SIYYUM HASHAS: RAMAZ STYLE
On March 1, at Madison Square Garden and at the Continental Airlines Arena, more than 20,000 people gathered and approximately 100,000 people were hooked up electronically to mark the completion of seven and one-half years of page-a-day study of the Babylonian Talmud. While this milestone was happening world-wide, Ramaz was able to plan a similar simchah for our own students, albeit not at the Garden.
Senior Hart Levine and his brother Shawn ’04, who is in Israel for the year, learned a daf of Talmud everyday with their father, Mr. Danny Levine. Hart was ten years old when his dad proposed the idea of learning together, once a day. We felt that this unique endeavor on the part of a Ramaz family warranted a chagigah.
Rabbi Rubin framed the morning’s celebratory event by citing that the mishnah at the end of Massekhet Pe’ah places the mitzvah of “Talmud Torah Keneged Kulam”…meaning that by engaging in the study of Torah one is automatically involved in all of the mitzvot bein adam la-chavero because, “Torah forms everything we do; Torah is not a subject, it is a way of life”.
A short film clip from the Siyyum at the Garden was shown at our Siyyum. To appreciate the magnitude of this historical event, one had to see the many thousands who came together for the singular purpose of honoring the daily study of Torah.
While Mr. Levine applauded the steadfast commitment of his sons, he also challenged our students to see how readily accessible Torah is to everyone and that daf yomi is just that…one page at a time.
Rabbi Bienenfeld presented Hart with a beautiful set of shas and a lovely book stand that is engraved with the phrase, והגעת בו ימים ולילה . The Rabbi further illustrated the enormous importance of studying Torah by citing a passage from Massekhet Megillah. The Talmud explains that while Mordechai is “accepted by all and had found favor in everyone’s eyes,” he still lost his special seat in the Sanhedrin. Only those who are immersed in the study of Torah could maintain their special seat. Since Mordechai was totally involved in saving our people, he could not maintain a consistent study of Torah. As such, we see that Torah study is even a higher ideal than saving the nation.
Malka Fleishmann, senior class president, read a poignant excerpt from “The Little Prince” which highlighted the precious gift of time. Malka urged us not to be slaves to the clock but rather be in charge of the hours in our day. She concluded passionately by saying, “When we give an activity a zman kavua, a specific time, we are also saying it has a makom kavua in our lives and hearts and it becomes ours. Torah learning should be incorporated into our daily lives. In this way Torah becomes not just what we do, but who we are.”
Lively rikudim and delicious donuts added another enjoyable dimension to a morning filled with simchah.
A full page has been dedicated to this event. Click here to listen to each person’s entire presentation and to view photos from the very special event.