Daf Yomi for Women - Hadran

Latest Episodes:

Megillah 17 - December 29, 25 Tevet Dec 29, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is sponsored by Laura Shechter in loving memory of her dear friend, Daniel Maurice, Moshe ben Shmuel v'Sarah, on the occasion of his 2nd yahrzeit. "Daniel would have turned 40 last week; despite his short years on this earth, he brought so much good to the world. Daniel, your memory continues to be a light to all who were blessed to know you."

Today's daf is sponsored by Joakim Isaacs for a refuah shleima to Shulamit Tzivia bat Raizel.

Today's daf is sponsored by Yael Klempner on behalf of her husband, Moshe, on their 30th wedding anniversary. "His love of learning Gemara is a continued inspiration to me."

Talmud Torah is more important than respecting one's parents - this is learned from Yaakov who spent 14 years in the Yeshiva of Eiver and wasn't with his parents. How do we know that he spent 14 years there? The Gemara goes through all the years of Yaakov's life and realizes that 14 years are missing and those must have been spent in the Yeshiva of Eiver. Can one read the Megillah backward? Can it be read in any language? On what can it be written and with what type of ink? It can only be read in its proper order. From where is that derived? Hallel, Shema, and Shmone Esreh cannot be recited backward. From where is each one derived? Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and the rabbis disagree about whether Shema can be recited in any language. Do we say that Shema means to hear and therefore one must understand or do we derive from "and these should be" exactly as they are written, in Hebrew. According to each of them, if Shema has a special drasha to teach this, what does it indicate about the rest of the Torah? Would he who holds that Shema can be said in any language also hold that the Torah can be said only in Hebrew and vice-versa? Shmone Esreh must be said it its proper order. From where do we learn the order of each of the blessings in Shmone Esreh?

Megillah 16 - December 28, 24 Tevet Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is sponsored by Jonathan Stein in honor of Rina Goldberg on the occasion of her birthday from her children and grandchildren. "She is a role model for all of us".

Today's daf is sponsored by Sari Esserman in loving memory of her aunt Miriam Monaver Bat Yosef HaCohen.

Acheshverosh found "it was written" about Mordechai having saved his life. The wording sounds like it had been recently written. What aggada is told about this and what can be learned from here? When his officers told him that nothing was done with Mordechai for saving the king's life, it was to point a finger at Haman for not having taken care of it. The rabbis expanded on the conversation between Haman and Achashverosh when Achashverosh told Haman to ride Mordechai on the king's horse, etc. What transpired when Haman reached Mordechai - what did Mordechai think? What conversation took place between Haman and the rabbis that were with Mordechai? How and why did Mordechai delay Haman? When Haman's daughter saw the scene of someone leading another on the king's horse, she assumed Mordechai was leading her father and she emptied the chamber pot on her father's head. When she realized her mistake, she fell from the roof and died. Haman's wise advisors understood that Haman was going to lose the battle to Mordechai - how did they know this? Haman came to the party in disarray as he did not have time after having the chamber pot dumped on him to clean himself up. Esther told Achashverosh at the party that Haman had advised him to kill Vashti and was now trying to kill her. Esther first wanted to point to Achashverosh to accuse him of being wicked but an angel came and moved her to point at Haman. Achashverosh felt threatened by Haman from a few different directions - what were they? In Egypt, Joseph send 5 extra clothes to Binyamin, which was a foretelling of the five clothes that Mordechai, a descendant of Binyamin wore when he left the king's palace. The Gemara brings drashot about Binyamin and Joseph meeting up after so many years as well as the interaction between Joseph and his brothers after Jacob's death. "For the Jews there was light, happiness, etc." What is that verse referring to? The ten sons of Haman in the megillah should be recited in one breath. They are also written in the form of poetry but different than the way most of the poetry in Tanach is written - in two columns one opposite the other, rather than a "half brick on top of a whole brick and a whole brick on a half brick." The parchment of the megillah needs scoring - where is this derived from? Why was Mordechai accepted by "most of his brothers" and not all of them? It seems that since he was busy with community needs and neglected Torah study, some were not pleased with him. the Gemara brings several statements about the importance of learning Torah.

Megillah 16 - December 28, 24 Tevet Dec 28, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is sponsored by Jonathan Stein in honor of Rina Goldberg on the occasion of her birthday from her children and grandchildren. "She is a role model for all of us".

