Two Dirshu Chaburos in Beis Medrash Complete Masechta Bava Metziah

“A siyum is not only about the past, about a person completing a masechta. Rather,” HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler exclaimed, “a siyum is about the future, about the foundation that he built by completing the masechta thereby giving him the wherewithal to go forward with even greater strength to embark on the next masechta.”

Those powerful words were said by Rav Kotler at an exceptional siyum on Masechta Bava Metziah made by the Dirshu Chaburas Shas Chaburos of Beis Medrash Govoha of Lakewood, this past week.

The siyum was graced by the Roshei Yeshiva of Beis Medrash Govoha, HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, shlita, HaGaon HaRav Yeruchem Olshin, shlita, as well as the Nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, who came especially from Toronto to participate and address the milestone siyum.

Dirshu’s Chaburas Shas program is a unique program designed primarily for avreichim who want to learn with depth while simultaneously finishing masechtos. It was introduced upon the advice and guidance of numerous Gedolei Yisrael.

The two-track program is tailormade for bnei Torah who desire in-depth learning according to a schedule that empowers them to systematically complete masechtos.

Chaburas Shas covers two-and-a-half blatt weekly (an amud per weekday) with Friday and Shabbos consecrated for chazarah. Track one includes Gemara, Rashi and Tosafos while track two features learning and being tested on Gemara, Rashi, Tosafos, and a list of maarei mekomos from the Rishonim and Achronim prepared under the guidance of HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, shlita,Rosh Yeshivas Chevron.

The program began two years ago with Masechta Bava Kama and has thus far completed Masechta Bava Kama, Horiyos and most recently, Masechta Bava Metziah. There are two separate Chaburas Shas programs in Beis Medrash Govoha with one led by Rosh Chaburah Rav Avrohom Zelig Krohn, and the other by Rosh Chaburah, Rav Yehuda Nakdimen. The two chaburos function during night seder. Over the past year when Beis Medrash Govoha was learning Masechta Bava Metziah, the chaburah learned the entire masechta. Chaburah members have taken tests on the entire masechta engaging in multiple chazaros until they had mastered the entire masechta.

That is why the special simcha that permeated the air is so difficult to encapsulate on paper. After all, how can you capture the essence of the profound simcha of yedias haTorah, of spending an entire year learning a difficult masechta, chazering and learning again, day in and day out?!

The siyum was held bein hasedorim so as not to detract from the sidrei yeshiva.

A testament to the importance that Beis Medrash Govoha’s hanhala attaches to the siyum was the fact that two Roshei Yeshiva troubled themselves to come to the River Terrace Hall to participate in the siyum. Anyone who observed the spirited dancing and tremendous outpouring of simcha shel mitzvah was able to tell that this wasn’t just any siyum.

Rav Malkiel Kotler: The Spiritual Simcha of a Siyum

In his remarks, the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Malkiel Kotler, cited the well-known chiddush of the Yam Shel Shlomo who proposed that when bentching by a siyum, one should insert the words, “shehasimcha bem’ono” just as one does by a chasuna. In the end, the Yam Shel Shlomo recanted saying that he had received a heavenly sign showing him that this should not be done.

Rav Kotler related in the name of the Aruch Hashulchan that the reason they did not let him insert that nussach was not because a siyum is less of a simcha but because a siyum is more of a simcha. He explained that when a person gets married, there are two components to the simcha - the gashmiyusdig component that he is embarking on a new life with a new wife, and the ruchniyusdig component that he is building a new bayis ne’eman for Hashem by fulfilling the mitzvah of getting married. Because it is not ONLY a spiritual simcha, we need to highlight the spiritual component of the simcha that shows Hashem is still rejoicing in that simcha.

A siyum, however, is a purely spiritual simcha and one does not have to proclaim the simcha by reciting the words “shehasimcha bem’ono”, the simcha speaks for itself!

Rav Malkiel added that when a bachur gets married, he is celebrating the siyum of his years as a bachur, but the simcha is that the foundation that he built as a bachur will empower him to build a true Yiddishe home. In that sense a siyum is similar to a chasuna. A siyum is not only about the past, about the fact that he completed a masechta, it is also about the future. The foundation that a person built by completing a masechta provides the person with the wherewithal to go forward with even greater strength to embark on the next masechta. That is what we say in the hadran on a siyum, that we will come back and learn the masechta again. It is about the future, even more than the past.

