By bus, prison and office: Lessons in the most surprising places in the world

You will find daily page rates almost everywhere: in the midrash, synagogues, work offices, private homes, even on the bus, jail or app.

Rabbi Haim Binyamin Krishenbaum gets on a bus with Gemara and a mobile microphone and during the trip teaches those around him (Photo: ShutterStock)

Bus passes under the Jerusalem Bridge (Photo: ShutterStock)

When Rabbi Meir Shapiro first came up with the "daily page" idea in the first church of Agudat Israel in 1923, he did not imagine that his vision would become such a success. Every day, hundreds of thousands of Jews around the country and the world stop everything, and spend at least an hour studying regularly for one Gemara page. After seven and a half years, they recently celebrated the end of the Talmud, and started everything from the beginning.

Daily page rates are some of the most common phenomena in the Jewish world. You will find them almost everywhere: in the midrash, in the synagogues, in work offices and in private homes. In recent years, even online, on social networks and unique apps. The daily lessons are also held in the most surprising places in the world.

"I do not start the class before seeking permission from the passengers and the driver"

Rabbi Haim Binyamin Krishenbaum gives the lesson every day on the bus. For more than two decades, every day, on his way on a bus from Bnei Brak to Jerusalem or on the way back, he goes on a journey with Gemara and a mobile microphone and during the journey that takes about an hour and a quarter he teaches the daily page to those around him. "It's been close to two decades," he says. "We twice won the Shas on the road, and now we have finished third. Over the years, more than 10,000 lessons have been delivered on the go. "

He said, "I don't start the class before I ask for regular approval from the passengers and the driver. On one occasion, the driver started yelling, we shut down the speaker. We try not to interfere." The lesson that Moser Krishnbaum has gained momentum over the years is that "People call me in the morning, ask me 'When are you going today? I want to take the trip with you to study.' I have earned it, and hope that I continue for many more years."

"Every city in the world": The Jewish world celebrated the end of Shas

"At the end of the class, you then sit for an hour or two with the prisoners. One asks you for a blessing, the other asks for help." Prison in prison (Photo: IPS)

Division 10 in Ma'asiyahu Prison (Photo: IPS, Walla system! NEWS)

Rabbi Zvi Horwitz, a rabbi in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv, lectures and counseling for over 10 years in the Eight Division, known as the "Torah Division" in Ma'asiyahu Prison. Until recently, he delivered the daily page lesson, but today lessons on other topics. "When I arrived in the afternoon, some of the prisoners were playing, others were in the rooms and the rest were hanging out. The jailer was shouting 'Guys. There is a daily page, Rabbi Horwitz arrived' and everyone would gather together. In the summer, we would open tables outside and winter in Krawan. "We would have reached 30 to 40 participants, and at times it would have seemed like a dip in Bnei Brak."

"Prison class is not just a daily page. You have to be a psychologist and a counselor."

Horowitz said the uniqueness of the lesson was in "gathering people from all corners of the spectrum." He said, "On the one hand, there were rabbis who knew what it was to learn in their lives, but even businessmen or those who never opened a Gemara page, some of them were tried for murder or other harsh acts." On one occasion, Horowitz said, while studying, a heated argument developed between the learners and the wardens almost had to declare an emergency. "

"Prison class," Horwitz added, "is not just a daily page. You have to be a psychologist and a counselor. At the end of the class, you sit for an hour or two with the prisoners, one asks for a blessing, the other asks for help in front of the family, and the third wants good advice, And every day it repeats itself. "

Quite a few people in the country and around the world study the daily page alone. In recent years, some have done so through dedicated apps that access the Talmud so that the daily page can be read while traveling, walking, or flying. Others make use of recorded lessons from online archives or through recordings of existing lessons.

Recently, the first venture of its kind was launched under the title "Digital Gemara", led by Rabbi Haim David Kowalski, founder and head of the Daily Page Luminaries. The venture allows anyone to become part of the hundreds of thousands of people around the country and the world who are constantly learning a page a day, by watching a short video daily. Rabbi Kowalski meets you every day with significant and fascinating points related to daily life that are based on the daily study of the Talmud.

For the Digital Gemara website: Click here.

Last Updated: 28/1/2020, 2:06 pm.