Every day is supposed to be a day of learning.
But today, November 7, is the first-ever Global Day of Jewish Learning, meant to unite Jews from across the globe in celebration of our shared culture, texts, and history.
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With the motto "One world, one people, one day," Jews in hundreds of communities in 45 countries are going to sit together in groups or in families to study and discuss "The Big Questions."
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The Global Day of Learning is a project of the Aleph Society, which has drawn many organizing partners into the effort.Today is the day that Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz will bring to completion his monumental commentary on the Talmud.
A Time magazine article explains his work and his surprising life story.
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Photo from the Aleph Society website
Rabbi Steinsaltz is a world-renowned teacher, philosopher, social critic, and author.
He is a champion for open access to Jewish learning, and his life's mission has been to give Jewish texts and learning back to the Jewish people--in a way that we can understand it.
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Click here to learn what's inside the Steinsaltz Center in Jerusalem pictured above.
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If you'd like a sample shiur (lesson) in English, see this video of the Rabbi teaching the Talmudic page about Tu B'Av, when the girls of Jerusalem go to dance in white in the vineyards.
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How important a measurement of time and life.
ReplyDeleteProbably first "contact" I had with regard to learning about Jewish history and its mythology was a book called "Lamed waw" by Andre Schwarz-Bart, which still has an impression for me. Please have a good new week you all.
daily athens
"Jews are going to sit together". That always amazed me, the strongest feel of national unity. Russians do not have it almost at all. Why? I try to explain it by the revolution which completely mixed up all the social conceptions here.
ReplyDeleteThat is so fascinating. I echo Irina's comment. I have not heard of any other big group of people who have such a strong sense of community and shared heritage. It's enviable.
ReplyDeleteI have a funny memory with Jewish. Years ago my next door neigbours were a young Jewish couple. While they were speking Turkish in their daily life they were switching to Jewish whenever they fought. I remember listening this interesting language in harsh tones..
ReplyDeleteI remember a long time ago, my mother saying that Jewish people were able to accomplish a lot because of the importance they put in learning and education. I believe it. Skokie, Illinois used to have a strong Jewish community and therefore has one of the best... maybe the best library in the state.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting celebration, but I imagine that most of this is beyond my level of knowledge...
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish community, united as one, learning, exchanging, reading...such illumination!
ReplyDeleteThis seems to be a very interesting project.
ReplyDelete"One world, one people, one day", an uplifting motto which describes a very significant reality.
ReplyDeleteRobert shalom. I love the idea of the lamed vav, the 36 righteous in every generation who can see the Divine Presence and by their merit the world exists.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that Schwarz-Bart reworked the idea of the lamedvavniks and made it into something alien to the Jewish spirit.
Please see the end of this:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11784.html
Irina, very interesting. You make me wonder if that's why so many Russian immigrants find it difficult to integrate into Israeli society.
Hilda, sometimes this was all we had.
Turquoise Diaries, that's a shame you had to hear it that way. Was it Hebrew or Yiddish? If they were young, probably Hebrew.
Kay, ah, yes, I remember the Skokie Library. Naomi loved it.
Your mom is probably right. At my Senn High School, the top of the class was always (all) the Japanese-American kids and the Jews.
VP, haha, you are being much too humble. I know how much you know--A LOT!
Jew Wishes, yes. I saw the closing siyyum hadran on live Internet coverage from City Hall. Rabbi Steinsaltz is quite the teacher.
JM, let's hope it is the first of many such global study days.
Pietro, I wish it were that way every day.