In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 62, the rabbis weigh in on whether wages earned from idolatrous wine are permitted, offering a lesson about work, boundaries, and moral compromise. But how do we know when a job crosses the line? Listen and find out.

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 60 and 61, the Rabbis debate touchless wine presses, leading to speculation about Rashi’s side hustle—wine maker, egg seller, or both. But what does this teach us about balancing learning with making a living? Listen and find out.

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 58 and 59, a wine dispute between rabbis turns into a debate about which towns raise the most learned Jews—and why staying rooted matters. But how can your zip code shape your soul? Listen and find out. Please visit this link to sign up for some learning in honor of Marvin Singer, who passed away this week.

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 57, the rabbis continue their discussion of the laws of wine. The Gemara relates a story which takes place in a city where the Jewish inhabitants ruled, and enjoyed access to influence and power, which the Gentile residents did not. There's a link between this story and this week's Torah portion of Eikev, in which the Jews are told, basically, not to get too comfortable. But is comfort really such a danger to spiritual health? Listen and find out. 

On today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 56, the sages discuss wine. It's easy to understand that wine created for the purpose of idol worship is expressly forbidden. But regular wine—not expressly Kosher, yet definitely not created for idolatry—is still not allowed. Why? Listen and find out. 

On today’s page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 55, a Roman general’s question about God’s “jealousy” opens the door to parables about human nature, trust, and why even pain seems to follow rules. But why would God let hardship happen at all? Listen and find out.

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 53 and 54, the sages continue their discussion on the laws of idol worship. Today, however, we zoom out for a more philosophical conversation. For example, if idol worship is forbidden, why does G-d allow it to exist? Within the context of the discussion, what is the nature of G-d, nature, and our own free will? Listen and find out. 

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 51 and 52, our sages continue their discussion of idol worship. The conversation raises questions around who may gain monetary benefit from different forms of idolatry. We take a pause to zoom in on a very specific contemporary innovation: podcasts. What connection does our host make between the world of podcasts and idolatry? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 50, the sages continue their discussion regarding idol worship, and whether objects once used toward idolatry can, once discarded, transcend their former status. Surely some old rocks once used in an altar can eventually be used to build a road, no? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 49, the sages continue their discussion regarding idolatry. It's a classically talmudic conversation, with a lot of details around whether a small fragment, or even pebble, which may or may not have been part of a shrine for the god Mercury, still holds the status of a prohibited idol. Are we overthinking things? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 48, we pause to focus on one of the greats of the Talmudic era, Rav Sheshet, who was blind, and who possessed great intellectual prowess. Today we learn about an 'ashera', a tree that is used for idol worship, which is permitted to walk underneath, if there's no other way to reach one's destination. Rav Sheshet was fully permitted to walk underneath the tree, but what did he do instead? Listen and find out.

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 46 and 47, the sages continue their conversation about idol worship. Their discussion is far reaching; what happens when your home shares a wall with a place of idol worship? What if the wall collapses? Can that space next to that shared wall be used for, say, a bathroom? Listen and find out. 

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 44 and 45, the sages continue their discussion about idol worship. The conversation gives rise to another, which seeks to clarify whether it's kosher to contemplate matters of Torah in the bathhouse. And what's the issue? We can perceive it as an insult to G-d, but can't it also be a way to elevate the mundane? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 43, the sages continue their discussion regarding objects used for idolatry, returning again to the question of who may revoke the idolatrous status of an object. As usual, there's a lot of nuance in their conversation, but at the heart of it all, what unexpectedly inspiring lesson can we learn from somebody who loses their idol? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 42, the sages continue their discussion of forbidden idols, or objects used in idol worship. Who has the right to revoke the status of an object in question? And what is our relationship to that object? And finally, what is the deeper meaning of the discussion? Listen and find out.

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 41, the sages continue their discussion of pagan idol worship. They decode which statues are idols and which are merely ornamental, based on contextual clues, such as setting, or what the figure depicting is holding. But then a strange question is raised, and nobody can answer it. What does it mean? Listen and find out. 

In today's pages of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 39 and 40, the sages open the third chapter of the tractate with a discussion on statues and idols. The sages explore which statues are permitted and which are forbidden, whether jewelry is permitted, whether an object that was once used in idol worship can be used for something else, and more. The topic of idol worship is, of course, taken extremely seriously, but the sages' teachings still manage to contain a lot of nuance. What can we learn from their approach? Listen and find out. 

In today's pages, Avodah Zarah 37 and 38, we meet one of the great heroes of the Talmud, Rabbi Yose ben Yoezer. Although we meet him as he weighs in on whether the consumption of a certain breed of locust is permitted (Rabbi Yose ben Yoezer says yes), the shadow he casts on the whole tradition of the study of Jewish law is, in fact, massive, and very much with us today. What makes him so influential? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 36, the sages continue their discussion on halachot pertaining to goods made by gentiles, and whether Jewish people can consume them. There's a larger discussion here, one about tradition and continuity. For further insight, we are including this week's episode of our sister podcast 'Sivan Says'. This week's double parsha, Matot-Masei, contains a list of 42 places the Israelites journey to on their route to the Promised Land. What can we learn from this long and detailed list? Listen and find out. 

In today's page of Talmud, Avodah Zarah 35, the sages continue their discussion of laws pertaining to which items Jewish people can consume, if they are manufactured by people who are not Jewish. But the teaching contains a metaphor, comparing a Torah scholar to a container containing a good scent. But what broader application does this metaphor have? Listen and find out.