The expected gathering of 90,000 Jews at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on August 1 is the culmination of what could be seen as the world’s largest book club celebrating the completion of one of the world’s longest books.
For the past seven and a half years, men — and some women — around the world have read the same page of Talmud each day: 2,711 pages from beginning to end, in a practice known as Daf Yomi, or “page of the day.” The August 1 event, dubbed Siyum HaShas, is being billed by Agudath Israel of America, the ultra-Orthodox umbrella group sponsoring it, as a “once-in-seven-and-a-half-year Jewish unity opportunity.”
Read Full Article »