Ein Yaakov
Kesubos 111a
An Ein Yaakov class on Kesubos 111a (perek 13), exploring the teaching that only those who live in Eretz Yisrael merit techiyas hameisim -- derived from the pasuk 'noten neshama la'am aleha' -- and Rabbi Abahu's surprising extension that even a non-Jewish maidservant living in Eretz Yisrael is guaranteed a share in Olam Haba.
Kiddushin 33b
A Gemara-based discussion of when the mitzvah of standing applies -- for a rider versus a walker, the three-cubit distance rule -- flowing into why some mitzvot depend on living in Eretz Yisrael and others don't.
Gittin 86a
Gittin aggada on the destruction of Jerusalem and the timing of the exile, followed by halacha on using non-Jewish courts and the Rambam's sources for grounds for divorce.
Gittin 90a–90b
Gittin and Sotah content: Rabbi Meir's levels of tzniyus, the halachos of sending away a wife out of hatred, and the idea that a heavenly voice announces a shidduch before birth.
Taanis 16b
Taanis aggada on the qualities required of a shliach tzibur, the Tzemach Tzedek's lesson to a frightened shochet, and halachos around the daily haircut of a king.
Taanis 17b–18a
A brief overview of Megillas Taanis's structure and one of its episodes -- Yehuda ben Shammai's public protest.
Taanis 19a
Taanis aggada on the timing of rain before and after the Churban, with the miracle of Nakdimon's wells and the sun standing still for Moshe, Yehoshua, and Nakdimon.
Taanis 21a
Taanis aggada: Nachum Ish Gamzu's mission to Caesar with a box that turns out to hold sand with miraculous properties, and Rabbi Akiva's view that everything -- not just mostly everything -- is truly for the good.
Taanis 21b
The story of Abba Umna, a doctor so careful about tzedakah and dignity that Abaye tests his honesty, alongside a halachic discussion of stealing in order to give charity.
Taanis 22a
Stories of hidden righteousness: a prison guard who saves Jewish women, clowns who bring peace, and Yirmiyahu's own self-judgment before his death.
Taanis 22b–23a
Taanis aggada on the timing of rain, Shimon ben Shetach's twice-weekly rainfall, Choni HaMe'agel's circle, and whether a person can really be a trusted ben bayis to Hashem.
Taanis 23b
Taanis aggada: Choni HaMe'agel's grandchildren and his famously long nap, a Nasi's household troubles, and the story of Rav Mani and Rabbi Yitzchak ben Elyashiv's fortunes being swapped.
Taanis 24a
The story of Eleazar ben Baraisa giving away all his money to charity, a Nasi's failed fast for rain, and how the Baal Shem Tov saw hidden zechus in a simple beggar's blessing.
Taanis 24a
Taanis stories about fasts for rain -- Rav Nachman's fast, Rav Yehuda removing his shoes -- woven together with classroom anecdotes about motivating students.
Taanis 24b
Stories of Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa -- his brief prayers, his wife's miraculous oven, and the debate over Moshe's prayer stopping the hail in Mitzrayim.
Taanis 25a
The story behind a rumor about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa's goat, the prohibition on benefiting from a miracle, and the clouds debating whose fields deserve rain.
Taanis 25b
A Taanis sugya asking whether a tzaddik's merit, like a tree's branch, can ever cease to regrow, plus the halachos of the Thirteen Fasts and when Hallel is said.
Taanis 27b
A short piece on the role of each mishmar's prayers and why a fast decreed for infant choking is suspended in deference to the honor of Shabbos.
Moed Katan 5b; later 8b–9a
Halachos of marrying and getting a haircut on Chol HaMoed, the prohibition on mixing one simcha into another, and the Baal Shem Tov's vision of eating meat with the strength of an ox.
Ein Yaakov — Moed Katan 16b
Explores the meaning of David HaMelech's last words, the surprising authority of a maid to issue a cherem, and a story of a snake bite following from it.
Kesubos 105a
Stories warning against bribery in judgment -- how even a hidden bribe blinds a scholar's judgment, and why a judge must recuse himself the moment he discovers one.
Kesubos 105b
The story of Rav Anan's extreme caution about accepting anything from a litigant, tied to bikkurim as a gift to a scholar, and a story about Eliyahu HaNavi and the Alter Rebbe.
Taanis 24b
Taanis aggada connecting unseasonal rain to divine displeasure, a count of Elisha's students, and a discussion of poverty and wealth.
Kesubos 110b–111a
The Rav Zeira-Rav Yehuda machloket on the obligation to live in Eretz Yisrael, the special status of dying there, and the idea that learning Chassidus hastens Mashiach.
