Dirshu Chaburas Shas Siyum Held at the Home of Rav Chaim Feinstein Shlita 

HaGaon HaRav Chaim Feinstein, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Ateres Shlomo, related a fascinating incident earlier this month at the Dirshu Chaburas Shas siyum held at his home in Bnei Brak. He said, “I heard from my father, Rav Michel Feinstein, zt”l, who heard from his shver, the Brisker Rav, that when Rav Chaim Brisker began to learn Masechta Zevachim, he learned from the beginning of the masechta until the perek of Kol Hatadir, a whopping eighty blatt, at once. Every time he came to a difficulty and had a question, he thought about it but then continued without stopping. The lesson is that even when you learn quickly, it doesn’t mean that you are not thinking or even thinking deeply. What it means is that you can learn and think about the questions, but you should then carry on learning even if you don’t have the answers.  

“In practical terms, this translates into the concept that when a person learns a sugya, but it is not time for the main iyun seder, of course, he must think deeply about what he is learning but he must also realize that now is not the time to open up the entire sugya. Now it is time to think for a short period of time and even if one hasn’t formulated an approach to resolve the difficulty, to just go on. That is iyun kal. Every day has its own amud and one must learn that amud every single day, carrying on, day after day. Not without thinking, but without pursuing the optimum answer for every single question…  

“This is the beauty of Dirshu’s Chaburas Shas program. Thousands of avreichim throughout Eretz Yisroel and chutz la’aretz have completed Masechta Bava Kama. They have learned it thoroughly, but at the same time they have forged ahead, maintaining the schedule of one amud per day.” 

The siyum at the home of Rav Chaim Feinstein, attended by Roshei Chaburah of various Chaburas Shas groups together with the leaders of Dirshu’s hanhala led by Rav Dovid Hofstedter, was one of the numerous siyumim on Masechta Bava Kama that took place this month. There was another siyum of Yeshivas Chevron alumni that was attended and addressed by HaGaon HaRav Amram Fried, shlita.  

One of the most moving parts of the evening, however, was what transpired before his drasha. Rav Fried started engaging the yungeleit in different sugyos in Masechta Bava Kama. He asked a question on one sugya and that segued into another sugya and before you knew it, a spirited Torah conversation was going on between the mesaymim and Rav Fried. That conversation clearly showed how it was possible to learn an entire masechta in a relatively short period of time with a remarkable level and degree of havana and iyun.  

Earlier this year, Rav Dovid Hofstedter had occasion to speak to HaGaon HaRav Avrohom Gurwicz, shlita, venerated Rosh Yeshiva of Gateshead. A conversation ensued about various areas of derech halimud and Rav Gurwicz clearly stated that the proper derech halimud is where the individual finds sippuk hanefesh. He explained that no two people are alike. Every person has their own techunos hanefesh and shoresh haneshama. If a person finds satisfaction and joy in a certain derech halimud that is what is appropriate for his neshama.