Finally there’s the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment that one gets from finishing masechta after masechta of Shas. In our day and age when so many people grapple with middle age crisis fretting over the fact that they feel hugely unfulfilled the Daf Yomi answers the problem in a very exciting way. As the Daf Yomi aficionado becomes more proficient in every aspect of Judaism – from the laws of Shabbos to family purity from the rituals of shechita to the technical laws of idolatry (which suddenly came to life during the sheitl controversy in the last Daf Yomi cycle) he fills a thrill of personal success and achievement that is hard to describe.
Now let me play devil’s advocate. The first argument that one might offer to the suggestion that he start Daf Yomi is this: I have no time to make such a huge daily commitment. Indeed many people have started skeptically doubtful whether they’d be able to find the time on a regular basis. Often to their great surprise time opened up for them to meet their objective. This follows the tried and tested Talmudic adage B’derech sh’adam rotzeh leilech bah molichin oso – In the way a person wants to go he is [Divinely] led (Makkos 10b).
It should not come as a surprise that one who dedicates himself assiduously to Torah study finds more time becoming available. This is because Hashem created the world primarily for Torah study. When Hashem sees someone spending more time learning Torah He will shower him with more wealth so that he doesn’t have to spend so much time working – in order to free-up time for him for his Torah pursuits. On the other hand if he wastes his free time with frivolous ventures Hashem will likely give him more expenses so that at least he should spend his time meaningfully working for a living rather than wasting it on meaningless or even sinful activities.
The next most frequent argument is Daf Yomi is not for me! I’m just not cut out to learn so much every day. On Pesach we sing the beloved Echad Mi Yodeia? In it we chant Tisha mi yodeia? Tisha ani yodeia. Tisha yarchei leida – Who knows nine? I know nine. It’s the nine months of gestation before having a baby. This is a puzzling answer. All of the other numbers in that song are uniquely Jewish – the two tablets the three patriarchs the four matriarchs the five books of Chumash etc. The nine months of gestation however are universal. Furthermore what is so special about nine months of morning sickness and nausea that merits its inclusion in this lofty list?
The Chasam Sofer zt l answers that the significance of the nine months is because of what the angel teaches the baby during those nine months in his mother’s womb. As the Gemora reveals to us in Masechtas Niddah (30b) an angel teaches us the entire Torah in our mother’s womb. Thus we all have the vast potential to be able to learn the entire Torah for this is the reason that the angel taught it to us in the first place – so that we should be able to recover it when we come to this world.
Then there are protestations along the lines of At the end of the day I’m too tired to absorb all that information or I’ll learn and then right away forget it so what’s the purpose?
To the first argument I counter that it is quite possible there will be difficult texts that we might not grasp early in the morning or late at night. There might even be times we fall asleep in the middle of the lecture. Realize however that there are 2 711 pages in Shas so that even if we falter 500 times we are still left with over 2 200 pages of Talmud putting us in the highest echelons of Torah scholars.