Q. Dear Rabbenu, Orech Yamin. I davened (prayed) many years in a congregation where we learned Pirkei Avot from Pesach until Shavuot. We recently moved to another community and they keep learning a Shabbat shiur on Pirkei Avot until Rosh Hashana. My friends and I truly like the learnimg of Pirkei Avot, and we have a number of questions.
First, is my old tradition an accepted one?
A. Indeed the most common traditional Ashkenazi custom of saying and learning Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) begins on the Shabbat immediately following Passover (Pesach) and continues on every Shabbat by the Mincha davening until at least the holiday of Shavuot.
Because Pirkei Avot is divided into six chapters, this six-week period allows for the completion of one chapter each Shabbat. Indeed it is a most common accepted tradition in our Ashkenazi communities.
See next question.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by Horav Y. Hirshman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller and Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu, Horav Kalman Ochs, and Horav Dovid Bartfeld consulting in need Horav Hagaon Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz Shlit’a
Important Numbers
