Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

11 Sivan 5759, May 26, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

HOMEPAGE

 

Sponsored by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

Produced and housed by
Jencom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home and Family
An Idea in Honor of Shavuos
by Ann Onymous

Yesterday I made a siyum on all of Tanach.

Last Shavuos it occurred to me that Hashem gave us Torah, Neviim, Ksuvim for us to learn -- and to learn from. And that's when I started. It has taken me eleven months and four days to go through all of it, although I am sure Yated readers can do it in less time.

Perhaps it was R' Akiva who pushed me into it... Here I was, almost forty years old, and I had never been through the complete text of Sefer Rus, while with many of the other parts of Tanach I did not even have a nodding acquaintance. Most of us have been through the entire chumash, with Yehoshua, Shoftim, Shmuel, Melochim and chapters of Yeshaya and Yirmeya thrown in. We've heard the reading of Esther, of course, are familiar with lots of Tehillim, Yona, and perhaps much more. But who has ever plowed through Micha? Tzefania? Iyov? Doniel? Divrei Hayomim?

Going through all of Tanach from one end to the other, with a reliable source text like an Artscroll translation, gives one a panoramic view of Jewish history, from the beginning of the world until the end of days. The drama of Yosef revealing himself to his brothers, of Eliyohu on Mt. Carmel and Doniel in the lion's den, for example, is breathtaking. We read about Hashem's great love for us as individuals and as Klal Yisroel as His Chosen People, divine reward and retribution as seen through the pattern of our history as a sovereign nation in our homeland, recorded by our Prophets, about the great sanctity of the Mishkon and the Beis Hamikdosh, testified to by the number of chapters devoted to their construction and contents and their loving detail -- all this is more than inspiring.

When taking on this project, select a translation that you feel comfortable with, perhaps with transliterated Hebrew names (Yishai vs. Jesse etc.), and that has the Hebrew side by side, so that if you have difficulty with an English word (I got stumped on `mulcted' in Divrei Hayomim) you can refer to the Hebrew text, which may sometimes be more familiar. By all means, try to tackle one that incorporates commentaries.

I did not set myself any daily quotas, and was really surprised when I reached the end before I half expected to. I studied on Friday nights, Shabbos, and while watching the children at the playground, which eventually became prime time. They loved the outing and I had the added incentive to take them out.

The children especially enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Siyum. Right now, I'm shopping around for the right text for my next time 'round. With meforshim. Or in Hebrew. Ideas, anyone?

[Yes. Always one to put my 2 grush worth -- how about picking up some Aramaic and doing it with Onkelos in chumash and Yonosson ben Uziel for Tanach? Maybe for that third time 'round.]

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.