To the daf— because the study of Torah commands creation and dictates the mission and destiny of every being.
To the daf — because the study of Torah commands creation and dictates the mission and destiny of every being.
The story of Rav Chaim Kanievsky once learning the halachos of a certain grasshopper and struggling to understand its precise anatomy is well-known. The very grasshopper he was studying suddenly appeared in the room where he was learning. Rav Chaim analyzed the creature and it then flew off. A short while later another question arose and the grasshopper promptly returned.
It may not be this degree of revelation, but in what certainly seemed like a Divine message, a Daf Yomi chaburah in Cincinnati, led by Rabbi Yisrael Kaufman, experienced something similar. This past Sunday was a beautiful, sunny morning, so they moved the chaburah outdoors to the patio of Congregation Zichron Eliezer and opened their Gemaras to Shevuos daf yud. There the Gemara discusses various se’irim — goat korbanos that are offered for the stated purpose of kapparah (atonement). The Gemara cites the opinion of Rabi Meir that there are three se’irim of kapparah — one brought on Yom Tov, one brought on Rosh Chodesh, and one se’ir brought as part of the Mussaf on Yom Kippur (whose blood is sprinkled on the Mizbeiach Hachitzoni).
Suddenly, members of the chaburah sensed that they weren’t alone. They looked up to see — three goats! Apparently, someone living not far away had purchased goats and they ran loose. And while they appeared to be roaming aimlessly, it seems they knew exactly where they were going.
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