Community Magazine June 2012

t hursday, April 19 was a momentous occasion for Dirshu, for the Daf Yomi learning program, and for the entire Jewish nation. As Daf Yomi nears the completion of yet another cycle of Talmud study, hundreds of devoted students took a grueling, four-hour exam that covered every masechta (tractate) in the Talmud, from Berachot until Keritut . According to Rav Avigdor Berenstein, a senior member of Dirshu’s administration in Israel, over 200 people worldwide are completing the organization’s Kinyan HaShas program. “These people are true beki’im b’Shas [Talmudic experts],” he proudly says, “and can answer questions on any masechta ...” The Dirshu organization runs a series of intensive exams on the material studied in the Daf Yomi daily learning regimen. Each month, thousands of talmidei hachamim (Torah scholars) across the globe are tested on the last 30 pages of the Daf Yomi cycle. Rav Berenstein explains that some are tested on the Talmudic text with just Rashi’s commentary, while others are also tested on the more complex commentaries of Tosafot. There are also thousands who take tri- annual review tests on the previous 120 pages. Rav Berenstein calls these scholars “true heroes and talmidei hachamim ,” who seek “to bring their learning to the next level” and “want to truly know and understand what they are learning.” However, Rav Berenstein says, the “ultimate heroes” are those unique scholars who take part in the Kinyan HaShas program, and are tested on the entire Talmud twice each year, acquiring complete mastery over the vast corpus of the Babylonian Talmud. the two gifts of rav meir shapiro The Daf Yomi program was the brainchild of Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin (1887-1934), a revered and influential Polish sage who introduced the Daf Yomi concept in 1923. One prominent rosh kollel noted how the Dirshu program truly embodies the spirit of Rav Shapiro’s legacy. “Rav Meir Shapiro bestowed two gifts upon the Jewish people – the Daf Yomi and the famed Yeshivat Hachmei Lublin. Both of these uplifted Torah learning and the honor of Torah throughout the Jewish nation. One of the unique aspects of Yeshivat Hachmei Lublin is that any young man seeking entry had to be tested on hundreds of pages of Gemara – material that he had to know practically by heart… Dirshu is the ultimate connector of Rav Meir Shapiro’s two gifts.” Not surprisingly, one of Dirshu’s most emphatic supporters is Hagaon Harav Shmuel Wosner, shelita , one of our generation’s leading sages and one of the most prominent living students of Rav Meir Shapiro and Yeshivat Hachmei Lublin. The organization has also received praise from numerous other leading sages, including Hagaon Harav Aharon Leib Shteinman, Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, Hagaon Harav Nissim Karelitz, the Gerrer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe, the Sanz-Klausenberger Rebbe, Hagaon Harav Boruch Dov Povarsky, and Hagaon Harav Yitzchok Scheiner. making the impossible… possible! At a Dirshu Kinyan HaShas testing site, a number of the scholars spoke of what this program has meant to them and their growth in Torah scholarship. “The Kinyan HaShas program has had a profound impact on my life,” said Rav Shmuel Schwartz. “When you have to learn, review and be tested on so many hundreds, rather, thousands of pages, you learn to utilize every minute for learning… I would have never thought it possible to accomplish this, to take tests cumulatively on the whole Shas, if not for Dirshu.” Rav Yosef Wahrman, another scholar on the cusp of completing the entire cumulative testing program, explains, “If you keep on reviewing, the structure afforded by Dirshu gives you… a goal and thus you are able to find time to learn that you never thought existed. I have found that when you tell an outsider who is not in Dirshu how much review you have to do in order to know the entire Shas and be tested on it, he will think it impossible… but whoever tries it, will see tremendous Siyata D’Shmaya [divine assistance] and it becomes much easier than it looks!” Rabbi Moshe Wilhelm, a rebbi in the Lakewood Heder, has taken the Dirshu monthly Kinyan Torah tests for years and also participates in the Kinyan HaShas program. Though initially reluctant to speak about his experience, Rabbi Wilhelm eventually agreed, explaining, “I began learning Dirshu because I read in the paper about Dirshu’s program and what it does for people’s learning. If other people read this article and decide to join, how can I afford the luxury of anonymity? If you join, you will see how it will not only change your life, but it will make things that you thought impossible, absolutely possible. It will give focus to your learning and new meaning to life. Try it!” CHAIM GOLD dirshu’s kinyan hashas – Mastering the Talmud One Exam at a Time 22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE