Talmud. I hate it. OK, that may be a little strong. I wrestle with it. I struggle with it. I even flunked one semester of Advanced Talmud. It’s archaic. Perhaps misogynistic. But hineini, here I am, studying, even teaching Talmud again.

Why? Partly because as my ritual chair told me, I like to stretch myself. Partly because I was curious again. Partly because at the beginning of January a new cycle of Daf Yomi, page of the day started again. It is a seven and a half year cycle. Partly as a discipline. Partly to test the limits of Facebook. Partly to see what I could get out of it as a woman. Partly because it is what rabbis do; we teach. Partly as a joke—would anyone really want to study Talmud with me? No way!

So here I am, hineini, almost 4 weeks in. One the 4^th chapter and the 27^th page, enjoying Talmud. Probably for the first time. Waxing lyrical about it. The pressure is off. No one is grading this. No comp to pass. No one to impress. Study for study’s own sake, “Torah Lishma.” And surprise, some 38 people on Facebook are studying right along with me.

Here’s where it is good. Facebook has enabled us all to “meet”. This is a very diverse group of people. Some Jewish. Some not. Some rabbis, cantors, Jewish educators. Some lay people. A variety of careers. Some based in Elgin. Some spread all over the country. Some men. Some women.

And it seems to me, it is very rabbinic. The rabbis of the Talmud had “conversations” through the centuries. We are having “conversations” across all those groupings. And it is very rich. We are also finding ways to make it relevant to 2020. Recently on page 19a we were in a heating discussion (because that’s what the rabbis do, heatedly discuss, even argue) about whether you can say ill of the dead. Some said yes, if carefully crafted. Others said no, G-d would not want us to say anything bad about someone who died. Then Kobe Bryant was killed in the helicopter crash and there was a lot of discussion about his “complicated legacy” as one article put it. Wow! There seemed to be a national debate of just what we were studying.

Earlier we debated whether it mattered if we said the right blessing over beer or wine, as I was sipping a Riesling. Can we pray in a porta-potty at a race? Can we interrupt our prayers to greet someone who comes to the synagogue late? Does it matter their status or what part of the service you are in.

I don’t know if this can last for seven and a half years. I don’t even know if Facebook will be around that long or we’ll have to use a new technology. But for now, I am enjoying it. 38 other people know more about Talmud then they did when we all started. Including me. You can too. It is not too late to join us. You don’t need Hebrew or Aramaic or any other prerequisite. We are doing it in English through sefaria.org. Go to Facebook. Search for Rabbi Margaret’s Talmud Daf Yomi Group. I’ll be there.