Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma

Jews around the world study the same page of Talmud each day as part of the 7-year cycle of the Daf Yomi. Join Rabbanit Dr. Tamara Spitz each week as she reviews the key topics of the previous week’s seven pages, gaining an overview of the entire Talmud while also doing a deeper analysis of one of the core issues in that week’s text.
We will combine breadth and depth to gain insights into each Tractate being studied, and enjoy the benefits of moving through topics at a quicker pace. Whatever your background in Talmud, this shiur will allow you to connect to the worldwide phenomenon of Daf Yomi study, whether you learn the daf each day or just want to gain an overview of the entire Gemara.
For the previous tractate, masechet Shekalim, please visit HERE.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 1: Daf 2-9
Masechet Yoma describes the events leading up to Yom Kippur and the events of Yom Kippur itself, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and in the Temple service. The Masechet opens with the sequestering of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) 7 days before Yom Kippur. We will learn why this was done and the biblical source for it. We will learn about the receiving of the Torah and the events that led up to it, including the cloud that covered the mountain. We will then learn about the concept of impurity being permitted or suspended in communal offerings.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 2: Daf 10-16
This week we will learn about the laws of Mezuza and if the entrances of the Temple needed mezuzot. We will then learn about Jerusalem and in which tribe’s land it was. We will then learn about the High Priest’s understudy and if he also had a substitute wife assigned to him. And finally, we will understand what services the High Priest did during his 7 day sequestration in the Temple before Yom Kippur.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 3: Daf 17-23
This week we will continue to learn how the High Priest prepared for the Temple service of Yom Kippur, what he ate and didn’t eat, what he learned the night before, and how he was kept from sleeping all night. Is the High Priest our emissary or an emissary of G-d? We will finish the first chapter with a list of the miracles that occurred in the Temple. The second chapter begins with describing the first Temple service of the day and how the priest was chosen for this job.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 4: Daf 24-30
The Gemara this week is going to define what is considered a service in the Temple and therefore can only be done by a priest, as opposed to any action that can also be done by a non-priest. We will continue learning about lotteries that we done in the Temple to determine who will do which service. After concluding the second chapter of Yoma, we will begin to learn about the early morning rituals of the High Priest on Yom Kippur.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 5: Daf 31-38
This week we will continue to learn about the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur. We will learn about the 5 times he immerses in the mikva and the 10 times he washes his hands and feet. We will also see the order of the service done throughout the day and which clothing the priest wore for each service.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 6: Daf 39-44
This week we are continuing to learn about the Yom Kippur service in the Temple. The High Priest draws lots to determine which goat will be sacrificed to G-d and which will be sent to the wilderness. We will also learn about the importance of the order of each of the services done on Yom Kippur and how some things that were done everyday were altered on Yom Kippur and why.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 7: Daf 45-51
This week we will complete the 4th chapter in Masechet Yoma and begin the 5th. We will continue learning the Yom Kippur service in the Temple, including the complicated incense service. We will then ask: what happens if the High Priest dies in the middle of the service, can his replacement pick up where he left off, or must he begin again.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 8: Daf 52-57
This week we will learn how the High Priest entered into the Holy of Holies and burned the incense. We will learn the procedure of sprinkling the blood of the bull and the goat in the Holy of Holies and then in the outer sanctuary. The Gemara then discusses different scenarios of mix-ups that can happen in the Temple.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 9: Daf 58-63
This week we will learn about the blood application on the Golden Alter and the order and direction that it was placed by the High Priest. We will also learn what happens to the leftover blood. The Gemara discusses if these applications are one set or are seen as individual.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 10: Daf 64-70
As we continue learning about the service of Yom Kippur in the Temple, this week we will learn about the goat that was sent out to the wilderness. The Gemara describes the procedure of who takes him out, where did they go and how they got there. We will then learn what happens in the Temple after the goat was taken and hopefully after the nation received atonement.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 11: Daf 71-79
This week we will learn about the priestly garments; how they were made and who wore which clothes. With that we will complete the 7th chapter of Yoma. The 8th chapter discusses the 6 prohibition of Yom Kippur that we are commanded to keep even now that there is no Temple. The Gemara discusses how each one is an affliction of the soul.
Daf Yomi One Week at a Time: Yoma: Lesson 12: Daf 80-88 + Siyum
This week we will continue learning about the amounts one is liable for eating and drinking on Yom Kippur. The Gemara teaches that children are exempt from the prohibitions of Yom Kippur but from a certain age they must practice keeping the laws. We will learn fundamental concepts that apply to our lives like: The importance of saving a life, saving a life overrides the laws of Shabbat, the concept of Repentance and how one goes about achieving atonement for various sins. We will be completing Masechet Yoma together this week in class.
Rabbanit Dr. Tamara Spitz is the Rosh Beit Midrash and Mashgicha Ruchanit of Midreshet Torah v'Avodah. She lectures on various topics in Gemara, including Daf Yomi, Halacha, and Tefilah. Dr. Spitz has held academic and administrative positions at various Midrashot and served as the Jewish Studies Principal of Instituto Yavne, one of the main Jewish day schools of Montevideo, Uruguay. She also runs a Chiropractic practice specializing in Women’s Health in Gush Etzion and is a Hip-Hop dance teacher.