We at the Daf Yomi shiur in Ramat Beit Shemesh plan on spending a lot of time on Mesechet Niddah. We plan on learning it Halacha Lemaseh, as we do every Mesechet, but we have planned many guest Rabbis to give us Halacha Shiurim on the topic. At least one day a week, in addition to discussing the Halachis issues that are not found in the Gemaruh..Which means that we are going to need more time for Mesechet Niddah, since most of the Mesechet does not deal with practical Halachik issues. In order to accomplish this, we are going to try to learn one and a half daf a day for the comming Mesechtot. We have two questions :
1- Will we be " Yotzeh " finishing Shas if we skip the Mishnayot of Kinim and Middos, as this will give us extra time ? My understanding is that it has been included in Daf Yomi, due to the printers. If so would it be wrong to use that time for Mesechet Niddah ? or is it preferable that everyone should learn it on their own,. or should we stick to the regular scheduele ?
2 - Do you know of a good order to learn Messechet Niddah ? We don't want to learn it in the regular order, as we want to discuss the practical Halachik issues first, ie. start from the end and work our way to the beginning ?
Thank You
Shmuel Katz, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel
Reb Shmuel,
Shalom, it's so nice to hear from you! How are the Shiurim going?
Your plans for Maseches Nidah sound wonderful, and I wish you much Hatzlachah. Perhaps you can tape the Shiurim and allow us to post online copies of them? I am sure that many people around the world would benefit from them if you would do so.
As for the Mishnayos, I would advise to skip them. Anyone who wants to can learn them on the side (as well as Zera'im, Taharos and Avos). They have no bearing on the Siyum Hashas, as far as I can tell. (BTW, I hope that your Shiur will be represented at our Grand Siyum, BE"H.)
My friend, Rav Nachum Borowsky (who has taught Hilchos Nidah in his Kollel many times) recommends that if you are doing Dafyomi -- and therefore you will not be skipping the odd pages that are not l'Halachah -- you should try learning in the following order:
1. Start from 57b until the end of the Maseches.
2. Then learn 11a until 21a (i.e. end of second Perek), which is also somewhat pertinent l'Halachah.
3. Afterwards you can fill in the remaining Dafim.
If you have the time to learn the Halachah using the Beis Yosef, it will give you a vastly greater understanding of the Halachic process.
Be well and l'Hitra'ot,
Mordecai Kornfeld