As a result of attending the amazing Siyum Hashas at MetLife Stadium last year, along with the urging of my much-wiser grandchildren, I have become a very senior latecomer to Daf Yomi. In order not to let the seven-and-a-half year cycle become too daunting, I am learning several daf a day online instead of just one as described in a letter from my son Dan to The Jewish Link (March 5, 2020), which I call “Chap-a-Daf.”
Being ahead of the cycle, I am now, appropriately, learning Masechet Megilla. As a novice, I see items that may be familiar to more advanced learners, but new to me. I came across one such reference this week which literally stunned me. In Daf 6b1 R’Yitzchak talks about the evil Esau and “Germamia, the royal province of Edom, who, if they would but go forth, would destroy the entire world.” Keep in mind that this reference to a Germamia, also called Germania, as an evil state was over 15 centuries ago.
The Torah and Talmud are considered to be living documents, relevant for all ages and times, and there is no better example than one that so exactly describes a 20th-century evil empire—but was written over 15 centuries ago.
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park
