For most CESJDS students, their study of Jewish texts is limited to what they learn at school. However, for senior Aliza Lesser, much of her study of Jewish texts is a result of out of school learning. Each day Lesser learns a page of Talmud as a part of an undertaking called “Daf Yomi.”
“Daf Yomi” which translates to “a page a day” is a worldwide endeavor where people learn one page of Talmud a day over the course of a seven and a half year cycle. By the end of the seven and a half years, the people who participate will have learned all of the Talmud. The current cycle started in 2020, so while Lesser started in early 2021, she hopes to catch up and finish with the others in 2027.
Lesser started Daf Yomi in eighth grade, when she was inspired by her mother, Chani Bloom, who had begun learning Daf Yomi herself. Additionally, she wanted to be more challenged in her Jewish text learning.
“I saw how much she was learning. She’s been learning Talmud her whole life, but even just learning Daf Yomi, there was more she was learning and lots of interesting new things,” Lesser said. “…I felt like [at school] I wasn’t going to feel like there was a level of learning or the amount of learning that I wanted to have. So, I thought that learning Daf Yomi would definitely be a great way to learn more and get my Gemara skills up.”
Although Lesser started this challenge because she was inspired by her mother, it’s now Bloom’s turn to be inspired. Bloom said she sees Lesser’s dedication to learning, and is impressed by her hard work and commitment to spending around 20 minutes to an hour each day on this endeavor.
“She really takes it seriously and feels committed to staying on the cycle and getting as much as she can out of it. I am awed by it…She’s just been really great about it, and it’s been a fun thing for us to talk about,” Bloom said.
While Lesser occasionally learns with her mother, taking part in Daf Yomi has given Lesser the opportunity to connect with new people through study as well.
In 2023, Lesser spent the year in Israel and one Shabbat she was in Ra’anana, Israel and met a woman named Rabbanit Michelle Farber, who has a Daf Yomi podcast for women. Lesser began to communicate with Farber, and eventually Farber connected Lesser with a “chevruta” (a traditional rabbinic approach to studying where one learns the text with another student) in the United States. In the summer of 2023, Lesser learned regularly with her chevruta and even today, the two of them try to find time to learn together and update each other on their lives.
However, Lesser does not just study alone or one-on-one with people. In all environments she is in, Lesser likes to bring the people around her into her learning. From siyums (a ceremonial completion of an established unit of Torah or Talmudic study, where the learner will share something that they learned from that unit of study and recite designate prayers and blessings for the event) to group learning, Lesser has been able to share her learning with many people.
“Over the summer, I was on Bronfman, a pluralistic program with people from all different backgrounds,” Lesser said. “Sometimes in the mornings, a bunch of people would come and learn with me. Together we would take turns reading, either in the Aramaic or on the English side, and we would work through it together. That was really, really nice. I’ve gotten to share my learning with lots of people.”
Senior Josie Silverberg, a long time friend of Lesser, has had many opportunities to learn with Lesser. Like Bloom, Silverberg sees her consistent dedication to study.
“I went to the Drisha summer program with her, and I had the opportunity to be [in] chevrutas with her, and she’s just a very dedicated learner. Even if she doesn’t understand something, she’s determined to understand it,” Silverberg said. “… She’s not afraid to question the text and she’s very consistent. She never is like ‘I’m too tired today’. She’s always willing to put in the work.”
Finding time to learn a page a day of Talmud can be challenging, but that doesn’t stop Lesser. Depending on her schedule, sometimes she will take time to learn in the morning, during breaks or after school. No matter the obstacle, she will always find time to learn.
“It is very hard to find time to do it and to stay consistent with it,” Lesser said. “But the most gratifying part, like the best part of it, is when I finish a tractate and I make a siyum. I have made siyums now just with my family, in front of my whole class, in front of my whole grade, in front of my whole camp, and once in front of my whole school in Israel which was really fun.”
