Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, founder and host of the 18Forty podcast, is launching a new initiative designed to make the Talmud accessible to Jews from every background, with Talmud Daily beginning August 24.
The 40-week program will offer short, 10-minute recorded video sessions four days a week, Monday through Thursday. The sessions will be available to watch at any time and will not require Hebrew or prior background in Talmud. On Fridays, the program will introduce participants to Jewish educators and scholars who will provide deeper context and insight.
Almost 1,500 people have already signed up for the free program, according to information provided by the initiative.
The initiative comes as Jews around the world prepare to mark the completion of the current seven-and-a-half-year Daf Yomi cycle, in which participants learn one page of Talmud each day. Bashevkin said the cycle is expected to conclude on June 6, 2027.
"For so many people, Daf Yomi is out of reach. To learn a page of Talmud every day seems inconceivable, but we want people to feel a sense of connection to the Talmud and the project of the Talmud," Bashevkin told Arutz Sheva.
Talmud Daily will provide what Bashevkin described as an overview or "tour" of the Babylonian Talmud, covering a different tractate each week. The program will introduce participants to the Talmud, explain what it is and explore its themes and ideas, including its controversies, history and practical applications.
"We're going to be walking through the entire Talmud, showing you the controversies, the ideas, the history, the practical applications in just 10 minutes a day, an entire overview of the Babylonian Talmud," he said.
Bashevkin said the Talmud's distinctive character can be seen from its very first page. Unlike many other works, he noted, it does not explicitly identify an author, does not provide an introduction and immediately assumes familiarity with material found elsewhere in the Talmud.
"The Talmud is unique because the Talmud's authority, the centrality of the Talmud, derives from the Jewish people," Bashevkin said. "It's not because it was written by a great scholar like Maimonides or the Vilna Gaon."
He explained that the Talmud's status developed through the way it was accepted, studied and used by Jews throughout history.
"When we study Talmud, as opposed to any other book, we're not just studying the words or idea of one rabbi. We're almost stepping into the collective consciousness of the Jewish people themselves," he said.
Bashevkin also addressed the question of whether the Talmud remains relevant to contemporary Jewish life. He said its continued relevance is reflected in the layers of commentary and engagement that have developed around the Talmud over generations.
"The Talmud does not end with the last word of the Talmud. The Talmud continues with the glosses in the margins," he said, pointing to the contributions of the Ge'onim, Rashi, the Tosafists and Jews throughout the generations.
"The Talmud ends with our reckoning, with our struggling with these ideas. How do we incorporate them into our life?" Bashevkin said.
Bashevkin said he is particularly excited about the initiative because of his longstanding focus on making substantive Jewish ideas accessible through conversations on 18Forty and through his writing.
"There is no greater joy than showing the Jewish people their place, their words, their sentence, their tractate within the corpus of Talmud," he said.
He described Talmud Daily as "the perfect doorway for any Jew who is interested in an accessible doorway to really understand their own heritage, their own identity, their own commitments, their own Judaism, their own Jewish life and Jewish identity."
Talmud Daily begins August 24 and will run for 40 weeks. To join the free program, sign up at