Siyumim on Amud HaYomi Masechta Eruvin to Be Held in Homes of Senior Gedolei Yisrael

Siyumim at the Homes of HaGaonim HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, HaRav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Shlita

By Chaim Gold 

If one wants to get an inkling of how much the Gedolei Hador value the new Amud HaYomi program that is completing Masechta Eruvin this week, and beginning Masechta Pesachim, one only should look at which Gedolei Yisrael have agreed to open their homes to host siyumim on Masechta Eruvin this coming week.

Siyumim will be held at the homes of senior Gedolei Yisrael, Roshei Yeshiva, Poskim, Admorim, and rabbanim spanning the entire cross-section of Jewry.

There will be siyumim (in chronological order) at the homes of the senior posek of the generation, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita, the senior Roshei Yeshiva of the Slabodka Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, shlita and HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, the senior Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron, HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, shlita, the senior Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Me’or HaTorah HaGaon Rav Avraham Salim, shlita, and the Boyaner Rebbe. The Nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, will participate in all of the siyumim.

Each siyum will be addressed by the Gadol as well as a prominent talmid of the Gadol who serves as a Dirshu maggid shiur. Many other maggidei shiur will be in attendance.

The first siyum on Masechta Eruvin will be held at the home of and in the presence of the senior PosekHador, Rav Moshe Sternbuch. The siyum will be made by Rav Moshe’s close talmid, HaGaon HaRav Mattisyahu Deutsch, shlita, a prominent Rav in Ramot and a Dayan in the Eidah Hacharedis. At a previous siyum at the home of Rav Moshe, Rav Deutsch described to the assemblage how Rav Moshe merited to talk in learning and learn with the Chazon Ish. He then exclaimed that it is such a tremendous zechus to make a siyumin the home of a Gadol who once learned by the Chazon Ish. Tens of maggidei shiurim from all over the country participated in the siyum.

The next week on Sunday, 2 Av, two more siyumim on Amud HaYomi Eruvin will be held. The first at the home of Rav Dov Landau and the second at the home of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch.

At the home of Rav Landau, maggidei shiur from Bnei Brak, many of whom are Rav Dov’s talmidim, will gather. The main address will be given by Rav Dov’s confidant, HaGaon HaTzaddik Rav Chizkiyahu Yosef Mishkovsky, shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshiva Orchos Torah. Rav Mishkovsky is no stranger to the Amud HaYomi. He attended and addressed the inaugural Amud HaYomi siyum on Masechta Brachos in Vienna. His words said there, are still so relevant today.

In Vienna, he asked, “Why are we making celebrations in such difficult times, times of unrest and war?” He answered that, “When the Ponovezher Rav established the Ponovezh Yeshiva here in Bnei Brak, Nazi General Erwin Romell was already in Alexandria, Egypt and was poised to conquer Eretz Yisrael. The Ponovezher Rav himself was very ill and could barely talk. It was precisely then that he decided, ‘We are going to establish the Ponovezh Yeshiva here in Bnei Brak.’ He too was asked, ‘Now?! Is NOW a time to establish a yeshiva?!’

“The Ponovezher Rav answered with an emphatic ‘YES!’ He then explained, ‘I learned this from the haftarah of that week’s parashah. Yirmiyahu Hanavi teaches us that when the Kasdim conquered Eretz Yisrael, and came with the sword, famine, and pestilence, Hashem told Yirmiyahu, “Now is the time to build.”

“When there is destruction,” Rav Mishkovsky exclaimed, “our task is to show our bitachon in Hashem and begin to build. This bitachon has the power to bring the yeshua. It is clear,” Rav Mishkovsky passionately announced, “that everything done by Dirshu, by increasing the learning of Torah and the observance of halacha, are the greatest shields for Klal Yisrael during these precarious times.”

The second siyum on the same day will be held at the home of Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, who has enthusiastically praised Dirshu’s programs, especially the Amud HaYomi and has encouraged the Nasi, Rav Hofstedter to create more programs to facilitate Torah learning. Indeed, at a previous Dirshu siyum in his home, Rav Hirsch cited the words of the Tanna Devei Eliyahu wherein Eliyahu Hanavi says, “I was once talking to an elderly man when a bachur came over and said, ‘I try to learn, I really try and try and try but it doesn’t go. Nothing stays in my head.’ I replied to him, ‘My son, there is no one in the world who succeeds in learning Torah unless he his moser nefesh for it.’”

“I think,” Rav Hirsch said, “that it is fair to say that each and every one of us has times when it is very difficult to learn and keep up with the relentless pace of Dirshu that never stops even for a day’s rest. Yet, when they do overcome the difficulties and push themselves to learn even when it is difficult, that is a level of mesirasnefesh that is very beloved by Hashem.”

Rav Avraham Salim, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Me’or HaTorah and a senior Sephardic Gadol who is a member of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah, has been one of Dirshu’s stalwart supporters. As Rosh Yeshiva of one of the prime Sephardic yeshivos who has brought Dirshu programs to his yeshiva, he is very well aware of Dirshu’s impact. In fact, he came to Vienna to celebrate the first Amud HaYomi siyum on Masechta Brachos.

The siyum at the home of Rav Salim will be held on Monday, 3 Av. At the Amud HaYomi siyum in Vienna, Rav Salim explained that one of the most important components of the Amud HaYomi is that it provides a clear goal and framework for which to learn Torah. “The Daf HaYomi, the Amud HaYomi, the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha all provide a framework to accomplish. Not only for those learning all day, but for ba’alei battim as well. This is huge! There is no way to quantify the pivotal importance of these frameworks! How fortunate is Dirshu to merit creating these programs and facilitating so much Torah learning.”

{The Miracle of Our Existence is Due to Limud HaTorah!

On that same day, there will be a siyum on Eruvin in the home of Rav Dovid Cohen. That siyum will be held by Rav Cohen’s talmid, Rav Binyomin Birenzweig, a general editor of the Dirshu Mishnah Berurah. On numerous recent occasions, Rav Cohen has highlighted the power that Torah has to protect us during these precarious times. He quoted the Yaavetz who says that the greatest miracle is the miracle of Klal Yisrael’s very existence despite all the travails and suffering of galus. That miracle is because of their adherence to limudhaTorah. It is Torah that has and will save us from the ravages of galus. “That is why,” Rav Cohen concluded,” we have to strengthen ourselves in Torah at a time like this! Amud HaYomi is an antidote!”

The siyum at the home of the Boyaner Rebbe will conclude the series of siyumim in the homes of GedoleiYisroel.

Rabbi Avigdor Berenstein, a senior member of Dirshu’s hanhalah, put it succinctly when he said, “Clearly the Gedolim are urging Yidden, each at his level, to join the Amud HaYomi. There are those who learn it with iyun kal, others with Rashi and Tosafos and others just with Rashi. The main thing is that now, as we embark on Pesachim, now is the time to join Amud HaYomi!” n