Just several weeks ago, “the clip” of the Chofetz Chaim zt”l made waves throughout the world. No matter your generation, no matter your background, if you are a Torah observant yid, you could not get enough of it. It sent a chill up your spine.
We all reveled at the opportunity to “see” the Chofetz Chaim. Though virtually no one alive today merited to see the Chofetz Chaim in real life, he somehow manages to touch at all of our neshamos in a very unique way. It doesn’t matter which background you’re from, or which chug you identify with.
The Mishnah Berurah has for long been considered to be the “poseik acharon” on Orach Chaim by a cross section of major poskim. The Chofetz Chaim also invested enormous effort that Mishnah Berurah, as its name suggests, should be clear and easy for all to understand.
Dirshu’s revolutionary Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program accomplishes the Chofetz Chaim’s goal like never before. Halacha l’maaseh is unfortunately often overlooked as a limud even by people who are otherwise talmidei chachamim, let alone by those who are less learned.
At the same time, it is indispensable. Chazal teach us about the great reverence Hashem has for the “she’arim metzuyanim b’Halacha.” It is impossible to live our lives according to Torah without knowledge of Halacha l’maaseh, as the Chofetz Chaim and other gedolei haposkim have clearly told us.
Learning Mishnah Berurah through the Daf HaYomi B’Halachah program makes these halachos particularly accessible and understandable to everyone. You have the beautiful illustrated and elucidated Dirshu Mishnah Berurah – filled with contemporary applications of the halachos – as well as shiurim by great maggidei shiur in neighborhoods across the world.
The Dirshu infrastructure – particularly the tests and stipends – encourage even dedicated bnei Torah to incorporate this crucial limud as well.
Judging by the wide range of people at Dirshu events, in Dirshu programs – and those intent on joining Daf HaYomi B’Halacha for the new cycle – the impact is resounding. As Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Nasi Dirshu, termed it at the Siyum in Tel Aviv, “a neis niglah.”
Rabbi Mattisyahu Lawrence leads a daily morning chaburah for retirement age residents of Golders Green, London, in the Sadigura Bais Medrash. He now incorporates a half hour of Daf HaYomi B’Halacha into the seder. Reb Mattisyahu says that the results are inspiring: “You have some people who have learned Mishnah Berurah throughout their lives but this brings the sefer alive in an entirely new way.”
Rav Chaim Yechiel Damen is a native of Eretz Yisroel who currently lives in Antwerp. A professional educator, Rav Chaim Yechiel’s time on a workday is very limited. He previously set aside one hour a day to learn Torah. In recent years, he joined several Dirshu programs and his life was transformed. Despite maintaining a full work schedule, Rav Chaim Yechiel now learns six hours a day, delivers a Daf Yomi shiur in Belzer Shtiebel, and constantly reviews and is tested on his limudim.
“It’s addictive,” he says of his affinity for Dirshu programs. And it’s not only him, but the people around him. “One yungerman told me,” he relates, “that his children never saw him learn at home until he joined Dirshu, and he was constantly reviewing what he learned.”
“Many people have good heads and learn a lot, but they can’t get themselves to keep a solid, steady seder. This is the Dirshu revolution,” says Reb Lipa Ostreicher of Stamford Hill, London, who attended the Dirshu Shabbos Convention. At the convention, Reb Lipa had the chance to speak to various men who participated in Daf HaYomi B’Halacha during the previous cycle and that convinced him to do so too for the new cycle, b’ezras Hashem. “It’s one amud a day and takes people about half an hour. It’s so easy and accessible.”
“Dirshu is important even for kollel yungerleit,” remarks Rabbi Yehoshua Eliezer Heitner, a member of the Gerrer Kollel of Golders Green, who actively encourages all those around him to join Dirshu programs. “It makes the learning ‘temidim k’sidran,’ and makes you utilize all extra time for learning.”
One middle aged Golders Green accountant relayed that he has for years learned an amud a day of Mishnah Berurah. After seeing more of Dirshu firsthand, he is planning to start at the beginning with the new Daf HaYomi B’Halacha cycle. This was a sentiment heard many times over, around the world.
On Motzei Shabbos, following havdala, Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Getter, Menahel of Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo in Golders Green, joined Rabbi Dovid Deutsch, mechina rebbi in the cheder, to rave about the success of the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program in the eldest grade. The shiur that is given after lunch, typically a difficult time to teach, is now the highlight of the day.
The young bochurim enjoy learning halachos that they can hands-on relate to in their lives. They love excelling at the tests and receiving the stipends. Some talmidim see more success in Daf HaYomi B’Halacha than they do in other limudim, and this gives them fulfillment and motivation. “When a talmid succeeds in Daf HaYomi B’Halacha,” says Rabbi Getter, “it changes his behavior throughout the entire day.”
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On the journey back to our hotel from the final Dirshu event of this season, the Grand Siyum in Tel Aviv, I received a “tremp” from a young father of four, who resides in Yerushalayim. While cruising down the dark Israeli highways, he told me his Dirshu story.
Unlike most of his peers in his strong Torah circles, he works full time in the tourism industry to support his family. He and his wife invest heart and soul so that the Torah character of their home should be no less than the homes of full time bnei Torah. His work hours are, typically stretching past midnight. When he added Daf HaYomi B’Halacha above his regular Daf Yomi shiur, his wife was particularly delighted and volunteered to sacrifice a lot so that he can dedicate the time to it. He now manages to include another few hours of limud haTorah a week and learns pertinent halachos. “When I take the test each month,” he says bluntly, “I realize that if you don’t know these basic halachos, in a way you’re simply an am ha’aretz.”
During one of the most recent, final tests of the cycle, this yungerman’s wife requested that he take two of their young daughters along to the test. It was on a Thursday night. That would make it easier for her to prepare for Shabbos, as well as inculcate the children with a firsthand appreciation for toiling in Torah. He agreed and, despite his original qualms, the girls appreciated the scene and didn’t disturb.
The family rejoiced yet again when he discovered that he achieved by far the highest score on that test than he ever achieved. “When I do chessed for my wife,” he reflects, “it gives me siyatta dishmaya to succeed in my learning too.”
By Shimmy Blum
