Comment on A Page a Day by Shalom Freedman

Gemara is the heart of study for most religious Jews. And learning in it does really put the person in touch with the ‘Jewish mind’ in all its argumentative difficulty. Though I come from a nominally Orthodox family I suppose I qualify as ‘chozer b’teshuvah’ one who has returned to a deeper connection with Jewish tradition and living according to the Halachah. Nonetheless, I will admit to my own shortcoming. I have studied Daf Yomi and find it does not move me the way Tannach does. But this should not mean much to anyone but myself. The fact is to really know the Jewish religious tradition one must know Gemara.
A few years ago one of the best American and Jewish literary critics Adam Kirsch studied for some time Gemara and posted on Tablet weekly readings. He is by definition a secular Jew but nonetheless was enamored of the text.
I just have the hope that despite your immersion in the study you will not stop writing your important and uniquely strong columns on Israel.