“It was such a fun way to begin each day of my high school career,” said Heichal freshman Yonah Tarzik. This past Elul, at Heichal HaTorah, a siyum was made every morning by a returning Heichal student. After the hadran, the talmidim broke out in dancing, surrounding the mesayeim in the middle circle with his rebbe and chavrutah. They then enjoyed a special breakfast of bagels, donuts, eggs or pancakes, sponsored by the family of the talmid making the siyum.
During the course of the yeshiva year, each Heichal talmid learns and masters an entire masechta of Gemara in his daily bekiut seder. The masechtas range from smaller and lighter ones, such as masechet Megillah, to more challenging and lengthier ones, such as masechet Kiddushin. At the conclusion of the year, many students take a final examination on the entire masechta.
Three years ago, Rav Dovid Komet, who teaches the high honors level iyun shiur and serves as the AP calculus teacher, instituted the Summer Masechta Mastery Program. He challenged each talmid to dedicate his own free time during the summer to re-reviewing the entire masechta he learned during the previous academic year. This past summer, 22 students took on the challenge and successfully completed their masechta. “I am so proud of our talmidim and the commitment to limud haTorah that they demonstrated,” said Rav Komet.
During this past Elul, Heichal formally recognized and commended these young men. Each day after davening, Rav Komet introduced one talmid who had finished his masechta by describing the unique qualities that enabled him to accomplish his goal. The talmid then took the pulpit in the bais medrash and made the siyum.
When asked what motivated him to spend a good part of his summer reviewing an entire masechta, Heichal junior Moshe Fogelman remarked, “At Heichal, our rebbeim, like Rav Skulnick, really know Shas. My goal is to one day know a significant part of Torah. If you want to really own a body of knowledge, you have to put in the time to constantly review it.”
Yonah Hook, a sophomore, was happy to celebrate his friends’ accomplishments.“I know how much time and effort it takes to plow through an entire masechta, so I am really proud of these guys.” Heichal freshmen Tzvi Ginzberg expressed his feelings, “At the first siyum, I wondered, why am I dancing? I don’t even know these guys. But by the last siyum, I felt part of the yeshiva. I was really happy to be in an environment where learning Torah over the summer is just what everyone does.”
The following students reviewed a masechta over the summer: Kiki Arochas (Passaic), Yoni Besser (Passaic), Akiva Epstein (Bergenfield), Shimmy Hahn (Passaic), Azarya Litman (Passaic), Eli Karfunkel (Passaic), Gideon Marcus (New York), Chaim Mintz (Passaic), Jake Rabinowitz (Bergenfield), Elinoam Richter (Teaneck), Benny Rozenberg (Monsey), Shimmie Schwarcz (Bergenfield), Yehuda Spivak (West Orange), Yonatan Spivak (West Orange), Nathan Sragow, (Teaneck), Uli Stechler (Teaneck), Aharon Teigman (Bergenfield) and Avraham Weiner, (Passaic).
Rav Aryeh Stechler, rosh yeshiva of Heichal proudly said, “Each talmid, as he finishes the hadran and enters the circle, has a deep smile on his face. It reminds me to always be thankful to Hashem and all our rebbeim that Heichal has instilled the love of Torah in the hearts of our talmidim.”
