College Students Make a Siyum

By COLlive reporter

Over the Nine Days of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av, a completion of a tractate in Talmud was held at Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim, the baal teshuva learning institute at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, NJ.

While the “siyum” practice is held the world over following the directive of the Rebbe, what was unique about this completion was those who made it.

The 7 students who completed Mesechta Makos are former college students without prior enrollment in a Jewish studies program or the ability to learn Gemara on their own.

To accomplish this, Alex Brothman, Binyomin Fitterman, Dovid Gonzolez, Yossi Hidalgo, Levi Stewart, Avraham Shrage White and Rashi Zamora made the effort to meticulously study Gemara over the past 10 months.

Led by their teacher Rabbi Dovid Dick, they developed their skills and “learned how to learn” and completed 54 pages of Gemara in tractates Baba Metziah and Makos.

The semester began with only having the Gemara text taught to them, but soon enough Rashi was introduced, gradually Tosfos, and by the end, they were were actually learning from the original on their own.

“The program puts a tremendous emphasis on chazara (reviewing),” explained their teacher. “What is so amazing is that all of the students have gone over the material so many times that they are going through the entire masechta again before the 15th of Av.”

At one point they were tested on 30 pages at a shot in a closed book test.

“When I studied Materials Science and Engineering in Georgia Tech I learned about very particular subjects and if you’d ask me what a cup is made out of I could tell you ‘Polystyrene’,” said Binyamin Fitterman.

“However, this is a very limited study confined to a small area and can only help you so much. Studying Gemara gives me tools for life. It helps me in every area and when you study it with Rabbi David Dick you see that it’s not that hard after all.”

The group began Makos after Pesach with the goal of finishing it by the Nine Days. They celebrated its completion with a ceremony and each student being honored with making their own siyum.

“I’ve completed my business major, but this was actually the first time I’ve made a Siyum,” commented Avraham Shrage White. “The difference is that in school it’s done for the grade and you don’t need to ever see this material again. Here it’s worth revisiting and learning again and again.”

Rabbi Boruch Hecht, Director of Admissions at Tiferes, asked to recognize the Shluchim that sent these students to the yeshiva: Rabbi Shneur Z. Lipskier and Rabbi Ephraim Silverman of Atlanta, GA; Rabbi Mendy Cohen of Sacramento, CA; Rabbi Mordechai Lichy of Coral Springs, FL; Rabbi Hershel Spalter of Escazu, Costa Rica; Rabbi Shmuel Weinstein of University of Pittsburgh, PA; and Rabbi Mordechai Silberberg of University of Western Ontario in Canada.