“Ashreicheim: that is the word that is foremost in my mind when I look around and see 150 avreichim who have invested so much effort over the past five years in learning halacha l’maaseh and are now celebrating a siyum! Ashreichim, how fortunate you are that Torah is beloved and dear to you!”

Those were the moving words of HaGaon HaRav Sariel Rosenberg, shlita, a son-in-law of Rav Nissim Karelitz, shlita, and a member of Rav Nissim’s beis din. Rav Rosenberg was addressing a special siyum for avreichim who had just completed the five-and-a-half-year grueling Dirshu Kinyan Halacha program that is producing morei hora’ah for the next generation. At the event, the coveted Cheilcha L’Oraisah certificates were awarded to the yungeleit who had completed and been tested on the primary areas of halacha necessary for hora’ah.

The impetus behind establishing the Kinyan Halacha program was some of klal Yisrael’s most prominent poskim, among them HaGaon HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt”l, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Wosner, zt”l, and yblc”h, HaGaon HaRav Nissim Karelitz, shlita. They approached the hanhala of Dirshu explaining how despite the phenomenal growth of Torah and limud haTorah in our generation, there remains a dearth of qualified poskim familiar with the intricacies of psak halacha. Even among those who understand halacha, how many can immediately answer a shailah on all common areas of halacha?

The idea was to create an environment where mature kollel yungeleit, who have already spent several years immersed in full-time learning, could progress to the level of lilmod al menas la’asos: to learn Torah in order to practice in a program that guides them through the details of the sugyos.

The event, held during bein hazmanim before Pesach, was also addressed by HaGaon HaRav Moshe Shaul Klein, shlita, one of Eretz Yisrael’s most prominent poskim, who guides and oversees the program.

After congratulating the new morei hora’ah, Rav Klein explained the magnitude of their accomplishment.

“What you have done over the past five-and-a-half years has been to acquire a kinyan on how to learn halacha b’iyun, with utmost clarity. You see, halacha is not just learning a piece of Gemara here and a piece of Gemara there, then a se’if in Shulchan Aruch that tells you what to do. It is far more than that. Truly learning halacha in a way that you can pasken properly and correctly requires not just learning a sugya here and there but learning the foundational underpinnings of each sugya and each halacha. It requires learning every siman in Shulchan Aruch from beginning to end, it requires learning and understanding each of the meforshim on the Shulchan Aruch and all of their sources. Becoming a moreh horaah involves much more than just taking a “semicha program.” That is what Kinyan Halacha has taught you: to learn everything from its foundation until the practical halacha.”

Rav Rosenberg also made a point that resonated when he said, “Chazal say that out of every 1,000 talmidim, only one actually emerges l’horaah, as a posek. Imagine how dear you are to Hashem? Each of you is one out of a thousand!”

The final address of the evening was given by the nasi of Dirshu, Rav Dovid Hofstedter. Rav Dovid shared a personal moment with the 150 avreichim. “At wonderful events such as this, Kinyan Halacha or Kinyan Shas events where avreichim have successfully been tested on the entire Shas,” Rav Dovid explained, “I am often approached by remarkable talmidei chachamim who tell me, ‘I myself never believed, 5½ years ago, when I started learning in this program, that I would be able to reach this moment! To learn all of sugyos of horaah b’iyun?! To be tested on the entire Shas? It was an impossible dream! So many tests, so many grueling sugyos. I don’t know how I did it.’

“Ashreichem, fortunate are you,” concluded Rav Hofstedter, “to be able to complete the first five-and-a-half-year program. May it be Hashem’s will that you take that desire to the next level and embark on the next even-more-advanced stage two, five-and-a-half-year Kinyan Halacha program as well!”

By Chaim Gold

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