Talmud Celebrated by Thousands of Jews
Greenbelt Interfaith News

At one page a day, it only took them 7½ years to finish the book. On September 28, tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews around the world celebrated their completion of reading the Talmud, the early religious writings that form the basis of Jewish law, reports the Associated Press. The reading program of Dam Yofi ("daily page" in Hebrew) was begun in Vienna, Austria, in 1923; Sunday marked the end of its tenth cycle.

In New York City, 26,000 Jews gathered in Madison Square Garden for a three-hour celebration. The worldwide program is sponsored by Agudath Israel of America, an Orthodox Jewish movement. According to New York Daily News, the cycle ended at 7:12 p.m., when the final page of the Talmud was read at Madison Square Garden. About 1½ hours later, the cycle began again when the first page was read at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.