The siyyum honoring the late Traub's memory marked the completion by Adath Israel members of two books of Talmud, the massive literary reservoir of rabbinic Judaism that discourses on all aspects of Jewish life. Members of the synagogue's Thursday evening Talmud class, which has met for 30 years and is the city's longest-running Talmud study group, studied the books. A Saturday morning class pored over the texts as well. Truly studying the Talmud is a massive undertaking. The Talmud contains more than 30 major volumes, each 122 pages, printed on both sides with densely worded opinions, discussions, debates and aphorisms of the rabbinic sages.
Text is surrounded by footnotes, digressions and corrections.
About 50 people attended last month's siyyum at Adath Israel, which included a dinner of barbecued turkey that served as a seudat mitzvah , or meal eaten to mark the fulfillment of a mitzvah . Since Talmud study has been a part of life at Adath Israel for many years, the synagogue has conducted 17 siyyumim . But congregants agree the latest was special. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission.