I am officially giving up on my course of study for the upcoming syium, and I am going to do something simpler. I will study a Seder from the Mishnah now, instead of trying to finish Massecher Brachot.

As I have written before, on Friday, April 3, we will have services at 7:00 am. During services we will finish a unit of Rabbinic text study. This is done because firstborns are supposed to fast (in many opinions, first sons and daughters) in memory of the slain firstborns of the last plague in Egypt. To avoid the fast, we organize a siyum (concluding a unit of Rabbinic text study), and we are then commanded to eat.

Every year, I try to finish a book of the Talmud. Trying to make my house kosher for Passover, to get rid of all hametz, plus the regular daily activities of my family make this time of year very stressful. Add to that the preparation of a unit of study and you have a recipe for an exploding head (Rosh Kaboom, as we say here in the office).

This year, even though I started working on it when Purim came, which is usually the time I start, I find myself not in the place where I should be. And that is mostly because of the edition I am using. I am using the Koren Talmud Bavli, a commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz. It is a fabulous edition. There is so much easy to read and interesting commentary, with beautiful graphics and an easy English translation/explanation, that I find myself immersed in a page, going deeper and deeper in the concepts, and unable to turn pages as I usually do when I am preparing for the pre – Pessah Siyum.

If you come this Friday morning for services, I will not be talking about Massechet Brachot. Maybe I’ll be finished with it for next year…. But come if you can. It is always fun to finish a unit of study anyway! Hag Sameah!