Daf Yomi (, Daf Yomi, "page of the day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries (also known as the Gemara), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covered in sequence. A daf, or blatt in Yiddish, consists of both sides of the page. Under this regimen, the entire Talmud is completed, one day at a time, in a cycle of approximately seven and a half years.
Tens of thousands of Jews worldwide study in the Daf Yomi program,Goldman (2000), p. 264. and over 300,000 participate in the Siyum HaShas, an event celebrating the culmination of the cycle of learning. The Daf Yomi program has been credited with making Talmud study accessible to Jews who are not Torah scholars,Heilman (1995), pp. 315-316.Schloss (2002), p. 296. contributing to Jewish continuity after the Holocaust, and having a unifying factor among Jews.Becher (2005), p. 420.Frand (1999), p. 242. Each day of the daily calendar, including Tisha B'Av, is included, and online audio versions of lectures are available.
Origin
The novel idea of Jews in all parts of the world studying the same daf each day, with the goal of completing the entire Talmud, was first proposed in a World Agudath Israel publication in December 1920 (Kislev 5681) Digleinu, the voice of Zeirei Agudath Israel, by Rabbi Moshe Menachem Mendel Spivak, and was put forth at the First World Congress of Agudath Israel which took place in Vienna starting from Elul 3, 5683 / August 15, 1923 and which lasted for ten days.Baumol, A Blaze in the Darkening Gloom page 164 states the convention started on the Elul 3, 5683 and on page 171 he writes it lasted for ten days. The proposal for the study of Daf Hayomi was made on Elul 7 or 9, 5683 (August 19 or 21, 1923)Mandelbaum, David Avraham Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin Volume II, pp. 208 puts the date as Elul 9, 5683 (August 21, 1923), however Halachmi, Dovid in Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin and its founder Rabbi Meir Schapiro pp. 31 puts the date as Elul 7, 5683 (August 19, 1923) as does Skorsky, Ahron in Volume I of Rabbi Meir Schapiro Bmishnah Boimer Ubmaas, p. 296. Zeidman, Hillel (https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/chinuch/mosdot/hahmey-2.htm - accessed 7/18/14) has the date as Elul 5. by Meir Shapiro, then rabbi of Sanok, Poland, and future rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and the resolution was adopted on Elul 10, 5683.In Mandelbaum, Dovid Avraham Igrot Vtoldot Moreinu Maharam Shapiro pp. 63 there is a picture of a poster related to the upcoming (first) Siyum Hashas and in it Shapiro writes "Then on the tenth day of Elul 5683 the Knesiah Gedolah decided - upon my advice that God gave me - the learning of a worldwide lecture of Daf Yomi". See also Zeidman, Hillel (https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/chinuch/mosdot/hahmey-2.htm - accessed 7/18/14) who writes regarding another proposal made by Schapiro at that same convention (the establishment of Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin) that it was adopted on Elul 10, 5883. In those years, only some of the 63 tractates of the Talmud were being studied regularly, such as Berachot, Shabbat, and Eruvin, which deal with practical laws, while others, such as Zevachim and Temurah, were hardly studied.Shlomi, B. "A Brilliant Idea: Daf Yomi". Hamodia Magazine, 3 May 2012, pp. 18–20. Shapiro also viewed the program as a way to unify the Jewish people. As he explained to the Congress delegates:
What a great thing! A Jew travels by boat and takes gemara Berachot under his arm. He travels for 15 days from Eretz Yisrael to America, and each day he learns the daf. When he arrives in America, he enters a beis medrash in New York and finds Jews learning the very same daf that he studied on that day, and he gladly joins them. Another Jew leaves the States and travels to Brazil or Japan, and he first goes to the beis medrash, where he finds everyone learning the same daf that he himself learned that day. Could there be greater unity of hearts than this?This idea was mentioned by Spivak in his Digleinu proposal.Marks, Yehudah. "It's Question Time at Daf Yomi Kollel: Jews from around the world can get instant answers – in English – to their questions on Gemara, halachah, and many other areas of Jewish interest". Hamodia, 24 May 2012, pp. A30–31.
Originally, Shapiro saw Daf Yomi as an obligation only for the religious youth of Poland. However, the idea was greeted enthusiastically by the nearly 600 delegates at the Congress, including many Torah leaders from Europe and America, who accepted it as a universal obligation for all Jews.Baumol (1994), pp. 161-165.
The first cycle of Daf Yomi commenced on the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5684 (11 September 1923), with tens of thousands of Jews in Europe, America and Israel learning the first daf of the first tractate of the Talmud, Berachot. To show support for the idea, the Gerrer rebbe, Avraham Mordechai Alter, learned the first daf of Berachot in public on that day. On 12 November 1923 Tractate Berachot was completed, with small siyums (celebrations marking the completion of study of a Talmudic tractate) in local communities. At that time, Shapiro published a calendar for the entire cycle of Daf Yomi study. (For the first seven cycles, there were 2,702 pages of Talmud on the schedule; starting in 1975, the Daf Yomi Commission of Agudath Israel increased it to 2,711,Rabbi Yair Hoffman, The Slavuta Shas. Note that what the article says about Shekalim being 14 pages in the Slavuta edition is incorrect; it is 12 pages as can be seen in the scan here changing the edition used for Tractate Shekalim, taken from the Jerusalem Talmud, to one with more pages.Shekalim 2, Kollel Iyun HaDaf of Yerushalayim. Accessed May 1, 2026. "Incidentally, this phenomenon explains the mysterious 'lengthening' of the Daf Yomi cycle in the eighth Dafyomi cycle (which began in June 1975). Rav Meir Shapiro's original calendar was tailored to a 13 Daf Shekalim. When that edition became uncommon, the cycle was changed to accommodate the 22 Daf version of the Vilna edition, lengthening the Dafyomi cycle from 2702 days to 2711 days." The siyum for the completion of Tractate Pesachim took place after the laying of the cornerstone for Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin. At that time, Shapiro conceived the idea of contributing daily groschen to help raise money for the building. Each day, each person who studied Daf Yomi was asked to set aside a grosh (a Polish penny), and at the end of the tractate, to donate the sum to the yeshiva.Baumol, "A Blaze in the Darkening Gloom", p. 172.
