While the Siyum HaShas and Daf Yomi seem to have been on everyone’s minds over the past few days and weeks, for most elementary school students, these are concepts that are not yet a part of their lives in any meaningful way. At Yavneh Academy, we spent the day before the siyum and the weeks leading up to it preparing our students to feel that they were a part of Klal Yisrael’s broader celebration of completing a section of Torah.

Beginning roughly a month ago, all students in grades one through eight were assigned an age-appropriate portion of learning. Grades one through three collectively learned Sefer Bereishit, grade four learned Masechet Avot and grade five learned Mishna Masechet Brachot. In middle school, students were given the opportunity to sign up to learn individual Mishnayot in Seder Moed, and every Mishna and Gemara class was assigned a perek within the seder, thus ensuring that every student in the school took part in the learning.

On December 31, grades one through eight engaged in an inter-grade learning program, where students from the older grades taught students from the younger grades a lesson about the concept of siyum and what it means to start and finish a monumental task—and why we celebrate when we successfully do so. After the learning, all students moved into our middle school gym where they watched a video about the Siyum HaShas and heard from several Yavneh parents who themselves are finishing Shas this cycle, several of whom were in attendance as honored guests. Following the video, seventh graders Daniel Lechter and Mia Kaplan presented the final lines of Seder Moed and read the Hadran on behalf of all of their fellow students. After the Hadran was completed, the entire school sang several slow songs, led by the music of Johnny Shlagbaum and Yitzy Glicksman, and ended the day with dancing. It was a truly memorable celebration and was emblematic of our ongoing dedication to aiming to continuously achieve greater heights in our Torah learning.

By Rabbi Dr. Aaron Ross

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