Anyone going to start daf yomi?

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 2:06 am

Mommyg8 wrote:

I have no foundation for gemarah. I don't know if I can pick up the nuances from Daf Yomi...

The problem with "the privacy of my home" is that my sons will find out about it. As it is I'm already so different, imagine if I start learning daf yomi Can't Believe It

.

Those who are in my community - how do you do it? And how do you find the time? Do you feel more fulfilled by learning gemarah than if you would learn chumash?

What about ain yaakov? (I'm thinking of starting that instead)...

And what is so bad about that? Im seriously asking. What would actually happen if your children knew that you were studying gemara?

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 2:30 am

amother [ Ecru ] wrote:

Really? It's horrible that she was forced to humiliate herself because disobeying her dh wasn't an option. The degree of control that he had over her. If my dh told me to humiliate myself by spitting in a Rosh yeshiva's face, I simply wouldn't. No second thoughts, not even a second of thought as to whether I should listen. Yet even Rabbi Meir didn't think that not listening to dh in this situation was acceptable.

Sure ok. But you live now, not then. AND, most importantly, you don't have an abusive husband.

To me, that story reflects the INTERNATIONAL REALITY of the low position of women at that time, and the toward thinking wisdom of the rabbis to start to put an end to it, even against the strong forces that were present at the time.

Anyway I gotta go...my Hadran shiur just arrived for daf gimel. Yay! Thank you to whoever recommended it upthread.

amother

Oak

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:22 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Really? Learned women who've never learned gemara won't have a deep understanding of our religion?

How can it be the same, when they’re missing such a huge piece of it? I consider myself reasonable well educated (BY education, seminary, etc.), but I cannot tell how much I have learned over the past couple of years - and how much more I now realize that I do not know. . . [sigh]. I am working to learn as much as I possibly can (given the demands of my job and family) but I feel very sad when. I think of all the years that I could have been learning and all the knowledge that I will never be able to make up . . .

amother

Fuchsia

Tue, Jan 07 2020, 9:48 pm

This is my second cycle. I did learn some Gemara in Ramaz, so I’m obviously MO. But in my town, the only orthodox synagogue is chabad and the rabbis there were also supportive. I listened to online podcasts from dafyomi4women (Michelle Farber’s Shiur) and Rabbi Rosen’s - I’d listen while cooking, laundry, etc and I have a long commute and carpooling, errands to run,etc. it cut out most of my available free time but I found that I honestly wasted that before. I don’t need to watch the Crown or Call the Midwife or spend so much time online. There is a daf yomi 8 minute segment on the ou all daf app (and there’s a lot of extra content there that makes learning daf very convenient). I used the Koren but used the ArtScroll when I was at shul for my kids bar mitzvah lessons, etc. I liked both. I’ll get the Hebrew only paperback volumes when I have more $$$ to do so because I like reading from a book but the large volumes are hard to travel with. I won’t get into the should women learn Gemara question - that’s for everyone to answer with themself and their rabbi.

One thing I can say that it contributed positively to as a mother and a wife as that it enhanced my discussions with dh. I found that it gave me a broader base of torat imechah - and yes, I’m starting the OU women’s initiative on nach yomi too. It made me put down the cellphone and focus more on discussions with my kids and husband - because I’d already spent an hour or so on daf I made the most of my other time with my family. As a family we agree that daf yomi has made me a more patient mother with more Torah knowledge to give to my children. I’m not in imamother much but I feel very emotional about all the good that we’ve reaped as a family from my studying the daf. Also learning the origin and why for the halachot deepened my commitment to them, and to my tefilah.

I’m going through a long painful illness that may end up being terminal. I needed something new as my relationship with tefilah was often one of asking G-d for health and being disappointed when that didn’t happen. Yes, I know there’s more to tefilah than that - but it’s a normal human response to a difficult situation. Whereas I learned Daf Yomi lishmat Torah - I didn’t expect anything in return or hope for anything in return. This changed my approach to tefilah and I finally was able to - after many years into the cycle - to learn and internalize that I don’t pray to change things but because it changes me. It helped me come to terms with my prognosis. Of course, this could be true for any type of Torah studying but for me daf yomi helped.

Anon because of the info about my health - my children don’t know the gravity of my illness and b”h I will have a refuah shlemah and they will never need to know.

amother

Cerise

Tue, Jan 07 2020, 10:30 pm

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

I read this out loud to my husband, who is suffering so terribly and he's so very upset. He just did the siyum this past time, but now he just wants to leave it all behind. He gets this way during his health crises - which come and go depending on the severity of the episode. He gets so angry and depressed.

