HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, Shlita, Pens Letter Urging Klal Yisrael to Learn Masechta Eiruvin with the Amud HaYomi Program
Excitement is mounting. Tens of thousands of Amud HaYomi learners the world over are preparing to make a momentous siyum, a siyum on one of the most important masechtos in Shas, Masechta Shabbos. For many months, Amud HaYomi learners have been learning the masechta, amud by amud, with chazaros and many have been taking monthly tests on it as well. Among the test takers, many have been tested on Tosafos and the primary meforshim in addition to Gemara and Rashi! Now, siyumim are being held in major Jewish centers around the world.
Moreover, one of the venerated senior Gedolei Hador, HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka, has issued an unprecedented letter urging Klal Yisrael to join the Amud HaYomi program for Masechta Eiruvin which the Amud HaYomi will begin on Thursday, 25 Kislev/December 26.
Rav Landau’s Clarion Call
In his seminal letter, which the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Landau, took pains to write in his own handwriting, he writes about the unique opportunity awaiting Klal Yisrael:
How important and necessary it is for people to learn the entire Maseches Eruvin in order, according to the schedule of the Amud Yomi. Even for those who learned and toiled in this masechta, it is important that they also learn it and join in this public limud. Simultaneously, the publication of booklets of chiddushim and halachos that have been produced and will be produced following the schedule of the limud is very important, “and may Torah become great and be glorified.”
With a faithful berachah,
Dov Landau
Motza’ei Shabbos Kodesh Parashas Toldos
The first day of Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5785
Rav Landau’s clarion call to Klal Yisrael has been making waves and, since its release, numerous night kollelim have joined the Amud HaYomi and undertaken the limud for night seder.
Dirshu has also seen a remarkable spike in enrollment that will continue to rise as a result of the major siyumim being held.
A Series of Siyumim
The first siyum is the major one in England where some seven thousand people at the Cooper Box Arena in London are gathering to celebrate Klal Yisrael’s great milestone together with many Gedolei Hador who have come from far and wide to participate in the siyum.
Notably, the venerated senior Rosh Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Meir Tzvi Bergman, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Rashbi and a son-in-law of Maran HaGaon HaRav Elazar Menachem Man Shach, zt”l, Rosh Yeshivas Ponovezh.
HaGaon HaRav Shimon Galei, shlita, the great gaon, mashpia and mekubal from Bnei Brak, will be coming especially for the event, along with the posek, HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, shlita, Av Beis Din Shaarei Horaah, HaGaon HaRav Nissan Kaplan, shlita, Rosh Yeshivas Daas Aharon and HaGaon HaRav Shimon Spitzer, shlita, one of the most sought-after speakers.
Gedolim from Europe will include HaGaon HaRav Aharon Shiff, shlita, Rav of the Machzikei Hadas Kehillah in Antwerp, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe of London, and HaGaon HaRav Tzvi Elimelech Padwa, shlita, Rav of Khal Agudas Achim of Zurich, Switzerland. The Nasi of Dirshu Rav Dovid Hofstedter, shlita, will also be coming from Toronto to attend and address the event.
Like all major Dirshu events, the siyum in England will feature the uplifting, soul-stirring music of the Malchus Choir, a symphony orchestra led by Reb Mona Rosenblum and world-renowned, inspiring singers such as Zanvil Weinberger, Baruch Levin, Motti Steinmetz, and Hershey Weinberger.
In addition to the siyum in London, on 27 Kislev/December 28, Motzoei Shabbos Chanukah, a milestone Amud HaYomi Siyum on Masechta Shabbos and the haschala on Masechta Eiruvin will be held in Paris, France.
France has become one of the major world centers of Lomdei Dirshu with thousands of French Jews, Sefardim and Ashkenazim participating in Dirshu’s myriad programs. That siyum will be held at the Chaya Mushka Hall, in the 19th District of Paris.
Last but certainly not least, there will be a gala Amud HaYomi Siyum in America with the participation of many Gedolei Hador. The siyum will be held on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Vayigash, 4 Teves/January 4, at the New Ballroom. The siyum promises to serve as a tremendous source of chizuk haTorah.
“Properly Learning Each Amud is Akin to Learning Kol HaTorah Kulo!”
In the year since its inception, the Amud HaYomi has catapulted to one of Dirshu’s most popular limudim. Rav Yaakov Meir Stern, Dayan of Zichron Meir and a talmid muvhak of Rav Shmuel Wosner, highlighted three distinct reasons for its great success. First, when learning Amud HaYomi, there is built-in time for chazarah. Second, for those who find the Daf HaYomi too much, the Amud HaYomi provides a chelek in every part of Torah and third, bnei haYeshivos who are accustomed to learning at a slower pace, can afford the time to look into meforshim.
Perhaps HaGaon HaRav Hillel David, shlita, Rav of Kehillas Yeshiva Shaarei Torah and Yoshev Rosh of the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva of Torah Umesorah, put it best when he said, “An amud is not just half a daf, it is an AMUD! In a way, there is much more in an amud than in a blatt Gemara. When one is limited to learning one amud per day, he has a chance to truly understand the concepts and the lomdus inherent in the Gemara. There is no amud throughout Shas upon which one cannot say an entire shiur. No one should worry that by learning the Amud HaYomi he will be learning less. In truth, he is learning much more! If you utilize the Amud HaYomi to understand the amud, to look at a Tosafos or Maharsha to truly grasp the concepts, I can tell you that every amud in Shas will be akin to learning kol haTorah kulo! When one learns the amud well and reviews it, it is a different amud.”
As the Amud HaYomi is set to embark on Masechta Eiruvin this coming Thursday, 25 Kislev/December 26, now is the time to join.
If you haven’t yet joined the Amud HaYomi, the time is ripe for you to get a kinyan in one of the most important masechtos in Shas. It is not for nothing that the venerated gaon HaRav Dov Landau has written a letter urging participation. Don’t think too much. Just join!
To join Amud HaYomi, please contact Dirshu at info@dirshunj.org or at 1-888-5Dirshu.