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Within the “V’talmudo
B’yado” program, there have taken place over the past several years
immense and impressive gatherings of eminent Torah personalities. Just this
past Elul, there was such a convocation, attended by hundreds of Torah
scholars, in the presence of well-known Roshei Yeshiva. At the
assembly, held at Yeshivas Ohr Elchanan, hundreds who had concluded and were
tested on an entire masechte were awarded handsome prizes for their
enormous efforts. There were many veteran and seasoned Yerushalmi
Jews who commented that they never saw such a large number of young men
having concluded such a substantial amount of learning all at once.
Many students
are all but fighting to merit participation in the framework of Dirshu.
In some yeshivos the list of hopefuls is so long and the allowance is
so limited that lots are actually drawn to determine who will be admitted
into the learn-and-be-tested framework and who will have to continue the
wait. Interestingly, one of the results of the clamoring is that there is
sizeable pressure exerted upon rebbeim to use whatever influence they
might have to gain entry into the program for particular boys.
By the
regulations of the V’talmudo B’yado endeavor, each month participants
will have completed twenty “blatt” of the masechte which the
yeshiva is studying. Every month’s examination will not only test the boys’
knowledge of the material learned that month, but also the material that had
already been learned – and tested - in previous months. Effectively, by the
end of each semester of the yeshiva, the participating students can be
tested on all of the material that they covered during the course of the
term. Accordingly, the test itself serves as an exhaustive review of the
entire body of knowledge from that term.
The manner in
which the prizes are awarded involves a twofold approach. Firstly, for each
test, those who have scored over a certain threshold are rewarded a base
amount. Secondly, beyond that, each student accumulates bonus points for
his achievements, so that by the end of the project of study for the
masechte, the student could be rewarded a rather handsome sum in
recognition of the massive knowledge he accomplished.
It is vital
to add at this juncture that the tests are by no means simple fare. Most
participants have remarked that it’s not possible to undertake a mere
cursory review of the text and achieve a high score. It entails in-depth
study, digesting the text of the Gemara in addition to the glosses of
Rashi and Tosafos. At times, entire questions on the exam have
been based on a correct fathoming of a single point in a Tosafos.
The
supervisor of all the learning programs within Dirshu, Rav
Gershon Kroizer, has stated, “The battery of testing under V’talmudo
B’yado is detailed and rather challenging. A student who has failed to
achieve the percentage which is deemed to be the threshold score is
immediately withdrawn from the program. There are no second chances, and
there are no excuses. For each place that is vacated by someone who did not
succeed there are dozens if not hundreds of others who await their chance to
be accepted into the system.”
According to
the Mashgichim of various yeshivos which are involved, it is
exclusively the result of the intensity of the learning program that the
young men end each season with a wealth of learning. These students leave
the yeshiva for their bein hazemanim recess filled with the profound
gratification that can only come form accomplishment.. They leave with pride
and self-satisfaction from a job well done.
While the
money is far from everything, there is nevertheless a sense of obligation
that arises from one’s acceptance of material reward. In some yeshivos
there is a system by which students share a monetary reward, while in
others there are boys who are willing to enroll and be tested by
Dirshu - without any reward whatsoever. What they are
interested in is being a part of the program, so that later on, when a place
opens up, they will be considered candidates. What they are interested in
is a sense of obligation to Dirshu.
Indeed, just
as it is possible to attain many things in this world through the agency of
funds, so is it even possible to motivate serious Torah study through that
enticement. This entails not a self-deceiving cursory familiarity with the
Gemara and the accompanying commentaries, but rather a critical analysis of
the texts as well as dedication and drive in one’s study. Indeed, it is a
common observation among the young men in the program that one who is
primarily or purely interested in the ‘pot of gold’ at the end of the
testing process quickly fall out of the ranks. So vigorous is the course of
study that the only ones who stand up to its demands are the ones whose
major aim is limud ha’Torah itself. It is as Dovid Hamelech said, “Tov
li Toras picha…” the Torah of the Creator’s mouth is more precious than
thousands in gold and silver.
In the moving
kinus that took place in Elul in Yeshivas Ohr Elchanan, hundreds of
students from a wide array of yeshivos, boys who had successfully
been examined in the various masechtos that they learned,
participated. From each yeshiva one representative came up to the dais to
recite Kaddish Derabanan on behalf of his colleagues from the same
yeshiva. The event was organized beautifully: after the siyumim had
been recited and the prizes awarded, the attendees exited the building,
boarded the buses that were waiting for them outside and returned to their
yeshivos. There, almost immediately, they sat down and opened the
next set of masechtos upon which they would embark, with even more
enthusiasm and energy than before.
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