By COLlive reporter
The Chabad community in Montreal gathered on Monday to celebrate the daily learning of the Rambam as instituted by the Rebbe.
Held in the Chabad Yeshiva Zal, participants marked the conclusion of the 30th cycle of learning 3 chapters a day, the 10th cycle of the learning 1 chapter a day and the conclusion of learning the Sefer Hamitzvos.
Emceeing the event was Rabbi Shmuel Kramer, Director of the Yeshiva Zal. Ending the Sefer Hamitzvos was Sholom Dovber Raskin, a great-grandson of Rabbi Yitzchok Hendel, the late Rov of the Chabad community whose yahrzeit is on Adar 12.
Among the speakers were Montreal’s Chief Rabbi Yonasan Weiss, Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Leibel Kaplan, Chomedey’s Chief Rabbi Dovid Rafael Banon, Skver Rabbi Yochanan Wosner and Lubavitch dayan Rabbi Berel Bell.
The guest speaker was Rabbi Shmuel Butman, Executive Director of the central Lubavitch Youth Organization and who chair the annual Global Rambam Celebration in New York.
In an impassioned speech, Rabbi Butman spoke how the continues and growing number of daily learners – with the help of booklets like Dvar Malchus and Chayenu – are a testimony how the Rebbe “continues to minister his flock, the Jewish people.”
He also explained the special significance of the number 30, noting how the Rebbe quoted the Gemora’s statement that “three times constitutes a chazokoh” [an assumption of fact], so that nine times is a triple chazokoh and 27 times (3x3x3) is a triple, triple chazokoh.
Rabbi Butman said the number 30 adds a further chazokoh of three, constituting an ultimate perfection of chazokoh of ten – constitutes a “perfection of chazokoh.”
“As is well known, the Rebbe battled for the “completeness of the [Jewish] people” (mihu Yehudi), the “completeness of the [Holy] Land,” and the “completeness of the Torah,” which is expressed particularly through study of Mishneh Torah, which includes the halochos of the entire Torah,” he said.
“Now that so many thousands of Jews have completed this daily Rambam study 30 times, which represents the perfection of chazokoh, this expresses the completeness and perfection of the Torah in a most forceful manner. All this will certainly speed up even more the ultimate and complete Geula, may it be immediately.”
Sholom Ber, Well done!!!
So proud of u! We love you..
hope to c u very soon,
ur cousins from Australia!!!
Go shalom ber!!!!!!!!
would that be hillel?
gr8 job sholom ber!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you make us all proud
Did a double take on seeing u on the frontpage!!! Good job!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
– ur #1 cuzin from montreal who used to play stratego with u!!
yoohoo!!! you did a fantastic job….keep it up!
did you say the whole sefer hamitzvos or just the last 2 and 1st 2