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The Talmud is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.
The Gemara is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aramaic word גמרא and rooted in the Semitic word ג-מ-ר (gamar), which means "to finish" or "complete". Initially, the Gemara was transmitted orally and not permitted to be written down. However, after Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE, rabbis from Babylonia and the Land of Israel extensively studied the work. Their discussions were eventually documented in a series of books, which would come to be known as the Gemara. The Gemara, when combined with the Mishnah, forms the full Talmud.
Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the mitzvah ("commandment") of Torah study itself.
Daf Yomi is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries, in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covered in sequence. A daf, or blatt in Yiddish, consists of both sides of the page. Under this regimen, the entire Talmud is completed, one day at a time, in a cycle of approximately seven and a half years.
Yehuda Meir Shapiro was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, and establishing the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva in 1930.
Siyum HaShas is a celebration of the completion of the Daf Yomi program, a roughly seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries, in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud are covered in sequence – one page per day. The first Daf Yomi cycle began on the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5684 ; the thirteenth cycle concluded on 4 January 2020 and the fourteenth cycle began the following day, to be concluded on 7 June 2027. The Siyum HaShas marks both the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of the next, and is characterized by celebratory speeches, as well as singing and dancing. The next day, the new cycle begins again.
A siyum ("completion"), in Judaism, occasionally spelled siyyum, is the completion of any established unit of Torah study. The most common units are a single volume of the Talmud, or of Mishnah, but there are other units of learning that may lead to a siyum.
A midrasha refers to a Jewish educational institute for women involved in Torah study. The term is often used for such institutions located in Israel. A midrasha is somewhat equivalent to the term yeshiva. The midrasha is also somewhat parallel to a "women's seminary", which functions in a similar form, though often associated with more traditionalist communities. While the terms may sometimes become interchangeable, "midrashot" are commonly linked to Religious Zionism, while the women's "seminaries" are usually associated with Haredi Judaism. Also, the term midrasha may sometimes be used to refer to pluralistic institutions. In Israel, the term may also refer to field schools that organize seminars and nature field trips.
Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva was a Jewish educational institution (yeshiva) that operated in the city of Lublin, Poland from 1930 to 1939. At the time, it was one of the largest in the world.
Chona Menachem Mendel (Mendel) Weinbach was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, author, and speaker. As the co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based yeshiva for newly-observant Jewish men, he was considered one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement.
Amud Yomi "column [of the] day" or "daily page") is a daily regimen undertaken to study the Babylonian Talmud one amud each day..
Henry Abramson is an American historian who is the dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush, New York. Before that, he served as the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch. He is notable for his teachings on Jewish history and Judaism as a religion.
Hadran is a short prayer recited upon the completion of study of a tractate of the Talmud or a Seder of Mishnah. It is also the name of the scholarly discourse delivered at a siyum masechet, the ceremony celebrating the completion of study of a Talmudic tractate.
Jonah Frankel, also spelled Yonah Frankel, Jonah Fraenkel (1928–2012) was an author, Hebrew literature professor and Israel Prize laureate.
Malke Bina is the founder and first teacher of Matan Women's Institute for Torah Studies. She has a master's degree in Hebrew Bible from Yeshiva University. She is married to a rabbi and is called by the term Rabbanit, which is less common in Modern Orthodox circles. Bina does not consider herself a rabbi and, at a 2004 conference of Orthodox Jewish Feminists, emphasized her focus on Talmud study. She was interviewed by JOFA in 2006 and serves on its Council of Advisers. She also pioneered women's reading of Megillat Esther on Purim.
In Judaism, Mishnah Yomis or Mishnah Yomit refers to the Torah study cycle in which two Mishnahs are learned every day. It takes about 6 years to study all six tractates of the Mishnah using this learning cycle. Previous cycles of the Mishnah Yomis began on 22 Tamuz 5770, and 20 Adar-B 5776. The current cycle began on Shabbat, 21 Tevet 5782.
Ilana Kurshan is an American-Israeli author who lives in Jerusalem. She is best known for her memoir of Talmud study amidst life as a single woman, a married woman, and a mother, If All the Seas Were Ink.
Dirshu is an Orthodox Jewish international organization whose goal is to strengthen and encourage Torah study. Founded in 1997, the organization produces study cycles, sponsors shiurim, furnishes and grades tests, and offers financial incentives to individuals and groups to learn and master Talmud, Halakha, and Mussar texts. It has also published new editions of traditional Jewish texts, and sponsored major gatherings to celebrate the completion of its study cycles. As of 2018, more than 150,000 people have participated in its programs, which have spread to 26 countries on five continents.
Rabbanit Michelle Cohen Farber is the first woman to lead a Daf Yomi, a multi-year Jewish Talmud study cycle traditionally reserved for men. The women's Daf Yomi led by Farber noted its Siyum HaShas at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem on January 4–5, 2020. Her study group meets at her home in Raanana, Israel.
Miriam Anzovin is an American-Jewish writer, artist and social media personality. Her work focuses on American Jewish communal life and is best known for her Daf Reactions series of videos explaining passages from the Talmud posted to TikTok and other social media platforms.
References
- 1 2 Sales, Ben (9 December 2019). "Talmud study is mostly a boys' club. This Orthodox woman wants to change that". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- 1 2 Blumberg, Ilana (6 Jan 2020). "Thousands gather to celebrate women's Talmud study in Jerusalem". The Jewish Daily Forward . Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ "About Hadran". hadran.org.il. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ Kershner, Isabel (4 January 2020). "A Revolution in Jewish Learning, with Women Driving Change". The New York Times . Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ Newman, Marissa (6 Jan 2020). "In Jerusalem, the world of Talmud study fetes its newest superstars — women". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ Zaken, Danny (15 Jan 2020). "Women's group brings equality to Talmud study". Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ "Women's Siyum HaShas 2020". hadran.org.il. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ Sharon, Jeremy (16 Dec 2019). "First mass women's Daf Yomi celebration to take place in Jerusalem". The Jerusalem Post . Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
- ↑ Kaltmann, Nomi (4 January 2021). "Women Study the Talmud in Pandemic". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 3 Jan 2021.
