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Speaking volumes: longest-running shul shiur achieves milestone
Not many rabbis can boast that one of their regular classes has been going uninterrupted for nearly 40 years.
Rabbi Yossy Goldman, life rabbi emeritus of Johannesburg’s Sydenham Shul, can claim this distinction as his weekly Talmud class is now entering its 39th consecutive year and is arguably the longest-running shiur in South Africa!
Having just completed the entire 119-page volume of Bava Metzia, the seasoned teacher said it was the class’s biggest achievement since its inception. While it may not have been a siyum hashas (completion of the entire Talmud), for his 20-plus students, none of whom ever attended a yeshivah, it was cause for major celebration.
Rabbi Goldman joined Sydenham Shul in 1986, and his weekly Torah study group began shortly thereafter. It’s been going strong ever since.
“We’ve completed many volumes of the Talmud over the years, but Bava Metzia was by far the most challenging, both in size and depth,” Goldman said. At 119, double-sided pages, it’s one of the biggest tractates of the Talmud. It’s also studied in yeshivas around the world as a classic in halacha and Jewish jurisprudence.
“We had some very difficult patches,” he confessed, “but, thank G-d, the guys focused, put on their ‘thinking yarmis’, and we got through them. I’m happy for them all. It’s a huge source of pride for all of us, myself included.”
Although the shiur takes place in the home of Rabbi and Rochel Goldman, the siyum dinner was held in Sydenham Shul’s Elk Hall, and was ably chaired by Rabbi Yehuda Stern, Goldman’s successor at the shul.
The siyum celebration dinner on 14 January was attended by the students, their wives, and families, including members of the shiur who have emigrated but continue to participate over Zoom. On the screen were participants from Israel, London, Manchester, and Cape Town. Rabbi Gidon Fox came in especially from Pretoria to show his admiration for the achievement.
Guest speaker Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein said he regarded his presence not as a communal duty, but an opportunity to experience some personal naches. The naches was tangible as he joined in the celebratory dancing after Goldman did the official siyum and concluded the final lines of the tractate. He, too, was impressed with the class’s accomplishment, and said it proved again how little by little, page by page, week by week, we can achieve great things that would have seemed too formidable at first.
Advocate Stanley Pincus, who represented the students, said being asked to speak at this siyum was without doubt the most challenging brief of his entire legal career. He also rebutted the rumour that people attend the shiur just for Rebbetzin Goldman’s home-baked chocolate chip cookies which are served with tea afterwards. His proof was that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people still attended the shiur on Zoom – and there were no cookies.
Pincus gave a concise summary of all the 10 chapters of the Talmudic tome, saying how much he enjoyed comparing Jewish law with Roman Dutch law, which is the basis for South African law. The shiur is, in fact, attended by several attorneys and one former high court judge. When the advocate finished, Goldman quipped, “Stan, you won the case … with costs!”
As to why the shiur takes place at their home rather than at shul, Goldman said, “When our children were growing up, I wanted them to see regular Torah study taking place firsthand so that it should become part and parcel of their life experience.”
The traditional prayers recited at a siyum express hope that the students will continue to begin and complete further books of the Talmud, to which everyone offered a resounding “Amen!”
The shiur will begin the book of Moed Katan next Tuesday, 28 January, please G-d.

John Winlow
January 28, 2025 at 3:12 pm
To study Torah with friends is a real blessing!