Siyum HaShas

Siyum HaShas
סיום הש"ס
Logo of the main Siyum HaShas organized by Agudath Israel of America
StatusActive
FrequencyEvery 2,711 days
VenueInternational
Years active101
Inaugurated2 February 1931 (1931-02-02)
FounderRabbi Meir Shapiro
Most recent1 January 2020 (2020-01-01)
Next event7 June 2027
Attendance93,000[1] (2012)
Organized byWorld Agudath Israel

Siyum HaShas (Hebrew: סיום הש"ס, lit. "completion of the Six Orders [of the Talmud]") is a celebration of the completion of the Daf Yomi (daily Talmud folio) program, a roughly seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries, in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud are covered in sequence – one page per day.[2] The first Daf Yomi cycle began on the first day of Rosh Hashanah 5684 (11 September 1923); the thirteenth cycle concluded on 4 January 2020 and the fourteenth cycle began the following day, to be concluded on 7 June 2027. The Siyum HaShas marks both the end of the previous cycle and the beginning of the next, and is characterized by celebratory speeches, as well as singing and dancing. The next day, the new cycle begins again.

For Jews for whom Torah study is a daily obligation, the publicity and excitement surrounding the Siyum HaShas has resulted in more participants, more Daf Yomi shiurim (lessons), and more Siyum locations with each cycle.[3] Since 1990, attendance at the main Siyum HaShas in America, organized by the Agudath Israel of America, has increased dramatically, necessitating the booking of larger arenas and stadiums.[4] The 13th Siyum HaShas on January 1, 2020 took place in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey with a sellout crowd of over 90,000. Other organizations, such as Dirshu, and neighborhood groups and synagogues in cities around the world, also hold Siyum HaShas events expected to attract tens of thousands of participants.

  1. ^ Ma, Myles (31 July 2012). "Nearly 100,000 Jews expected at MetLife Stadium to celebrate reading the Talmud". Advance Digital. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  2. ^ Gellman, Shmiel (22 August 2011). "Siyum Hashas Ad Campaign Commences, Ticket Info to Be Available After Sukkos". matzav.com. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference daf7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Klass, Rabbi Yaakov (26 July 2012). "The Twelfth Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 2 August 2012.