Whole Shas at the Age of 19

By COLlive reporter

Chovevei Torah Mesivta and Beis Medrash in Crown Heights held a Yarchei Kallah event Sunday, culminating in a Siyum of the Talmud by a 19-year-old student.

The full-day event was attended by prominent Rabbis such as Rabbi Avraham Osdoba, Rabbi Yaacov Schwei and Rabbi Yosef Braun of the Crown Heights Beis Din, Rabbi Boruch Lesches – Rov of Monsey, Rabbi Yitzchok Raitport and dayan Rabbi Shlomo Segal.

Lectures were given by educators Rabbi Zushe Winner, Rabbi Hershel Lustig, Rabbi Yossi Paltiel, Rabbi Shmuel Kuperman, Rabbi Yosef Barber and Rabbi Menachem Minsky.

After classes in Chassidus and Halacha, a siyum on the entire Talmud was made by 19 year old Shaya Zirkind from Toronto, who learns in Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim – Chovevei Torah.

When asked what is the secret to accomplishing what most adults can’t do over a lifetime, Zirkind told Chabad.org, “go to bed early, wake up refreshed, and take each day at a time.”

Zirkind, whose father is a ritual scribe and mother is an educator and international speaker, said, “When I started, it certainly was a dream. At first, I just sat down to learn the first masechta (section), then I learned another, and another,” he continued. “It wasn’t until the last year that I realized that I might actually finish it.”

Chovevei Torah director Rabbi Mendel Blau said that his student has been an inspiration to his classmates and the entire yeshiva, and that his story is beginning to inspire Jews around the globe. He noted that Zirkind saw his studies as a supplement to his regular yeshiva work, not as a replacement.

“We’ve had students that were on their way to completing this feat,” he added, “but this is the first time that a student has completed the entire Talmud while still in yeshiva.”

Originally, Zirkind didn’t want to draw attention to what he did, Chabad.org reported. Blau had to convince him to support the idea of Sunday’s celebration.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal,” said Zirkind. “But Rabbi Blau said that the reason to do so is to inspire people. It’s an inspiration to finish something, and everybody can relate to that.”

Following the Siyum, attorney and donor R’ Shimon Aharon Rosenfeld spontaneously came forward to give the boy a valuable cash gift and sponsored the seudah in honor of Shaya’s uncle, Rabbi Yitzchok Zirkind OBM, who passed away this March.

Video: Celebrating Spiritual Achievements