The average Dirshu member soon develops an inner core of mesiras nefesh. Without it, there is no way he can keep up with the rigorous demands of constant review and tests. But the period of corona was something that challenged even those who are used to pushing themselves beyond the norm. Rav Dovid Hofstedter, nasi of Dirshu, was faced by the question of how to handle this situation. He decided that Dirshu was going to carry on—no matter what. To that end, the testing continued throughout, but instead of being held in the regular places, a new system was implemented.
There were many reasons why it was absolutely valid for the tests to continue. The period of corona had come to symbolize the idea of instability. People who had been keeping the same exact schedule for decades, suddenly found their lives tossed upside-down. Dirshu learning, however, was the exception—because there the tests were still being given, even in the middle of all the craziness happening in the world.
For the members of Dirshu, the monthly tests represented an oasis of stability in a world gone insane. Of course the money they received for good marks (the checks never stopped being sent out in the mail) came in handy, especially when you remember how many people lost money during corona. Once again, Dirshu was something stable and reliable.
Tests were now sent to people via email. Daf HaYomi B’Halacha tests were offered through a telephone program. Dirshu even provided sets of Mishnah Berurah to participants who were stranded in “corona hotels” and who wanted to continue their learning away from home. In addition to the tests and the sefarim, recordings of Torah and chizuk shiurim were sent to people—everything with an eye on helping the talmidim remain steady and committed until the crisis came to an end.
While thousands the world over are still taking the bechinos under the corona restrictions, Friday, June 6, was the first regular testing day in Eretz Yisrael since everything ground to a halt months ago. I drove over to the shul where the testing was taking place. There I met with a number of people taking the test. The first person I spoke with, Eliyahu Blau, is all of 12 years old. “Was it hard for you to keep up with the learning during this period?” “It wasn’t easy at all,” he admitted. “I didn’t have chavrusos to learn with and many times I didn’t understand. At those times I told myself that maybe I should just take a break until things go back to normal.” “What did you do then?” “I asked my father, or looked up any difficulties in the Schottenstein. I also listened to shiurim on Kol Haloshon. And every time I considered quitting, I was able to convince myself to continue by thinking about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to take the tests if I stopped the learning. The tests are very important to me, because they are helping me achieve my goal.” “What goal is that?” “To finish Shas with tests.” And this is a 12-year-old kid!
A yungerman named Yosef Chaim Batat came to take the test while pushing his 2-year-old in a stroller. “Last month I took two tests at the same time in Yerushalayim. I knew that taking two tests at the same time would be a major challenge, but I was determined not to break my rhythm even if the marks were less than I normally received. The main thing was to keep on going no matter what! The kids were home and playing all around me. I had to take care of them. I did everything I needed to do and still kept on learning. It wasn’t as deep as I was used to, but I had a certain sense of calm knowing that I was keeping to my obligations and that I was still being held accountable for the way I spent my time—even now. Even today, I came here with my kid in the stroller to take the test. Bottom line, the show must go on!!”
Yoel Eliyahu Goldman is a 14-year-old kid learning in a Gerrer cheder. “Where are you going to yeshiva next year,” I asked him. “Either in Rishon L’Tzion or in Tel Aviv.” “Did you ever meet the Gerrer Rebbe?” “Not by myself,” he replied, “but I did go in to him with my father. We came to ask the Rebbe a shaila about an operation. The Rebbe advised us to have the operation and gave me a bracha for a refuah shelaima. I was already in the hospital when the doctors did one last X-ray and told us that they were canceling it.” I next asked him when he began taking the Dirshu tests in halacha.
“It all started when the Gerrer Rebbe told the bachurim that he wants them to spend at least an hour a day learning halacha. I wanted to start, but I didn’t get around to it. The Rebbe wanted to know if the bachurim were following his instructions and he asked many bachurim if they were doing as he advised. Many said no for all sorts of reasons. The Rebbe told his gabbai that he didn’t understand why they weren’t listening to him and giving him an hour of learning. When I heard those words, I asked myself, “Can’t you find an hour for the Rebbe?”
“What did you do next?”
“I signed up for Dirshu. I started just before corona, so I only managed to do one test before everything fell apart. After everything shut down, I wasn’t able to take the tests but I kept on learning—every day for an hour, covering all the daily ground and even more, and doing chazara as well. Now that we can be tested at the shul again, I came back.”
“What did you learn from all this?”
“It taught me that I can do what my Rebbe asks of me. No matter what!!”
Yitzchok Shlomo Neiman has been part of Dirshu for years. “For me,” he said, “being part of Dirshu means no games. It means that you always have to cover ground, even on Yom Kippur, Chanukah and on Chol Hamoed.”
“And during corona?”
“I didn’t want to take the tests by email and I decided to take the two tests together when we were back. But it was a challenge. I had had a system in place for years. A certain amount of learning every day, and in the last week I’d review five daf on a daily basis. But now I was preparing for two tests. Ten blatt a day for a week was too much. On the other hand, being part of Dirshu had taught me that there are no excuses. So instead of learning five blatt a day for one week, I decided to review five blatt a day for two weeks. I took the tests and I passed. This is just another example of what Dirshu has given me. No excuses.”
By Rabbi Nachman Seltzer
