longarekel,
well, here’s what I think. For most people, daf yomi is a waste of time.
I would be very careful about bashing other people’s learning like this. If my toddler gives me a picture of me and her holding hands, and in the typical toddler style they are two heads with long stick legs sticking out and the arms coming out of the sides of the head, and I know it took her only 5 minutes to draw it, I would be delighted by her attempt to connect with me in her own way. If an older sibling insulted the picture in front of her – after all, there are much better ways to draw a picture – I would feel upset with this sibling.
Yes, I understand and even agree with your concerns. One should not stand in place, doing nothing to rise higher. One who CAN learn on a deeper level should. The 15 year old shouldn’t think that a 5 minute stick figure drawing fulfills his obligations towards his parents. Still, the way you worded things was hurtful and derogatory towards those engaged in the study of Hashem’s Torah, and I don’t think that’s what Hashem wants us to do. There is a reason, after all, that the rebbeim you know are discreet about their concerns.
For people who don’t spend all day learning the daf-in depth and until halacha l’ma’aseh(and that’s the vast majority of people) it is an illusion created by he yetzer hara.
These are pretty strong words. Are you implying that the gemara should be closed to those who don’t have all day to learn it?
A person thinks he is ‘finishing’ masechtos when in truth he knows almost no Torah at all.
This may be true for some. It may not be for others.
How many people making the ‘siyum’ on shas will actually know shas, or even one masechta, or I dare say-even one perek?
I think that to put siyum in quotation marks is quite derogatory and uncalled for.
Instead, the precious time spent daily on Torah study should be focused on aquiring knowledge of halacha l’ma’ase like shabbos ribbis issur v’heter ona’ah yichud tahara brachos etc.
This is a valid argument, and I’m sure that a person serious about his learning discusses his learning with his rav.
Slowly, day after day, with a serious commitment, one can become a very real talmid chacham.
This is also a goal that can be corrupted by the yetzer hara. The ultimate goal of Torah learning is to come closer to Hashem, whether or not you have the ability to become a talmid chacham.
The yetzer hara knows this and therefore gets people to ‘learn’ daf yomi, make siyumim, and provide the illusion of knowing vast amounts of Torah, when in truth one remains more or less the same am ha’aretz he was 7 and a-half years ago.
It’s not the daf yomi that causes this, but rather a person who doesn’t grow from his learning. Some may grow learning the daf, others may need to use a different approach. Interestingly, there was a thread here in the CR a while back where the OP complained of the exact opposite: of yeshiva classes that “kvetched” over a single sugya for the whole semester, leaving the rest of the gemara a closed book.
I personally lean towards the more in depth approach. For me, I find it more important to make a piece of gemara mine, to get it down and understand it, then to cover a lot of ground. I certainly wouldn’t bash other people’s learning, however.
We are not fooled or impressed by grand ‘siyumim’ at big stadiums or ‘frum’ newspapers and magazines and organizations telling us what a big kiddush hashem it is.
I think this comment risks being an insult to the gedolim who attend the siyum, and who consider it a big kiddush Hashem. Are you smarter than them?
Instead I suggest we start having shiurim on halacha topics that matter, mixed with words of aggada and yiras shamayim
I think this is a great idea, and there are such shiurim in my community (and they don’t compete with or have rivalries with the daf yomi shiur, either).
as all jewish communities did from time immemorial until recently when this was all substituted for the daily daf.
Gemara wasn’t studied in previous Jewish communities?
It is time we stood up for the honor of Hashem and the honor of his Torah.
These are nice words, but make sure to not stand up for your ideas of honor while stomping on others’ honors to Hashem and His Torah.