A Talmud for everyday living
Rabbi Daniel Friedman aims to make the ideas of the sages more accessible, writes Simon Rocker
SI got to the point where I said to myself: I’m learning but what does this mean to my life?
OME RISE at the crack of dawn to go to an early morning shiur in shul, others don headphones to listen to an audio guide on the commute home from work. Nearly a century after it was inaugurated in Poland in 1923, the Dafi Yomi study programme continues to appeal with tens of thousands of Jews across the world accepting the challenge of learning a daf — a folio of the Babylonian Talmud — every day for the seven years and five months it takes to complete the cycle.
We are now two years into the 14th cycle and apart from various modern English translations to help students who could not manage the Aramaic on their own, there is a whole support system of commentaries including blogs and podcasts.
Among the latest, and more ambitious, learning aids is The Transformative Daf, written by Daniel Friedman, the former rabbi of Hampstead Garden Suburb in London. So far he has published companion volumes for five tractates beginning with Rosh Hashanah, with three more due out soon, all sponsored by UK supporters.
Each volume consists of a set of 1,000-word essays for the daily daf. But rather than a line-by-line gloss on the original text, Rabbi Friedman selects a particular extract, drawing inspirational teachings or guidance for everyday living from the discussions of the sages. His focus is less on unravelling halachic minutiae than practical ethics.
Now in his fourth Daf Yomi cycle, he explained, “I got to the point where I said to myself: I’m learning but what does this mean to my life? I believe that all Torah is given to us to make an impact on our lives, to be relevant, meaningful, inspirational. Let me find something every day that is going to make a difference to my life.”
His subjects range from the importance of spouses being honest with each other about finances to whether it is permissible to go “rabbi shopping” eg looking for more lenient rulings on Jewish law.
When he gives a sermon, he looks at how “the Torah responds to the issues of the day”. The other day he gave a shiur on the Jewface debate (prompted by Bradley Cooper’s casting as Leonard Bernstein). The Torah and Talmud,he believes, can provide answers to contemporary questions —“we just need to find them”.
Sometimes he begins his essay on the daf with a rabbinic tale or a familiar story from the Bible: it is a way of easing in the reader rather than plunging headfirst into his chosen talmudic passage. That pays homage to the rabbinic technique of milsa d’b’dechusa, starting with something more light-hearted (more literally, a joke). But his approach reflects the age-old Jewish method of exploring ideas through the medium of stories.
Embarking on Daf Yomi can be the learning equivalent of trying a marathon. And while physical marathons may not always be healthy for the body, he observes, the discipline of regular training is better than not doing any exercise at all. “What Daf Yomi does is to compel a person to learn every day. Some days they are going to get more out of it than other days. My hope is I can contribute something that will help them get a little more out of it than they otherwise might have.”
Among the most recent ly talked-about Daf Yomi spin-offs are Miriam Anzovin’s irreverent TikTok videos, Dafreactions. “Her style is probably not ideal,” he said, “But I’ve no doubt now that many more people now know about Daf Yomi and Gemara due to her effort.”
The projected series will run to 40 or so volumes since some of the larger tractates will require more than one volume. While it is intended to support Daf Yomi students, those too daunted to try that programme can also use his books as a way to engage with Talmud.
“I am only part of a great conversation that’s taken place over millennia,” said Rabbi Friedman, who shortly after moving to New Jersey last autumn completed a doctorate on Christian attitudes to Israel. “If I can add to that conversation in terms of the meaning and the application, that’s a real blessing.”
The Transformative Daf is available from mosaicapress.com from $17.99 a volume