In a massive showing that brought together Jews from around the world, approximately 30,000 people recently sat for a global test on Jewish law. The exam was administered by Dirshu, a worldwide organization that is working to replenish individual Judaic scholarship lost during the Holocaust. Dirshu, which was founded in 1997 with just a handful of students, currently has in excess of 100,000 individuals studying religious texts, most of them laymen.

The recent test was given in conjunction with a novel program spearheaded by the Dirshu organization, in which participants learn on a daily basis and are regularly tested about the complex texts that set forth the laws and mandates that govern their lives as Jews. This unique learning program is structured as a comprehensive curriculum that takes seven years to complete. In March 2015, Dirshu marked the culmination of the inaugural seven-year cycle of the “Daf Yomi B’Halacha” program with a celebration that spanned four continents and had tens of thousands of people participate. In April 2015, more than 25,000 people throughout the world sat for the first examination of the second cycle of the Dirshu organization’s daily learning program.

In connection with the administration of the recent test, Dirshu also released a book containing thoughts and insights of Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan, commonly known as the “Chofetz Chaim.” The Chofetz Chaim, who was one of the most influential rabbis of the late 19th and early 20th century, was a renowned and respected scholar, ethicist and authority on Jewish law. The book is being used by participants in the Dirshu program to engage in daily study of “mussar,” the education of individuals toward ethical behavior in the spirit of Jewish law.

“The fact that 30,000 people sat for the latest Dirshu exam attests to the deep inroads and bond that Dirshu has forged with the communities comprising the entire cross-section of Torah-observant Jewry,” said Rabbi Shlomo Rozenstein, Dirshu’s Director of Public Affairs.