This was so beautiful I had to share it with him, and while I don't know if it helped him, it helps me to read such beauty. Thank you.

JoyInTheMorning

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 3:22 pm

amother [ Fuchsia ] wrote:

I'm incredibly impressed. What an Eishet Chayil you are. May you have a refu'ah and have a long, productive life. May you live to see your children grow up and have happy and fulfilling marriages and give you adorable, healthy grandchildren, in the zechut of all you have done.

malki2

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 3:43 pm

amother [ Oak ] wrote:

I will tell you that your great great grandmother with her Emunah Peshuta, who may even have been illiterate, had a much deeper understanding of our religion than you will ever have.

JoyInTheMorning

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 3:44 pm

Just a quick update. So far, so good. I am doing each daf with Michelle Cohen Farber's podcast and the Gemara open in front of me. If at some point there are days that won't work, I will just do the podcast, but ideally I want to learn from the text as well as listening to someone speaking.

It's not perfect. This is a really bad time for me. But you know what? 2019 was also really bad, as was 2018, 2017, and 2016. I have to go back to 2013 to find a year that wasn’t so hard. I can’t wait for a convenient time. Life happens. Yes, I could always start in the middle of the cycle. But I’ve been saying that for years. There is something to starting when everyone is excited. Enthusiasm is contagious.

A few years ago, the person who was then the rav of the shul I was going to gave a Dvar Torah where among other things he spoke about his having started Daf Yomi a while back. He said he had always thought that Daf Yomi was what dilettantes did, that it wasn’t for serious learners. He was (and is) an incredibly deep learner. But he said that as he had continued in Daf Yomi, he found that it was changing him in many ways for the good. He found that it started off the day on just the right note. He found that there was so much that he learned in each daf, and he kept connecting to it in everything else he learned that day.

I’m just on day 4. I have only completed 3 dapim; I actually couldn’t get through yesterday’s daf until this morning. I got home at 11 PM at night, and only made it through ¼ of the podcast before I realized I wasn’t focusing. So I went to sleep and got up earlier this morning to finish up. Who knows what will happen? But so far, I have found that each day has been wonderful. Doing the daf really has brought blessing to at least the past few days.

It’s ironic that this is happening now. I’ve mentioned that Gemara is something I’ve been interested in learning since I was a teenager. I love the logic and reasoning of the Gemara. In the past few years, though, I’ve become re-interested in Tanach. I love giving Divrei Torah in Tanach. As Walter Fisher has said, we live our lives and make our decisions based on stories that we identify with, not necessarily on arguments. Tanach seems more relevant to me now. So it’s ironic that now is the time that I’ve made that leap to try to learn a massive amount of Gemara. Obviously, learning Gemara doesn’t mean I can’t continue with Tanach, but each day is finite.

And on the other hand, it isn’t ironic -- because my recent re-interest in Tanach means I’m more familiar with all the pesukim that each daf brings, and this makes it easier for me to understand the daf. So it’s all good.

I hope I’ll keep updating. I worry about what will happen on Shabbat. Does Michelle Cohen Farber do a shiur on motza’ei Shabbat? Or will we be on our own then? Stay tuned.

chicco

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 4:56 pm

Malki2, you obviously don't learn gemara, so maybe you have never heard, but there was a very righteous woman mentioned in the Gemara named Bruria. Her Torah knowledge rivaled those of the greatest Talmidai chachimim of the time. She is mostly praised.

I can get that your sensitivity and concern that women may have priorities over their Torah learning that they should not neglect. And even that a woman should conduct herself properly throughout her Torah learning pursuit. What I cannot understand is why you feel threatened/offended by women who want to expand their Torah knowledge. If it is lshaym shemayim, ashreichen!

As women perhaps we don't "need" Torah knowledge to do our jobs here in this world. That does not mean that further Torah knowledge and appreciation cannot improve our experiences here on earth or our relationships with Hashem. Nothing bad can ever come of true Torah learning.

ETA:
https://www.chabad.org/library.....h.htm

malki2

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 5:08 pm

chicco wrote:

Maybe you are unaware of Bruriah’s end. See Rashi in Avodah Zarah Daf 18. I think it’s quite apropos to our discussion.