All of Talmud in One Year

The Alter Rebbe instructed that every Jewish community should study the entire Talmud each year. Therefore, it is customary on Yud Tes Kislev to divide up the study of Talmud.

The Code of Jewish Law rules that each individual has the ability to give away, or sell, a share of this Mitzvah to others. The tribes of Issachar and Zebulun entered into a similar partnership, with Issachar sharing the merit of their Torah study, while Zebulun supported them. Here too, when you accept to complete a tractate of Talmud by next Yud Tes Kislev, and you want it to count as if you have studied the entire Talmud, you share the merit of your study with the other participants.

Applicable here is also another principle in Jewish law: When a forbidden action on Shabbos cannot be carried out by one individual alone, requiring two individuals, they are both liable – each one is considered to have committed the entire action. Likewise, due to the pressures, trials and tribulations of life in exile, Jewish law itself may recognize that you cannot study the entire Talmud yourself, nor can your neighbor. So the same law applies: Since the study of the entire Talmud cannot be carried out by one individual alone, each participant is considered to have completed the entire task on his own.