Not an End, a Beginning…
Siyum HaShas is coming up. Yeshivat HaMekubalim Nahar Shalom is going to be running one with Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Shalom Smueli, Rav Eliyahu Bakishi Doron, Rav Shlomo Amar and Rav Moshe Tzadaka and Rav Benayahu Shmueli. First I found the whole thing kind of interesting since a few of the aforementioned Rabbanim have been less than enthusiastic about Daf Yomi. Rav Ovadia has even gone on record of saying that, unless one already learns xhrs a day(I believe it was 10) and then tacks Daf Yomi onto the end one shouldn’t do it as it would be a waste of time.
As I read on in the invitation I saw what the event was really about, the launch of Zohar Yomi. Yes it will be Siyum HaShas, but these various(Sephardi) Gedolim are getting together to really launch something that they have been trying to push for years: daily reading of the Zohar.
Here’s how it is going to work. Just like Oz V’Hadar realizes regular installments of the Talmud with translation and commentary Rav Benayahu Shmueli is going to be releasing(for now for free) regular pamphlets featuring the text of the Zohar, a translation(Hebrew only) and his own commentary(which I am really excited about). The idea is that it should take the average Hebrew reader 8 to 10 minutes to read. So probably more like 15 for us slower Americans. The idea was to break up the Zohar so that the Siyum HaZohar will happen on the same day as the next Siyum HaShas(so roughly a half amud, as amud yomi of the Zohar completes two cycles ever seven years).
There is also talk of making the pamphlets available on the internet, by email delivery and even delivery to I-Phone(no that is not a joke) to help off-set the cost to the Yeshiva. This should be interesting.
Sounds great! Zohar on the internet, though!? I guess us sofrim can’t participate! Too bad. (Joking.)
By the way, there is already a daily Zohar -
http://dailyzohar.com/
There are a couple of Daily ZOhar things out there. This is the first I know with a large backing of Rabbanim. We’ll see.
Is Daily Zohar following that schedule?
Please keep us informed as to the intended schedule and the website or email sign up when it becomes available. It is kind of ironic that daf yomi is pointless unless you are a full time learner but zohar yomi is perfectly acceptable. Would you eleborate why one would be more effective then the other?
Let me start by saying that Rav Shmueli is a big fan of Daf Yomi. He feels it is really important. He is my mashpia so I am defending another’s position.
The logic behind Rav Ovadiah’s stance on Daf Yomi is that for a Baal HaBayit, it is an hour to an hour and a half that he could be learning halakha, not simply the vagaries of Gemarra. He has said he would much rather people spend that time in limud of Mishne Berura, Shulhan Arukh ect. Further the lack of Chazara, or real pilpul means that the information isn’t retained, and if that is a person’s primary learning venue(as it is for many) then learning skills degrade.
So then the question is why Zohar Yomi. First it is actually a much longer standing tradition by Sephardim. Second the way they are doing it, it should only take a person a short ten minutes as opposed to sixty or ninety. So a person can still spend the requisite time doing pilpul in the Shulhan Arukh and its meforshim.
Are there standardized pages of the Zohar as it is with the Vilna Shas. In other words, does an amid of Zohar meant the same thing regardless of the publisher?
Yes there are. Based off of the Vilna printing. The Soncino translation followed them, the Matok UMdvash follows them. I think just about every printing does.
I personally think that the Matok Midvash would be a perfect idea for the “Siyum HaZohar”.
Have you ever read the Yedid Nefesh or any of the other commentaries on the Zohar?
Second to that the Matok UMdvash is too complex for the average person. You need some serious introductions to Kabbalah in order to understand it. As well there is no way you are going to read the Matok UMdvash for just 10minutes a day or less and finish in 7.5 yrs.
The point here is to have the Zohar explained so that it is easily understood. That is where Rav Benayahu Shmueli has a definite gift. He has the ability to explain the deepest secrets of the Zohar in a concise and clear way. That is also consistant with the majority of the major commentaries.
If you ever want to see the Matok UMdvash’s lack, read the Yedid Nefesh.
I have the Yedid Nefesh’s Yerushalmi and (excepting the typos) it’s a fantastic piece of work.
I have a question about Zohar Yomi however. One of the big concerns with Daf Yomi is that it gives one a simple superficial reading of the Gemara. I’ve heard some people disparage it as “not real learning”.
If that’s the case with Gemara, how can one do a Zohar Yomi consider the incredible complexity and depth of that book?
There are several ways to answer that.
1) The Leshem’s(with bothering to bring sources older than him) understanding of Yerida HaDorot is that as the later generations should have a deeper understanding then the previous generations when it comes to Sod.
2) When “learning” Sod we do not have the same Chiyuv for understanding/pilpul(the position of the Noda B’Yehuda).
3) It’s ten minutes a day. That’s not a ton of time.
I can’t seem to find the Yedid Nefesh. Can you link it?
http://www.mysefer.com/product.asp?cookiecheck=yes&numPageStartPosition=5&P_ID=648&strPageHistory=&strKeywords=B&strSearchCriteria=&PT_ID=201
You may want to contact Rav Bar-Lev personally. I recently checked his website and the links for several of his books were down. A couple other seforim sites I checked list his works as “out of stock”. I sent him some e-mails and never got a reply. And even Koren Publishers which advertises his Yerushalmi didn’t respond to my queries.
was up in Meron today, didn’t see any signs of this new venture. please provide contact info for whoever is running this? thanks
by the way never heard if you liked my ashuris font in Likkutei Moharan- some feedback would be welcome as I went to some trouble to bring it to you (and had my car scraped in the process) – thankyou
It is happening on Sunday. See Public Service anouncement I will be posting in about five minutes.
I love the font and the sefer. Thank you very much. If it would be possible to get the font from you, that would be great. I’m sorry I haven’t previously gotten back to you, I seem to have lost your email address, and have been overwhelmingly busy so I haven’t had time to search through the old posts to find it. For which I apologize.