Today's daf is sponsored by Sari Esserman in loving memory of her aunt Miriam Monaver Bat Yosef HaCohen.

Megillah 15 - December 27, 23 Tevet Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is sponsored in honor of our dear friend Debbie Gvir from her Hadran zoom family with prayers for a speedy recovery. We are in awe of her courageous and inspirational commitment to the daf through trials and tribulations.

Today's daf is sponsored by Jill Shames in honor of her 40th wedding anniversary and 25 years since making Aliyah! "As it is with learning, so it is with life: the things that elevate us the most may not be easy, but they are so worth it!"

Today's daf is sponsored by Rookie and Heshie Billet in memory of Rookie's mother Phyllis Katz, Faiga bat David Yaakov a"h for her 11th yahrzeit. Mom was a courageous, charming, exciting, wise person and a lifelong learner. She would be so happy that more than a dozen of her descendants are learning Daf Yomi or studying Torah full time.

Rachav had eight prophets who descended from her and they are listed by name. The Gemara asks from where do we know that the people listed were prophets? Who was the prophet Malachi – was he Mordechai or was he Ezra? There were four very beautiful women – who were they? What was the interaction between Mordechai and Esther through Hatach after the decree was issued against the Jews? There are several statements made by Rabbi Elazar in the name of Rabbi Chanina – the first one about Esther and the others about all sorts of topics. Why did Mordechai upset Haman so much – after all, he was only one person? What happened to Esther on her way into Achashverosh when she passed in the room with the idols? When she walked into Achashverosh's room, angels appeared to help her to find favor in his eyes and helped stretch the scepter in order to reach her. How far did they stretch the scepter? Why did Esther invite Haman to the party she made for Achashverosh? A long list of answers are brought. How many sons did Haman have? Why on that night was Achashverosh not able to sleep?

Megillah 15 - December 27, 23 Tevet Dec 27, 2021

Show notes

Megillah 14 - December 26, 22 Tevet Dec 26, 2021

Show notes

This week of learning is sponsored anonymously for the refuah shleima of Tova Motel bat Chanah Etel.

The repentance of the Jewish people when Achashverosh took off his ring to sign the edict to kill the Jews was greater than all the repentance generated by the 48 male and 7 female prophets. All those prophets didn't add or detract from anything written in the Torah, except for instituting the reading of the Megillah. They instituted it as a form of song of praise of God. If so, why not Hallel? Three reasons are given. Aren't there more than 55 prophets? Elkana was from Ramatayim - isn't that a reference to 200 prophets? Two other ways of explaining the word Ramatayim are brought. Why were the seven female prophets? How do we know that each of them was a prophet? For some, there is a direct reference in the verse as they are called "the prophet." For others, it is derived from something she said that she predicted an event that would happen in the future. Why did they turn to Chulda in the time of Yoshiyahu and not to Yirmiyahu, the main prophet of the time? Devorah and Chulda both exhibited arrogance and therefore, their names are the names of creatures that are abhorred. Chulda was from Joshua's descendants. But wasn't she descended from Rachav, the prostitute? Rachav converted and married Joshua and Chulda was born from their descendants.

Megillah 13 - Shabbat December 25, 21 Tevet Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

This is the daf for Shabbat. For Friday's daf, click here.

Today's daf is sponsored by Keren Sherrington on her birthday in loving memory of her grandfather Avraham and grandmothers Miriam and Chana. "I miss them and am honored that my daughters are named after them and keep their memories alive." Today's daf is also sponsored by Susan Cashdan in loving memory of her father Yitzchak ben Moshe Chone.

Why is Mordechai called both Yehudi (presumably, from the tribe of Judah) and Yemini (from the tribe of Binyamin)? Several different explanations are brought. Yehudi could also refer to one who doesn't worship idols, as can be proven from a verse in Chronicles 1 4:18 referring to Pharoah's daughter. According to the verse, she was married to Caleb – what is similar about them on account of which they married each other? Why is Esther called Hadassah or why is Hadassah called Esther? What was her relationship with Mordechai? Why did she have seven young women serving her when she was preparing for the months leading up to her meeting Achashverosh? What type of special treatment did she get? What does it mean that she found favor in everyone's eyes? Why was she brought to him in the month of Tevet? What different tactics did Achashverosh use to get Esther to tell him what nation she belonged to? Rachel and Shaul were rewarded for their tzniut – what did they do that showed their tzniut and what was their reward? Why did Bigtan and Teresh want to kill Achashverosh? To what other story does the Gemara compare it to? How did Mordechai know what they were plotting? Only after that story did Haman rise in stature – this teaches that God prepares the solution before bringing the bad decree upon us. However, with gentiles, it is the reverse. Why was Haman excited when the lottery fell on Adar? But why was he wrong? What were Haman's arguments against the Jews by which he convinced Achashverosh to let him destroy them? They were classic anti-Semitic arguments. God commanded the Jews to give the half shekel for the Temple and this was traditionally announced on Rosh Chodesh Adar – this was God's way of giving us a commandment to protect us from the money that Haman decreed that the Jews would need to pay.

