In preparation for the intensified chizuk campaign of the Dirshu organization this upcoming winter for the daily study of Halacha according to the Daf Hayomi B'Halacha program, the heads of Dirshu visited HaRav Shteinman in his home to garner a message of chizuk about the importance of daily Halacha study for every Jew in every location.
The members of the delegation, headed by Dirshu president Rabbi Dovid Hoffstetter, reminded the Rosh Yeshiva that on the visit they paid him several years ago upon the conclusion of the study of the third part of Mishnah Berurah in the Daf Hayomi B'Halacha and in anticipation of the commencement of the fourth volume, that they had requested his words of chizuk for those undertaking the project. They were concerned about difficulty of that particular volume which deals with the laws of Eruvin.
Maran said that when the Daf Hayomi of Shas was instituted ninety years ago, it was also presumed that the study would run its course till reaching the difficult masechtos in Shas, when people would drop out and the Daf Yomi project would fall by the wayside. But we see today the universality of the Daf Hayomi where people pursue the study regardless. So, too, he reassured them, with the institution of Daf Yomi B'Halacha, which will persevere, and years hence, every Jew will acknowledge that he cannot persist without a daily regimen of Halacha study and it will have become an integral part of his schedule.
The heads of Dirshu reminded HaRav Shteinman of his words at that time. "We have come to tell the Rosh Yeshiva that we feel secure in his previous promise and guarantee through the intense chizuk which we heard him express, and indeed, it has been fulfilled through the thousands of Jews who participate in the Daf Yomi B'Halacha curriculum throughout the world. We feel tremendous reinforcement in the fact that more and more Jews dedicate themselves to the steady daily study in Mishnah Berurah."
The Rosh Yeshiva again conveyed his chizuk to the heads of Dirshu and said that they are surely experiencing great siyata deShmaya. He dwelled upon the words of the Tana Dvei Eliyahu who interprets the posuk, "Halichos olam lo - as al tikri halichos ella halachos." But, he says, the verse reads `halichos'! We are meant to understand that both are one and the same, for the paths in this world and the next world are determined by the preservation of Halacha. When a Jew lives according to Halacha and his paths in this world are according to the Torah, his paths in Olam Haba are guaranteed, as the Tana said, and this, then, is the true interpretation of the kri-ksiv of that posuk.
Maran added that one must strengthen the daily study of Halacha and establish it as part of one's schedule, since the yetzer hora does not relax but strives to sway a person from the true path day by day, whereas a daily schedule of Halacha study can subjugate it and protect a person from stumbling.
The Dirshu organizers say that whoever undertakes the Halacha study on a daily basis will receive the Sixth Volume of the Dirshu edition of the Mishnah Berurah which is designed for a daily study program, delivered to his home. The Dirshu organizers also announced that hereon in, for the upcoming half year, whoever receives an 85% mark on their exams will receive a stipend. They appealed to each and every one to accept upon himself a daily curriculum and those who are interested in joining, can be tested each month on their study and be duly rewarded monetarily.
