27
votes
Accepted
Is it forbidden for a woman to learn Gemara?
It doesn't seem that anyone attempted to address this in a comprehensive manner, so I will try. There might be slight overlap with some of the other answers here, and with my answer to this question. ...
- 49.1k
18
votes
Accepted
Going from an nonreligious reform Jew to a religious one?
Welcome and congratulations on your search and efforts!
Beyond the suggestions above (first and foremost to approach the rabbi in a local synagogue or Chabad house), there are a number of websites ...
- 47.9k
17
votes
How the irrational number Pi can be derived from the Torah?
Pi can be derived from the Torah by rolling up a Torah scroll and measuring the end's diameter and circumference. The ratio between them will be pi.
- 7,723
16
votes
What was the general skin color of ancient Israelis?
An important source (post-bibical) is the Mishna in Negaim (2:1) which deals with the signs of leprosy and how they may appear different based on a person's skin color:
The bright spot in a German ...
- 2,513
15
votes
How to explain the Talmud to someone who hasn't ever opened one?
(1) Compare it to an intellectual pursuit they already know. And (2), show don't tell.
I've never had the benefit of full-time learning in yeshiva, but I've participated in some shorter programs that ...
- 56.4k
15
votes
Accepted
Me'am Lo'ez on not beginning a new mesechta on Rosh Chodesh
Is the custom practiced today?
The רמ"א יו"ד סי' קע"ט סעיף ב [as understood by the פתחי תשובה יו"ד רמ"ה ס"ק ה] writes that our minhag is to start a new מסכת even on Rosh Chodesh.
Also, what does ...
- 6,123
14
votes
How do we understand the idea of something missing from the mishnah חסורי מיחסרא והכי קתני?
The Meiri writes in his introduction to Avot that this is an example of the Ammoraim disagreeing with the Tannaim which they would occasionally do if the Sages of the generation agreed. So that would ...
- 35.4k
14
votes
Accepted
What are the parameters of the prohibition against a non-Jew learning Torah?
R. Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg has a responsum that deals with this question. It is a lengthy responsum (and you should read it in it's entirety if you can) but one key point is what he derives from ...
- 49.1k
13
votes
Why is Talmud Bavli studied more than Yerushalmi?
In their introduction to Yerushalmi Brachot, artscroll adress this question and write that Bavli is better edited, more complete, better commented, easier to understand and less prone to alternative ...
- 47.9k
13
votes
May one memorize large swaths of Tanach?
The Gemara in Gittin 60b says
דברים שבכתב אי אתה רשאי לאומרן על פה
Matters that were written you may not express them orally.
This is codified in Shulchan Aruch O.C. 49:1.
However, this rule only ...
- 5,365
12
votes
Yeshivas of Modern Times
My Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky, who is particularly well read in history, in a shiur titled Why So Much Iyun 5774 spoke out that (my memory of the shiur is not that sharp, so I may be ...
- 1,155
12
votes
Learning Chabad Sichos
There are two types of Sichos:
Sichos Kodesh / Toras Menachem-Hisvaaduyos.
From the early forties until the stroke in 1992, the Lubavitcher Rebbe would hold a Farbrengen (at least) every Shabbos ...
- 40.3k
12
votes
Accepted
Rav Chaim Kanievsky's learning schedule
In Rebbetzin Kanievski's biography it is written that R Chaim Kanievski completed every year Mishna, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi, Nach, Rambam, Tur, Shulchan Aruch with commentaries, Mishnah ...
- 47.9k
12
votes
Purpose of Learning Gemara
tl;dr R' Aharon Lichtenstein has an essay outlining four elements that make gemara learning unique and important:
Explanation of the principles and parameters of the laws
Exposure to the ...
- 16.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Why does the Brisker Derech focus on the Rambam?
In his article "'What' Hath Brisk Wrought? The Brisker Derekh Revisited," R. Moshe Lichtenstein argues that,
the basic change wrought by R. Hayyim was the refocusing of the
learning process upon ...
- 14.3k
11
votes
Accepted
Who has the right to come up with chiddushei Torah?
See the Pele Yoetz's discussion of this in his entry for "Chiddush".
The basic idea (according to him) is that everyone can and should be mechadesh to the best of their abilities.
וכל אדם אינו ...
- 49.1k
11
votes
If God removed prophecy from the gentiles because of Bilaam's wickedness, how come that Obadiah who was a gentile was a prophet?
Ovadiah the prophet, at the time of his prophecy, was Jewish, not a gentile. He had converted. See Sanhedrin 39b:
מר אפרים מקשאה תלמידו של רבי מאיר משום רבי מאיר עובדיה גר אדומי היה והיינו דאמרי ...
- 20.4k
11
votes
Accepted
Learning Alei Shur Part I or II first?
Ultimately it boils down to what subject matter you find most interesting.
The first cheilek is largely instructive in how best to achieve self growth whilst the second cheiliek goes into more detail ...
- 30.2k
10
votes
What does one have to know to be called a Talmid Chochum?
The Talmud provides several such definitions for various contexts. In the context of conditional marriages we have:
Kiddushin 49b
ע"מ שאני תלמיד אין אומרים כשמעון בן עזאי וכשמעון בן זומא אלא כל ...
- 49.1k
10
votes
Why wasn't Adam Harishon given the Torah?
Adam was worthy of having the Torah given through him. Said the Holy One, Blessed is He “ I will give it to him for he is the work of my hands” After he sinned the Holy One, Blessed is He said to him “...
- 1,931
10
votes
Torah argument increases peace
It is found in his drashos, chelek 1, pg 183 second column, s.v. Vichein.
See it here.
EDIT
Here is another place in his drashos where he writes similarly, perhaps even closer to what the OP is ...
- 33.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Short prayer after a vort or dvar torah
You are thinking of the famous saying of chazal (our Rabbis of blessed memory) found in Makkos 23b and famous for being mentioned at the end of Pirkei Avos:
רִבִּי חֲנַנְיָא בֶּן עֲקַשְׁיָה אוֹמֵר ...
- 30.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Properties of honey and the Chafetz Chaim
It is in the Hakdama Rishona to his Likutei Halachos on Zevachim right in the beginning of the first paragraph
מה שכתוב ״ומתוקים מדבש״, כי ידוע שיש בטבע כח המתיקות גדול...
עד שאם יפול בה איזה דבר לחם ...
- 10.6k
9
votes
What texts are studied in a traditional yeshiva?
In Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin by Dovid Avraham Mandelbaum p. 322 we are given the daily schedule of the yeshiva, from which we can see what texts were studied:
My English rendering:
6:00 AM – Wakeup
7:...
- 49.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Studying Torah while lying on a bed?
I saw this interesting answer by Rav Aviner to a similar question:
Q: Is it permissible to learn Torah while laying in bed or on a couch?
A: One must learn Torah in awe, fear and trembling (Berachot ...
- 289
9
votes
Not to learn parts of Torah until they become applicable
The idea behind not learning the laws of mourning, is a superstition that this could cause someone to die, and the laws to become applied (see Hattam Sofer YD 346, and a discussion of the idea here). ...
- 35.4k
8
votes
What afterlife awaits a Tinoq Shenishba who studies Torah but fails to observe major halacha?
The Rambam apparently believes that the tinoq shenishba is defined by the attitude he/she was raised with toward Torah, not only their ignorance of it. And so even after learning Torah, as long as his ...
- 9,388
8
votes
Accepted
What should a Jew learn regularly?
In the most general sense, one is required to know the entire Torah, meaning both written and oral, revealed and hidden, each individual according to their unique capacity. It is an occupation which ...
- 14.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Reading Shna'yim mikrah vi'echad targum aloud
R. Moshe Sternbauch addresses this in his Teshuvot V'hanahagot (Vol. IV #73):
והנה לכאורה פשוט דתרגום אונקלוס צריך לקרוא בפיו דוקא ולא מספיק בהרהור, ולפ"ז אולי גם כשלומד רש"י לתרגום הדין כן, שיש ...
- 35.4k
8
votes
No sevara before completing shas?
R. Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik discusses this in his essay on derech halimud. In there he describes his tradition of the correct way to learn, going back to his father (R. Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik) ...
- 49.1k
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