I sit down to write this article, having just arrived home from the Metlife Stadium, where over 90,000 Jewish men and women packed in to celebrate the completion of the Talmud. There is no cycle or schedule to study Talmud, but 100 years ago a talented Jewish scholar, Rabbi Meir Schapiro, established a schedule to study one page of Talmud every day. There are 2,711 pages in the standard printed Talmud. That makes this learning cycle be a 7 and half year cycle.

Only a percent of the celebrants finished the whole Talmud, which is no easy task, but almost everyone has a friend or family member who did make the trek of studying every day a whole page of Talmud.

The event was greatly uplifting and inspiring and is an historic event that people will remember forever. Although I have other learning schedules, I decided to hop along with the new cycle. I'm already 30 years of age and I don't want to hit 37 and not yet have completed the Talmud. So hopefully, please G-d, in 7 and a half years I'll be able to write about my personal celebration and all of you, my dear readers, will read it in perfect health and ample sustenance!

This is one of the contributions that Judaism brought to the world, the sacredness of learning and studying. Learning is not just a means to be able to execute more in the world or to discover new technologies. Learning refreshes the person and elevates their spirits and souls. Learning is not just for university elites or for young college students. Learning is for everyone. Learning every day is of utmost importance.

When a person learns and discovers a new insight, they become a new person. At the event in Metlife Stadium, many people recounted how their lives changed when they started to study on a daily regimen. It changes families, individuals, and communities.

The study that has the most profound impact is studying a sacred text. It can be the Bible or the book “Ethics of the Fathers”. There are many books available today in an easy English translation.

If one doesn't feel like studying a sacred text just yet, a good book on history, science, or on life wisdom can do a lot of good to a person.

With studying an allotted piece every day, one can earn profound wisdom, and, above all, it will refresh and elevate every day. We eat every day- yesterday's food doesn't sustain us today, and the food we ate in our formative years certainly doesn't sustain us today. So too, wisdom and “food for thought” is not enough what we studied in our youth or even what we learned yesterday.

Our minds need food. One of the main functions of the brain is to process and make sense of all that our senses pick up. It transforms facts into stories; sensual transmissions into life experiences. We need to nurture that part of the brain and heighten its horizons, so it has better tools to give us a richer and more positive picture of the world. If we let the media dictate our minds' making sense of the world, our chances of getting a rich and positive understanding is very slim.

A new year is always exciting. People are excited for freshness and renewal. When we nourish our minds, we can make every day renewed and refreshed. As we embark on the new year of 2020, I'd like to encourage everyone to start a daily regimen of learning a book, a sacred work or even a scientific work.

May this year be a year of only good news on a personal, national, and international level!

Comments? Email me: moshe@jaketv.tv