The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

We know we need to ask for and grant forgiveness before Yom Kippur, and we know how complicated that can be. Here, the rabbis offer themselves as role models – or cautionary tales – to illustrate some best practices and pitfalls.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

We look to Yom Kippur to give us a clean slate, but the ritual observance of the day can only do so much; we also have some personal work to do. Today’s daf explores the role of teshuvah – repentance – in attaining atonement.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Should we take for granted that saving a life trumps all? How do we know?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s daf tells a challenging story about questionable behavior by a great sage: do the ends justify the means?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Saving a life, pikuach nefesh, is Judaism’s most important Mitzvah. If fasting on Yom Kippur would endanger your health, you should eat a minimum to stay safe.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What’s worth dying for?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Yom Kippur is a holiday without a feast. Or is it?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Should there be universal measures for prohibited food consumptions, or should large people have different measures than smaller folks?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

On Yom Kippur you are forbidden from eating food the size of a date’s bulk. The sages set this standard – not because food becomes a technically prohibited substance, like pork – but to induce in us a feeling of mental discomposure, as a spur to penitence.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Yom Kippur is supposed to be a day of going barefoot. But going back to Amoraic times, in the 3^rd or 4^th centuries, Jews have been wearing non-leather shoes on the holiday.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

On today’s page we examine the practice of not bathing on Yom Kippur.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s page includes more aggada (lore) about Manna, and the theme of religious gratitude.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

In an entirely aggadic (lore-based) page, we examine legends about the biblical food Manna, and see a classic example of the different rabbinic schools of thought, the mythic Rabbi Akiva and the rationalist Rabbi Ishmael.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

At last turning from descriptions of the ancient temple, we begin the 8th and final chapter of Tractate Yoma by deriving the “afflictions” that the Torah commands Jews to undergo on Yom Kippur.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

One of the High Priest’s duties involved using the oracles called Urim & Tummim, as described in Exodus 28. What were they and how were they used?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Is the Torah an elixir of life or a poison? According to Today’s page, that depends on the integrity of the person who studies it.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Real men study Torah! The Sages offer an image of masculinity that is not so macho, but asks males to be more like women.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s page reports liturgical and Torah reading practices that are still in use today.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s daf contains two very different stories. The first relates to Alexander the Great and is connected to the question from yesterday’s daf about the regulations regarding the High Priests garments. Confused? Give a listen. The other story relates how God’s seeming powerlessness is actually proof of his overwhelming strength.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Do you have any special clothing that you only where on certain occasions? In certain places? The High Priest’s garments were very special pieces of clothing. There were numerous laws that governed when this clothing could be worn or what the High Priest could do while he was wearing this clothing. The sages tried to offer guidelines for navigating the wearing of these holy garments.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Before the Scarlet Letter, there was the Scarlet Thread. During the scapegoat ritual a crimson or scarlet thread was tied to its horns. This thread was understood to have the ability to channel whether the atonement of Israel was accepted or not. If the thread turned white, all was good, if it didn’t turn white, trouble ahead. Today’s dad includes a number of stories about this special thread. One issue addressed was the potential for shame if the thread didn’t turn white and how this eventually affected the way that the ritual was performed.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Do sacrifices have an expiration date? Today’s daf addresses this very question. What if an animal was disqualified from being sacrificed, but that disqualification has now passed, is it permissible to sacrifice this animal next year? Numerous rabbinic opinions are brought trying to answer this question. What does it mean both spiritually and logistically to keep an animal for an entire year? How do we even count a year? See how the differences between the lunar and solar calendar may hold the answer to our original question.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Is there a difference between a sin offering of the individual and a sin offering of the community? What happens when the very structured sacrificial procedure is down improperly? The Talmudic rabbis were very interested in these questions. The first question addressed the relationship between the individual and the community, while the second attempted to identify the essential factors that make a sacrifice acceptable and at what point is a sacrifice disqualified.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Can a person ever have too many goats? Well, if you are the High Priest and are planning to sacrifice a goat on Yom Kippur, more than one goat is not necessarily a good thing. There were two goats that were essential to the Yom Kippur ritual, the first was sacrificed in the Temple and the second was the scapegoat that was led off a cliff. These goats were a pair, but the question is how far do we take this connection between them? What happens if one of them dies? Does the other goat have to also be replaced? If the second goat has to be replaced, what happens to it? The discussion addresses the possibility of animals being removed from the sacrificial framework once they are already part of it.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

