Elizabeth—Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz spoke from behind a shtender in the main shul at Adath Israel in Elizabeth, poring over that day’s page of Talmud. The rav recently celebrated his fifth completion of Shas, having begun over 37 years ago with tractate Shavuot, long before Daf Yomi achieved the worldwide attention and popularity it now enjoys. Although the worldwide Daf Yomi cycle begins at Rosh Hashanah, it was at the beckoning of the kehilla in 1980 that Rabbi Teitz started this Daf Yomi shiur in Elizabeth. Since they started, on the next day’s page, this shiur has continued, in step with the world community, but completing their cycle every seven years and one month from where they started, 2711 pages later.
Rav Teitz noted that the original shiur enjoyed a much larger participation than the 10 people he had anticipated. Word got out, and about 35 people quickly became “regulars.” They chose an early morning time because it would dovetail right into Shacharit, and because evening schedules were busy and complicated. Now, he states, his shiur is much smaller, but for a great reason: due to the immense popularity of Daf Yomi, the AI shul and other shuls in the community have numerous maggidei shiur throughout the day to meet even the most irregular and challenging personal schedules. And this, he said, is also true in other communities.
Rav Teitz noted that Daf Yomi was instituted in 1923, when Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin proposed that learning a page of Talmud every day would serve to unite the Jewish people worldwide. And in fact it has. The Daf Yomi has endured and grown since then, continuing today with hundreds of daily shiurim and thousands of participants around the world “doing the Daf” and all “on the same page.”
Fast forward to the 10th Siyum HaShas, which took place in September of 1997 following a renaissance effort by Agudath Israel in 1990. By then, the numbers had increased exponentially and two separate East Coast locations were needed to accommodate the local attendance: Madison Square Garden [25,000] and the Nassau Coliseum [20,000]. Siyumim were also held in Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Portland, for a U.S. participation of about 70,000.
The Jewish Link asked Rav Teitz to comment about why there has been such a dramatic upsurge of interest and participation in the Daf Yomi during the past quarter-century. He attributes this to several factors. The first took place when Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz completed the first-ever translation of Talmud from Aramaic to modern Hebrew. The next big wave occurred when Artscroll publishers took up the cause, taking the translation to new levels of erudition, adding English and other languages to their portfolio. Their ability to mass produce helped make learning the Daf accessible to Jews worldwide. The success of their efforts quickly created further demand, compelling the addition of easily portable palm-sized volumes and electronic options via CD, websites and now, of course, apps.
The commitment to Daf Yomi is enormous—especially when you are not simply attending, but also preparing the material for each daf. The demands of this schedule are rigorous. If one falls behind, it is all too easy to “get behinder [sic],” described Rebbetzin Elisheva Teitz, “and all too difficult to catch up.”
This commitment required a great deal of encouragement and dedication on the part of the rebbetzin and their children. When the shiur began in 1980, the Teitz children ranged in age from 9 1/2 to 22 years. The rav had previously been a “night person,” attending weddings and other evening commitments and events. He now needed to dramatically adjust his family and social schedule, as well as many rabbinic duties, in order to prepare each daf and arrive 45 minutes before Shacharit to give the shiur. Shabbat and Yomim Tovim, particularly three-day Yomim Tovim, presented significant challenges to staying on track with each daf. The completion of their first cycle was punctuated with great pride, at the insistence of the rav’s father, Rav Pinchas Mordechai Teitz, zt”l, with a melave malka that was met with overwhelming community enthusiasm and attended by 400 people.
Rav Teitz’s advice to those who hesitate to start, discouraged by the enormity of the task, is to remember that it’s a step-by-step process.
Rabbi Yaakov Neuburger, of Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, longtime friend and colleague of Rabbi Teitz, commented, “Rabbi Teitz’s recent completion of his fifth time teaching the entirety of Talmud is emblematic of his continuing career of teaching Torah with passion, clarity and joy. He is a role model of consistent dedication to teaching Torah to his congregants.”
Rabbi Avrohom Herman, of the JEC Elmora Avenue Synagogue in Elizabeth, remarked, “Despite having enormous responsibilities in his leadership role in the Elizabeth community and JEC yeshiva systems, he’s never wavered in setting aside time for his own learning and for teaching Torah to the community. He is a gadol baTorah and it is our community’s honor to have him as our rav ha’ir.”
Rabbi Jonathan Schwartz of Adath Israel noted, “Watching and learning from the rav as he [seamlessly] weaves Rishonim and Acharonim into the simple pshat of the Gemara makes the shiur enjoyable and exciting for novice and experienced learners at the same time. It is extraordinary. His inspirational path leads so many of us to strive to reach beyond our current selves and perceived abilities, as well.”
By Ellie Wolf
