Learn Talmud - The 13th Daf Yomi cycle Begins on August 3rd

On August 1st, Jewish men and women across the globe will be joining in celebration of Siyum HaShas, the completion of the seven year cycle of Talmud reading.  Daf yomi, as it is known, is the practice of learning a daf, or page, of Talmud each day. Studied in this way, the 2,711 pages of Talmud can be completed in seven and a half years. Two days later, on August 3, 2012,  Jews the world over will begin the new Daf Yomi cycle, and begin learning Talmud from the beginning, from Seder Zeraim (Seeds): Tractate Berakhot (Blessings).

This system of learning Talmud, meant to encourage everyone, not just scholars, to learn Talmudic law and teaching, was developed by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1923 in Poland. Talmud is made up of two main parts, the Mishnah, or first written compendium of the Oral Law, codified around the year 200 CE, and the Gemara, which is commentary on the Mishnah, codified by 600 CE. The Mishnah is a commentary on the Torah and the Gemara is a commentary on the Mishnah. The Talmud is the basis for all of the codes and commentaries of rabbinic law, and is also know as Shas, an abbreviation of Shisha Sedarim, or six orders of the Mishnah. Originally these laws and teachings were handed down by word of mouth, hence called the Oral Law, but it gradually came to be codified in the six orders of the Talmud.

The first page of Tractate Berakhot

These six orders, or general subjects are subdivided into 60 masekhtot, or tractates, which is further subdivided into perakim (chapters), and this comprises the 2,711 pages of text. Surrounding the Mishnah and Gemara are later commentaries and codes, marginal texts. Just as we often make notes in the margins of a book, later scholars and teachers did the same with the Talmud text and their commentaries and conversations are recorded on the same page. When you sit down with a daf,or page, of Talmud, you are entering a conversation that has taken place over thousands of years with great rabbis and teachers, and you are sitting at the table entering into conversation with them. You can learn more about the Talmud from this interactive Talmud page.

Until recently, the world of the Talmud has been a challenging and somewhat difficult world for most modern liberal Jews to enter.  There is of course a language barrier, since the Talmud was written in Hebrew and Aramaic.  There is also the fact that much of the passages assume a certain level of textual knowledge on the part of the reader. Much of the commentators in the margins serve to assist the reader by providing explanations of words, interpreting seeming contradictions, and providing references to Biblical passages and related passages from elsewhere in the Talmud.

This Daf Yomi cycle will be different than those that have preceded it because of the level of unprecedented access that modern liberal Jews, both men and women, now have to access the text.  Although the first English translation of the Talmud was published over 100 years ago, the text has remained relatively cryptic and difficult for non-Hebrew readers. The latest English translations of the Talmud have attempted to render the text in such a way as to make it much more understandable for the lay reader, including not only an English translation, but also guides to the text, biblical references, and unpacking of the more obscure and difficult material.  The newest English editions of the Talmud are available in both traditional book volumes and iPad editions.

Artscroll Schottenstein Talmud  

Koren Steinsaltz Talmud

The most traditional way to study Talmud is with a partner, in chevruta, or partnered study.  The text is read aloud and debated and discussed.  In that way it comes alive and it is not just you or your chevruta that is part of the discussion, but all those whose words you are reading, and all those who throughout the centuries have debated and discussed and whose lives have been affected by the rulings on the pages.  Many of you may know that I have a chevruta with whom I learn Talmud weekly.  Our study is a much more in depth learning than daf yomi ( a page a day) will allow, we don’t have a goal to get through a page or more each time we learn, but to get through as much text as we can understand and discuss, whether that is a few lines, or a few paragraphs.  Even so, we are both excited about the new daf yomi cycle, and even more so about the newest editions of Talmud that invite access for more Jews to learn the foundations of Jewish law and life.

Will you join the 13th Daf Yomi cycle on August 3rd this year?