1 March 2005 (Tuesday)
daf yomi
Update on March 8: I liked this comment to a MOChassid post so much that I wanted to make sure y'all would see it, too.
Update on March 2: This says more or less what I was trying to say, only better (though I would not endorse the boycott, if such an endoresement were still relevant). Thanks to DovBear by way of MOChassid, even though the latter thinks these reasons are silly.
-=-
Tonight Jews all over the world will be marking the eleventh Siyum HaShas, a celebration commemorating the conclusion of another cycle of learning the full Gemara (Talmud, specifically the part in the middle of each page) at the rate of one daf (two-sided page) per day. This method of learning, which usually takes place during a 45-90 minute daily class or else with listen-at-your-leisure tapes or mp3s of abotu the same duration, is called "daf yomi" (literally, "a page per day"). It takes about seven and a half years to go through one cycle at that pace, and then tomorrow the learning will start all over again.
Have you ever seen a daf of Gemara? It's dense. It's tricky. It combines Hebrew and Aramaic, uses words with ambiguous meaning, omits verbs left and right, and contains no punctuation. Even in translation, with "missing" phrases, pauses, question marks, and full stops filled in, there's a lot to grapple with. The Gemara isn't a potboiler novel; it's more like a cross between a comprehensive legal treatise and the unedited draft of a law school casebook. I don't know how anyone can get through a daf in an hour and come away with much of value, and to do it everyday is just begging for mental overload. What sinks in?
I recognize the benefits of the daf yomi cycle. It gives people an attainable goal to work towards. It promotes familiarity with gemara in general. It encourages regular learning and it allows individuals at all skill levels to learn together, even if they come away with different degrees of insight. Still, I can't help but think of it as anything besides Gemara Lite at best and a waste of time at worst.
Seven hours a week...wouldn't many daf yomi adherents be better off setting themselves up with a study partner for one weekly two-hour session and really delving into the text, and then reserving the other time for family concerns? The commuters who do daf yomi on the train...couldn't they benefit from in-depth explorations of the laws surrounding business practice or lashon hara (gossip/evil talk)? The high-schoolers so eager to join the crowd...perhaps they should develop a stronger education in Nach (prophets and writings), and certainly they could do well to improve their gemara-learning skills before trying to rush through all of Shas before they can legally buy a beer to celebrate the accomplishment.
It's not pitched as the be all and end all of learning, but unfortunately more than a few people doing daf yomi come away from it thinking that knowing a little of everything makes them an expert in anything. What a disservice to education, and what a shameful reflection of our attitudes toward the real experts.
So, go to a siyum tonight, if you want. Wake up an hour earlier tomorrow, open a Masechet Berachot, and blast through the first daf before Shacharit. Tick off the pages and countdown to your next big party (August 2, 2012, if my calculations are correct, just a few scant days after Tisha B'Av). Just don't expect me to join you.
I certainly agree that a daf per hour is not comparable to serious in-depth learning, but I think it's an exaggeration to call it a waste of time.
Kind of like reading the table of contents of a book is not a waste of time, even though it doesn't quite replace reading the book itself.
Shanna, when you said "don't expect me to join you" did you mean in the learning, or in the siyum? The speakers pointed out that participation by those who hadn't actually done the learning was most welcome, just as a brother of the groom participates in the wedding festivities. We are all brothers and sisters, so your simcha is my simcha. There's something moving and powerful about reciting Tehillim in unison with upwards of a hundred thousand fellow Jews around the world.
Rabbi Frand, speaking from Chicago last night, compared a cycle of Daf Yomi to a trip around the world. You can say you have seen a lot, but there is certainly much more to see in each individual city if you can manage to spend a bit more time there later. He urged the participants to delve a bit deeper each time around, and those who had not participated to jump in.
Many of the "real experts" were indeed on hand last night to offer words of encouragement and congratulations to people who participated at any level. So while it may be reasonable to say "it's not for me," we should think twice before labelling the whole endeavor as a "disservice to education."
Aaron - I meant don't expect me to join you with regard to the learning of daf yomi. As it turns out, I couldn't have gone to the siyum last night anyway, even if I wanted to (and from what I've heard about accomodations for women I'm not sure I would have wanted to, though please correct me if I'm wrong). Why? because I was too busy learning Gemara.
I agree that there is something wonderful about hundreds of thousands of Jews being united in tefillah, I just don't think this is the way to do it. We could have so many other reasons to join together...why not schedule such an event for Lag B'Omer and celebrate all types of Torah learning?
The comparison to the trip around the world is probably the most insightful one I've heard, though I draw a different conclusion from it. Unless I knew it was the last few days/weeks/months of my life, I would never plan such a trip for myself. It's exhausting, and I would come away with nothing besides some snapshots, a few fuzzy memories, and the ability to tell my friends that I'd been to X, Y, and Z. Granted, there may be a few brilliant and organized travelers who would come away from such a whirlwind tour with great insight into world history and culture, but most of us aren't like that. Many people would be better off choosing a few destinations based on personal interest (or potential usefulness toward research or career development) and immersing themselves into directed travels for however long they can. it's not as glamorous, but you hardly get an accurate picture of life anywhere in the world if all you do is bounce from airport to hotel to museum to garden to airport again. It's a wonderful accomplishment to visit a city in every country, and I'm sure the traveler derives a great deal of personal pleasure from it, but I'd probably never ask that traveler for vacationing tips.
I have a lot to say on this, and I hope to get it all out before the next siyuum hashas.. but until then:
I found this today and found it interesting... amud yomi ... half page ... cool ...
and I prefer this calendar as well... especially since they just reformatted it pretty! why aren't we (as adults) focusing parsha hashuvah though? yes, there is simchat torah, but it's not given (at least imho) the same JOY and attention each year that this was..
lastly: Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi .. check out your local paper for a leap year adjustment.
I’d been thinking about daf yomi for awhile, partly to give me more structure and discipline. Though more like a (narrowly) political rally than anticipated, I found the siyyum rather inspiring and motivating. I began with very limited expectations (e.g., 2 weeks) so every pereq feels like a significant milestone. Granted, I am not learning much in-depth. Nevetheless, it gives me a different sense of the Bavli, more like a snapshot of an overall chapter or even the masechet (Ber.) that I wouldn’t experience at a slower pace. Plus, the difficult/troubling sugiyot are easier to bear because they are soon left behind, one way or another. (Mea culpa, as we say.) At least I know where I want or need to return. Furthermore, it’s inspired me to start a blog. With the blog, I can both think more about theoretical or political ideas inspired by the daf, or can do some khazarah to draw out more than I did at first blush /rush.
Sometimes there is also a sense of clal Yisroel, though it cuts both ways now that I have a better sense of the socio-political context of daf yomi. Your posting & the comments are also helpful in this regard.
