[Avodah] easy tractate for beginners

[Noam Stadlan]

Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:26:27 -0500
From: Sholom Simon <sholom at aishdas.org>

> I have a near 70-yr old friend at shul -- he's a senior (he's "on the path"
> and while he's extremely smart (Ph.D. in Math) he doesn't have any
> classical Jewish education.  He wants to dip his toe in the waters and read
> an Artscroll tractate of Gemara for the first time.  He had picked Me'ila,
> because it was short, and found it too hard/esoteric for him, and found it
> presumed way too much background knowledge. (Yeah, no kidding!)

> Does anybody have suggestions for a different one?

I learned Ta'anit with 2 of my children for their bar/bar mitzvah. We
found it adequately short, full of interesting aggadah, and a good
springboard to consider what a relationship between a person and God
looks like.

Kol tuv. Noam