Dirshu will hold its Second Annual Shabbos Chizuk l’Lomdei Torah, Shabbos Vayeitzei. On November 8-10. Dirshu participants will be coming from across the United States and Canada to the DoubleTree Hotel and Convention Center in Somerset  to be mechazek one another and celebrate the accomplishments of the thousands of participants in Dirshu’s myriad programs of accountable limud ha Torah. The Shabbos will be graced by several prominent American Roshei Yeshiva, Admorim and Rabbonim,  and will also be graced by a special guest Rosh Yeshiva from Eretz Yisrael and other international guests as well.

Diversity is what makes Dirshu a movement that so personifies the concept of achdus. Through the power of its participants’ dedication to limud haTorah, Dirshu unites Yidden from every walk of life, from every culture and from every geographic area. The Somerset location is a central location less than an hour from any major Jewish center in the Tri-State area. The large Hotel and Convention Center is eminently suitable for gatherings of this sort.

“One of the primary purposes of the Shabbos Chizuk l’Lomdei Torah,” said Dirshu’s Nasi, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, “is for talmidei chachomim to gather and contemplate their profound accomplishments while re-dedicating themselves with even greater alacrity. It is a time—to paraphrase the Gemara in Brachos—for “Hodaah al ha’avar and zaakaah al ha’asid, to give thanks for the extraordinary siyatta de Shmaya and bracha that has been showered on the Dirshu family until now and to daven and look forward to future hatzlacha. There is so much for which to be thankful. Day by day more Yidden are undertaking the yeoman task of becoming Shas Yidden; of mastering the areas of Shulchan Aruch needed for horaah; of incorporating daily halakha in their lives and knowing the six volumes of Mishna Berurah; and of participating in any of Dirshu’s other 23 programs of accountable Torah learning.”

“In addition,” Rav Hofstedter continued, “The guest Rosh Yeshiva from Eretz Yisrael will address the tremendous difficulty facing the bnei Torah of Eretz Yisrael and thus strengthen the bond between chavrei Dirshu in North America with that of their counterparts in Eretz Yisrael.”

Another important component in the Shabbos is to give chizuk and thanks to the quiet, unsung heroes of Dirshu who are always in the background: the women: the Neshei Chayil, the ones who discreetly help facilitate their husbands’ learning. There will be special women’s programming that promises to be both enjoyable and inspiring. After all, when the wife of a Dirshu participant comes to an event such as the Shabbos Chizuk, she is coming as a true shutaf, a true partner in her husband’s limud ha Torah. She lives and breathes the same test schedule, willingly sacrificing her husband’s assistance in the home at some of the most important “rush hours” of the day so that he can learn. She also has that little pit in her stomach when her husband sets off to take his monthly test and she also revels in his success when the long anticipated envelope arrives with his latest test results. The Dirshu wives will thus be able to come together with women from all walks of Klal Yisrael; perhaps they will look different, they may come from different cultures, but they will have so much in common! They will be bound together as one by the only true unifier of Klal Yisrael, the limud ha Torah ha kedosha in which they invest so much!

By Chaim Gold