“It was in camp that I got a taam for learning Mishnah Berurah. It was in camp last year that I began learning Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Program L’Bochurim and since then, I have had a steady seder in Mishnah Berurah throughout the entire year!” That is what Eli, a bochur in Camp Achim Mesivta, enthusiastically told the Dirshu coordinator of the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim.

The Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim program this year was a mainstay in over twenty camps throughout the United States and Canada with more than four thousand bochurim participating!

It is a program that has a far-reaching impact on the future life of bochurim, because it empowers them to experience a true geshmak in learning Mishnah Berurah, thereby accustoming themselves to learning halacha in a way that they retain it.

A Profoundly Transformative Program

What is the Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim and why has it had such a profound impact on the camps that have adopted it and the bochurim who participated?

The Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim program began about a decade ago wherein Mesivta (high school) aged bochurim were invited to participate in a Mishnah Berurah learning program during the course of the month of summer camp. Through the Mishnah Berurah learning program, they learn or hear a shiur on a set amount of Mishnah Berurah each day. This year, the limud was from siman 290 - 298, covering the halachos of Mincha on Shabbos, shalosh seudos and Maariv and havdala, on Motzoei Shabbos. Mishnah Berurah booklets delineating sixteen shiurim are distributed to each bochur. After the first set of five shiurim, one day is set aside for chazara with the bochurim using the sikum booklets summarizing the halachos learned.

They are also given shailos for chazara featuring fifteen multiple choice questions in either English or Lashon Kodesh. These two versions of the shailos enable bochurim from different walks of life and yeshivos to have the format with which they are most comfortable. After the second set of five shiurim there is chazara once again and then, the last series of six shiurim is followed by a final chazara.

Bochurim are given prizes and are eligible to enter a raffle for choice Dirshu sefarim after each series of shiurim. This incentivizes them and brings excitement to the program.

Last week, Dirshu’s Nasi Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, was invited to Camp Agudah of Canada, located in Port Carling, Ontario, where there is a thriving Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program. Upon arrival he was greeted with great enthusiasm by the bachurim and in discussions with Rabbi Zoberman, who heads the Dirshu program, Rabbi Zoberman related how the program has been a transformative experience for the bachurim and how excited they are to participate in the program. Rav Hofstedter spoke to the bochurim and gave them a shiur with divrei chizuk. Many of the bochurim lined up to give him shalom and told him what a tremendous impact the program was having on them.

“All 360 Bochurim Decided to Participate!”

Rabbi Yitzchok Spigelman, Dirshu’s American Director, relates, “I cannot even begin to describe the feedback that I am getting from the rebbeim in the camps that are learning this program with their talmidim. They are simply amazed over the impact the program has on the campers. Just yesterday I got a call from a camp and was told that all 360 bochurim in their camp have decided to participate in this optional program!”

Rav Spigelman continues, “One camp coordinator told me that the Dirshu program was the optimum way to start off the morning for his mesivta bochurim. It was a seder that was geshmak, that they so loved and were so excited to attend. In addition, it gave them a feeling for learning halacha l’maaseh. Just looking at the ruach in the beis medrash when the Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim program was being learned, showed how the limud was a highlight of their day.”

The Advantages of Structured Summer Learning

Another camp coordinator said, “The Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha L’Bochurim did so much for us. It taught us what ol Torah is, what it means to learn in a misgeres. It has given us great chinuch lessons in the area of ‘kovata ittim l’Torah.’ Every day is a new shiur, a new set amount to learn. There is no day off. Every day we must learn and know and eventually get tested. That is what Dirshu taught us this summer. Aside from the learning itself, the importance of kevius is a lesson for life that each of us will, b’ezras Hashem, take with us!”

At a camp in the Midwest, the Dirshu coordinator related, “One of the critically important things that enhance learning in the summer is structure. When bochurim know that they have a certain amount that they have to learn each day and when they know that if they are tested on that learning and achieve good results, they will be rewarded, it transforms the learning experience in camp into a goal-oriented, geshmake experience.”

Even in Their Free Time!

Reb Heshy*, a learning director of a Chassidishe camp said, “There are so many benefits that a bochur gains from Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi L’Bochurim summer camp program. First and foremost is the limud haTorah itself. The summer is a time when bochurim require a bit more motivation than during the year and the Dirshu program has proven an exemplary motivator. The fact that bochurim are learning halacha and accustoming themselves to learn Mishnah Berurah every single day is a remarkable routine that starts when they are young but can often continue through life.”

Rav Aharon T, a Rebbi in a camp related, “at times when I circulate the camp at night making spot checks to ensure that all is in order I see bochurim in the bunkhouses, heads bent over the distinctive Dirshu Mishnah Berurah pamphlets, chazering or checking something out. It is amazing to see how involved they have become in the program, to the extent that even in their free time in the bunkhouse they are learning!”

Learning Mishnah Berurah Ever Since That First Summer!

He depicted one of the truly nachas-filled moments that illustrates how the bochurim program accustoms bochurim to incorporate limud halacha as part of their day. “Last year we encouraged bachurim to make limud halacha part of their lives. One of our bochurim, a bochur in ninth grade at Yeshiva Tiferes Elimelech, internalized this ideal and made a kabbalah, accepting upon himself to learn halacha daily. During the course of the year, he persevered. This year, he returned to camp having completed the entire Chelek Aleph of Mishnah Berurah!”

Perhaps the greatest testament to powerful impact that the program can have for years to come was the story related by Rabbi Spigelman. “In advance of the camp season, I got a call from a rebbi in a camp asking if he could bring the Daf HaYomi B’halacha to his camp. I asked him if he was familiar with the program and he said, ‘Of course! I myself participated in the program about a decade ago as a bochur. I am still learning Mishnah Berurah every day as a result of that one summer!”