Since the evening in 1968 when 1,000 people packed the
auditorium of Bais Yaakov of Borough Park for the sixth Siyum
HaShas, the excitement surrounding a Daf Yomi Siyum
celebration — both in the weeks prior to the respective
event and on the exhilarating day itself — has
triggered an increased interest in Daf Yomi learning and
Torah study in general.
After the Ninth Siyum, for which an astonishing 20,000 Jews
from all parts of the continent and every walk of observant
Jewish life gathered at New York's Madison Square Garden,
many new study groups were established in cities across North
America, and Daf Yomi services proliferated.
Indeed, seven and a half years later, in an effort to make
the most of the Siyum's great potential for harbotzas
Torah, the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of
America asked rabbonim across the country to dedicate their
droshos on the Shabbos before the event to the
importance of setting aside regular times for Torah learning
either through the Daf Yomi program or the study of other
sections of the Talmud or Oral Law.
Not surprisingly, an unprecedented upsurge in Daf Yomi study
and services ensued in the wake of the tenth Siyum, which
drew the participation of 70,000 Jews in Madison Square
Garden, Nassau Coliseum and venues in 35 cities across the
continent, as well as in places like Mexico City, Sao Paulo
and Melbourne.
Now, as the greatly anticipated eleventh Siyum HaShas draws
near, the Moetzes is calling upon shul rabbonim to
once again utilize the awesome spiritual energy of a Siyum
celebration to motivate their kehillos to intensify
limud Torah at all levels. In a Kol Koreh issued February 4,
the Moetzes designated Shabbos Parshas Ki SIsa, 17
AdarI/February 26, as a day "of introspection and
invigoration."
An English translation of the full text follows below:
A FERVENT PUBLIC CALL
As we approach the joyful day when tens of thousands of Jews
will, with Hashem's help, complete the study of Talmud Bavli
through the Daf Yomi program, our hearts are filled with
gratitude to the Creator, for having given us the Torah of
truth, our beloved labor and path to eternal life.
We praise Hashem for the kindness with which He has favored
us in the wake of the destruction of Jewish Europe, as
manifested by the vast increases in the number of people
"thirsting for the word of G-d" with the resultant need "to
add benches to the study-halls" to accommodate the students
in the life-giving yeshivos and kollelim everywhere, as well
as the masses of individuals yearning for Torah who are part
of the Daf Yomi program or other courses of Torah-study. How
fortunate is our people! May Hashem grant even more of the
same, that the banner of Torah be raised and glorified, and
that we proceed "from strength to strength" in both the
devoted study of Torah and the numbers dedicated to Hashem
and His Law, in the spirit of the Verse: "Let many muse and
let knowledge increase" (Doniel 12:4).
We therefore hereby issue a loving call to all rabbis and
leaders of congregations to set aside the Shabbos of Parshas
Ki Sisa, 17 Adar I as a day of introspection and
invigoration, to exhort all of their congregants to recognize
the nobility and importance of Torah-study, and the urgent
need to appoint set times for it, each person according to
his ability, whether through the study of Daf Yomi or other
sections of the Talmud and Oral Law.
This is an auspicious time to take delight in the Torah and
to infuse ourselves and the entire world with the sweetness
of Hashem's law, until the day — as the Rambam writes
— "when goodness will be ever-flowing and every
delicacy will be as available as the dust, and the world will
only strive to know Hashem... as it states: 'And the land
will be filled with knowledge of Hashem, like the waters
cover the oceans' (Yeshayahu 11:9)."
MOETZES GEDOLEI HA TORAH OF AMERICA
(COUNCIL OF TORAH SAGES)
25 Shevat, 5765
(February 4, 2005)
