Siyum HaShas

Siyum HaShas (lit. "the completion of the Six Orders (of the Talmud)") is the celebration of the completion of the "Daf Yomi" (daily Talmud folio) program, a seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning the oral Torah and its commentaries, (also known as the "Gemara"), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud are covered in sequence. The program was instituted based on proposals made by Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, Poland at the First World Congress of the World Agudath Israel in Vienna in 1923. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5684 on the Hebrew calendar (corresponding to September 11 1923) the first cycle began. [ [http://www.dafyomi.co.il/dafyomi.htm What is Daf Yomi] , Dafyomi Advancement Forum. Accessed October 11 2007.] [Austin, Charles. [http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30B16FD3E5D0C768DDDA80994DA484D81 "THOUSANDS MARK TALMUDIC MILESTONE"] , "The New York Times", November 15 1982. Accessed October 11 2007. "Thousands of Orthodox Jews, for whom the intense study of the Talmud is one of the most pious acts a man can perform, gathered in Madison Square Garden yesterday to celebrate the completion of a seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning in which small study groups around the world met daily to pore over one of 2,711 pages of Jewish law.... Rabbi Schwab's father was present at the international congress of Agudath Israel in Vienna in 1923 when the Daf Yomi plan of study was proposed by Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin, Poland."]

Participants celebrated the most recent Siyum Hashas, the eleventh complete cycle, on March 1 2005, with countless events held at some 70 locations around the world. Some of the largest celebrations were at Madison Square Garden in New York City and Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, both of which were sold out, with portions conducted at each arena and telecast to the other site and oveflow locations, including at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. [Newman, Andy. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/02/nyregion/02talmud.html "Orthodox Jews Celebrate End of a True Sabbatical"] , "The New York Times", March 2 2005. Accessed October 11 2007. "All the seats at the Garden were sold out, as well as those at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands."] The honor of the recitation of the final portion of the final page at the New York area event was accorded to Rabbi Chaim Stein, head of the Telshe Yeshiva of Wickliffe, Ohio, who has participated in each of the ten preceding events, including the first held at the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva on Tu Bishvat 1930. [Goldfeder, Moshe. [http://media.www.yucommentator.com/media/storage/paper652/news/2005/03/08/News/Eleventh.Siyum.Hashas.Hosts.Record.Breaking.Turnout-885612.shtml "Eleventh Siyum Hashas Hosts Record Breaking Turnout"] , "The Commentator" (Yeshiva University), March 8 2005. Accessed October 11 2007. "The climax of the evening, the actual completion of the Talmud achieved by the reading of the last line, was performed in New Jersey by Rabbi Chaim Stein, head of the Telshe Yeshiva of Wickliffe. Rabbi Stein has the distinction of having participated in every Siyum Hashas since the very first, way back in Poland, 1930."]

At the conclusion of the eighth cycle, in 1982, it was estimated that 40,000 individuals had participated in the seven-year learning cycle. [Austin, Charles. [http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30B16FD3E5D0C768DDDA80994DA484D81 "THOUSANDS MARK TALMUDIC MILESTONE"] , "The New York Times", November 15 1982. Accessed October 11 2007. "The method of study is called "Daf Yomi," meaning "daily page". This month marks the end of the study period during which, it is estimated, 40,000 Orthodox Jews around the world clustered around the ancient commentaries on the Scriptures."] Since then, the Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud published by ArtScroll, an English-language translation and interpretation first published in 1990, has helped expand participation by a wider audience, with the final volume of the 73-volume set published to coincide with the 2005 Siyum HaShas. [Lipman, Steve. [http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=10551 "On The Same Page: Studying the seven-year Talmud cycle together, a Modern Orthodox family embodies the spirit of Daf Yomi program."] , "The Jewish Week", February 25 2005. Accessed October 11 2007. "ArtScroll is issuing the 73rd and final volume of its Schottenstein English translation to coincide with the Siyum HaShas."] Additional resources to assist those endeavoring to complete the cycle for the first time are a range of audiotapes and online websites, as well as the "ShasPod", an iPod preloaded with lectures covering every page of the Talmud. [Mindlin, Alex. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E4DB133CF934A25750C0A9639C8B63 "2,000 Talmud Tapes, Or One Loaded IPod"] , "The New York Times", March 17 2005. Accessed October 11 2007. "Enter the ShasPod. For $399, Mr. Shmidman sends his customers a 20-gigabyte iPod loaded with Talmud lectures given by Rabbi Dovid Grossman of Los Angeles."] The 1997 conclusion of the tenth cycle was celebrated by some 70,000 participants [Henry, Marilyn. [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-3928372.html "Tens of thousands to mark end of Talmud study cycle"] , "The Jerusalem Post", September 28 1997. Accessed October 11 2007. "All told, 70,000 are expected to participate in the event, which was organized in North America by Agudath Israel of America."] , and by the 2005 event, Agudath Israel of America estimated that participation had grown to 120,000 worldwide."Yellin, Deena. "Jews reach final words to years of daily devotion", "The Record (Bergen County)", February 28 2005. "The sponsor of The event, Agudath Israel of America, estimates that 120000 Daf Yomi participants will celebrate in 70 satellite locations around the world."]

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