January 1, 2020 was a very cold day in Northern New Jersey, made even colder by swirling, strong winds. If someone had asked how to find me in the crowd of 80,000 Jewish men and a few women gathered in MetLife stadium that day, all they’d have to do is look for the one guy wearing khaki in a sea of black suits. This was a place I never imagined myself being, yet there I was, possibly the only “liberal” Jew in a stadium of Shomer Shabbat participants.

In 2012, I, along with thousands of others across the Jewish world, embarked on a new cycle of Daf Yomi (translation: “a page a day”), a seven-and-a-half year long program during which participants study one entire page of Talmud every day without taking any days off for vacation, good behavior, kvetching, or any other excuse. At the end of that time, the full review of the Talmud (often referred to as SHAS, an acronym for “Shisha S’darim,” which refers to the six orders of the Mishnah and Talmud), is complete.

Participating in this endeavor had never been a goal of mine, and in fact it wasn’t until well into the program that I began to feel I might be able to complete it. I had studied bits and pieces of the Talmud a few times before and often found myself struggling to maintain interest in what I felt were often irrelevant topics to modern life. While I was raised in a traditional (albeit liberal) Jewish home, Talmud study was just not on the menu. But thanks to the subtle coaxing of Rabbi Raphael Leban of Denver, Colorado, a person I greatly admire and have come to call a friend, I agreed to join a study group at the outset of the new Daf Yomi cycle.

One 5:40 a.m. study session turned into two 5:40 a.m. study sessions, which turned into four 5:40 a.m. study sessions, and the next thing I knew, seven-and-a-half years had passed. Suddenly, it was January 1, 2020, the Daf Yomi cycle was almost complete, and it was time to celebrate at a massive gathering, called a “Siyyum,” in Northern New Jersey!

So why did I stick with this commitment and follow through with years of daily Talmud study? Something inside me drove me forward. Maybe it was a latent quest to increase my Jewish knowledge. Maybe it was a subconscious desire to learn more about the rabbis and sages of the Mishnah and Talmud (which turned out to be true, but I did not know it at the time). Maybe it was one of those little Kabbalistic sparks floating around the universe that somehow landed in my cup of coffee one morning. Most likely it was the community of learners around me, but who knows? It happened.

Throughout my time participating in Daf Yomi (and in the six years since), I have often contemplated writing down a few thoughts about my........

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