The Toldos Aharon beis medrash fused Torah learning with stimulating entertainment

While girls have kosher, women-only films for Chol Hamoed entertainment, it’s not unusual for shuls to hold their own Chol Hamoed programs as a way to get boys to learn a bit during the holy days and have some fun, too. Some have prizes or contests, but in the Toldos Aharon beis medrash in Meah Shearim, they found a way to fuse Torah learning with stimulating entertainment.

In front of an overflow crowd of seated children and many fathers, two prominent halachic toanim, Reb Fishel Adler and Reb Dovid Shub, presented the arguments involved in a complex real estate deal. Then, a trio of experienced dayanim, Rav Tzvi Braverman, Rav Avrohom Derbamdiker, and Rav Aharon Steinberg, weighed in with the relevance of different sugyos in Shas. Each argument and claim was explained for the benefit of the audience, who followed the proceedings with suspense, cheering as one side or another mounted a strong claim. At the end, the beis din offered a ruling, and hundreds of children and their tatties went out into the Yerushalmi sunshine, and they rehashed the exciting show they had just seen.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 856)