Reading the Bible

Years ago, I was at a lecture in a synagogue, and the presenter asked the Jews in attendance, “How many of you have ever read the Bible cover-to-cover?”

 

Not a single hand went up.

 

A room full of Jewishly-identified adults who cared enough about learning Jewish things to attend a lecture in a synagogue and not a single person had taken the time to actually read the whole Bible.

 

That stayed with me. And this year, I decided to do something about it.

 

Based on the model of Daf Yomi, in which (mostly men, mostly Orthodox men) around the world study a page of Talmud a day, finishing the cycle every 7 ½ years, I wanted to try reading a chapter of Tanach, of the Jewish Bible, every day.

 

There are 929 chapters in the Jewish Bible, so I knew it would take a little more than 2 ½ years to finish. There’s actually an Israeli project called 929: Tanach Together which encourages people to read a chapter a day. The 929 project has a great website and terrific support. Unfortunately, it’s all in Hebrew and, therefore, inaccessible to many.

 

Instead, I invited two friends I thought would be interested in doing this with me. We met together and laid down some simple ground rules. And then we opened the group up to other women in our community.

 

It’s a totally different way to learn the Bible, reading it in order. It puts stories and characters in a larger context. A chapter rarely has more than 60 verses, and many have quite a few less, so it’s not a huge time commitment. Nevertheless, I’m incredibly proud to be involved in this project and to be working my way toward my goal of reading the whole Bible, one chapter at a time.

 

Today, we’re almost nine months into the project and finishing our eighth book of the Bible. After each book or two, we have a siyum, a gathering, to celebrate the completion of studying another book together. There’s food, of course. And each time, someone gives a 10 minute talk on a theme of the book we just studied. There's lively discussion, lots of laughs and, often, a little wine. When we finished learning the Chumash, the first five books of the Bible, two of our incredibly creative members led us in a game of Chumash Jeopardy, based on the popular game show.

 

Here’s how it works. We started a Facebook group for ourselves. At the beginning of each month, I post a calendar that tells everyone which chapter to study each day. Day by day, women check in and post their progress. For example, when I finish a chapter, I look for an image that communicates something about the chapter and post it, along with a note that announces that I’ve completed that chapter. Sometimes someone will post a question about something she read and didn’t understand, or she’ll make an observation about what she just read.

 

The minimum commitment is to read a chapter a day and to let the group know what you’ve read. Some women read in Hebrew. Some women read in English. Some women read the chapter without commentary and some read with commentary as well.

 

I occasionally miss a day and have to catch up, but it’s become part of my routine each evening to read the chapter and post to our Facebook group. Some women get a little behind and eventually catch up.

The most important thing is that a small group of women in my community are working our way through the entire Bible, one chapter at a time.  And we’re doing it together.

 

I hope this inspires some of you to organize a similar group of your friends and neighbors. Please be in touch if I can help.