Temple Beth Abraham Honors Yale Zussman for Reading Entire Torah

Editor's note: The following is from a press release:

Yale Zussman recently completed reading every parsha (section) in the Torah at , Canton, a journey that began when he joined the Conservative synagogue about nine years ago.  

Since Conservative synagogues read only a third of the parsha each week, Zussman’s accomplishment is a major hurdle for a volunteer.       

Rabbi David Paskin of Temple Beth Abraham said, “We are so proud of Yale. He has dedicated hours upon hours over the past several years to learn and perfect his chanting of Torah.  He is a teacher, a scholar and an inspiration to us all.”      

It all began when Cantor Harold Lew taught Zussman to read Torah at Temple Israel, Sharon, in preparation for his bar mitzvah.  
Over the next 38 years, he did only three readings. 

Yet when his father died nine years ago, Zussman resumed attending services and joined Temple Beth Abraham.  

Some weeks later, he was asked to accept an aliyah, and he offered to do the maftir and haftarah.  Over the coming months, he volunteered to do the haftarah with increasing frequency and did the occasional Torah reading.
 
Seven years ago, Zussman did his first back-to-back Torah readings, and soon found himself doing consecutive readings several times.  

It was then that he sat down to do the numbers. 
There are 5,845 verses in the Torah, divided into 54 weekly parshiyot.  Some of the 54 parshiyot are divided into only two parts, and two are always read in their entirety, making a total of 142 readings.  

Zussman calculated that if he averaged a reading every other week, it would take about six years to read the entire scroll. 

“I would simply need to persist, prep, and develop a good method to keep track of my progress,” he said.  “In a manner of speaking, the rest is now history. 

“Over the years, I estimate I have done between 250 and 300 readings, mainly here at Temple Beth Abraham, but also at Ahavat Torah in Stoughton where I teach, and at Newbridge on the Charles where my Mom lives.  

"I also got to chant the Ten Commandments at the synagogue in St. Thomas, with a thousand-year old menorah prominently displayed on the wall behind me,” Zussman said. 

“As I approached completion, I sought to discover whether another volunteer had done this. I wrote to JTS’s cantorial school, and got no answer. Most people I asked simply said it was impossible. I guess they were wrong. If you know how to find the answer, please tell me,” he said. 

Temple Beth Abraham and its Rabbi David Paskin inspire the Conservative community in Canton and surrounding towns with a welcoming and spiritually enriching environment filled with song.

Through religious, community service, educational, cultural, and social opportunities, its progressive, close-knit congregation serves the  needs of the current and future community of Jews.

For more information, visit www.templebethabraham.org or call 781-828-5250.