Daf Yomi

This would, no doubt, turn into a massive page during the project going through the entire cycle. What I’m going to do is put the section of whichever tractate I’m currently going through on this page, and as I finish them during the cycle, I’ll move the finished one onto a separate linked sub-page. I’m going to organize it as an outline so it’s reasonably easy to follow. I’m also, while well aware of the deep spiritual stuff that’s going on in each discussion, not going to go down that path – there are a zillion websites and commentaries that already do that. In general, I find the idea of a glimpse of a historical culture from what amounts to transcripts of conversations between spiritual and secular leaders to be fascinating, and not surprisingly, for me, I’m particularly drawn to topics that relate to food and wine, sexuality, and comedy.

  • Seder Zeraim – “Book of Seeds”
    • Berakhot – “Blessings” – Blessed things, actions, and events
    • I hit a momentary “WTF?” when Berakhot finished and we didn’t move on to Pe’ah, the next tractate in Zeraim. Apparently the remaining ten tractates in Zeraim do not have Gemara commentary in the Babylonian Talmud, just the Jerusalem Talmud, which the Daf Yomi doesn’t cover. Despite living in a predominately agrarian society, the Babylonian rabbis apparently had nothing to say on agriculture and related subjects like tithing, offerings, and challah bread. Though now I get “Book of Seeds”, I do feel a bit cheated and I want to know if there’s a good challah recipe in there. My plan is to at some point read through the various tractates throughout the Talmud that aren’t included in the Daf Yomi, just out of curiosity. I’ll put those in a different color so that they stand out.
    • Pe’ah – “Corner” – Pay it Forward
    • Demai – “Doubtful” – Provenance and Taxes
    • Kil’ayim – “Mixed Species” – Mixing it up in the Fields
    • Shevi’it – “Seventh” – Taking a Sabbatical from Life
    • Terumot – “Donations” –
    • Ma’aser Rishon – “First Tithes” – 
    • Ma’aser Sheni – “Second Tithes” – 
    • Challah – “Dough” – 
    • Orlah – “First Fruits of Trees” – 
    • Bikkurim – “First Fruits” –
  • Seder Moed – “Book of Festivals”
  • Seder Nashim – “Book of Women”
  • Seder Nezikin – “Book of Damages”
    • Bava Kamma – “The First Gate” – Who’s Responsible?
    • Bava Metzia – “The Middle Gate” – Who Owns the Truth?
    • Bava Batra – “The Last Gate” – You’re Responsible, and Here’s Why
    • Sanhedrin – “Assembly”
      • The Sanhedrin itself was a council of 71 Jewish sages during the Roman era, who adjudicated major disputes, somewhat like a supreme court. The word is a loan word from Greek. This tractate focuses on the court system and civil law for the most part, with a section on criminal particularly around discussions of capital punishment.
      • 12/19/24, Chapter 1, Page 2 – We jump right in with the make-up of the courts. Most court cases are to by tried by a panel of three judges. Cases that might involve capital punishment are heard by a panel of 23 judges (a “Lesser Sanhedrin”), cases regarding land and estate valuation are judged by nine judges, and cases which involve a suit against an entire tribe, community, town, city, or other similar groups are to be heard by a “Great Sanhedrin”, a full 71 judges.
      • 12/20/24, Page 3 – In most civil cases, like personal injury, the three judge panel is to be chosen from qualified judges – experts in both law and the genre of the case. There is one exception – cases related to the lending of money. Here, the three judges are laypeople, with no expertise in either law or finances. Why? Because, say the sages, if lenders knew they’d have to explain their lending practices to experts, they’d never lend anyone money, thus depriving needy borrowers of any source of loans.