Episodes

  • Picking up the Pieces: On the Oven of Akhnai

    Picking up the Pieces: On the Oven of Akhnai
    Apr 26 2024
    Some thoughts and ideas on the famous story of the Oven of Akhnai, which appears in tomorrow's Daf (Bava Metzia 59)
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    59 mins
  • Some Thoughts on the Purim Story and Senator Lieberman zt"l

    Some Thoughts on the Purim Story and Senator Lieberman zt"l
    Apr 2 2024

    An idea developed by the Ketav Sofer on Megillat Esther resonates with something that appeared in Daf Yomi a few days ago and with the life and legacy of Senator Joe Lieberman.

    The idea of the Ketav Sofer appears here: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14083&pgnum=337

    The idea that emerges on Bava Metzia 32b is here: Rashi s.v. אי אמרת https://shas.alhatorah.org/Full/Bava_Metzia/32b.9#e0n6

    The link to Rabbi Ethan Tucker's eulogy for Senator Lieberman is here: https://www.youtube.com/live/_NTVjFB_FnU?si=8fu-kCINHVPhlHnc&t=5515
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    38 mins
  • Radbaz vol. 1, no. 40 - Ransoming Captives

    Radbaz vol. 1, no. 40 - Ransoming Captives
    Dec 20 2023
    Radbaz, R. David Ibn Abu Zimra, addresses the question of what constitutes 'overpaying' to ransom a Jewish captive. This episode gets into the economic and political realities of the 16th century in the Mediterranean basin, including the burgeoning slave trade, and the resulting attention to the great mitzvah of pidyon shevuyim, ransoming captives. Here's a link to the responsum: https://www.sefaria.org/Teshuvot_HaRadbaz_Volume_1.40.1?lang=bi And here's a link to the first part of my series on Rav Ovadiah Yosef's teshuvah on the Entebbe hostages: https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/contemporary-israel/14972/rabbi-ovadia-yosefs-and-the-halakhot-of-hostages-part-i/
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    57 mins
  • Krakenfruit (the Buddha's Hand Etrog)

    Krakenfruit (the Buddha's Hand Etrog)
    Sep 28 2023

    Two of the greatest rabbis of the Bavli Jewish community in recent centuries address the status of a new type of fruit that arrived from the Far East. Is it a kosher etrog?

    The question is addressed in two responsa, one by R. Abdullah Somekh and one by his student, R. Yosef Hayyim, both of Baghdad.

    Link to the responsum: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=32212&st=&pgnum=379
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    50 mins
  • Public and Private Penance (Responsa Maharam Lublin)

    Public and Private Penance (Responsa Maharam Lublin)
    Sep 24 2023

    We generally think of confession and penance as either a private matter between a person and God, or as a matter between the perpetrator and victim of a wrong. But not that long ago there were forms of penance that were very public. What's the idea behind them, and what can they teach us about social healing today?

    We will be studying and discussing a series of responsa by Maharam Lublin. Here is a link to the responsa: https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1937&pgnum=39
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    45 mins
  • Book Journeys, Some Updates, and the Hoshanot Mosh Pit

    Book Journeys, Some Updates, and the Hoshanot Mosh Pit
    Jun 28 2023
    The episode begins with some updates. First, an introduction to the "Book Journey" that I will begin next week. Sign up link: https://18forty.org/bookjourney/ This is an outgrowth of the 18forty podcast episode in which R. David Bashevkin and I discussed the vision and reality of a Jewish polity governed by Halakhah. Here's a link to the episode: https://18forty.org/podcast/elli-fischer-can-israel-follow-jewish-law/ I was also a recent guest on two other podcasts. First, Rav David Silverstein and I discussed the nature of rabbinic authority on Yeshivat Orayta's "Tzarich Iyun" podcast: https://open.spotify.com/episode/71aX8L9IA2j1QY78dOoGff?si=577b0ae9ed414716 Finally, a few months ago I was hosted by Darcy Walters for an episode of her "Desert Island Torah" podcast. Here's a link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/pod/show/desert-island-torah/episodes/Ep-81-with-Rav-Elli-Fischer-e23me3f The responsum that we study in this episode was penned by R. Yisrael Isserlein, better known as the Terumat HaDeshen. We spend some time discussing when and where he lived, who his influences were, why his rulings are so influential, and what makes his Sefer Terumat HaDeshen so unique. Then we go on to the teshuvah itself, which addresses an issue that is not-quite-halakhah. The setting is almost surreal: Person A allegedly used the crush of hoshanot in shul as cover to maim Person B while maintaining plausible deniability. This is an important matter of social and communal governance, but halakhic standards of evidence seem to set too high a bar to take any action. How did R. Isserlein resolve the matter? Here's a link to the teshuvah in Sefariah, with my translation: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Terumat_HaDeshen%2C_Part_II.210?lang=bi
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    59 mins
  • Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Part III: The Debate

    Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, Part III: The Debate
    May 5 2023
    On the conversation about Rome between Rashi, R. Yehuda, and R. Yosi
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    22 mins
  • Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, Part II: The Return to Yavneh

    Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, Part II: The Return to Yavneh
    May 2 2023
    In this episode we look at several other passages from the Babylonian Talmud that oddly, anachronistically, and in contrast to sources from Eretz Yisrael, are set in Yavneh. We propose that the Bavli wanted to "bundle" these passages together so that we read them in light of one another. And what does that yield? That the Bavli envisioned the rabbinic leaders of that generation dealing with pressing theological and political issues that arose in the generation after the defeat of Bar Kokhba. We look (again) at the institution of the fourth berakhah of Birkat Hamazon, the successive exiles of the Sanhedrin, and a discussion among the tanna'im about the causes of a terrible disease. This sets the stage for the more famous discussion between Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai and Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai concerning attitudes toward Rome.
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    34 mins