Be'ezrat Hashem, we're going to be starting Masechet Yevamot, but before I put out the recordings, I wanted to share something very dear to me. Masechet Yevamot is very dear to me because, two years ago, when the entire world was in lockdown due to the coronavirus, I, like everyone else, was stuck at home for months and months at a time. Everyone was trying to do something else to get their mind off things.
At the time, we were just starting Masechet Shabbat, which was at the beginning of the Daf Yomi cycle, and I was just starting these recordings. I figured that if I did a different Masechet (tractate) while doing Masechet Shabbat, I could get my mind off everything that was going on. So I took upon myself to record Masechet Yevamot. Of course, at the time, we still weren't sure what kind of recording device we were going to use. I live not so far away from a hospital, so there were sirens going back and forth throughout that time. The children were in the house. They were making noise. The neighbor's children were making noise. So there was a lot of stop and go, stop and go during the recording, and I tried to make it as perfect as possible.
Given the fact that it is one of the hardest Masechtot (tractates) in Shas, plus I did it at a hard time, I elected not to re-record the Masechet. I wanted to share with you a Masechet. A Masechet that I learned at an extremely tough time, as Chachamim (sages) tell us: Torah shelamadti be'af, hi Torah she'amda li (The Torah I learned in anger is the Torah that stood by me), and Be'ezrat Hashem, it will be Omed (standing) for you also.
If, through everything that went on, there are mistakes or things that got erased, please let me know. I will try to fix it as soon as possible. And may Hashem end all the Machalot (illnesses), and we should never have to deal with anything like that again. And Be'ezrat Hashem, only Simchot (celebrations).