Siyum

[edu]

Today the Rabbi at one of the local synagogues in my area made a siyum upon finishing the Minchat Chinuch's commentary on all the commandments in Parshat Tazria.
He said one of the benefits of making a siyum is to counter the yetser hara that wants to stop a person from learning.
I am looking for an additional sources on why and when we make a siyum.
So far, I have found the following article on the net.
http://www.kof-k.org/articles/040208030401W-36%20Making%20a%20Siyum.pdf

[muman613]

http://www.teach613.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=162&Itemid=54

When to make a Siyum: What qualifies for a Torah celebration


Sources
1. Abaye said: If I saw a scholar who completed a tractate, then I would make a holiday for the Rabbis. (Talmud, Shabbos 118b-119a)

2. When a person completes a tractate (mesechta) there is a mitzvah to rejoice and to have a festive meal which is called a mitzvah meal. (Ramoh, YD 246:26)

3. The final day is called Simchas Torah, because we rejoice and make a festive meal for the completion of the Torah. (Ramoh OCh 669:1)

4. The fifteenth day of Av was a day of celebration because it was the day on which they completed cutting wood for the Mizbeiach. (Talmud, Baba Basra 121b)

5. "Shlomo awoke, and behold it was a [valid] dream. He came to Yerusholayim and stood before the Aron, and he brought sacrifices. He made a feast for all of his servants." From here we learn that one should make a festive meal for the completion of  [a] Torah [endeavor]. (Medrash Rabboh, Shir HaShirim 1: 9; Melochim 3:15)

6. The completion of in depth study of a volume of Torah can be considered a "mitzvah meal". We find that any mitzvah that extends for a long period until its completion has justifiable joy at its completion.
(Igros Moshe OCh 1:157)


Applications


7. There are those who do not eat meat or drink wine during the week in which Tisha B'av will occur. Some add on the time period from Rosh Chodesh Av. At a "mitzvah meal" such as a Siyum on a tractate, anyone who is included in the celebration may eat. During the week of Tisha B'av only ten people are allowed. (Shulchan Aruch 551:10)

8. A firstborn fasts on the day before Pesach, to remember the miracle by which the Jewish firstborn did not die during the tenth plague. The custom, however is, that they join in a siyum and eat. Even though they did not study the tractate, they may join the joyous occasion of the person who did finish the study. (Shulchan Aruch 470 and Mishnah Berura 1 and 10)

9. The statement "If I saw a scholar who completed a tractate, then I would make a holiday for the Rabbis" indicates that the celebration included those who were part of the learning group even if they didn't complete. There are those who allow a firstborn to eat if they study a short volume of Torah with Rashi's commentary. (Teshuvos V'Hanhagos 1:300)

10. If a person would be effected by a fast such that he would have trouble doing the mitzvos of the seder properly, then it is better that he shouldn't fast. (Mishnah Berura 470:2)

[muman613]

That PDF which you linked to seems pretty complete.

[muman613]

BTW, Mazel Tov edu that you had the ability to partake in this mitzvah....

[muman613]

http://ohr.edu/5037

Question: A friend of mine who is a serious student of Talmud invited me to a mesiba (party) that he is making in honor of his having completed an entire mesechta (Tractate) of the Babylonian Talmud. Is there any point in my being a part of this siyum given that I did not study and complete that mesechta?

Answer: The Talmud (Mesechta Sabbat 118b) relates that the Sage Abaye made a mesiba for all the students in his yeshiva when even only one of them completed a mesechta. This is the source for the halachic ruling that such a mesibat siyum is considered a seudat mitzvah for all the participants.

Two reasons are given by the commentators for this Sage's policy of celebrating a siyum.

One is the Midrash relating to the feast that King Solomon made for all his servants when he was granted the wish for superior wisdom that he made in a prophetic dream. This, notes the Midrash, is the source for making a celebration upon completing the Torah. Just as the increase of wisdom of one man was a cause for celebration for his entire entourage, so too is the increase of Torah knowledge a reason to celebrate. This is why we celebrate on Simchat Torah upon completion of an entire year's public reading of the Torah. This, too, is the reason for celebrating a siyum on even one mesechta.

A second reason is based on one of the Talmudic explanations of why the fifteenth day of the Month of Av is considered a special day in our calendar. This was the day when the kohanim climaxed their work of preparing wood for use on the altar in the Beit Hamikdash, a climax that they celebrated with a feast. The great joy with which they performed this mitzvah throughout the year reached its peak with this climax and demanded expression. The joy with which one studies the Talmud, page-by-page, reaches its peak with the completion and a mesibat siyum is in order.

As far as you are concerned, aren’t you happy to participate in the other simchot of your friend?

[muman613]

Two Sundays ago I finally had my Pidyon HaBen for which we had a Seudah Mitzvah at my Rabbis home. It is a mitzvah meal which we had that day...

Here I am giving the coins to the Kohen:



The Pidyon HaBen ceremony consists of giving the Kohen five silver coins:



PS: Now you Siyum, Now you don't...

[edu]

Mazel Tov on the Pidyon Haben.
It would probably be helpful to other Jews to explain to them the details of this mitzva and that it applies even to adults, if their parents had not done one for them already.
Did you use a standard Cohain for your Pidyon?
I ask because there is a story told about the Vilna Gaon, that he gave for himself Pidyon Haben money to different Cohanim (plural of Cohain) because, he was afraid that some of the Cohanim, might be invalid for one reason or another.
When he met up with a Cohain who had a Ktav Yichus, (a certified document of lineage), he stopped looking for additional Cohanim and relied on the Pidyon Haben that he gave that man.
Probably, this is just a chumra, above the real requirement of halacha.
I myself have not had to deal directly with this issue, because one of the exemptions of this mitzva applies to me.