Ein Yaakov
Ein Yaakov — Shabbos 129b–130a
Covers the halachos of a bris performed on Shabbos, carrying the milah knife, and why the pain of circumcision means no shehecheyanu is said despite the joy.
Shabbos 130a; later 134a
Explores the Rambam's view on martyrdom (mesiras nefesh), why mitzvos are compared to a protective dove, and whether a healing compress of wine and oil is permitted on Shabbos.
Shabbos 145b
A short aggada on mixed-up letters and seals of truth, and why the Sages of Bavel were known for their fine appearance and joyous festivals.
Shabbos 145b
Aggada on the impurity attributed to Babylonians, a dispute over buying from a non-Jewish bakery, and Avraham's early recognition of Hashem.
Shabbos 147b
Covers the halacha against reading captions under artwork on Shabbos, the story of Achav's false prophets, and Reb Mendele Horodoker's encounter with a heavenly teacher.
Shabbos 151b
A Koheles-based class on teshuva before old age, a story of tears affecting a sage's daughter, and dietary guidance for before and after forty.
Shabbos 152a
Explores aging with a positive outlook, physical decline described in Tehillim, and the surprisingly young marriages of several chassidic leaders.
Shabbos 153b
A brief Shabbos sugya permitting carrying short distances, plus an aggadic aside on the impurity-duration of dogs and the idea that birth-weekday shapes character traits.
Eruvin 6b
Explores a heavenly dispute resolved by a bas kol, and the concept of teiku -- a halachic question left permanently unresolved -- through a chassidic lens.
Eruvin 17b
A Shabbos sugya on the source for the prohibition of carrying (hotzaah), an eruv for the desert camp, and the aggadic idea that Adam was originally created with two faces.
Eruvin 19a
Aggada on the different treatment of gentile versus Jewish sinners in Gehinnom, its seven names and three entrances, and a geographic 'map' connecting Bavel to Gan Eden.
Eruvin 21b
Explores how a chumra can take on the force of a rabbinic obligation, the Gemara's view that Jerusalem fell despite outward Torah compliance, and Shlomo HaMelech's enactment of netilas yadayim.
Eruvin 43b
Explores why Mashiach can't arrive on Shabbos itself, whether Eliyahu HaNavi might already be among us unnoticed, and the halacha protecting animals from a grave's shadow.
Eruvin 51b; then 53a
Covers the halachos of techumin (Shabbos walking limits) in modern Israeli cities, then turns to the identity debate between Amrafel and Nimrod at the Cave of Machpeilah.
Eruvin 53b
A lighter aggada built around wordplay riddles -- a mustard-seed puzzle, a hidden rabbi, and Rabbi Yosi HaGelili's encounter with Bruriah.
Eruvin 54a
A philosophical class touching on Aristotle's reported deathbed retraction, the Rambam's view on secular knowledge, and the historical controversy over burning the Rambam's books.
Eruvin 54b
Explores a verse warning against wealth gained through theft, the importance of reviewing one's learning, and why Torah relies on mnemonic devices (simanim) to prevent forgetting.
Eruvin 54b–55b
Continues the theme of acquiring Torah through simanim, the physical scale of the Levite camp, and a surprising halachic debate over whether radishes are life-giving or poisonous depending on the season.
Eruvin 63a
Explores the sin of Aharon's sons offering a fire they weren't commanded to bring, the severe punishment for ruling before one's own rebbi, and a famine caused by giving all Temple gifts to a single Kohen.
Eruvin 63b
Continues the theme of deferring to one's teacher, the halacha disqualifying a drunk person from judging, and Rava's advice to spend surplus earnings on a Sefer Torah.
Eruvin 64a–64b
Covers the halachic effects of drinking a revi'is of wine, the prohibition on passing by food left on the ground, and the story of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin's vow and imprisonment.
Eruvin 64b–65a
Covers the legal exemption for extreme drunkenness, a case involving alleged magic with bread, and the importance of real kavanah in prayer illustrated by Reb Aizik Homler.
Eruvin 65b; later household eruv
A sugya on establishing a single eruv for a home with multiple wives and servants, Rabbeinu Gershom's communal bans, and measuring a circular eruv window.
Eruvin 81a
A sugya questioning whether lentil bread qualifies for an eruv (tied to whether dogs would eat it), plus a side discussion on women and tefillin via the story of Michal, daughter of Shaul.
