The special tribute to Daf Yomi maggidei shiur
resonated with the large crowd that gathered at the New
York Hilton last Sunday night (27 Iyar-June 5) for Agudath
Israel of America's 83rd Anniversary Dinner.
"Just a few months ago," Agudath Israel executive vice
president Rabbi Shmuel Bloom reminded the dinner guests,
"more than 100,000 people worldwide celebrated the 11th Siyum
HaShas of Daf Yomi." While that event characterized the very
essence of Agudath Israel, more significant still, said the
Agudah leader, was what happened the next day, when thousands
of newcomers to Daf Yomi joined up for the twelfth collective
journey through Shas.
The remarkable phenomenon that is Daf Yomi could not have
evolved without the toil, dedication and mesiras nefesh of
the maggidei shiur, 150 of whom are represented by the
evening's honorees, said Rabbi Bloom.
"While every maggid shiur will tell you that he gains
the most from the teacher-talmid relationship, it still
behooves the community to show its appreciation for their
tireless efforts."
And what better place to do so than at a dinner of the
achsanya shel Daf Yomi — Agudath Israel of
America?
That sentiment would be echoed by speaker after speaker,
beginning with New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
and United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, both of whom
lauded Agudath Israel's efforts at promoting Torah study.
The officials were introduced by Agudath Israel executive
vice president for government and public affairs Rabbi Chaim
Dovid Zwiebel.
As he does every year, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, the Novominsker
Rebbe and Rosh Agudath Israel delivered the main address of
the evening.
Rabbi Perlow began with remarks in English, in which he
praised Agudath Israel for its faithful representation of the
part of the Jewish people that remains loyal to the Jewish
religious tradition in the face of a culture so often
inimical to it.
The Rebbe made reference to recent attempts by some to tamper
with shechita and milah, and asserted that
broader society's "whimsical notions of right and wrong,"
would never modify the observant Jewish community's
dedication to its religious mandate. And he declared that the
protection of the community's right to remain faithful to its
traditions and the championing of moral issues, "what the
Torah considers normative and Jewish behavior," comprises the
"philosophical mandate of Agudas Yisroel."
"Living in a democracy" the Rebbe continued, "for which we
are eternally grateful, we believe it to be part of the
function of government to help secure education for all its
citizens, including the ways and means to help preserve Torah
education. And we expect the officials of government to seek
every constitutional opportunity — and there are many
— to safeguard religious education in our land."
Rabbi Perlow went on to refer to the community's deep concern
for "our brothers and sisters in the Holy Land," and declared
that "we look to the President and expect him to see through
the false facade of respectability" being presented by
"agents of Palestinian terrorism" and to "stand steadfast to
support the protection of Israel as the only light in that
jungle of darkness called the Middle East."
Switching to Yiddish, the Rebbe extolled the importance of
giving honor to Torah which, as the dinner was honoring the
maggidei shiur of the Daf Yomi, was the order of the
evening. He also paid deep tribute to Reb Yosef Friedenson,
editor of Dos Yiddishe Vort, who received the Rabbi
Moshe Sherer Memorial Award. Referring to the long-time
Agudath Israel activist as "a bridge" to the Orthodox world
of an earlier age, he extolled Mr. Friedenson's more than
fifty years of service to the Jewish community and thanked
him for imparting the essence of the European Orthodox
community to a younger, American generation.
"Reb Yosef!" he declared. "You outlived the resho'im,"
the Nazis and their henchmen who destroyed that European
Jewish world. And to us, you are a paradigm of netzach
Yisroel lo yishoker" — "the eternity of the Jewish
people will never be undermined."
Rabbi Perlow's address was followed by a presentation to the
"Pillars of the Daf" — the maggidei shiur —
by Rabbi Shmuel Dishon, menahel, Yad Yisroel.
Rabbi Dishon spoke movingly of the mesiras nefesh of
those who teach Torah to others. He noted how, according to
one opinion, Moshe Rabbenu's wife and children were not
present at Mattan Torah, and asked why Moshe would not
have sent for them before that singular event. An answer he
had heard, he said, was that their absence was intentional,
that they were to be the living examples, as recipients, of
the transmission of Torah. They were to set the historical
stage of Torah's transmission over the ages to generations
far removed from the day of Mattan Torah. And so the
seemingly puzzling fact, Rabbi Dishon explained, was in truth
a shining example of both Moshe's and Tzipporah's mesiras
nefesh for the good of the klal. "Self-sacrifice,"
he declared, "is the dam hanefesh, the life-blood, of
marbitzei Torah in every generation.
A beautiful and inspiring commemorative volume entitled
Pillars of the Daf was distributed at the dinner. The
publication features a color portrait of each honoree, along
with his personal reflections on the challenges and rewards
of being a maggid shiur. The wives of the maggidei
shiur were each presented with a specially-commissioned
14k gold pin.
The program continued with a moving audio-visual presentation
chronicling Mr. Friedenson's long-time association with
Agudath Israel's late beloved president.
The program concluded with yet another audio-visual
presentation, "The Eleventh Siyum HaShas: Across America and
Around the World," which perfectly captured the scope and
passion of that truly unforgettable event. The video was
produced by Rabbi Yosef Chaim Golding.
The 83rd Anniversary Dinner was chaired by Dr. Menachem
Rubin.
