of the first topic on the first page of Talmud. Other rabbis are invited to deliver speeches on the Talmud and on the significance of the event. A special Kaddish, the Kaddish Hagadol, is also said. The program is rounded out with spirited singing and dancing. 1st Siyum HaShas The 1st Siyum HaShas took place on 2 February 1931 (15 Shevat 5691) in several cities in Europe and in Jerusalem, with the main venue being the newly opened Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva in Lublin, Poland. Tens of thousands of Jews attended these events. Rabbi Meir Shapiro presided over the Siyum in his yeshiva in the presence of many leaders of Polish Jewry. In the United States, Siyums were held in Baltimore and Philadelphia. 2nd Siyum HaShas The 2nd Siyum HaShas was held on 27 June 1938 (28 Sivan 5698). Again the main venue was the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, but the founder of that yeshiva and the Daf Yomi program, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, was not present, having died suddenly in 1933 at the age of 46. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Jews came from all over Poland to celebrate the milestone together with many Torah scholars, including the Rebbes of Boyan-Cracow, Sochatchov, Sadigura, and Modzhitz, Rabbi Menachem Ziemba, and Rabbi Dov Berish Weidenfeld. So many Gedolim were gathered in one place that many halachic queries were sent directly to Lublin. The two-day event culminated with the completion of a Sefer Torah in memory of Shapiro. In the United States, Siyums were held in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. In Mandatory Palestine, organizers planned to hold a Siyum in the Zikhron Meir neighborhood of Bnei Brak (named for Rabbi Meir Shapiro). It was cancelled at the last minute by the British mandatory government, which banned all mass gatherings for fear of "anti-government demonstrations". 3rd Siyum HaShas The 3rd Siyum HaShas was held on 19 November 1945 (14 Kislev 5706), with the main venues in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem. (The Siyum in Tel Aviv, attended by more than 3,000, was delayed one day due to the British-imposed curfew.) Coming as it did after the Holocaust, this Siyum was dedicated to the memory of the millions of Jews who had perished. A Siyum HaShas was also held in the displaced persons camp in Feldafing, Germany, by a small group of survivors. In the United States, the Siyum was commemorated in the Boro Park section of