, mastery of Torah demands not only intellect and skill, but also character. And without character, distortion is inevitable.
Chullin 131a Becoming a Thief – שאני התם דאיתנו בעינייהו
Having distinguished between ownership (ba’alut) – which is an enforceable right, and an unenforcible right (zechut), if one steals something over which another has an unenforcible right, is he a thief?
Chullin 130b The Extent of Moral Obligation - חייב בדיני שמים
At times we have obligations that transcend the legal: An obligation in Hashem’s sustem of justice (different from ours), and a moral obligation, a midat hassidut. – where my obligation stems from who I am not from what you are entitle...
Chullin 129b Authenticity with Originality - כך שמעתי
Always distinguish between what is being quoted from earlier sources and what is being independently extrapolated.
Chullin 127a Nature, Humans & Torah - מה רבו מעשיך ה
Humankind straddles over all of nature.Source Sheet
Chullin 126b Creepiness - אפילו עכבר שבים ששמו עכבר
Even tum’at hasheretz (eight creepy animals listed in the Torah) relates to the tzurah (the form) of the animal rather than to its essence.
Chullin 123a Purposelessness (Part 2) - כיון שנקרע רובו טהורה (ב)
A Gateway to the Laws of Tum’ah and Tahara Tumah occurs when the purpose of a human or an object to which he has given purpose, loses its capacity for purpose. Tumah contaminates the purpose (tzurah) of an...