There were many laws that regulated the sacrifices offered on Yom Kippur. One of these laws was the prohibition to offer the Yom Kippur sacrifice outside of the Temple. The Gemara addressed an interesting question: What if someone offered up a sacrifice outside of the Temple, but also before its proper time? Does the offering of a sacrifice at the improper time make the fact that the sacrifice was offered outside of the Temple irrelevant? The answer to this question is found in the use of the term “since.’ The use of this term is focused on the tension between the actual and the theoretical, what are people thinking of versus what is theoretically possible.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Same, Same, But Different. Bringing our full selves to Yom Kippur when we stand before God.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

On today’s daf we realize that there really is no comparison to presence.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What’s More important, the means or the ends?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Can the blood sprinkling ritual be used as a paradigm for understand ritual change in the face of changing circumstances? I think so… you?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Is there agreement on how that path ought to be paved? Shouldn’t there be, considering the implications?”

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What’s the greater center of rabbinic culture, Babylonia or the Land of Israel?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

This is the shortest page of Talmud you’ll ever see! But the reason the page is so short is that the commentary takes quite a while to explain the concepts behind it. Let’s review the idea of breira (retroactive clarification) and the system of biblical tithes.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The central act of the Yom Kippur purification ritual in the ancient temple involved sprinkling the blood of a bull and a goat near the Holy Ark. Perhaps that seems awfully strange to us, but the Sages tried to explain what that meant and how to do it.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Are we really pagans? Today we study possibly the most radical, erotic Midrash in all Rabbinic literature.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Why did Aaron’s son’s die when they offered improper incense (as reported in Leviticus 10)? According to our page, they understood the radical nature of ritual properly, but they were arrogant toward Moses.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Some Bible verses are clear, some are ambiguous. On today’s page, the Talmud considers five verses that cannot be definitively interpreted.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

We return to yesterday’s question: does the High Priest’s offering belong to him alone (since he paid for it)? Or do all priests have a share in this offering, even though they didn’t pay for it?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Who owns the sacrifices on Yom Kippur? Are they the personal property of the High Priest (a Korban Yachid)or do they belong to the public (Korban Tzibbur)?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today’s page includes the description of “the most difficult ritual” in the ancient Temple – the offering of incense in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, and some helpful info on when and how to violate Shabbat norms for the sake of healing the sick.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Our daf is built on a series of questions! We’ll closely examine two of those questions, pertaining to the mental intentions of the priests as they offer incense. With the help of the Talmud Yerushalmi, we’ll have a better understanding of the importance of preparation for doing a mitzvah as well as the actual doing.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

We will focus on an intriguing sequence of stories about a high priest named Ishmael ben Kimhit and his mother, Kimhit. Both Talmuds implicitly and surprisingly portray Kimhit as a sort of “high priest,” although in different ways.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

A small sugya toward the end of 46b will be our starting-point in an examination of how the Rambam read the Bavli in order to derive the halakhah in his Mishneh Torah (Hilkhot Temidin u-Musafin 2:6).

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Bavli presents different ways by which it emphasizes that the Yom Kippur ritual is to be an awesome, eye-catching spectacle for the people. But why should it be? Through an examination of our daf and pertinent comments of Rambam, we will better understand the rabbis’ textual construction of a magnificent and idealized Yom Kippur priestly ritual.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Bavli is clear that the high priest must be alone when he offers incense in the holy of holies on Yom Kippur, and that this offering atones for the sin of lashon ha-ra, evil speech. By studying our daf together with Zevahim 88b, Maimonides’ codification of law concerning lashon ha-ra, and the Bavli’s account of a high priest’s blessing of God when he entered the holy of holies to offer incense, we will gain insight into the rabbinic perception of the power of this ritual.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today we will explore three principles of scriptural interpretation utilized on our daf. We will learn that these rules of reading appear late in the rabbinic period, and examine what they do to and for the rabbinic reading of scripture.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Our study of this daf focuses on two ideas. The first is the interesting notion presented in passing that the deaths of the righteous atone for the people Israel. Our examination of this idea and the Bavli’s discussion of whether or not a non-priest can participate in the red heifer ritual show the Bavli’s attempt to decenter the ritual power and role of the hereditary priests.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What do we owe to God? And does what we owe vary based on what we have? Maybe yes, maybe no. Is that a Talmudic answer or what?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What happens when you want one result and the system you’ve established gives you another result? Can you change the system at that point? Or should you worry that doing so casts aspersions on the entire system? The Talmud might not know the answer, but it can certainly raise the question.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

When it comes to sinning, every little bit hurts. When it comes to being holy, every little but helps. Today the daf reminds that we have to sweat the small stuff, precisely because all stuff starts small.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Why did the Temple experts refuse to teach their craft to others? In today’s episode, the sages hire replacement workers and attempt to find out.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

These boots may have been made for walking, but according today’s daf, you better be careful exactly how you walk!

