In recent years, and especially since the ubiquity of the word “quarantine” became pervasive in the modern lexicon, there has been a huge rise in the use of technology to spread Torah. Charlie Breda, 13, a seventh grader from Yeshivat Noam, is one such lomed (learner) of Torah.

Charlie has been giving a daily Daf Yomi shiur to friends via Zoom. Last January, Charlie was inspired when he attended the Siyum HaShas with his father and brother. The three of them launched enthusiastically into the new Daf Yomi cycle. Initially, they all listened to shiurim from Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz on the Orthodox Union’s All Daf app and would discuss it together at meals and over Shabbos. Charlie really enjoyed Masechet Brachot, so he decided to continue into Eruvin.

At Yeshivat Noam there was a Daf Yomi Club that Charlie was a part of where a few students learned the Daf during lunch every day. When schools were shut down last March because of COVID, Rabbi Rosalimsky, a rabbi at Yeshivat Noam, was looking for a way to keep students interested in learning even outside of school. Charlie suggested a Zoom Daf Yomi shiur, since they had lost the one done in school, so Rabbi Rosalimsky started teaching the Daf over Zoom to several students. Due to time conflicts, Charlie ended up “taking over” the Zoom shiur and began teaching the Daf to his friends every day.

Over the summer, Charlie went to Camp Mesorah where he continued learning the Daf with Rabbi Jonathan Cohen, and they made a siyum on Masechet Shabbat, which Charlie’s family was able to Zoom in to watch. When he returned from camp, Charlie continued the Daf shiur with his friends and they are still going strong. Every day Charlie and his friends get together on Zoom for a 20-minute shiur on the Daf, which Charlie prepares with the help of the Zichru Daf Simanim and the All Daf app. God willing, Charlie plans to continue the shiur through all of Shas and we’ll see Charlie and his friends again at the next siyum.

When the staff of the All Daf app learned about Charlie’s work, they got very excited to find such an impressive learner in someone so young, so much so that they arranged to meet with him and create a video about his learning. “Meeting Charlie and his family was an inspiration for myself, and all those involved in All Daf at the Orthodox Union. Seeing his serious daily commitment to learning and spiritual growth with his family’s support helps to remind us of the reason we created and invest in All Daf: to enable more and more people to access quality shiurim from wherever they find themselves in the world,” said All Daf Director, Rabbi Moshe Schwed.

Check out the video about Charlie at https://youtu.be/_dx4LMOYz6g.