The Second World Congress of the World Agudath Israel, held in 1929, coincided with the completion of Tractate Zevachim.
The 1st Siyum HaShas took place on 2 February 1931 (15 Shevat 5691) in several cities in Europe and in Jerusalem, with the main venue being the newly opened Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin in Lublin, Poland. Tens of thousands of Jews attended these events. Shapiro presided over the Siyum in his yeshiva in the presence of many leaders of Polish Jewry.Shlomi, B. "The Historic First Siyum HaShas". Hamodia Magazine, 10 May 2012, pp. 12–13. In the United States, Siyums were held in Baltimore and Philadelphia.Horowitz, Yisroel. "Celebrating Siyum HaShas in America". Hamodia Magazine, 21 June 2012, p. 3.
Siyum HaShas
The completion of the Daf Yomi cycle is celebrated in an event known as the Siyum HaShas ("completion of the Shas").Shas, an acronym for Shisha Sidrei (Mishnah) or "Six Orders of the Mishnah", is another name for the Talmud. In America, the main Siyum HaShas is organized by the Agudath Israel of America. Attendance at each successive recent Siyum HaShas has grown. In 1997 the 10th Siyum HaShas was celebrated by some 70,000 participants in the U.S.; at the 11th Siyum HaShas in 2005, participation had grown to 120,000 in the U.S. and 300,000 around the world.
The 12th Siyum HaShas in America was held on August 1, 2012, at the MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey, which has capacity for over 90,000 attendees. All seats were sold out. Satellite broadcasts were piped to many other locations, including Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin in Poland. Tens of thousands attended celebrations in Israel.
The 13th Siyum HaShas on January 1, 2020, returned to MetLife Stadium, to a capacity crowd.https://www.northjersey.com/amp/2782290001
Process
Process With 2,711 pages in the Talmud, one Daf Yomi cycle takes about 7 years, 5 months. The completion of each tractate is typically celebrated with a small siyum, and the completion of the entire cycle is celebrated at an event known as the Siyum HaShas.
Daf Yomi can be studied alone, with a chavruta (study partner), in a daily shiur (class) led by a rabbi or teacher, via a telephone shiur, CD-ROM, or audio and online resources. Typically, Daf Yomi shiurim are held in synagogues, yeshivas, and offices. They also take place in the United States Senate, Wall Street board rooms, and on the Long Island Rail Road, in the last car of two commuter trains departing Far Rockaway at 7:51 am and 8:15 am, respectively, for Manhattan. Daf Yomi shiurim are piped into the in-flight sound system of all El Al flights. A typical Daf Yomi shiur lasts one hour. Participants typically study the text with only the most basic commentary, that of Rashi, but some shiurim are more elaborate.
Learning resources The Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, an English-language translation and interpretation published in 73 volumes between 1990 and 2004 by ArtScroll, has been credited with significantly increasing the number of English speakers participating in the Daf Yomi program.Zakon (2005), p. 262. ArtScroll planned the publication of each tractate to coincide with its study in the Daf Yomi cycle,Liberman Mintz and Goldstein (2005), p. 161. releasing the final volume to coincide with the 11th Siyum HaShas in 2005.Lipman, Steve. "On The Same Page: Studying the seven-year Talmud cycle together, a Modern Orthodox family embodies the spirit of Daf Yomi program." , The Jewish Week, February 25, 2005. Accessed October 11, 2007. "ArtScroll is issuing the 73rd and final volume of its Schottenstein English translation to coincide with the Siyum HaShas." The Schottenstein Talmud was also translated into Hebrew. ArtScroll released in 2012 a mobile app that contained the entire Babylonian Talmud.
The Koren Talmud Bavli by Koren Publishers offers the Vilna Daf along with a bilingual section (English-Aramaic) with color maps, images, and extensive historical, scientific, biographical, and linguistic notes by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. To facilitate comprehension and reading fluency, the Aramaic text and Rashi commentary feature punctuation and vowels, and the text is fully annotated. The Koren Talmud Bavli with Rabbi Steinsaltz's commentary has been credited with opening access to Talmud study for Jews of all backgrounds.
Online resources include audiotapes, online websites, and iPods preloaded with lectures covering every page of the Talmud.
Since spring 2019, Dr. Henry Abramson of Touro College has been posting brief videos describing the historical context of each daf as part of the Orthodox Union Daf Yomi Initiative.
Talmudic study by women has never been forbidden, but was discouraged. Modern technology has led to increased accessibility for women. For example, Rabbanit Michelle Cohen Farber, an Orthodox scholar, is the founder of Hadran and teaches Daf Yomi to women through a podcast in English and Hebrew.
Influence