Lander College for Men / Beis Medrash L’Talmud (a division of Touro College located in Queens, NY) has a two week mid-winter break and a summer recess starting late June. Despite the allure of spending a lot of time away from their yeshiva, many Landers students actually choose to stay to devote their free time to learning Torah.
One of the Kollel members created a unique program to facilitate learning Torah during these intermediary days. Largely financed by the yeshiva and its alumni, their bein ha’zmanim program aims to have an appropriate ratio between learning Torah and taking off time to become revitalized for the next zman.
In addition to supplying general needs (e.g. meals) to those that stay and learn, this program additionally provides: lots of snacks, a variety of shiurim, Torah-learning contests (with prizes, like money for seforim), full Shabbos accommodations, and guest speakers (like Rav Paysach Krohn). This is to name just a few of the ways that are employed in order to enrich the daily experience.
During this most recent winter program, a contest was held to challenge participants to learn as much as they could in one day from early morning until late at night. Three participants tied for the win – with each one learning 17 and a half hours. And this was all during their vacation!
Many students are grateful to the program for encouraging them to learn during their free time. Many of them claim that without it they would not have spent nearly as much time learning Torah during their breaks.
Words of encouragement for this program were sought from one of the Gedolim in America who responded by praising their learning and saying that vacation time is a special period where the main purpose is to sanctify Hashem’s name – in which the world will see how a ben Torah acts in that all his actions are proper.
Words of encouragement were also sought from one of the Gedolim in Eretz Yisroel who responded that he supports programs like this one because in a time like bein ha’zmanim there is more bitul Torah. He added that this is like a meis mitzva. Like what is written in the Sefer Chassidim that a mitzva that people do not want to do – is like a meis mitzva.
This most recent winter program offered an opportunity to meet with Gedolei Yisroel in Lakewood, NJ. A handful that went on the trip returned to Landers with a palpable enthusiasm, which quickly spread to the other students.
The pleasure of those that attend the program is felt throughout the yeshiva, well after the program has concluded. Consequently, many students are looking forward to spending their vacation days in yeshiva!
For information about participating, programming, & donation opportunities, please contact Zev Kilstein, the director, at [email protected]
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A personal message from the director: We currently do not have enough money to fund our summer program. If everyone who read this would donate just $1, we would most probably be set! Please consider supporting our Torah learning. You can even make payments online on our fundraising webpage, here: https://www.crowdrise.com/JewishStudentsLookingtoSpendSummertimeStudyingTorah/fundraiser/zevkilstein Thank you for your consideration!
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3 Responses
Take away the incentives, will there still be learning??
It must be an extreme premature level of “mitoch shlo lishma bo lishma”.
Not my style but Kol Hakavod. I’d give the $1 requested but the crowdrise site has a $10 min.
As a “camper” of Camp Zev, I can tell you first hand that the incentives are not at all the reason people are learning there. While during the year it is easy to stay in the beis medrash when it is packed and the kol torah is emanating throughout, it is a lot easier to get tired, distracted, etc. when the beis is empty.
The learning IS l’shma; the incentives,such as snacks and coffee, help give us the extra push which is often needed during bein hazmanim.
#1 – Chochom-ibber
Many talmidim have been learning in the beis medrash without incentives for many summers before the program started.
The program’s main function is to facilitate and encourage what has been – by offering three meals a day. By doing so, talmdim who don’t live locally are encouraged to stay and learn. Additionally, even some local talmidim appreciate a full lunch – which had it not been offered would otherwise have settled for a granola bar.
The other incentives (like prize money for learning-contests) are done to contribute to an overall atmosphere of summer / camp / fun, etc. Learning in a half-empty beis medrash during the summer doesn’t have the same feel as it does during z’man when everyone else is around. The incentives aim to be a substitute for that feel and perhaps improve the overall quality of learning.