“Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz said, ‘Torah is not just oxygen, it is life itself, it is the essence of life!’ This was the overwhelming feeling that I had spending Shabbos here at the Dirshu Convention, together with the lomdei Dirshu,” said HaGaon HaRav Dovid Goldberg, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe. “The essence of a Yid is Torah. What a zechus it was to sit with such talmidei chachomim, gedolei Torah, who show honor for the Torah and who show with their conduct that they value Torah, by making Torah learning their kevius, the most important thing in their lives, no matter what they do. My chavrusah takes the tests every month and I wish I would have the time to also take the tests myself!
“Dirshu has no vacations, they are not off on Pesach or Sukkos, never, because they have true chashivus for Torah, value for Torah. Dirshu understands that you can take a vacation from eating but not from Torah,” Rav Goldberg said passionately.
Rav Dovid Goldberg’s impassioned words were said at the Dirshu Grand Melava Malka Siyum on Chelek Gimmel of the Mishnah Berurah, the culmination of a Shabbos of Chizuk in Torah. The Shabbos and motzoei Shabbos spent with likeminded individuals who have chosen to make Torah learning, setting goals and accountability in limud haTorah the centerpiece of their lives immeasurably enriched thousands of lomdei Dirshu and their wives.
The Convention also served as the harbinger for the Dirshu World Siyum next winter where the efforts of lomdei Dirshu will be recognized and given the honor they deserve at massive demonstrations of kovod haTorah-siyumim in Eretz Yisrael, England, France, and finally America with an outpouring of chizuk and kovod haTorah at a unprecedented siyum to be held at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Indeed, one of the surprises of the night was a special video message given by the venerated Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh to the thousands of participants at the Grand Melava Malka expressing his great joy about the siyumim. When asked to give a bracha in honor of next year’s Siyum HaShas, the Rosh Yeshiva answered, “The bracha is min hashomayim! Hashem blesses those who learn Torah. My bracha is that you should have siyatta d’shmaya in everything you do!”
Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Dirshu’s Nasi amplified that message in his remarks, saying, “The purpose of the Dirshu World Siyum is to galvanize, empower and energize lomdei Torah throughout the world, young and old, whatever standing and station in life, irrespective of what shevet they belong to, k’ish echad b’lev echad, to accept upon themselves the ol, the yoke of Torah, to become a mamleches Kohanim v’goy kadosh and to rise above the nisyonos. That is our objective and goal! Hashem has given us the tools to survive. Today there are all kinds of aids to help us in learning. There are umpteen ways to do the Daf, with this shortcut and that aid. Dirshu’s goal however is not to DO the Daf it is to LIVE the Daf!”
Rav Hofstedter said next year’s World Siyum would strengthen lomdei Dirshu and help to internalize those values and hashkafos. “Our mantra is ki heim chayeinu, Torah is our life… u’vohem NEHEGAH – and in Torah we will TOIL! We will do this despite the decadent society in which we live and despite the self-serving words of cynics and critics. With siyatta d’shmaya we will celebrate kavod haTorah, yegias haTorah and yiras shomayim… and will merit to see the ultimate fulfillment of the tefillah we say on the Yamim Noraim, ‘Give honor to Your Nation, praise to those who fear You and sikva tova l’dorshecha – hope to those who are “doresh,” who seek you!’”
Indeed, HaGaon HaRav Binyomin Eckstein, shlita, Belzer Dayan of London, who was honored with making the siyum, said in his remarks that, “This siyum and all Dirshu siyumim are not just siyumim celebrating past accomplishments, as great as they are, rather their purpose is to encourage more limud haTorah, to urge Yidden accept upon themselves more learning and leave their comfort zone.”
Another highlight of the evening was the moving, powerful drasha by HaGaon HaRav Lipa Geldwerth, shlita, R”M at Yeshivas Torah Temimah and Rav of Khal Kol Torah of Flatbush. Rav Geldwerth said that perhaps the greatest accomplishment of Dirshu is that it has made Torah keva, fixed, and melacha arai, work temporary – Torah has become the mainstay of every Dirshu member’s life and work has become peripheral. The Vilna Gaon asks, “When the Mishnah tells us to make Torah fixed, why does it also have to say, make your work temporary. Obviously if one’s Torah is fixed his work is not?”
Rav Geldwerth answered by citing a Mishnah in Sukkah that says, “All seven days a person should make his sukkah his fixed dwelling and his home a temporary dwelling. If the sukkah is the main dwelling does it not follow that the house is temporary? Why does the Mishnah have to spell it out? He cited the Pri Megadim that says on Sukkos a person should not put a tablecloth on his table in the house. Why? To show that the sukkah is the main house. Only by actually leaving the house and showing that it is not your main dwelling, can one truly realize that the sukkah is the main dwelling. Yes, people are busy with many things, but the entire day of Dirshu learners revolves around their learning sedorim and their Torah goals as Rav Dovid so eloquently said, ‘Dirshu ruins lives.’ The Menahel in the yeshiva where I teach gets his life ruined every day. His head is always in his Gemara, learning his Dirshu limud and every time he has to remove his head from his Gemara to attend to something, his life is being ruined!”
The neshei Dirshu were also treated to their own melava malka where they heard profound words of chizuk from Rabbi Paysach Krohn and then from Rav Dovid Hofstedter. Throughout Shabbos, there was an enriching, deeply inspiring program for Dirshu wives highlighting their integral roles in creating the framework for a Torah home and stressing the simcha that they derive from vicariously achieving Torah goals. Addresses for women were given by Mrs. Chany Feldbrand, Mrs. Dina Storch, Mrs. Brenda Katina and Mrs. Leah Richheimer.
By Chaim Gold