Rav Kotler used the Twin Towers as a moshol, explaining that when the Twin Towers were built, they were established on many floors that were first built underground. There was an underground subway station and mall. When they finished the underground part, they did not throw a party. Why not? Because the underground section was merely a foundation for the skyscraper that would be built on top. A siyum symbolizes both the completion of a masechta and the foundation for the future learning that will be built upon the solid foundation of the masechta that has been completed.

Without a doubt, Rav Malkiel concluded, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, the Nasi of Dirshu, is the foundation upon which every Dirshu siyum and accomplishment is built. The entire world-wide Torah edifice of Dirshu is built on him!

Learning Alone Versus With a Chaburah 

The Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Malkiel was introduced by Rosh Chaburah, Rav Avrohom Zelig Krohn. Rav Krohn related that Rav Aharon Kotler, Rosh Yeshiva of Beth Medrash Govoha, had wanted the talmidei hayeshiva to learn two blatt every week during second seder. However, he was not able to prevail on the talmidim to learn so quickly. Rav Chaim Epstein, zt”l, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Zichron Melech who had been a talmid in the Lakewood yeshiva at the time, approached Rav Aharon and told him that he was determined to reach the goal Rav Aharon had set so, he was planning on learning the full two blatt weekly.

“Will you be doing this with a chaburah or by yourself?” Rav Aharon asked.

“By myself,” Rav Chaim answered.

“Then don’t do it,” Rav Aharon advised. “I meant that you should only do this with a chaburah of likeminded chaveirim.”

Rav Krohn exulted, “Baruch Hashem, all of us here were able to learn two blatt a week with a chaburah and all the unique maalos that come out of learning in a chaburah. This could not have been done without Rav Dovid Hofstedter! Each one of us feels such a deep sense of gratitude to him!”

Rav Krohn also cited the words of the Brisker Rav who described the greatness of a siyum by saying that when a person makes a siyum there is a special eis ratzon, it is an opportune time in shomayim for tefillos to be answered.

One of the highlights of the event was the actual siyum made by Rosh Chaburah, Rav Yehuda Nakdimen and the outpouring of pure simchas haTorah at the dancing that followed. The simcha was palpable, literally pulsating as the mesaymim danced and danced with Rav Hofstedter and the Roshei Chaburah. There was something almost contagious about the deep wellsprings of joy and accomplishment that permeated the air at this most remarkable siyum.

Rav Dovid Hofstedter: Torah Learned with Mesirus Nefesh Will Last

Rav Nakdimen then introduced the Nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, who gave a comprehensive hashkafa drasha wherein he outlined the steps a person must take to ensure that the Torah that he learns will have a kiyum, will remain for eternity.

Rav Dovid related that he was once discussing kiruv rechokim with the Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman. Rav Aharon Leib emphatically told him that the only successful way in kiruv is through Torah. All the philosophy and all the chessed may seem to work temporarily but for one to truly succeed in being mikarev rechokim in a lasting way, it can only be done by actually teaching them Torah. Rav Shteinman brought proof to this from Avrohom Avinu. The Torah learns from the words, “es hanefesh asher assu b’Charan” that Avrohom Avinu brought multitudes close to Hashem, but we don’t see that anything came of them. The reason, Rav Aharon Leib said, was because in the time of Avrohom there was no Torah. Avrohom did chessed with them, but because it was before Mattan Torah, there was no Torah, so there was no kiyum.

“Really?” Rav Dovid asked, “There was no Torah? But wasn’t Torah being learnt in Yeshiva Shem V’Eiver? Didn’t Avrohom Avinu’s offspring, Yitzchok, Yaakov and the shevatim all learn Torah? Furthermore, Chazal teach us that the alpayim of Torah that began before Mattan Torah started with the nefesh that Avrohom Avinu made in Charan. So how could the Rosh Yeshiva have said there was no Torah?”

In a beautiful tapestry of sources woven from the Targum, Rashi and Ramban based on the pesukim in the parsha right before the story of Sedom, Rav Dovid showed that even though there certainly was Torah, the Torah that can last for eternity and that can transform a person can only come with mesiras nefesh.

This can be seen from the parsha when Hashem says, “Can I hide from Avrohom what I am about to do to Sedom?” The Torah explains, “Ki yadati, because I know, and I have a special love for Hashem because he [Avrohom] will give over the Torah to his descendants in a way that the Torah will remain with them.” The question then arises, what does the fact that Avrohom will pass the Torah to his descendants have to do with Hashem, kaviyachol, feeling compelled to tell him about the imminent destruction of Sedom?

