a big day for the Jews....

So...today is a big day for Jews world wide, as today was the Siyum of the 11th Daf Yomi Cycle....
(see: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/546701.html)

and this provides the answer to "why a blog?"

I have been truly inspired by the concept of the siyum, by the concept of klal yisrael that I think is intrinsic in the idea of Jews all over the world literally being "on the same page."

And I want to do it too. I want to be on the same page. I want to feel that sense of being a part of something larger. I want to embark on the challenge of a seven and a half year commitment! (August 2, 2012 is the end date for the 12th cycle of the Daf Yomi...that's a long way off, hey?)

So here we go. I...along with a marvelous chevruta partner (am going to keep this relatively anonymous....hamevin yavin!)...will begin tomorrow with our study of Daf Yomi.

Traditionally, one embarks on this process by attending a shiur (class). We will not do that, mostly because we are a mixed gender couple studying (it's hard to find a women's class....anyone out there????), and also because we have very tricky schedules. But I am really hoping that this endeavor will fit in, or perhaps...we will MAKE it fit in. That is what I'm hoping.

So, why a blog? Well, because I'm nuts. Okay, just kidding.

But I feel like if I'm logging or documenting what we study, how we do it, what we learn, that perhaps there will be greater incentive to keep at it. I can't fake it if I'm trying to post about it.

Plus, how many liberal (read: Reform) women (or men for that matter) out there have done this? So I hope that this can in some small way serve as inspiration to someone else...anyone else...out there. I hope that this is a chance, in a small way, to remind Reform (and Conservative, and Orthodox, and Reconstructionist and Haredi and everyone else) that we are all a part of Klal Yisrael. And that even though it's not typical for Reform Jews to engage in daily Talmud study...there's no good reason why not.

I must admit -- I'm nervous. It's a big commitment, and even tomorrow, I'm not sure when my chevruta and I are going to get together! (10pm seems to be the likely time. We'll see how it goes!)

But we will have at our disposal (well, in the next week or so) the Schottenstein Talmud, and that will help us. And we will have at our disposal the vast array of information online...and we have the phone numbers of scholars in our cellphones! So hopefully there will be no bloodshed....

So, I invite you to stay tuned, to keep watch, and to stand witness (I think I need the incentive!) to this new endeavor....