I was not only humbled by what I experienced — I was also greatly envious

IT has now been more than 15 years since I, along with most of Klal Yisrael, was introduced to the new concept of Shas Yidden. I had heard and read about it but had no direct personal exposure to this incredible phenomenon. That changed when my beloved nephew, the young gaon Reb Tzvi Rudinsky, joined one of the first kollelim affiliated with this new movement in Klal Yisrael and I was able to evaluate his accomplishments.

My limited understanding was that this new idea targeted a particular demographic — the select few “illuyim” in our various Torah institutions that every generation is blessed with — and it has little to do with the average Reb Yisrael in the street.

My perception was completely off.

Several months ago, I was in Eretz Yisrael for the yahrtzeit of my father ztz”l. My dear friend Rav Avrohom Eisen, whose warm, infectious smile is matched only by his incredible enthusiasm for his life’s work, graciously invited me to participate in an upcoming siyum haShas and marathon bechinah for the members of the Shas Kollel. He promised me an incredible experience.

It was much, much more than that. It was a manifestation of Klal Yisrael’s deep connection to the Torah that has never been severed. On the contrary, it has thrived and morphed into something beyond comprehension.

Shas Yidden is not just about “illuyim,” it’s about an insatiable love for limud haTorah and yediyos haTorah. It is about young men and not-so-young men, already gifted talmidei chachamim with in-depth understanding and profundity in multiple facets of Torah, taking it to a completely other level.

In 1975 (5735), the gadol hador, Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz”l, speaking at a siyum haShas, said that if there is a lav not to forget one’s Torah, then there must be an obligation to learn it; for if there were no obligation to learn it, how could there be an issue to forget it? (See also Iggros Moshe Yoreh Deiah, volume 2, siman 110.)

The Chofetz Chaim ztz”l always emphasized the lengths to which a person must go to master every aspect of Torah, as delineated by Chazal. He quoted the Gemara in Bechoros about Rav teaching his students that he had spent 18 months living among animal shepherds so he could learn the difference between a permanent blemish and a temporary one. Only with that knowledge would he be able to determine whether or not a bechor is suitable to be brought as a korban.

The Chofetz Chaim explained, “Look at the extent Rav went to — it says in Sanhedrin that animal shepherds are disqualified from giving testimony, yet he lived with them for 18 months so he could become proficient in the complex halachos of what constitutes a mum.”

This is the level of dedication that members of the Shas Kollel strive for. A Shas Kollel member is not just an illui; he is one who demonstrates each and every day the role of toiling in Torah.

Rav Eliyahu Dessler ztz”l points out a subtlety in Chazal’s famous statement (Pesachim 50a), “Ashrei mi sheba l’kan v’talmudo b’yado [Praised be the one who comes to the Olam Ha’emes with his learning in his hand].” It doesn’t say “talmudo b’sichlo,” in his intellect, but “talmudo b’yado,” in his hand — which means the significance of his accomplishment lies not in the knowledge of Talmud he has gained, but rather in the effort, the ameilus that he put into achieving that goal. (See Michtav Mei’Eliyahu, volume 3, page 20.)

I would suggest the Chazal that best describes a Shas Yidden member is “Ashrei mi shegadel baTorah v’amalo baTorah v’oseh nachas ruach l’yotzro — praised be the one who has grown in Torah and worked hard in Torah and gives pride to His Creator” (Berachos 17a).

This Chazal seems to have it backward. It should phrase it that the one who provides nachas ruach to his creator is the one who toils in Torah and grows in Torah. Why is it phrased in reverse? I once heard from one of the gedolei hador of the past generation (see sefer Sifsei Chachamim) that this Chazal is referring to one who is clearly already a gadol baTorah and yet is nevertheless still amal baTorah; that person brings nachas ruach to his creator.

This is a fitting description of every member of the Shas Yidden Kollel. Each member is tested on 225 blatt a month, amounting to a total of 1.7 million blatt learned this year alone. While these statistics are truly astounding and inspiring, they pale in comparison to the experience of actually witnessing it in person.

When Rav Avrohom Eisen, the Posna Rav, the innovative and creative force behind this incredible Torah institution, invited me to participate in the grand bechinah, where Rav Shapiro of Bnei Brak and the gadol hador Rav Dov Landau asked Kollel members questions on all of Shas, I thought it would be fun to observe and hoped even to have the opportunity to ask some questions of my own. It turned out to be a life-changing event.

I witnessed dozens of gifted talmidei chachamim exhibit mastery of Shas and Rishonim, with an excitement that lit up the entire large hall. As soon as Rav Shapiro and Rav Landau posed their questions, voices from every corner of the room shouted out exact quotes from Tosafos and Rishonim throughout every section of Shas — often before the question was even completed.

In that hour of the bechinah, sources from Yerushalmi, Rambam, and the teshuvah seforim of the Acharonim were thrown in as well. It truly astounded me to observe the yungeleit respond to questions with rapid-fire answers. The Kollel members came from every walk of life — Ashkenazim, Sephardim, chassidic backgrounds, and litvish.

From my vantage point immediately to the left of Rav Landau, I was able to see his sheer delight at the in-depth responses to his questions from throughout Shas. His expression of absolute pleasure and his warm words immediately afterwards to Rav Eisen on the simchah that he just experienced said it all.

So, my perception changed that night. The Shas Yidden program is not only for a particular demographic, for the illuyim in the yeshivah world — it is for anyone who wants to master of all of Torah. All that is needed are the technical tools and the desire to accomplish it. The yungeleit have the desire and Rav Avrohom Eisen and the Shas Kollel provide the tools to accomplish it.

I saw that the potential for mastery of the whole Torah didn’t leave this world with the colossal loss of the Sar HaTorah, Rav Chaim Kanievsky ztz”l, but lives on. Rav Eisen has single-handedly been able to change our generation’s perception of what can be accomplished in Torah if we just work to make it happen.

As I told him at the end of that night, I was not only humbled by what I experienced — I was also greatly envious.

Ashrei mi sheba v’talmudo b’yado..

Rabbi Chaim Aryeh Z. Ginzberg is the rav of the Chofetz Chaim Torah Center of Cedarhurst and the founding rav of Ohr Moshe Institute in Hillcrest, Queens. He is a published author of several sifrei halachah, sought-after lecturer and writer on Torah hashkafah, and author of the best-selling chizuk resource Rays of Hope (ArtScroll).

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1059)