Torah Study - Study Cycles

Study Cycles

Apart from full-time Torah study as engaged in at schools and yeshivot or for the purpose of rabbinic training, there is also held to be an obligation on individuals to set aside a regular study period to review their knowledge. Examples of programmes of study are as follows.

• Shnayim mikra ve-echad targum: study of the weekly Torah portion together with the Aramaic Targum
• Ḥoq le-Yisrael, a programme founded by Rabbis Hayyim ben Joseph Vital and Chaim Joseph David Azulai in which, every week, one studies extracts from the Mishnah, the Zohar and other works in addition to the portion for that week: the relevant passages are often printed in book form in a multivolume set.
• The Seder ha-Mishmarah, used by some Jews of Near and Middle Eastern origin, in which each weekly Torah portion is studied together with sections from Neviim and Ketuvim and the Mishnah so that all these works are read in full in the course of the year: this too has been published in book form under the title Ḥoq le-Ya'akob. In some countries it was customary for groups to gather in the synagogue each Shabbat afternoon and read out the mishmarah passages for the following Shabbat.
• The Daf Yomi programme, founded in 1923 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro: one page of the Talmud is studied each day, on a rota to ensure that Jews round the world are studying the same passage at the same time (more recently, there have been similar programmes for the Jerusalem Talmud and other works).
• The Amud Yomi, similar to Daf Yomi, but only one side of a page per day.
• Mishneh Torah - daily study (1 or 3 year cycle)
• Mishnah Berurah Yomit - daily study (2.5 or 5 year cycle)
• Kitzur Shulchan Aruch Yomi - daily study (1 year cycle)
• Halacha Yomit (Shulchan Aruch) - daily study (4 year cycle)
• Tanya - daily study (1 year cycle)