Bar Hei Hei learns an important lesson TB Haggigah 9

According to tradition bar Hei Hei (בַּר הֵי הֵי) was one of the two people who Shammai refused to convert, but Hillel consented to do so (for the full story see TB Shabbat 30b). He chose the name bar Hei Hei because he saw himself as a descendant of Abraham and Sarah. Originally their names were Avram and Sarai. God added the letter “hei-ה” to each other names. Avram became Avraham and Sarai became Sarah. (see Genesis 17:3-16). He became the “son of the man to whose name was added the letter hei and the woman to whose name was added the letter hei.” On today’s daf TB Haggigah 9 Bar Hei Hei learns the importance of reviewing from this teacher Hillel.  

“The Gemara records another discussion between bar Hei Hei and Hillel. Bar Hei Hei said to Hillel: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between he who serves God and he who does not serve Him” (Malachi 3:18). There are two redundancies here: “The righteous” is the same as “he who serves God,” and “the wicked” is the same as “he who does not serve Him.” Hillel said to him: The one “who serves Him” and the one “who does not serve Him” are both referring to completely righteous people. But the verse is hinting at a distinction between them, as one who reviews his studies one hundred times is not comparable to one who reviews his studies one hundred and one times.

“Bar Hei Hei said to him: And due to one extra time that he did not review, the verse calls him a person “who does not serve Him”? He said to him: Yes. Go and learn from the market of donkey drivers. One can hire a driver to travel up to ten parasangs for one dinar. However, he will travel eleven parasangs only for two dinars. This shows that any departure beyond the norm is considered a significant difference.” (Sefaria.org translation)

 Let me share with you a modern analogy. You rent a car from any car rental business for 24 hours. If you return the car within the 24 hours, you just owe one day’s rental. However, if you return the car late even by one hour, the car rental will charge you two days’ rental.

Preparation for Dr. Zucker’s Talmud class taught me the importance of reviewing. He was a very demanding teacher. The night before his class I would prepare the material. Before class I would review what I have prepared. Immediately after class I reviewed what Dr. Zucker taught. I have to admit that never before and never after that year did I master the Gemara to such a degree. Constant reviewing made all the difference in the world. Indeed one who reviews his studies 100 times is not comparable to one who reviews his studies 101 times.

I really love and appreciate studying daf yomi. The pace of study and my day job prevent the type of review Dr. Zucker would require of me. Consequently, I recognize daf yomi is only a dip in the shallow end of the sea of Talmud.