3 years down, 4.5 to go

If you have been around long enough to follow this thread, then you know this is about the Daf Yomi which I am just about at the half way point.

The 7 and a half year cycle to read and learn through all of the Babylonian Talmud.

My posts from the 1st year anniversary and 2nd year anniversary in case you want to know more about it all.

What have we learned this year?

Currently we are in the midst of Nedarim or loosely translated as vows and not just simple things but serious "I will not do this EVER" type vows. And of course, how to get out of these vows, if necessary and the consequences of making such vows.

Last August we were just finishing Megillah all about Persia, Purim, Esther and Mordechai and of course the good and bad ways of the world.

We rolled into Moed Katan which discussed the interim days known as Chol Hamoed, which are the middle days between the beginning of the holiday of Passover and Sukot and the ending of them. Naturally there are discussions about cooking, carrying, what prayers to say, or not and a very practical book.

Next up was Chagigah which went into more details around the 3 Pilgrimage festivals, Passover, Shavuot and Sukot. More stories than laws and discussions about the creation of the world, the universe and some similar mystical/mythical (depending on your view) topics. It then leads into a discussion on ritual purity.

The next section was Yevamot, the first tractate in the section called Nashim or Women. Yevamot deals with the Levirate marriage. Levirate marriage, for those that don't know, this is a simple explanation, is when a man dies and has no children to carry on his name and if he has a brother that brother would take the widow as a secondary or primary wife and have kids. While this may sound crazy to modern people, the laws around this are still followed, not the polygamy stuff, but there are documentation required to be satisfied, think of it as a prenuptial religious relinquishment. It is an interesting tractate once you understand all the relationships and names for everyone. There is a study guide that all it has is charts of who/how can be married to each other. It is that complicated to follow the lineage.

And just before Nedarim we did Ketubot. I had previously learned Ketubot, which is about marriage, marriage contracts, dowries, divorce, age of consent and documentation. The marriage contract in Judaism is called a Ketuba and tends to be elaborate artistic efforts surrounding the actual text. Like ancient illuminated manuscripts, this tradition continues on to this day. I'd show you mine, but it is still boxed as we never unpacked the hanging items when we moved. Google has numerous images here.

While I don't get to do it every day, I tend to catch up a lot on shabbat.

This year coming up will include some out there topics, like Nazir on Nazirites and Gitin which is about divorce.

Here's to 3 and a half more years

Daf Yomi, 2 years down, 5.5 to go

Happy Birthday to my baby who turned 7 years old yesterday which also happens to be the anniversary of when we started Daf Yomi.

When I started the Daf Yomi, you can read past posts from last year at the 1st anniversary, I wondered if I would stick with it.

It is hard to spend about 45 minutes a day, on average, doing something for yourself. No PR side, no monetary side, no work benefits, just pure learning for the sake of learning.

What have I been learning? Here is a simple breakdown of the last 2 years:

We are still in what is referred to as Sefer Moed, Wikipedia has a nice breakdown here.
Along the way the last 2 years we finished the Tractate of Berachot which discussed blessings and other daily life aspects.

Then we did Shabbat which discussed Shabbat and all types of aspects which led to Eruvin which is about spaces and the ability to carry on Shabbat.

We then moved onto Pesachim this year which deals with laws and customs of Passover, among other holidays.

Next up was Shekalim which discussed giving half a shekel to count people and for the upkeep of the temple or Beit Hamikdash.This is the only Tractate not found in the Babylonian Talmud and is only in the Jerusalem Talmud but is included in the Daf Yomi.

Followed by Yoma which discusses Yom Kippur and the Cohen temple services.

After Yoma was Sukka which makes sense as the holiday follows only a few days behind Yom Kippur.

The next one was Beitza which is not about eggs per se, but more about cooking and general laws of holidays and cooking.

After this was Rosh Hashana, while you would think it should be before Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashana deals with not just the new year, but the new year for trees, for kings, for planting and other similar events.

Then came Taanit which discusses fast days, why we have them, what we can and can't do on them. Given Tisha B'Av, one of the only 2 major fast days is Tuesday night and Wednesday it was nice to complete it recently.

We currently are on Megilla which discusses all things related to Purim, Torah readings and how many people to call up and how many sentences to read.

Knowing all of this is helpful, yet does not make me, or anyone else, better to answer questions or provide guidance. I prefer to think of it as background details that I may have forgotten or never learned. After all in school we were lucky to finish a chapter of any Tractate during the school year, let alone an entire one.

So onward I go to another year.

1 Year Completed, 6.5 To Go

When I was in college and heard about this I tried to do it then. I tried a few years later with my roommates post college, but could not get into it. In some ways, technology has helped me to accomplish this goal, which is probably not the intended result you may think it is.

Imagine if you actually read every page of a 3,000 page wiki how long would it take you? Now nearly double that number and you get an idea where I am going.

Last year on August 3rd, 2012, the 13th cycle of the worldwide studying of the Talmud, known as Daf Yomi, began with Brachot, which means blessings. I started this as a deal with my kids since we were home schooling them last year. I figured if they had to learn on their own so to speak, so did I. Not to imply I do not learn regularly, I do, not every day at that time, but on a weekly basis I have been for years.

The novel idea of Jews in all parts of the world studying the same daf, or page front and back, each day, with the goal of completing the entire Talmud, was put forth at the First World Congress of the World Agudath Israel in Vienna on 16 August 1923 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, then Rav ofSanok, Poland, and future rosh yeshiva, Head of School,  of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin.(from Wikipedia)

Picture the effort required to go through all 2,711 pages, in fact 5,422 since it is front and back of a page we cover, to the known Babylonian Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara or Talmud. One version was compiled by scholars of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, which was published between about 350-400 CE.("yirushalmi") The other version by scholars of Babylonia, primarily of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Mata Mehasia, which was published about 500 CE.("Bavli") By convention, a reference to the "Gemara" or "Talmud," without further qualification, refers to the Babylonian version. (from Wikipedia)

Naturally it is not all exciting or interesting to modern man, especially when discussing topics of ceremonies no longer in usage since the Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed. However, one learns quite a bit about economics, law, finance, human relations, spirits (both medicinal and supernatural), farming, families, governments, management and of course holidays and details for the Jewish religion.

Doing this does not make one a Rabbi, although if one had more time, in parallel, one could obtain ordination by the end. Learning more details about common accepted ideas or topics and finding out where other references come from has been enlightening, to say the least. 

Technology which is generally outlawed on Shabbat and other holidays has provided more people the benefit of learning, not just the Daf Yomi but every day things as well. One can listen to podcasts from teachers, read translations in their own languages, Skype with people across the world and still have everyone learning the same page on the same day. This is nothing new, but for me and others that travel for work, it has made it much easier. Last year I was able to be in Raleigh, London, Las Vegas, New York to name a few places I benefited from the internet and the technology available.

Here's to 6.5 more years!