Daf Yomi:Training Manual

for 1st Timersfrom the Pros

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Purpose

I emailed, called, and cajoled dozens of top Daf Yomi Maggidei Shiurim,

Baal HaBaatim ranging from MDs and PhDs, to Yidden who travel to China once a month for business,

and everything in-between to find out how to

strive, optimize,

persevere, and maximize

the Daf Yomi experience for a first timer.

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5 Guiding Principles

:

Here are some of the highlights of what I learned boiled down to…

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1. HAVE A CLEAR GOAL

2. Kovei Eitim

3. Developing Techniques

4. Inspiration

5. Ignoring Criticism

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1.GOALS

Examples:You want to begin

You NEED to finishYou want to see all of Shas

You want to learn all of ShasYou want to understand all of Shas

You want to read all of Artscroll’s notesYou want to do chazara at least 2x per daf

You want to be conversant in the majority of ShasYou want to learn every Rashi, Tosafos, Rif, Rosh,

Ketzos, Pnei Yehoshua, R. Akiva Eiger, etc…

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1. Have a clear goal

2. Kovei Eitim3. Developing Techniques

4. Inspiration

5. Ignoring Criticism

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a. Definition…

Set a specific time of day that you can stick to on

most days.

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b. Don't go to bed before at least skimming the

daf. 

Getting behind is very tough. Skimming means brevity. At

very least scan the daf.

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c. If you need to skip or

rush through, keep spirits up

My favorite idea on this was getting a friend who is also in Daf

Yomi and set up a weekly or monthly progress call.

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1. Have a clear goal

2. Kovei Eitim

3. Developing Techniques

4. Inspiration

5. Ignoring Criticism

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a. Everyone develops

their own techniques

There is no cookie cutter method because everyone has different goals 

Examples:Wake up early, before you go to bed,

more time on Tosfos in Bava Kama but none on Zevachim, Shabbos do b'inyun,

etc

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b. Marathon Training

In the words of my English Maggid Shiur

“You must be mad” (crazy in American)

Start slow-

Before you start the cycle, spend time building stamina and commitment

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c. One Possible

MethodJust read the Daf to get into the pace for 2 weeks (no

understanding required)

For the next 3 weeks do Amud Yomi with Artscroll and read quickly at night the entire Daf.

This gives you an understanding your personal time commitment and goal fulfillment.

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1. Have a clear goal

2. Kovei Eitim

3. Developing Techniques

4. Inspiration5. Ignoring Criticism

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Rav Avigdor Miller zt’l said it best

Learning mussar teaches one how to live, learning Bava Kama is living

a.

Inspiration

Stay inspired, striving to grow. Bored with your shiur, feel that you have no time, way behind the

daf, or not remembering anything you learned?Review your goals for clarity as to what you really want.

But even if you don’t understand everything and don’t let it get you down. You will get next time!

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b. Your Own

Inspiration Examples:• Visualizing your family at the Siyum HaShas and your

speech ending with "I showed YOU!" directed towards your Rebbe who gave you one too many detentions

• Knowing that you are one of the few in the history of Am Israel to accomplish such a feat (percentage wise)

• Kol HaTorah Kula is attainable, it wouldn't be a mitzvah if it wasn't at every Jews fingertips 

• At a business trip in Thailand you strike up a conversation in the airport about the Daf with a Yid from Hungary and his partner from Argentina- all on the same Rav vs. Shmuel

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1. Have a clear goal

2. Kovei Eitim

3. Developing Techniques

4. Inspiration

5. Ignoring Criticism

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5. Ignore criticism against

the pace.

I am motivated by big goals. Naysayers never accomplish anything great. My Rebbe, Rav

Noach Weinberg zt'l used to say,

“Everyone thought I was crazy and said it is a waste of time. Until I started

to succeed.

Then everyone said it was their idea in the first place”

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A Word from Chazara

The best advice I got was from the Gemera itself "Reviewing 100 times is nothing compared to 101" However, for those who have little time use the handy English review/overview sheets from dafdigest.org or dafnotes.com  Highlight or use notebook to write down your personal "Gems of the Daf" or write an email to a friend giving over the Gems

But most of all, use Shabbos and Yom Tov wisely. Skim through the past week.

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Some Handy TipsArtscroll is NOT the

only way. Try out dafnotes.com or

dafyomi.co.il for a quick summary of

the daf 

There is no wrong way. Try anything until you find what works.

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Get ahead on the Masechtas you

previously learned b'inyun but pounding through so you have

some "safety net" dappim

You will have a sheva brochos, wedding, bris, and major business meeting all in the same week- PLAN

ACCORDINGLY. Get ahead, get a calendar

Tefillah for Siyata D’Shmaya isTHE way to have haztlocha in everything,

especially in

learning Toras Hashem

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Just Remember:

Acknowledgments R’Yosef Hillel Weinberg, R’Moshe Hillel Hirsch, R’Dovid Lerman, Dr. Kalmon Hellman, Dr. Julian Ungar, R’Daniel Muskat, R’Avrohom Adler, Mr. Bob Newell, R’Zev Dickstein, R’Burr, R’Weil, R’Ahron Rothman, R’Binyomin Sugerman, R’Moshe Francis, R’Avrohom Friedman, Dr. Noam Wasserman, R’Aryeh Sokol, R’Jay Spero, R’Yisroel Shaw, R’ Mordechai Kornfeld, R’Jonathan Reitti, the staff of DafYomi.co.il, Artscroll's Daf Yomi team, the staff of OU's DafYomi, and many, many others.

A very special thank you and extreme hakoras hatov to my Aishes Chayil.

This is dedicated to my newborn daughter, may she should grow into a tznius Bas Torah of the highest caliber of middos.

Achron Achron Chaviv, the Ribono Shel Olom- for everything.

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Please feel free to spread and edit this as you see fit.

Email me at benyamin@lovetorah.org

With any comments, tips and inspiration