Avrohom Avinu knew that the people of Sedom were so wicked that they would not do teshuva, nevertheless, he begged Hashem to spare them. He had mesiras nefesh to beg on their behalf even though he knew they were not worthy. Similarly, he had mesiras nefesh to teach Torah to the people in Charan despite knowing that they would not be able to retain that Torah. It was this mesiras nefesh of Avrohom, who even with his understanding that nothing would remain of them, that engendered Hashem’s deep love for Avrohom.

Rav Dovid then cited the words of the Tanna Devei Eliyahu about a bachur who came to Eliyahu Hanavi saying that he learned Torah but was not successful in retaining it. Eliyahu told him that the only way to be successful was with complete mesiras nefesh.

We see from all the above, Rav Dovid exclaimed passionately, that the only way a person will have siyatta d’shmaya in a way that Torah will last and remain is if he learns with mesiras nefesh; when one tries and plugs away even when according to nature, he shouldn’t succeed. When he does this, he is endowed with siyatta d’shmaya that goes above and beyond the natural order. He may not succeed immediately, as can be seen from Avrohom, but eventually he will succeed.

A Fulfillment of the Desire of Rav Aharon Kotler

Rav Dovid shared a fascinating personal story that he heard from his own Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Dov Schwartzman, zt”l. Rav Dov said that Rav Aharon Kotler wanted his talmidim to complete the masechta that the yeshiva was learning and he constantly urged them and pleaded with them to do so.

“In fact, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, told me that Rav Aharon tried all kinds of ways to encourage his talmidim to finish the masechta but he was not successful. Perhaps,” Rav Dovid concluded with a smile, “he really was successful! What we have just learned is that when something is done with mesiras nefesh, even if one does not see instant results, they will eventually emerge. We see today in Beis Medrsh Govoha, the yeshiva of Rav Aharon Kotler, how two large chaburos have comprehensively learned and completed the entire masechta that the yeshiva is learning!”

Rav Dovid then encouraged the chaburah to continue learning with mesiras nefesh so that they would continue to see phenomenal hatzlacha!

All Rooted in Torah

Another highlight of the evening was the inspiring drasha given by the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Yeruchem Olshin. Rav Yeruchem cited a Medrash that quotes the passuk at the beginning of Tehillim, “Ki im b’soras Hashem cheftzo,” that a truly G-d fearing Jew has one desire, the Toras Hashem, to learn Torah.

The Medrash says, that Avrohom Avinu embodied that passuk of wanting only Torah, as written in this week’s parsha that Hashem loved Avrohom because he was the person who, “l’maan asher yetzaveh es beiso v’es banav acharav – because he commands his children and his household after him to go in the ways of Hashem, meaning to live in accordance with the Torah.”

Rav Olshin asked, “It seems interesting that the Medrash is depicting Avrohom Avinu as the ultimate embodiment of wanting and transmitting Torah. We don’t find that Avrohom was the symbol of limud haTorah, rather we see that he embodied chessed and kiddush Hashem.”

Rav Yeruchem answered his question with a story of a young man who came from a background not at all rooted in Torah. This young man came to Lakewood during the time when Rav Aharon Kotler served as Rosh Yeshiva. He came to the shiur that Rav Aharon gave on Shabbos and sat through the entire shiur. Later, he was asked, ‘Why did you sit through the shiur, if you did not even understand one word?’

“He answered, ‘Yes, you are right. I didn’t understand the shiur, but when I saw the joy that Rav Aharon exudes during the shiur, I know that this is what I want.’ They told him that the only way to access that joy is by learning Torah. ‘When you learn Torah, you will have simcha.’

“The Torah doesn’t tell us that Avrohom Avinu learned Torah but we must understand that the chessed he did and the emuna he exuded were all rooted in the Torah.”

Rav Olshin explained that this siyum and all of Dirshu’s accomplishments are a result of Rav Dovid Hofstedter’s vision, “A vision that is all rooted in Torah! The simcha that we see here, is rooted in Torah.”  

Indeed, there was such simcha in the air! It was clear that the bnei hachaburah wanted to continue dancing and celebrating the tremendous simcha of the siyum… but second seder was about to start! So, with mesiras nefesh, they relinquished their desire and ran back to yeshiva, to their Gemaras!