Spreading Torah One Blatt at a Time

Communicated Content

The legacy of a man uniting Klal Yisrael through Torah study

It’s booming every weekday morning in Miami Beach. Baalei baatim from around the Miami area come together before work to learn Gemara in depth with weekly maarei mekomos and chaburahs – a great way to jumpstart their day. Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Smith started Kollel Boker Zichron Boruch in 2010. It is an opportunity for working men to learn Torah on a daily basis before entering into a full work day and it has been a tremendous success.

Enter Dr. Nick Sabo, a Miami native and a Kollel Boker regular. Awed by the program and inspired to expand, he joined forces with Rabbi Smith and opens up Ichud Hashas Zichron Binyomin Tzvi: a Shabbos and Sunday Torah learning program – an extension of Kollel Boker – that focuses on a collective completion of Shas Bavli every few years. Ichud Hashas Zichron Binyomin Tzvi is named after Dr. Sabo’s grandfather, a man with a drive for life and unwavering emunah that he held strong in his heart. He accepted all Jews, he was everyone’s friend and he was respectful to everyone he encountered. R’ Binyomin Tzvi ben R’ Shlomo Chaim learned Daf Yomi every day and completed Shas three times. Dr. Nick Sabo wanted a program that would emulate his grandfather’s dedication to Torah and continue his legacy.

Ichud Hashas, established in 2015 by Dr. Nick & Tzila Sabo, started off small like any new endeavor. Every Shabbos day and Sunday morning men would come to learn a set mesechta with a consistent chavrusa. Shabbos and Sunday are typically “off” days – a time to hang out with friends and family – but Dr. Sabo thought, “If we can carve out time to learn before work, then we can find the time to learn when we don’t have to work.”

Ichud Hashas is a program for all; it is a program for both men with semicha and those just learning the basics of Gemara learning. It is a program that gives one the opportunity to learn from their fellow community members, attain Torah knowledge from everyone around them and provides a consistent venue for learning Gemara kovea itim.

The most beautiful aspect of the program is the collective completion of Shas together. It gives one a sense of responsibility and ownership. It gives one the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than oneself. It is an accomplishment that all can celebrate. This past June, Ichud Hashas celebrated its second Siyum Hashas. 180+ men came together in a gala celebration on a night that was exciting, inspiring, and uplifting. They finished Shas as a community and there is nothing more beautiful than seeing unity on this caliber.

And it doesn’t end there. Ichud Hashas Zichron Binyomin Tzvi expanded and opened up a women’s division. N’shei Ichud Hashas is a monthly program for women to become inspired and gather socially with the other women in their community.

A few weeks ago, on the yahrzeit of R’ Binyomin Tzvi ben R’ Shlomo Chaim, mesaymim gathered together at Bais Mordechai in Hollywood, Florida. They made a siyum on mesechta Horayos l’iluy nishmas R’ Binyomin Tzvi. Dr. Nick Sabo sat at the front scanning the packed tent, reflecting on the wondrous expansion of a once small program in 2015 that is now over 200 men strong and expanding in Miami Beach, Aventura and Hollywood, Florida. The kiddush Hashem that the Sabo family has brought to South Florida is astounding. At the siyum Dr. Sabo spoke about the gematria of echad – unity. The alphanumeric code to the word echad is 13. His grandfather’s yahrzeit is the 13th of Av. He was a man devoted to uniting all of Klal Yisrael and is still accomplishing this years later, through his son and grandson’s being marbitz Torah throughout South Florida.