Daf Yomi
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Daf Yomi (Hebrew: דף יומי) "page [of the] day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen undertaken to study the Babylonian Talmud one folio (a daf, or "blatt" in Yiddish, consists of both sides of the page) each day. Under this regimen, the entire Talmud would be completed, one day at a time, in a cycle of seven and a half years.
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[edit] Initiation
The novel idea of Jews in all corners of the globe to participate in completing together the entire Talmud, was put forth at the First World Congress of the World Agudath Israel in Vienna in 1923 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5684 (11 September 1923) the first cycle began. To strengthen this idea, the Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter, learned the first daf (folio) of Berakhot in public on that day.
[edit] Impact
Thousands of Jews worldwide participate in the Daf Yomi program. Currently, Daf Yomi efforts contribute significantly [how] to Orthodox Judaism and Baalei Teshuva[citation needed] and has had a uniting factor among Jews.
[edit] Process
With 2,711 pages in the Talmud,[1] one cycle takes about 7 years, 5 months. Daf Yomi started its 12th cycle of study on 2 March 2005. The completion of the cycle is celebrated in an event known as Siyum HaShas ("completion [of] the Shas"[2] The last Siyum Hashas took place on 1 March 2005 with an estimated 120,000 in attendance worldwide. It was organized by Agudath Israel of America. The next Siyum HaShas will take place on August 1, 2012 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.
[edit] See also
Other study cycles:
- Amud Yomi (entire Talmud, single folio) - daily study (approx 14 year cycle)
- Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum (Weekly Torah portion with Rashi) - weekly or daily study (1 year cycle)
- Mishneh Torah - daily study (2.5 or 5 year cycle)
- Mishnah Berurah Yomit - daily study (1 or 3 year cycle)
- Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi - daily study (1 year cycle)
- Halacha Yomit (Shulchan Aruch) - daily study (4 year cycle)
- Tanya - daily study (1 year cycle)
[edit] References
- ^ According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, the Babylonian Talmud comprises 2688 pages. The total of 2711 includes Tractate Shekalim, taken from the Jerusalem Talmud, learned as part of the Daf Yomi cycle. (It should also be noted that each tractate begins with page 2, as the title page is counted as 1.)
- ^ Shas, an acronym for Shisha Sidrei (Mishnah) or "Six Orders of the Mishnah", is another name for the Talmud.
[edit] External links
- E-daf.com Study resources and additional lectures
