Proper Learning Curriculum
Question
You have made it clear on this website that one must follow a certain format in learning. Tanach, Mishna, Gemara, Poskim etc. 1. What is the proper way to learn Tanach? Just reading through it in English to get the basic gist of it? Hebrew and English to familiarize onelself with the original? Or going through the commentaries on each verse to really know what's going on below the surface? If going thru the commentaries is necessary, are English presentations of the classical commentaries OK? Pls elaborate. 2. What is the proper format for learning Mishna? Any recommended elucidations? (I.e, Rav, Tos. Yom Tov; Kehat; Artscroll etc.) 3. For Gemara, going through Shas with a "crutch" -- i.e., translations (e.g., Artscroll) -- is that sufficient to get a broad familiarity with Shas? Or must one break his teeth over every line with Rashi, Tosafot, Ro"sh, Maharsh"a etc. 4. Once one finishes Shas, does that make him ready to start learning the Tur with Bet Yosef? Or are there other works one must learn first, e.g., Rambam's Mishne Torah? 5. Where do you go from there? What do you concetrate on next? Looking forward to your direction! Thank you.
Answer
Answered by Aaron Abadi1) Read the Hebrew, not the English. If you do not yet know Hebrew well, then start with learning Hebrew. Then learn Tana"ch without commentaries, other than the few Rashis or Metzudot to understand at least one basic translation. If you don't understand, just continue. You'll get it the second time around, or the third. Learning Tana"ch in depth is not allowed. 2) Rav, Tosfot Yom Tov, or Tiferet Yisrael. Any one that gives you an understanding, and go on. 3) Only learn the Gemara and a few Rashis; the ones that you need to understand the Gemara. The only crutches allowed are the Radak's Sefer Hasharashim for the Hebrew, and the Aruch for Aramaic. If you are up to Gemara, that means you know Tanach. You should know the Hebrew and Aramaic by then. 4) Do Shas again, day after day, for the rest of your life. If you have a serious background at that point, you can start studying Halachah in depth. This needs some personal direction, and can really be messed up. 5) see #4 Halachah in depth includes learning the Gemaras, Rashis, Tosfot, Rash, Ran, Tur, Beit Yosef, Mechaber(Maran), Rama, and some of the Acharonim. While learning these Sefarim, there will be the need to look up Pesukim in Tanach, other Gemaras, Yerushalmis, Rambams, other Rishonim, Teshuvot Seforim and Whatnot to get to the bottom of a Sugya. It's not simple, and without direction, you'll be better off not learning at all. AA