The posters announcing the siyum to be held on the eve
of Rosh Chodesh Tammuz failed to reveal the nature of this
amazing event. The notice listed completion of "Shas
Mishnayos", "gemora Beitzah" and "gemora Makkos."
What it did not say is that the celebrants were a community
of professionals, business people and other students, many of
whom only started learning in the last few years.
The Chofetz Chaim Beis Hamedrash was established some years
ago by Rabbi A. Y. Pfeuffer and has slowly grown to be a
place of chizuk for many Yidden in the north-
eastern suburbs of Johannesburg. This evening demonstrated
the effect of Rabbi Pfeuffer's commitment to each member so
that irrespective of his background or lack thereof, there is
a place for him to succeed in learning Torah.
The evening started with Tehillim for the welfare of
our brethren in Eretz Yisroel, and a special tefillah
for the health of Rav Yissochor Meyer, Rav Pfeuffer's
uncle.
Rav Pfeuffer then thanked those whose learning was being
honored. He explained that the world exists for Torah study,
and it is the hope for the redemption from our troubles in
Israel and around the world. He told the participants that
they are wrong to think that greatness in Torah cannot be
achieved in South Africa. People have the intelligence and
the enthusiasm and they must aim to achieve it.
The next speaker was a professor of engineering, who
completed both gemora Beitzah and Shas Mishnayos
and said the hadran for them together. He then
related how he had grown up on a Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz,
and until the age of 59 he had no idea of learning. Five
years ago he started learning Mishnayos and decided to
keep a log book of all he did each day. This log book he held
up and compared it to a sailor who keeps the ship's log up to
date. Today he devotes every spare minute of his time to his
learning and uses his vacation time to learn.
Other participants representing a whole spectrum of Jewish
society, came forward and related their story of how they
came to learn and the impact it has made in their lives. An
advocate who now teaches a small chabura of men
described how he leaves his busy practice early each
afternoon to make time for learning and how, if he awakens
during the night, he goes to his study to continue. With the
help of the ArtScroll and Kehati commentaries he manages to
work his way through the masechtos. The knowledge of
mishnayos proves invaluable to the gemora
learning which he also does. A member of this chabura
then described how some time ago was told of three
questions one is asked when leaving this world. He realized
he would be able to answer positively on two. However, for
the third regarding Torah study, he had not been able to find
a way and was worried. Then a neighbor told him of this
mishnayos chabura which he joined and he has not
looked back.
One participant is a martial arts teacher. He told how he
believed he was not suitable for the intellectual challenge
of Torah, and how he thought of himself as "brawn without
brains." This changed when he finally gave in to the Rav's
persistent encouragement to give it a try. Now his life is
changed. He claims that few are as busy as he in a day and
yet he keeps up his learning, so no one has an excuse that
they are too busy.
A young man with long flowing hair described how he
experienced the horror of being mugged in a bad area in the
city. Although there are counselling services available for
such victims, he went straight to the beis medrash to
ask the rabbi what to do. He was told to start learning,
which he did. And now, two masechtos gemora later, he
looks back at the mugging as the best thing that happened to
him. He plans to go to Israel soon to advance his learning in
a yeshiva.
Rav Pfeuffer introduced an attorney with a story of how he
attended a court case with this man. In the court he assumed
that he would see the attorney hard at work studying the
case. Instead he found him sitting with an open Chumash.
This man then told the audience how the recipe he found
for succeeding is to never rush out after davening,
but instead to spend some time with the cell phone
switched off, working on his learning. He gave his assurance
that doing this cannot cause loss.
One man pulled an acorn from his pocket to show how little
the seed is for a giant tree, and so from a little effort in
Torah the results can only be huge. He challenged anyone to
choose the comforts of the fancy homes of this world and
leave behind the promise of 310 worlds described at the end
of Shas.
Another man who a few years back could not even read Hebrew,
has completed masechtas of mishnayos. He spoke
of his desire to daven more intensely and of the
inspiration he gets from his rabbi and others.
A businessman addressed the crowd and told how he attended
the Simchas Torah davening a few years back. He did
not understand the auction they were having but joined in and
bid against a learned person for one of the aliyas.
When he won on a bid of 1000 mishnayos he turned
to the rabbi to ask what exactly mishnayos were! Rabbi
Pfeuffer then suggested he start with Pirkei Ovos, and
this man rose to the challenge and has to date been through
Shas Mishnayos a number of times. Although he feels
there is a lot he still does not understand and also much
that he forgets, he draws inspiration from a discussion he
once had with Rav Shimshon Pincus zt"l (who often
visited their beis hamedrash). In it he was told that
all that he learns will be waiting for him after 120 in the
next world.
Finally there was a university lecturer who is studying for
his Ph.D. He has only been learning for a short time, but
already he sees that all his previous academic studies are
nothing compared to the Torah.
The evening was concluded by an address by the av beis
din Rabbi Kurtztag, who echoed the sentiments of Rabbi
Pfeuffer in appreciating what the participants do for the
world by putting time into Torah study.
The evening demonstrated how the enthusiasm of a rabbi and
his care for individual members can bring Jews from every
situation in life into the world of Torah.
