Those who are reading the Talmud one day at a time as part of a world-wide Jewish learning initiative called Daf Yomi have, by about a year into the cycle, become used to the Babylonian Talmud’s pagination. Tractates start on page 2 and every page has two sides, a and b.
Daf Yomi readers encounter a new challenge when they hit the fifth tractate in the cycle, Shekalim. This relatively short tractate has no Gemara in the Babylonian Talmud. It does, however, have Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud. For many years now, the Jerusalem Talmud’s version of Shekalim has been printed in volumes of the Babylonian Talmud, to make up for the missing tractate.
The Jerusalem Talmud has a completely different system of pagination. But when Shekalim was imported into the Babylonian Talmud, it was given a new pagination to match the style of the Babylonian Talmud. And so, Shekalim has two page numbering systems. We will show you how to locate the page you want to read for Daf Yomi Sefaria.
How to Find the Right Page
Start on Sefaria’s home page and click on the menu (which looks like three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner to go to the library. From there, click on the button with the gold bar that says “Talmud.” The page should now look like this:
Notice that the top says “Talmud Bavli” (meaning “Babylonian Talmud) and underneath there are two menu options, Bavli (which is selected) and Yerushalmi (which is not). Click on the word “Yerushalmi.”
You should find yourself on a very similar looking page but now the top says “Talmud Yerushalmi.” Scroll down and choose Tractate Shekalim (it is the fifth tractate in Seder Moed). Click on the rectangular button that says “Shekalim.” Your page should now look like this:
Notice that the top of the page says 1:1. This is not a Babylonian Talmud page number — it’s Jerusalem Talmud numbering! But notice also that the English translation begins with square brackets that say [2a] (and the Hebrew has square brackets that say [דף ב]). This indicates that in the Babylonian Talmud, and for Daf Yomi, this is where page 2a begins.
To jump directly to a whatever page you want for Daf Yomi (according to Babylonian Talmud pagination), you can navigate to the table of contents for this tractate. Begin by clicking on the top menu bar that says “Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 1:1”. It looks like this:
This should take you to the table of contents. You can now switch to Daf Yomi pagination. Below, we’ve circled what you want to click:
As you are reading, keep an eye out for those square brackets that will let you know which page you are on, according to the Daf Yomi/Babylonian Talmud pagination. We’ll show you those one more time. Here’s what it looks like for 3a:
Happy learning! My Jewish Learning offers a daily email that offers an insight into each page of Talmud, following the Daf Yomi cycle. It’s free, it comes straight to your inbox, and it takes less than five minutes to read. If you’re not already signed up, you can subscribe here!