Ein Yaakov — Eruvin 101a; then Pesachim 2a
Opens Maseches Pesachim with a transitional Eruvin thought, then explores whether 'light' in the Torah can mean nighttime, and the halacha permitting self-defense against a nighttime burglar.
Pesachim 3a
A sugya on the Torah's careful, clean word choices even when describing difficult topics, and a side story testing the lineage of Kohanim through the lechem hapanim.
Ein Yaakov — Pesachim 8a
A sugya on the pilgrimage obligation (aliyah l'regel), why owning property in Israel was a prerequisite, and a surprising halacha about the lack of hot baths in Jerusalem.
Pesachim 25a
Covers the three cardinal sins that override pikuach nefesh, the prohibition of benefiting from consecrated Temple property (me'ilah), and Rabbeinu Gershom's tower escape story.
Pesachim 50b
A sugya on four occupations the Gemara says lack 'simon brachah' (a sign of blessing), tied to the timing of Friday work and the Baal Shem Tov's teaching on earning Olam Haba.
Pesachim 50b
Covers the custom of Torah scribes fasting to avoid wealth, a local market custom, and the debate over which fire was created at the first Motzei Shabbos.
Pesachim 54a
Aggada on the ten things created at twilight before the first Shabbos (including fire and the mule), and whether putting on tefillin at night fulfills the mitzvah.
Ein Yaakov — Pesachim 77a / 78b
A short sugya on the halachos of tumah affecting a communal offering, and whether alternatives must be sought before overriding Shabbos.
Pesachim 87a
Explores the four prophets active in Yoshiyahu's time, why Yonah fled to Tarshish, and the disturbing yet purposeful command given to the prophet Hoshea.
Pesachim 88b; later 93b–94a
Covers Rabban Gamliel's test of a Temple-area lizard, a milk-meat mishap at a wedding, and the Gemara's calculation of the distance light travels between dawn and sunrise.
Pesachim 94a
Explores Talmudic astronomy -- the proportion of stars to the world's size, the sun's seasonal paths, and Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai's heavenly-voice story.
Yoma 9b
A Yerushalmi-based aggada on hidden versus public sin, baseless hatred as the cause of the First Temple's fall, and a surprising debate over whether later generations can surpass the earlier ones.
Yoma 22b
A sugya on the prohibition against directly counting the Jewish people, Shaul's workaround of counting with pottery shards, and the halachic structure of Krias Shema.
Yoma 22b
A sugya on the prohibition against directly counting the Jewish people, the verse comparing Israel's numbers to sand, and why a new king's wealth often comes through public taxation.
Yoma 22b
A short aggada where a bas kol warns against becoming an extreme tzaddik or an extreme rasha, and how to properly discern the yetzer hara from the yetzer tov.
Yoma 22b–23a
A sugya on why we no longer wage war against Amalek now that Sancheriv scrambled the identities of the nations, moving into the aggadah of how Rome came to be founded at the time Shlomo married Pharaoh's daughter.
Yoma 26a
A collection of Temple-era teachings -- the ketores as a source of blessing, the procedure for the Sukkot water libation, when the Four Species may be used, and two kohanim's dispute over claiming a lamb.
Yoma 29a
A wide-ranging class on halachic signs of weather and health, why relearning forgotten material is harder than learning fresh, and the purpose of a Shalom Zachar celebration.
Yoma 29a
A wide-ranging class on weather and health omens, why relearning forgotten material is harder, the purpose of a Shalom Zachar, and whether the Megillah's text itself has special status.
Yoma 36b
A detailed sugya on the proper formula and sequence of vidui (confession), the Rabbi Meir-Chachamim machloket over its order, and the difference between an occasional sinner and a defiant one.
Yoma 36b
A detailed sugya on the proper formula and sequence of vidui, the three categories of sin (avon, pesha, chet), and the generous Temple gifts of Munbaz, Helena, and Nicanor.
Yoma 38b
A sugya on why we say 'zichron tzadik livrachah' for the righteous but not for the wicked, and the teaching that the world is sustained for the sake of one tzaddik at a time.
Yoma 38b
A chassidic class on the significance of age 36, the purity (guf naki) required for a minor's mitzvos, and Rabbi Yishmael's parable of oil and apricots for good versus bad deeds.
Yoma 38b
A chassidic class on the significance of age 36, the oil-versus-apricot parable for good and bad deeds, and the halachic debate over chalav akum versus chalav Yisrael.