Avoda Zara Daf 19a

#dafyomi #avodazara #masechet #dafyomijourney #2020until2025

Hello Friends,

This is a Daf Yomi post for Masechet Avoda Zara, but it is also a story about journeys.

I am focusing here only on daf 19a and although it is not representative of the entire masechet, it is relevant to people who are doing Daf Yomi, where we are 5 1/2 years through the cycle. We all have our Avoda Zara daf19a story. This is just my own, but I hope after this you will consider your own Avoda Zara 19a stories. Maybe you can share yours with me....

Onward we go to Masechet Horayot!!!

With hope for better news soon.

Leann

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The Gemara cites other statements relating to Torah study. Rava says that Rav Seḥora says that Rav Huna says: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Wealth gotten through vanity [mehevel] shall be diminished; but he that gathers little by little shall increase” (Proverbs 13:11)? If a person turns his Torah into many bundles [ḥavilot], by studying large amounts in a short period of time without reviewing, his Torah will diminish. But if he gathers his knowledge little by little, by studying slowly and reviewing, his knowledge shall increase. Avoda Zara 19a

2020

One learner among many,

motives unarticulated

In a suburban east coast town,

Quiet streets lined with maples and oaks.

while a strange sickness swiftly spreads

continent to continent, town to town.

It is 6:30 AM

A woman exits a yellow front door

clutches a leash attached to a sniffing dog

(Is it even ok to learn the Daf while walking a dog???)

She inserts her earbuds and begins a Daf Yomi walk.

What does she know? Nothing.

Where does she start?

Right here,

right now.

Unfamiliar terms exit her phone,

spraying like a mist into her ear,

talk of blessings and prayer,

The shema, drought and fasts.

This rabbi speak. Then another

Who are they?

She doesn't understand how one always credits another?

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: A person can learn Torah only from a place in the Torah that his heart desires, as it is stated: But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord, i.e., his delight is in the part of the Torah that he wishes to study.

https://www.sefaria.org/Avodah_Zarah.19a.5

2021, 2022

The walks continue,

In and out of deserted streets they wander

this woman and her spotted, stubborn dog.

Her companions are in her ear.

Her teachers talk and carefully explain.

There are many voices,

Rabbi Akiva, the voice of the g'mara

Rav Sheishet and Rav Dimmi,

The rich rabbi and the fat rabbi and the blind rabbi,

But there are also

sea monsters, demons,

wealthy Roman women,

Romans and Babylonians,

soldiers and perfumers,

spirits in the water who glide the deep night.

then there are mothers and maids,

and Man and his many needs.

And Rava also says, with regard to this verse: Initially the Torah is called by the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He, but ultimately it is called by the name of the one who studies it.

2023-24

Days pass, months pass in a blur

Both the woman and dog grow a little older.

Rain, ice, early morning sunrises,

the heat of summer, the birth of spring.

An unspeakable event in Israel.

Chaos and suffering

Chaos and suffering

but on the Daf Yomi walks there is quiet learning

Hat pulled over her ears, earbuds plugged,

the dog's daily meanderings.

Walk on lady.

Over time Her ears have become more familiar

to the voices of her teachers

who share the rabbi's disagreements,

the many cases,

ancient recipes and cures

Disagreements and proofs

Men sitting around a table

in a discussion that lasts centuries.

About what?

architecture, tithes (lots of tithes)

Measurements and distances,

witnesses and damages,

sex and divorce,

category after category,

term after term.

fly into the earbuds.

Slowly, words begin to make sense,

gain context,

asheyra, agunah, asmachta

Yayin nesech, n'veylah, nolad.

Her favorite is Teiku..She loves a Teiku.

So many more beyond her reach...

so many more.

Still they walk onward.

anyone who learns Torah from one teacher alone never sees a sign of blessing, as it is necessary to acquire knowledge from many teachers.

2025

Masechot, some endless, some fly by.

She finally learns what Baba Kama means.

The dog leads, sniffing out the world

She follows, sometimes wondering why bother?

and then something comes up in the text.

 Something small or strange or just outrageous…

and she wonders 

Why was this written? 

Isn’t this strange?

What a privilege....she hopes to remember these words.

Status and status and more status,

Permitted and forbidden,

The sea and the sky.

Forbidden

Food and water

Sales and business

and as the summer wanes in 2025, lots of talk of wine.

She forgets most, but some she remembers,

just enough to want to do it all again.

And Rava says with regard to Torah study: A person should always study [ligeris] and review even though he may afterward forget, and even though he does not understand what it is saying.

Teiku...We shall see.

It is written with regard to the Torah: “In the top of high places” (Proverbs 8:2), and it is written in the continuation of the verse that the Torah is “by the path.” This contradiction is resolved as follows: Initially, a person studies Torah in a private location, in the top of high places, but ultimately he will spread his knowledge, by the path, in the public realm.