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

There are a lot of words for “sin” in the Hebrew bible. The question for today’s sugya is: do those words have different meanings, and if they do, should we be careful how we employ them when it comes time to make our confessions?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

A rich man, a poor man, and wicked man go before the heavenly court. It sounds like the start to a joke, but the joke’s on those who didn’t study enough Torah is today’s edition of the Dail Daf.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

One sacrifice at a time please! In the ancient Temple, the priests completed the morning offering before beginning the holiday offering. In modern times, our prayer laws follow the same ruling. We also consider the legal implications of the High Priest’s Yom Kippur bathing.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

One who studies the sacrificial order is considered like one who actually performed the sacrifices themselves. Today we review the order of the kohen’s work in the ancient Temple and learn the principle of doing whichever mitzvah presents itself first.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

How did they kill the animals they slaughtered in the ancient Temple? How do they kill animals today for Kosher food?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The use of the ritual bath was an enormously important part of Jewish observance in the ancient temple and remains in use today. What is the definition of a mikveh, both in ancient times and today?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Torah was not given to angels, but to human beings… who sometimes need to urinate. Today we study Talmudic bathroom hygiene.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What’s worse — sinful deeds or sinful thoughts?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What kind of Judaism did the biblical patriarchs practice? Can the book of Genesis teach us about Mitzvot?

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What may a zar, a non-kohen, do to participate in the sacrificial service? And how does the Gemara respond to blatant rabbinic brain cramps?

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

More on lotteries. And: what happens when someone who rejects your ritual infiltrates it?

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

If you’re a kohen, how should you dress for a lottery? And if you’re a rabbi, living long after the destruction of the Temple, how can you know what it looked like?

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Today we’ll explore some of the intricate details of the ritual of terumat hadeshen. And we’ll see why lotteries were such a common feature of an average day in the sanctuary.

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What happens when zeal to perform a sacred act turns someone into a violent criminal? And what did the kohanim worry about most?

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

We launch into Perek Barishona, the second chapter of Yoma, with a look at the ritual of terumat hadeshen, the lifting up and removal of ashes from the sacrificial altar. And we begin to see the kohanim as a pathologically competitive bunch.

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

As we complete the first chapter of Yoma, we learn about the miracles that were said to happen in the Temple. Let’s just say that the Temple must have been a special place!

David Wise has been rabbi of the Hollis Hills Jewish Center in Queens, NY since 2005. Before that, he led Temple Beth El in Somerset, NJ. Ordained at JTS in1996, he is proudly married to Judy Krinitz and is the father of two teens. And then there’s that thing he has for the Toronto Maple Leafs…

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

“Your laws were like poems to me in all my wanderings,” says Psalm 119. Today we talk about different phrasings of the Talmud texts that appeared in medieval manuscripts, and see how medieval poets recorded different legal views on those bases.

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Who does the High Priest work for: the Jewish people or God? Can the High Priest be trusted to do his job “right?”

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Stories of merciless self-criticism and (perhaps) hypocrisy. Not every High Priest is such a righteous sage. But sometimes righteous sages take sexual advantage of women.

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Exactly how much of the sacrifices goes to the High Priest? Depends on who you ask, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi or the Sages.

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Temple was a museum, storing both the remnants of the sacred and the profane.

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Sages lived decades or even centuries after the Temple was destroyed. Yet they did their best to explain how the sacrificial system worked, even on the basis of fragmentary knowledge.

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The great mystery of the Torah: why do the ashes of the red heifer purify the impure and defile the pure?

This week, our study is led by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky of Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Understudies are necessary for any important performance, but they can destabilize the primary performer. What happens to a priest who is temporarily elevated to the role of high priest? We segue then into the understudy wife that Rabbi Yehudah prescribed for the priest. How exactly did that work? This page disturbs us with its technical descriptions of death and divorce, but finally concludes (on 14a) with acknowledgment of the emotional life of the high priest.

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The city of Jerusalem has a special ritual status-parts of it belong to the entire people of Israel and therefore never become impure. Other parts belong to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Which ones? We also learn about priestly garments, and what distinguished the High Holiday costume of the high priest from the uniforms of his fellows.

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Rabbinic literature often assumes an idealized reality in which the rabbis and their regulations govern the Jewish people with minimal interference by outside authorities. On this page we confront the reality of gentile perceptions of Jewish practice. Must a mezuzah be placed on a public gate in a Jewish-majority city? What if the gentiles consider this to be a form of sorcery? Do we rely on a miracle, or rather, exercise caution?