Kesubos 111a
Continues the sugya on leaving Bavel, the 'dough' metaphor for Klal Yisrael there, and why the dead buried in Bavel are spared the pains of tunneling underground at techiyas hameisim.
Kesubos 111a
Compares techiyas hameisim for tzaddikim in Eretz Yisrael versus the diaspora, Yaakov's and Yosef's requests to be carried out of Mitzrayim, and the story of Reb Berel Wolf's embalming concerns.
Kesubos 111b
A Sanhedrin-style aggada on which gentile nations are excluded from techiyas hameisim, and the idea that every Jew, without exception, has a share in Olam Haba.
Kesubos 111b
Fantastic aggada describing the agricultural abundance of the Messianic era -- wheat on mountaintops, enormous vegetables, and a single grape yielding thirty barrels of wine.
Kesubos 111b
A short piece on the description of Eretz Yisrael's bounty -- figs yielding honey -- and whether this abundance was only for the future or already present.
Kesubos 112a
Aggada comparing Eretz Yisrael to a deer whose skin never quite fits, Rabbi Elazar's three avoided curses, and the vision of fruitless trees one day bearing fruit.
Nedarim 10a
A short sugya questioning why early piety sometimes required a korban -- the nazir's choice to forgo wine treated almost as a sin -- and a related halacha-versus-angelic-authority debate.
Nedarim 20b
Covers the halachic category of a rebellious and criminal child, why a wife initiating intimacy is said to merit great children, and the procedure for annulling a neder through 'pesach charatah.'
Nedarim 35b; later 38a
Explores who the Kohanim really represent, when payment for teaching Torah is permitted, and the authority behind the Masoretic text's cantillation and verse divisions.
Nedarim 38a
Surveys evidence that the Prophets were independently wealthy -- Shmuel, Rebbi, Amos, Yonah -- and why that wealth was a halachic necessity for a prophet or Kohen's integrity.
Nedarim 64b
Ties the story of Datan and Aviram to a Rebbe story about praying for children, then turns to the halachos of nedarim -- loopholes, the Sotah test, and why making vows should be avoided altogether.
Nedarim 66b
The story of a husband's neder over his wife's name, Bava ben Buta's resolution, plus guidance on cleanliness in group learning and the dangers of arrogance in inherited Torah knowledge.
Nazir 52b
Stories of Isi bar Yehuda missing a shiur and a frightening nazirite episode, followed by a chassidic reading of the Mishnah pairing chesed and gevurah.
Nazir 4b
Explores the halachos of an eternal nazir (nazir olam), the effect of tumah on the nazirite period, and Rabbi Elazar HaKappar's surprising view that a nazir is considered a sinner.
Nazir 23a
Explores a case where a woman's vow is annulled by her husband, and the idea that wrong intent combined with a wrong outcome is a double fault -- with a parable about two men sharing a korban Pesach.
Nazir 32b; later 39a
A nazir sugya testing a scientific question -- whether hair grows from the root or the tip -- using live lice as Talmudic evidence, alongside the halachos of hair-cutting according to Rav Huna.
Ein Yaakov — Gittin 7a
Explores the halachos of tzedakah relative to one's income, whether France counts as 'Eretz Yisrael' for writing a get, and the fine line between overcharging and forbidden interest.
Gittin 28b; later 31b and 35a
Covers the halachic presumption that a missing husband is alive, a strange wind in the story of Yonah, and a widow's false oath over a hidden coin.
Gittin 43a; later 45a
Stories of Rabbah bar Rav Huna's shifting rulings, a scholar who understood bird-speech while imprisoned, and whether a husband can divorce his wife over a bad rumor.
Gittin 49b; later 52a, 55a–55b
Opens with a sugya on paying damages from one's best property and a guardian's responsibility for orphans, then turns to the famous aggada of the mixed-up party invitation between Kamtza and Bar Kamtza that set the Temple's destruction in motion.
Gittin 56a
Continues the Gittin aggada on the siege of Jerusalem -- Vespasian becoming Caesar, Marta bat Baitos's wealth, Rabbi Tzadok's forty-year fast, and the famous escape of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai from the city.
Gittin 58a
A short piece connecting a teaching about the brain's structure to the Gemara's account of gold coverings used for children in the Temple.
Gittin 59a
A speculative aggada exploring what might have happened had Nadav and Avihu survived, alongside reflections on Shmuel, Shlomo, and Ezra's leadership.
Yoma 77a
A sugya built on the pesukim in Daniel describing the angel Gavriel's report after contending with the Sar of Paras, tied to Yechezkel's vision of the elders offering ketores.