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On today’s pages, Bekhorot 28 and 29, the rabbis ask whether judges should be paid for their rulings, leading to a much bigger question: Should anyone be allowed to make money teaching Torah? Liel turns to Maimonides, whose uncompromising answer challenges the very idea of making a living from religious scholarship. What can one of Judaism's greatest thinkers teach us about the relationship between work, wisdom, and spiritual integrity? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 27, the rabbis grapple with a question that remains surprisingly relevant: How should Jews living outside Israel participate in religious obligations rooted in the Holy Land? Liel explores how this ancient debate echoes today's arguments over what Israeli and American Jews owe one another—and whether every disagreement really needs a resolution. Can Jewish unity survive without Jewish uniformity? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 26, the Mishnah instructs us to wait before giving a firstborn animal to the priest, allowing it time to grow and mature. Liel explores how this seemingly minor requirement protects the dignity of everyone involved and transforms a routine obligation into an opportunity for spiritual reflection. Why might the time we spend preparing to fulfill a mitzvah be just as important as the mitzvah itself? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 25, we consider the importance of being first—not just among newborn animals, but among the people making decisions that shape history. Liel shares a conversation from Tablet's The Barbarians with Wall Street Journal editorial board member Elliott Kaufman, whose new book, In the War Room: The Inside Story of Israel's Fight Against Hamas and the Iranian Axis, takes readers inside Israel's war cabinet during its battles against Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. What happens when the people responsible for a nation's survival are also competing to be first among equals? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 23 and 24, a strange case involving a sheep and a pig-like offspring leaves the rabbis facing a question they cannot definitively answer. Liel explores the meaning of teiku, the tradition that Elijah the Prophet will someday resolve our most stubborn disputes, and the remarkable story of why Elijah visits every Passover Seder and brit milah. What makes Elijah the perfect person to settle the questions we've been asking for centuries? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 21 and 22, the rabbis discuss how to determine whether an animal has previously given birth, eventually concluding that the answer requires a knowledgeable shepherd. Liel wonders what happened to that kind of practical wisdom in a world where we increasingly rely on technology we know how to use but don't really understand. Are we still masters of the tools around us, or have we become helpless consumers? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 14 and 15, a discussion of private altars raises a surprisingly fundamental question: Why should sacrifice be confined to the Temple in Jerusalem? From backyard altars to IMAX theaters, Liel explores why the most powerful experiences sometimes require a special place—and what happens when the sacred becomes too familiar. Why might getting closer to holiness require keeping it at a distance? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 13, the rabbis ask why the humble donkey, alone among non-kosher animals, has a firstborn that must be redeemed. Rabbi Eliezer Melamed offers three answers involving gratitude, holiness, and the surprising spiritual potential of the material world. What can a lowly beast of burden teach us about finding the sacred in even the most ordinary things? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 12, the rabbis wrestle with sheep-goat hybrids and the mysterious koy, an animal so difficult to classify that the sages couldn’t even agree on what it was. With some help from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, we discover that this strange creature may have a surprisingly familiar relative. What can a zoological mystery teach us about making sense of the unfamiliar? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s episode, we set aside Bekhorot 11 to celebrate Sukkot with Professor Richard Hidary and his new book, Discovering the Jewish Holidays: Eight Talmudic Readings. Drawing on Michelangelo, Moses, the Ark of the Covenant, and one very short sukkah, Hidary explores the mysterious boundary separating Heaven and Earth. Can we ever reach across the gap and encounter the Divine? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 9 and 10, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya completes his astonishing mission against the 60 sages of Athens, proving that winning an argument sometimes requires considerably more than having the better argument. Presidential historian Tevi Troy joins us to explain why the story reminds him of Richard Nixon facing down Nikita Khrushchev in a model American kitchen in Moscow. What can two very different confrontations teach us about courage under pressure? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 7 and 8, the Roman emperor challenges Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya to prove that he can outsmart the legendary sages of Athens. What follows is an extraordinary battle of wits involving riddles, disguises, impossible tasks, and one very clever pair of backwards sandals. Can Rabbi Yehoshua beat 60 of the ancient world’s wisest men at their own game? Listen and find out—or at least, find out half the answer, because we’re ending on a cliffhanger. Come back next episode for Part 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 6, the rabbis wrestle with et, a tiny, ubiquitous Hebrew word that has no English equivalent, and with a sage who built an entire method of interpretation around it before deciding he had gone too far. From Proust to Pope to Finnegans Wake, Liel explores what happens when even our greatest writers and readers reach the limits of language. Can knowing when to stop searching for meaning be its own kind of wisdom? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s page, Bekhorot 5, Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish disagree about when the Israelites began sanctifying their firstborn: before entering the Promised Land or only after they arrived. Their dispute raises a much bigger question about how we approach the things we hope to accomplish. Do we wait until everything is in place before getting to work, or can doing the work be what gets us there in the first place? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today’s pages, Bekhorot 2, 3, and 4, we begin a new tractate by learning about the special status of firstborn animals. Rabbi David Bashevkin joins us to ask why Judaism cares so much about who comes first—and what the arrival of a firstborn changes for everyone who follows. What can Steve Martin teach us about becoming responsible for someone other than ourselves? Listen and find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices