Today starts the new cycle of 929, a process of studying the whole Tanakh over 3.5 years, and I'm so excited to start over the process of learning the whole Tanakh again. It will give me an opportunity to re-study those chapters that I blasted through when I was learning in Ronen's memory the first time at a clip of 20 chapters per week.
In case you're thinking about doing a full study of the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) too, here are some tools that I found indispensable (not affiliate links, just opinions):
Koren's Student Tanakh - mine is the all-Hebrew "classic" ma'alot version (in denim!), but they also just published one with the English translation included! Since my Tanakh is all in Hebrew, I kept Robert Alter's translation and commentary close at hand.
Gel Highlighters - If you're going to have a print Bible, you should have "Bible Highlighters"! These are basically highlighter crayons, so they don't bleed through the often-flimsy pages of printed Bibles. Very handy (except when they melt in a hot car).
Pencils - Unless you're braver than I am, in which case, feel free to write in pen.
You might want to consider color-coding your way through the Bible.
When I did my study in memory of Ronen (z"l), I was on a very specific journey through the text and my notes and color-coding reflected that. I think it's helpful to go searching for yourself in the text, and to categorize what you find in this way. Be sure to keep track of how you're using your colors! It's so helpful to be able to go back and find the threads from one book to another.
And of course, shout-out to Sefaria. If you're on the go and you forget your book, or if you have a burning question for the commentaries, this is where to get started.
Word to the Curious: My favorite lesson along the way is this: The Sages were insightful humans, and so are you. Don't be afraid to read yourself into the text. Don't be afraid to question, to argue, and to find meaning along the way. Some days, it'll find you.
Comments