Over 100 people attended a shiur on the solar and lunar cycles by Rabbi Sheeya Hertz Ostreicher at Bais Torah U’tefilah in Passaic this past Wednesday. The talk was jointly sponsored by Daf Hashovua (aka Daf-A-Week), an international learning program designed to help lomdim maximize their learning experience, and Passaic-Clifton Community Kollel, led by Rabbi Chaim Krause. Rabbi Ostreicher, founder of Avenues of the Sky, used visual aids to help clarify some of the more complex astronomical concepts that come up throughout shas, and particularly, for those learning Daf Hashovua, in the sugya of the moon’s visibility before and after the molad, on Rosh Hashanah 20b, last week’s daf. Passaic resident and astronomy expert Dr. Zalman Burger fielded the many audience questions after the presentation.
In the first of four talks he gave on Thursday on the topic of the International Dateline in Halacha—also sourced to Rosh Hashanah 20b—Baltimore’s Rabbi Dovid Heber, Rav of Tzemach Tzedek and Start-K administrator, spoke at Cong. Zichron Mordechai in Teaneck, where he was introduced by Rabbi Michael Taubes. Rabbi Heber explored the interesting shailos confronting the traveler across the dateline. One such scenario involves a boy who celebrates his bar mitzvah on the 18th of Tammuz in Seoul, South Korea, before flying to Los Angeles. Arriving the next afternoon, on Shiva Asar b’Tammuz, the boy asks for an aliya at Mincha, only to be turned down because he’s not yet bar mitzvah.
Rabbi Heber followed up with talks at Bais Medrash Ohr Chaim in Monsey, at Passaic Torah Institute in Passaic, and then back again in Monsey, at the Monsey Night Seder in Sharei Tefilah.
The fast-growing Daf Hashovua program provides a structured framework for thousands of participants in more than 60 locations worldwide. The pace and time for chazara enable lomdim to get a good grasp of even the most difficult sugyos, imbuing their learning with a seriousness of purpose and joy that encourage them to take increasing responsibility for their learning. As they do, many experience their learning as more meaningful and rewarding than ever before.
For more info, visit www.dafaweek.org or email [email protected].
By Allen Auster
