When the Mishna Yomi cycle began two years ago, RPRY middle school students, led by Rabbi Meir Lipschitz, were excited to take on extra learning each day and were up for the task! What started as a small group of students at lunch has become the norm in school with around 30 students at the boys lunch and 30 students at the girls lunch including even fourth and fifth graders. It is an incredible sight to see so many students gathered around the center table of our lunchroom spending their free time learning!

Each מסכת was marked by a siyum celebration, and when Seder Moed was completed earlier this year, there was an extra special celebration and a feeling of incredible accomplishment. But one question remained. What would students do next? Would they continue to Seder Nashim? Could middle schoolers really learn the complicated מסכת יבמות? To Rabbi Lipschitz and his students the answer was clear. “Our goal is to complete all of ש”ס!”

This week students are celebrating the remarkable accomplishment of finishing מסכת יבמות which deals with the laws of יבום and חליצה. To mark the occasion, RPRY students had the unique opportunity to hear from Rabbi Michoel Zylberman of the Bet Din of America who gave a presentation about the חליצה procedure. Students were fascinated to see the specialized shoe used by the בית דין that has been used since before WWII, learned about the intricacies of the חליצה process, and were inspired seeing how the Torah they learn comes to life in real life scenarios. It was a true honor to have this visit from a distinguished talmid chacham.