Hello treasured students of Daf Yomi!

On behalf of Rabbi Schwed, EC Birnbaum and the rest of us at the OU Daf Yomi Initiative, I’m grateful to you all for your enthusiastic reception of the Jewish History in Daf Yomi series of videos. We’re working hard on taking the program to the next level with the AllDaf app, which will we hope will be as great as it sounds: All the Daf, All Levels, All Subjects, and so on. I’m proud to be a small part of this larger project.

In the meantime, we’re making a lot of progress with the videos, with tractates Bechoros, Erchin, Temurah and half of Kerisus online at http://www.ou.org/dafyomi and the OU Torah App. Over 150 have been uploaded–a nice start, but we’ve got about 2,650 to go over the next seven years!

I’ve just created a rudimentary General and Subject index to the videos, which you can access by clicking here. We hope to update this index and make it a little more accessible as AllDaf comes online, but for the time being, this index should prove especially helpful for magidei shiur and anyone who wants a deeper, somewhat idiosyncratic and sideways, look into the amazing world of the Talmud.

Enjoy in good health!

A brief overview of the first few centuries of Jewish life in Arles. Part Two of the Jews of Rhone series.

Arakhin, traditionally pronounced “Erchin” in Ashkenazi circles, begins tomorrow. Now’s your chance to join the worldwide community of Daf Yomi learners! Click here for more information on this unusual tractate.

Kudos to Rabbi Moshe Schwed, Director of the OU Daf Yomi Initiative, for putting together this really nice promo for my small contribution, Jewish History in Daf Yomi. Tomorrow we’ll be discussing Daniel Bomberg–the man who put the “Daf” in “Daf Yomi.” Literally.

Archelaus, son of Herod. Okay, probably not really the first Jew, and it wasn’t France then, but close enough.

Click here for my latest guest post on the Orthodox Union Torah blog: “Want to lose weight? Start Daf Yomi.“

“Leadership” is the theme for our learning this year at Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst. Here’s my small contribution. All are welcome!

Hello students of Jewish history!

I’m really thrilled to inform you that the Jewish History in Daf Yomi podcast is now online! Part of the OU Daf Yomi Initiative, the podcasts feature brief (2-5 minute) videos discussing some historical aspect of the daily page of Talmud (Daf Yomi). Obviously most relevant to those actually studying the Daf, but strangely fascinating for those who are not as well (at least I think so).

Mini-lectures are available online at ou.org/dafyomi (email and feedburner subscriptions available) and of course on the podcast.

Enjoy in good health!

HMA

My latest Op-ed in Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Thanks to Opinion Editor Laura E. Adkins for her phenomenal work on this appetizing piece of post-Passover writing. Enjoy in good health!

Dear fellow students of the Daf Yomi cycle of Talmud! I am extremely proud to announce that a new series, Jewish History in Daf Yomi, is scheduled for launch as part of the Orthodox Union Daf Yomi Initiative, spearheaded by the incomparable Rabbi Moshe Schwed.

My small part in the overall plan is to spend just a few minutes on every single daf (folio) of the Talmud discussing some aspect of Jewish history that appears on the page: biographies, culture, geography, numismatics and other realia. Our goal is to cover the entire seven-and-a-half year cycle, 2,711 videos in all!

Jewish History in Daf Yomi begins this Friday, with the beginning of Tractate Bechoros. Please visit the special Beyond the Daf page for some really cool Passover articles and videos, and sign up for updates as Rabbi Schwed brings us all together in time for the beginning of the Daf Yomi restart in January 2020.

Click here to visit the first page of Tractate Bechoros, which starts this Friday, and sign up for the podcast!

Wishing you all a kosher and joyous Passover,

HMA

A brief look at one of the most bizarre Haggadahs ever produced: the so-called “Red Haggadah” from the Soviet Union, which was propaganda designed to undermine the essential message of Passover itself.