“Now do it again, and this time, learn it even better and in more depth” 

Last week, Rav Mendel Dickstein of Dunwoody, Georgia made a siyum haShas on the seventh yahrtzeit of his father, Rav Yehuda Dickstein, one of the last “Alter Mirrers,” the group of Mir talmidim who survived the war  first in Kobe, Japan and then in Shanghai, China, where the legendary yeshivah took refuge. This wasn’t Rav Mendel’s first siyum haShas. In his speech, he explained to those assembled why the day of his father’s yahrtzeit was an auspicious time to be mesayem Shas — again. Rav Mendel recounted how he told his father the first time he completed Shas, and true Alter Mirrer that he was, he didn’t exhibit a particular excitement over his son’s remarkable achievement. Instead, he wished his son a lukewarm mazel tov and then told him, “Now do it again, and this time, learn it even better and in more depth” — which Rav Mendel promptly undertook to do, finishing Shas yet again.

Overheard

“After a long, difficult journey across rivers and mountains, children arrive at their father’s place and they rejoice together. As the visit nears its end, the children feel sad, knowing they must soon return to their lives. Seeing their sadness, the father surprises them, saying, ‘I’ve packed my bags. I’m coming with you. You came to be with me, and I will stay with you.’

“In the same way, through our commitment to Torah, we bring Hashem into our everyday lives, carrying His presence with us wherever we go. This is the essence of Simchas Torah — that the closeness we have felt doesn’t need to fade. Whenever we open a Gemara or a sefer, Hashem’s presence is with us.”

—Rav Asher Weiss

Winter Well-Wishes in Woodbourne

As the last of the Catskill enthusiasts head back to city life after an extended summer, Rav Mordechai Jungreis of the Woodbourne Shul wishes farewell to his shul’s mispallelim. In the tradition of the great chassidic courts, he wishes them — and the thousands who avail themselves to “Klal Yisrael’s shul” — a gezunte vinter (a healthy winter).

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1034)