Just a few days before Shavuos, over 300 MTA students, parents, and rebbeim got together for a special Torah celebra­tion of their own, marking the fifth annual YUHSB yeshiva-wide Siyum in Yeshiva Uni­versity’s Furst Hall. The complete massech­tos learned by the various talmidim includ­ed Ta’anis, Sotah, and Shabbos.

The festive evening began with a key­note speech by YU/RIETS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mayer Twersky, who spoke about the relationship between parents who bring a child into the world physically and rebbeim, who help bring that same child into another kind of world through the teaching of Torah. Student speakers repre­senting their classmates included Yisrael Ben Porat, who completed Masseches Sotah; Ar­yeh Burg and Ezra Epstein, who conclud­ed Masseches Ta’anis, and Yitzchak Shama, who recited the Kaddish following the Had­rans. Yehoshua Szafranski, who finished all of Masseches Shabbos, was unable to be pre­sent due to a last-minute scheduling conflict.

Rabbi Steven Burg, Eastern Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, himself an MTA alumnus and now the parent of an 11th grader, shared personal comments about the importance of such Torah events as well as the nachas they generate

The program concluded with a Dvar Torah by Yoni Kornblau, followed by clos­ing remarks from MTA Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Michael Taubes, who stressed the impor­tance of associating Torah study with en­joyable experiences which will enable stu­dents to radiate joy and happiness when achieving success in their learning.