Young Israel of Southfield's Daf Yomi
teacher, Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, and
six members of our shul's daily Daf Yomi
class, who were among our members who
each personally completed the 71/2-year
cycle, Morris said.
"Coming together to mark the study
of Torah highlights the Jewish people's
timeless historical connection to God and
the Torah. It is what unites us and is our
moral and legal compass that has spanned
the generations."
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, who was ordained
by the Conservative movement and co-
founded an independent egalitarian yeshi-
vah in New York called Mechon Hadar,
says Daf Yomi is beginning to catch on in
non-Orthodox circles.
"Daf Yomi in particular is a real com-
More than 90,000 people packed MetLife Stadium for the Siyum HaShas, celebrating the completion of the Daf Yomi page-a-
mitment, a daily commitment for seven-
day Talmud study cycle. The event was simulcast at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield.
plus years that I think only now is gaining
some traction outside Orthodoxy in a
meaningful way," Kaunfer said.
For example, Edgar Bronfman, a promi-
nent
businessman and Jewish philanthro-
hammer
home
with
a
remark
about
the
gants'
faces
during
the
prayer
services,
in
I Uriel Heilman
pist, convenes a weekly Talmud class in his
lure of the Daf Yomi for all Jews: those
the impassioned speeches onstage, and
with black hats, shtreimels, knit yarmulkes office taught by rabbis.
during the heady singing and dancing that
East Rutherford, N.J./ITA
"The Talmud belongs to all of us,"
and even baseball caps, he said.
followed the end of the special Kaddish
Bronfman
said. "Studying Talmud, there's
That
description,
of
course,
left
out
a
marking
the
completion
of
the
Talmud.
s a light drizzle tapered off over
so
much
wisdom
there, and it also gives
few
slices
of
the
Jewish
community,
even
if
"Fortunate
is
the
person
who
sees,
who
MetLife Stadium, more than
it covered pretty much everyone at the cel- you a chance to argue, and that's very
experiences, this great gathering," declared
90,000 Jews packed into the
Jewish."
ebration (except the few thousand women
Rabbi Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz, emcee of
home of the NFL's Jets and Giants for an
Daf Yomi is not without its critics.
relegated
to
an
upper
tier).
the
Siyum
HaShas.
"Try
to
visualize
the
event quite unlike any the popular sports
Rabbi Steven Wernick, CEO of the
Yet
despite
the
challenges
of
doing
the
singing
and
dancing
that's
going
on
right
and concert venue had ever seen.
United
Synagogue of Conservative Judaism,
Daf
Yomi
—
moving
at
a
relentless
pace
[heaven]
watching
tens
shamayim
now
in
They came dressed in black and white,
says
the
pace of Daf Yomi is overly focused
through
thousands
of
pages
of
dense
of
thousands
celebrat-
but not for any sports team. Instead of a rau-
on
getting
through the Talmud rather than
argumentation
covering
complex
Jewish
masechtos
[trac-
ing
the
minchah
cous kickoff, there was a hushed
studying
it
deeply.
legal
matters
and
odd
tales
narrated
tates]
they
worked
on
prayer. And in place of hot dogs, chees-
"The
question
is how much depth does
without
punctuation
in
an
arcane
lan-
so
diligently!"
esteaks and beer, there was babka, danish
one
really
get
into
with a Daf Yomi kind of
guage
—
daily
Talmud
study
is
spreading
For
the
organizers
and mineral water from a company based in
approach,"
Wernick
said. "It's breadth over
beyond
the
confines
of
those
categorized
of
the
siyum,
the
event
Lakewood, N.J., a center of yeshivah study.
depth.
The
Conservative
approach to Jewish
by
Orthodox
headgear.
In
some
cases,
it's
was
an
opportunity
to
But as at the football games and rock con-
study
tends
to
be
more
depth-oriented."
happening
in
very
unorthodox
ways.
showcase
the
strength
certs, there was exhilaration at the stadium
Rabbi Daniel Freelander, senior vice
of so-called Torah
on Aug. 1 for the Siyum HaShas — the com-
Rabbi
president
at the Union for Reform Judaism,
Life
Anchor
Judaism
and
its
resur-
or
Talmud,
pletion of the 2,711-page Shas,
Rechnitz
says
Talmud
study is not a priority for his
For
Rabbi
Yechiel
Morris
of
Young
Israel
of
gence
in
America
fol-
in the page-a-day study cycle known as the
movement,
which
assigns the same author-
Southfield,
the
MetLife
experience
proved
lowing
the
Holocaust.
literally
"Daily
Page."
Daf Yomi,
ity
to
contemporary
Reform rabbis as it
a
powerful,
exhilarating
experience.
The
night's
official
theme
was
Jewish
The excitement was evident in the fur-
does to talmudic sages.
"It was especially meaningful to join
unity; something one speaker tried to
rowed brows of concentration on congre-

Daf Yomi Talmud study gives reason to rejoice.

Reaching Thy
Mountaintop

y 13-year-old son, Yirmi, and I
attended this jubilant celebra-
tion because I am person-
ally beside myself with joy over having
reached the top of this mountain, and
also because I thought it would be a great
once-in-a-childhood thing for him to see.
We could not have properly prepared
ourselves for what we saw there. Have
you ever had a minchah service with
90,000 people?
Imagine the emotions one feels at a
graduation. You feel pride in your own
hard work and in your accomplishment,

12

August 16 * 2012

but also pride and love for your class-
mates who struggled along with you
through the years.
Now, try to imagine
a graduating class of
90,000. We were singing in
the stands and all dancing
with total strangers for the
love of Torah and the pride
in its study, which has kept
us a nation for these thou-
sands of years. One could
barely avoid a comparison
with the giving of the Torah
at Mount Sinai.
It is very hard to describe
the energy of the event. It was over-
whelming. There was excitement, pride,

dedication and fervor.
And there was no telling who actu-
ally completed the study cycle
and who just came to view the
spectacle of people so excited
to have finished. But it didn't
matter. Once the speeches were
over and the music started
playing, I couldn't walk 10 feet
without some stranger pulling
me into a line of people danc-
ing. Everyone was drunk with
joy.
A graduation is bittersweet
because it is the end of some-
thing; it is a goodbye. You won't
see your classmates again and the expe-
rience of being a student, at that level

at least, is over. That feeling was com-
pletely lacking at this event because it is
a standard practice of Torah study, and
something emphasized at this event, that
as soon as we finish, we begin again.
As the booming voice over the arena
microphone completed the last words of
Tractate Nidah, and recited the "comple-
tion service," we immediately began
again with Tractate Brachos.
I hope to see you all at the next one, in
2020.
The preparations have already begun.

Ezra Goldman is a West Bloomfield resident

and administrator of the Metropolitan

Kashruth Council of Michigan. He attends Ohel

Moed Shomrey Emunah, West Bloomfield.

