From our earliest days as father and son, we studied TanakhAn acronym for the name of the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim. together. 

We’d talk about Parshat HaShavua (the weekly TorahRefers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, also called the Five Books of Moses, Pentateuch or the Hebrew equivalent, Humash. This is also called the Written Torah. The term may also refer to teachings that expound on Jewish tradition. portion), the connection to the Haftarah (the corresponding prophetic reading) and lessons gleaned from the text to contemporary life.  

Our Story

When the son (Efrem) was in 6th Grade, they started learning the annual curriculum of the Chidon Tanach Olami (International Bible Contest). Yes, it was a good chance for the son to explore an extra-curricular adjacent to the spelling and sports competitions pursued by his friends, but it was also an opportunity to delve deeper into the ancient texts and narratives that tell the story of our heritage. 

The son ended up placing in the National Top 5 three times and was invited to participate in the International Finals in 1986, where he placed 17th. The real gift came not from any awards but from forming a deeper and more intimate connection with the words and verses that can only come from repeated study. Moreover, the bond formed with others who had also spent the many hours studying the words of the Tanakh enabled conversations that led to both spiritual and emotional growth.

That study would come in particularly handy as the son later met and engaged with people of different faiths. On several occasions, he’d find himself in dialogue with someone well-versed in Biblical Text and asked how he might reconcile certain questions of faith or practice. It was then that he was most grateful for his countless hours of Tanakh study that gave him both the knowledge and confidence to remain present and positively engage in these discussions of faith.  

Perek Yomi

By the mid-1990’s, studying a chapter of Tanakh had become part of the son’s daily routine. Noticing the popularity of Daf Yomi for TalmudReferring to one of two collections, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds, edited in the 6th century, that contains hundreds of years of commentary, discussion, and exploration of the ideas in the Mishnah. One could describe it as Mishnah + Gemara = Talmud study, he pitched a similar concept to multiple organizations across the denominational spectrum to study the Tanakh in 929 days (yes…nearly 25 years before *that* 929 launched in late 2014), but there were no takers. 

Ultimately, the father (Jerome) suggested a pilot of the program to United Synagogue Regional Leadership. The positive reviews of the experience led to USCJ rolling out Perek Yomi on Simhat Torah 1999.  By 2000, some 8,000 Jews were participating in the program as the cycle of Neviim Rishonim (Early Prophets) was concluded. The conclusion of the first Perek Yomi cycle timed with the launch of Mishnah Yomit, a project that continues to this day.

Tanakh Yomi: Let’s Learn Together! 

We could not be more excited about the launch of Exploring Judaism’s Tanakh Yomi. Not only has daily Tanakh Study been such a rich part of our lives, but a rich part of Conservative/Masorti Judaism’s history as well. And we are thrilled that Tanakh Yomi is making use of the study questions drafted by our friend/teacher Dr. Morton Siegel (z”l) with whom we both were privileged to study and learn.  

Every person’s study experience with Tanakh is simultaneously unique and unifying. May we all learn and grow together in the days to come.

Check out the Tanakh Yomi page.