Nachum welcomed Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol, Dean of Touro University’s Graduate School of Jewish Studies, to this morning’s JM in the AM to discuss his latest Maggid Press/Koren release “A Mysterious Guest for Dinner.”

Aggadic stories in the Talmud offer profound insights into the lives of some of Judaism’s greatest sages – Hillel, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, Rav Sheshet, Rav Yannai, and many others – as they grapple with moral and existential dilemmas that resonate through the ages. In A Mysterious Guest for Dinner, Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol delves into these timeless tales, asking thought-provoking questions: Should one sacrifice everything for a life of extreme holiness? Who truly deserves charity in a time of poverty, and how should one respond when a seemingly affluent individual begs for food? When a marriage falters because a wife attends a Torah lecture, who bears responsibility? And, most intriguingly, is it ever possible to encounter the Messiah?

This volume, the second in Rabbi Sokol’s series on Talmudic stories, presents a close analysis of ten narratives, uncovering the rich dialogues, ironies, and reversals they contain. Drawing on classical rabbinic commentaries, contemporary scholarship, and insights from psychology, literature, history, and philosophy, Rabbi Sokol demonstrates how these compact stories speak with enduring relevance to today’s seekers of Talmudic wisdom.