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The sages speculate about biblical prophecies of exile and redemption, and when the messiah will finally come. Then they get back to practical matters- does the apartment used by the high priest in the temple leading up to Yom Kippur require a mezuzah? If he is forced to live there, is it truly his residence, or is it perhaps a prison? When does a house become a home?

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Judaism has three cardinal sins- idolatry, sexual crime, and murder. These were apparently rampant in the First Temple, and for them it was destroyed. But, in a famous aggadah, we learn that the Second Temple was even worse than the first because of causeless hatred- sinat hinam. Indeed, the divine presence never dwelled in the Second Temple because of its Persian patronage.

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

Religious leadership may be a sacred calling, but over time it can also become just a job. What were the consequences of the sale of the office of high priest as a Second Temple sinecure that was sold to the highest bidder?

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

“Be smart and keep your mouth shut.” This surprising instruction is addressed to a priest who finds a flaw that cannot be fixed in the middle of a service. We learn that public rituals are granted some latitude that is denied for private offerings. What level of perfection should we demand in our own forms of worship?

Rabbi Danny Nevins is the dean of the JTS Division of Religious Leadership, which includes the Rabbinical School and H.L. Miller Cantorial School, as well as the Center for Pastoral Education. In addition to teaching at JTS, he serves as a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, and has written responsa on various subjects in topics related to bioethics, disability, sexuality and technology. Prior to working at JTS, he served as rabbi of Adat Shalom Synagogue in Farmington Hills, MI.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

What is worth exploring for the rabbis? While the past can sometimes be considered irrelevant, a discussion of Torah verses is always deemed worthwhile.

Rabbi Abby Sosland is the Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) for the high school at Solomon Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Talmud, Bible, Philosophy and Prayer. Her chapter “Crime and Punishment” — about the laws of capital punishment and incarceration– appears in The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews (Martin Cohen and Michael Katz, Rabbinical Assembly, 2012). She runs a free High Holiday service at Town and Village Synagogue in downtown Manhattan.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

After two pages of exploring the original Inauguration of the Mishkan, the Gemara is suddenly aghast at the question of how the Kohanim were dressed. The Ramban helps us to find meaning in what otherwise might seem like a strange contradiction in the Gemara. Modern day Kohanim will be pleased.

Rabbi Abby Sosland is the Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) for the high school at Solomon Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Talmud, Bible, Philosophy and Prayer. Her chapter “Crime and Punishment” — about the laws of capital punishment and incarceration– appears in The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews (Martin Cohen and Michael Katz, Rabbinical Assembly, 2012). She runs a free High Holiday service at Town and Village Synagogue in downtown Manhattan.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

In the most subtle and perhaps roundabout way, and in the guise of a discussion about sequestering a Kohen Gadol– the Talmud offers us an inspirational Yom Kippur sermon on the sly.

Rabbi Abby Sosland is the Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) for the high school at Solomon Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Talmud, Bible, Philosophy and Prayer. Her chapter “Crime and Punishment” — about the laws of capital punishment and incarceration– appears in The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews (Martin Cohen and Michael Katz, Rabbinical Assembly, 2012). She runs a free High Holiday service at Town and Village Synagogue in downtown Manhattan.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The Amora Reish Lakish suggests that the Kohen Gadol’s sequestration before Yom Kippur is derived from Moshe’s preparation to meet God on Sinai. In doing so, he teaches us how to integrate the narrative portions of Torah with our most essential rituals.

Rabbi Abby Sosland is the Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) for the high school at Solomon Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Talmud, Bible, Philosophy and Prayer. Her chapter “Crime and Punishment” — about the laws of capital punishment and incarceration– appears in The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews (Martin Cohen and Michael Katz, Rabbinical Assembly, 2012). She runs a free High Holiday service at Town and Village Synagogue in downtown Manhattan.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

The first mishnah of Masechet Yoma presents the preparation of the Kohen Gadol for the intense religious ritual of the Avodah service. The rabbis were careful about preparing for Yom Kippur, but, perhaps wisely, not TOO careful.

Rabbi Abby Sosland is the Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) for the high school at Solomon Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Talmud, Bible, Philosophy and Prayer. Her chapter “Crime and Punishment” — about the laws of capital punishment and incarceration– appears in The Observant Life: The Wisdom of Conservative Judaism for Contemporary Jews (Martin Cohen and Michael Katz, Rabbinical Assembly, 2012). She runs a free High Holiday service at Town and Village Synagogue in downtown Manhattan.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.