Q&A: Finishing a Tractate on the Last Day
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Finishing a Tractate on the Last Day
Question
Someone who finishes a tractate for the Fast of the Firstborn and has learned the entire tractate except for the last line—can he postpone that last line until the eve of the fast in order to make the completion then, or does that trick not work?
Answer
Yes. Why not?
Discussion on Answer
And if you do it for one day, is that also a problem? So where’s the line? In principle I don’t see a problem with it. Maybe if the gap is very long, then yes—and even about that I’m not sure.
It looks like a gimmick. The idea is that there is the joy of a commandment in completing it, and everything follows the concluding moment. But if the main body of it, most of it, its substance and its branches, are all far behind, and all the joy has already worn off, what does that last line or that last page really add?