Megillah 12 - December 24, 20 Tevet Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is sponsored by Shaindy Kurzmann in honor of the yahrzeit of her mother, Rivkah bat HaRav Simchah Bunim, this Shabbat, 21 Tevet. "My youngest sister, who lives in Neve Daniel, and I, who live in Monsey, have just found out this week – after two years! – that both of us have been learning Daf Yomi since the beginning of this cycle, and we can picture our mother asking us to share what we are learning, just as she had done when we were growing up in our childhood home. May our learning be a z'chus for the aliyah of our mother's neshamah."

Today's daf is also sponsored anonymously in memory of the Rambam, Moshe ben Maimon.

Even though the 70 years of exile were counted from the destruction of the Temple and the complete exile of the Jews in 586, the count that Balshezar has done, from the time of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was also somewhat true as it was the date used for Cyrus's (Coresh) proclamation permitting the Jews to rebuild the Temple. Was it a wise thing or a foolish thing that first Acheshvaerosh made a party for the people who lived farther away and then later for the ones who lived in his city, Shushan? Why were the Jews of that generation punished (that Haman was going to destroy them)? And why were they ultimately saved if they sinned? The party was in the court of the garden of the king's palace - was it in all three places? If so, why? All sorts of details of the party and what decorations there were are expounded by the rabbis. The rabbis also place Mordechai and Haman at the party based on drashot of the verses, even though according to the simple reading of the text, they were not mentioned. Vashti made her own party - where and why? Why was it specifically on the 7th day that the king asked Vashti to appear naked? This request was understood as punishment for what she did to Jewish women. Why did Vashti refuse? Why did Achashverosh get so angry? Achasverosh turned to the rabbis for advice - what was their quandary? They advised him to ask Amon and Moab instead. The names of the seven advisors are references to sacrifices and other Temple worship as a way of the angels saying to God - did these people ever serve you as the Jews did? Memuchan is a reference to Haman - why was he called Memuchan? Why was it beneficial to the Jews that Achashverosh sent our a proclamation that every man should wield authority in his house? Why is Mordechai called both Yehudi (presumably, from the tribe of Judah) and Yemini (from the tribe of Binyamin). Several different explanations are brought.

Megillah 12 - December 24, 20 Tevet Dec 24, 2021

Show notes

Today's daf is also sponsored anonymously in memory of the Rambam, Moshe ben Maimon.

Megillah 11 - December 23, 19 Tevet Dec 23, 2021

Show notes

Study Guide Megillah 11

Today's daf is sponsored by Terri Krivosha for a speedy and full recovery of her husband, Hayim ben Fage Rivah, Hayim Herring, from Covid.

Different rabbis would start their drashot on the Megillah from various verses from the Prophets and the Writings and connected them to the story of Purim. After mentioning various "beginnings" of these drashot, the Gemara moves to the first verses of the Megillah and begins to expound on them. How can the name Achashverosh be expounded? Several different options are brought. The verse says "He is Achashverosh" "he is" is explained to mean he was completely bad from the first day until the last. Other verses where this wording is used to describe people are also explained as being complete – some in a positive way and some negatively. "From Hodi to Cush" – were these states on opposite ends of the world or right near each other? Why does it say "seven and twenty and one hundred states"? Three people ruled over the whole world – Achav, Achashverosh and Nevuchadnetzer. Verses are brought to prove this. Why isn't Solomon mentioned in this list? What about Sancheriv, Darius and Coresh? Why did Acheshverosh make a party in the third year of his reign? He mistakenly thought that the seventy years of the exile had ended and the Jews had not been redeemed and therefore he thought they would never be redeemed. He thought he was smarter than Balshetzar who also miscalculated the seventy years, but he also miscalculated. What calculation did each of them make and why were they wrong?

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Daf Yomi for Women – Hadran

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected