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Daf Yomi

This would turn into a massive page during the project going through the entire cycle. What I’m going to do is put the section of whichever tractate I’m currently going through on this page, and as I finish them during the cycle, I’ll move the finished one onto a separate linked sub-page. I’m going to organize it as an outline so it’s reasonably easy to follow. I’m also, while well aware of the deep spiritual stuff that’s going on in each discussion, not going to go down that path – there are a zillion websites and commentaries that already do that. In general, I find the idea of a glimpse of a historical culture from what amounts to transcripts of conversations between spiritual and secular leaders to be fascinating, and not surprisingly, for me, I’m particularly drawn to topics that relate to food and wine, sexuality, and comedy.

  • Seder Zeraim – “Book of Seeds”
    • Berakhot – “Blessings” – Blessed things, actions, and events
    • I hit a momentary “WTH?” when Berakhot finished and we didn’t move on to Pe’ah, the next tractate in Zeraim. Apparently the remaining ten tractates in Zeraim do not have Gemara commentary in the Babylonian Talmud, just the Jerusalem Talmud, which the Daf Yomi doesn’t cover. Despite living in a predominately agrarian society, the Babylonian rabbis apparently had nothing to say on agriculture and related subjects like tithing, offerings, and challah bread. Though now I get “Book of Seeds”, I do feel a bit cheated and I want to know if there’s a good challah recipe in there. My plan is to at some point read through the various tractates throughout the Talmud that aren’t included in the Daf Yomi, just out of curiosity. I’ll put those in a different color so that they stand out.
    • Pe’ah – “Corner” – Pay it Forward
    • Demai – “Doubtful” – Provenance and Taxes
    • Kil’ayim – “Mixed Species” – Mixing it up in the Fields
    • Shevi’it – “Seventh” – Taking a Sabbatical from Life
    • Terumot – “Donations” –
    • Ma’aser Rishon – “First Tithes” – 
    • Ma’aser Sheni – “Second Tithes” – 
    • Challah – “Dough” – 
    • Orlah – “First Fruits of Trees” – 
    • Bikkurim – “First Fruits” –
  • Seder Moed – “Book of Festivals”
  • Seder Nashim – “Book of Women”
  • Seder Nezikin – “Book of Damages”
  • Seder Kodashim – “Book of Holy Things”
    • Zevachim – “Sacrifices” – God’s Grill
    • Menachot – “Meal Offerings” – Holy Carbs Batman!
    • Chullin – “Mundane” – Any Way You Slice It
      • Chullin vs. Zevachim is the rabbinic split‑screen with a new knife and a new backdrop. Zevachim is temple slaughter as sacrificial theater where animals are consecrated, blood flung altar‑side, meat consumed in sacred precincts. Chullin takes that choreography and drags it into daily life, stripping away incense and priestly pomp to focus on the mechanics of everyday kosher butchering. Where Zevachim dramatizes sacrifice as divine spectacle, Chullin insists that Tuesday’s chicken dinner is still covenantal, provided the blade is sharp and the cuts precise. One sanctifies the act of slaughter through ritual context, the other through technical perfection. It’s a continuum where holiness doesn’t vanish when the altar is gone, it migrates to the kitchen counter, carving knife in hand.
      • 8/26/26, Chapter 9, Page 118 – This whole page is obsessed with ingredient “handles” like stems, knobs, bones, peels, husks, etc. – basically any appendage you might grab while eating. The rabbinic neurosis is whether these non‑edible bits count as part of the food for impurity, measurement, or prohibition. If a grape stem touches something that would make a food item impure, does it transmit that impurity to the grapes themselves? If a bone or fat cap does the same, does it make the meat suspect? Is that parsley stem on the plate just a pretty garnish, or a wormhole to the evil universe? These guys are stoned again.
      • 8/27/26, Page 119 – Onions, garlic, seeds, nuts; anything with a shell, husk, peel, or skin becomes a Russian nesting doll of impurity. The question is whether the outer protective layer counts as part of the food for impurity transmission. If an onion skin touches something impure, does the inner bulb get tainted? If a seed coat is sullied, does the kernel inside inherit the impurity? The rabbis are effectively staging a cosmic drama of protective layering, where every peel is either a shield or a Trojan horse.
      • 8/28/26, Page 120 – Although much of today’s page is devoted to, of all things, bread or matzoh which as been pureed into water, and how that affects various bread-related rules, I’m going with a small tangent. It is noted that the hairs on an animal hide penetrate the hide, creating minute perforations. However, these same animal hides are used in creating the leather for making tefillin, phylacteries. Since the writing on the leather is supposed to be completely smooth and unbroken, the question is asked if those perforations prohibit such writing. The Talmudic contingent, of course, decide this needs a workaround, and declare that the process of turning the hides into leather somehow seals the perforations and therefore, at least without a microscope, it is perfectly smooth.
      • 8/29/26, Page 121 – You can almost hear the rabbis scratching their heads, trying to decode a text that was quoting anatomical slang from a bygone era. The text rattles off various terms that seem to indicate things like ligaments, bones, beaks, and sinews; terms that, in their day, were probably common butcher’s shorthand but by these rabbis’ time had become opaque. The question the Talmudic scholars faced was, “What exactly did the Mishnah mean when it said that part?” It’s ironic, as they had minimal access to older scrolls, so they’re fumbling with oral tradition and guesswork. Fast‑forward 1500 years, and we’re the ones with archaeological finds, Dead Sea scroll fragments, and modern anatomy charts, able to reconstruct what they couldn’t.
      • 8/30.26, Page 122 – The rabbis debate when animal skin stops being “soft and just like flesh” and graduates into “hide.” Tanning makes it ritually pure, but only once the hide is tough enough to be considered separate from meat: calfskin versus cowhide or camelhide, lambskin versus sheepskin, etc. Then it’s off on an argument over whether wild boars are just feral pigs, or a different category altogether? The discussion teeters on the edge of absurdity, almost suggesting boars might sneak into kosher status; but no, pigskin is forever impure. There’s also quite the discussion on human skin, ultimately declared taboo, no matter what. Some boundaries are absolute, no tanning vat can scrub them clean.
      • 8/31/26, Page 123 – Let’s just say there are different rules for how an animal hide has to be handled depending on its eventual use. Things are far more lenient if you’re going to simply toss the tanned hide, hair and all, on the ground and use it as a rug, versus removing the hair and curing and tanning a piece of it to make a leather drinking jug, leather bag for carrying food, or other objects, or, whatever the ancient equivalent of a briefcase was. Also, a brief tangent into why someone might be carrying around human skin – we all, of course, understand that soldiers carry enemy scalps with them which they then use in witchcraft rituals before they enter battle, and also, present them to their commanders or kings on return, to prove their kills.
      • 9/1/26, Page 124 – How to Purify an Oven 101. Divide the oven in at least three parts so that no part is 50% or more, and somehow, that seems to automatically purify it. It is not clear why nor how. Likewise, an impure scarf is made pure by tearing it in such a way that the largest piece is “no bigger than a scarf”… what? I suppose a leftover slice of pizza is no bigger than a slice of pizza. The upshot? Step 1: Disassemble. Step 2: Pretend the parts don’t add up. Step 3: Declare purity achieved.
      • 9/2/26, Page 125 – Picture a heavenly purity tribunal where angels in lab coats hover over a tray of bone shards. One says, “This femur has a pea‑sized bit of meat so it’s still impure.” Another counters, “But the hole is wider than a lentil, so the whole thing is downgraded to rubble.” Meanwhile, the scarf committee from yesterday wanders in, confused about why bones are being treated like textiles. It’s divine bureaucracy at its most absurd.
      • 9/3/26, Page 126 – There’s a dead dog in the doorway to your house, imparting impurity, of course. The question is, which way is the corpse facing, is its mouth open, does it have any open wounds, and how much of the body is inside and how much is outside. All these things lead to a decision on just what sort of purification must be undertaken. I’m of the opinion that more important is getting the corpse of a dead dog out of my doorway.
      • 9/4/26, Page 127 – We’re on to the whole “creeping animals” thing and how they impart impurity. You know, mice, weasels, snakes, salamanders. Creepy, or creeping, things. Except, you see, when they go to sea. Because an animal that floats does not impart impurity. So there are ocean-going equivalents of salamanders, snakes, and… the infamous “sea mouse”, who do not impart impurity. Weasels, however, apparently do not float, and therefore they are always impure. Unlike, say, the beaver, who, at least according to today’s page, is a water creature, and is, despite not fitting the rest of the criteria, actually a kosher animal – or at least close enough that while it’s not recommended you eat it, you aren’t punishable by lashes if you do. Now, about that… sea mouse?!

[A pretty chart of the whole thing lifted from Wikipedia]