English Jewry is preparing for what might be the largest, most monumental Torah event in England, this coming 14 Kislev/December 15. The Kinnus Olam HaTorah, as its name implies, will be a gathering of the entire Torah community in England – London, Manchester, and Gateshead. Every person who attends during this difficult time for Klal Yisrael, will be coming to derive chizuk and guidance from Gedolei Yisrael.

The event, to be held in the large Cooper Box Arena in downtown London, will also serve as a maamad of chizuk in Torah that will feature a siyum on Masechta Shabbos and the haschalah of Masechta Eruvin in the new Dirshu Amud HaYomi program. The Amud HaYomi siyum will be celebrated in conjunction with the Daf HaYomi siyum on Bava Basra being learned in the Dirshu Kinyan Torah program and a siyum on Seder Zeraim in Dirshu’s Kinyan Yerushalmi program. In addition, it will mark the beginning of the learning of the 39 melachos in the Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha daily Mishnah Berurah program. 

In what promises to be an outpouring of simchas haTorah and kavod haTorah, senior Gedolei Yisrael from Eretz Yisrael, England and all of Europe are slated to attend. Just a small window into the importance that venerated Gedolei Yisrael attach to this event can be gleaned from the fact that the nonagenarian Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Rashbi, plans to participate. 

HaGaon HaRav Shimon Galei, shlita, the great gaon, mashpia and mekubal from Bnei Brak, will be coming especially for the event, as well as the posek, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Av Beis Din Shaarei Horaah, HaGaon HaRav Nissan Kaplan, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Daas Aharon and HaGaon HaRav Shimon Spitzer, shlita, one of the most sought-after speakers. 

Gedolim from Europe will include HaGaon HaRav Aharon Shiff, shlita, Rav of the Machzikei Hadas Kehillah in Antwerp, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of London, and HaGaon HaRav Tzvi Elimelech Padwa, shlita, Rav of Khal Agudas Achim of Zurich, Switzerland. The Nasi of Dirshu Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, will also be coming from Toronto to attend and address the event. 

Just over a year ago, around the time when the horrific massacre of Simchas Torah took place in Eretz Yisrael, Dirshu launched its Amud HaYomi learning program. It seemed almost like a Divine antidote, a recipe for Klal Yisrael on how to strengthen themselves and utilize the koach haTorah to shield us. At that time, many shiurim in Amud HaYomi and new shiurim in other Dirshu programs were established throughout England and Europe. 

Since then, the Amud HaYomi limud has taken off in a previously unimaginable way! Shiurim have been opened in communities and shuls all over Europe and it has become an integral part of countless learners’ days. At the same time, Dirshu’s other programs such as Daf HaYomi B’Halacha, have also multiplied with new shiurim and many hundreds of new test takers joining the ranks of Dirshu. 

Now it is time to celebrate the accomplishments of lomdei Dirshu while simultaneously striving for more, more shiurim, more lomdim and more accountable yedias haTorah through tests.

It is an event about which you will one day be able to tell your grandchildren, “I was there! I attended that event! I absorbed the message of the Gedolim and upgraded my limud haTorah as a result!”