Learning Torah Archives - Shul Politics

The Torah of Tisha B’Av

A unique aspect of Tisha B’Av is that you’re not allowed to learn many types of Torah, because learning Torah brings us joy. As the Shulchan Aruch points out: “One may not study Torah on Tisha B’Av except for melancholy passages in Torah texts, the laws of mourning and Tisha B’Av, and works of Musar (S.A.,O.Ĥ. 554:1; Y.O. 2:26).”

The irony of this is that in my Shul, more people pass through the doors to learn Torah on Tisha B’Av then any other day. Between the showings of the Chofetz Chaim Heritage videos, the Rav’s shiur, another live shiur, hundreds of people will pass through the doors of the Shul on this day. How are we to understand this?

First there are some practical factors as to why so many people attend shiurim on Tisha B’Av:
1) most people take the day off
2) there’s not much else to do which is in the spirit of the day
3) going to a shiur takes your mind off the hunger you might feel
4) after a few years, it’s become your routine on Tisha B’Av

From a spiritual perspective, one reason might be that although many of us have trouble actually shedding a tear for the destruction, we know at some level that something is missing in our lives. And we know at some level, that we’re all a part of the problem. It’s one day that many people take some responsibility for the less than perfect state the Jewish people are in. Hearing the mussar oriented shiurim on Tisha B’Av is our praiseworthy attempt at trying to do something about. On this day we’re all open to our faults and we’re ready to take a corrective step in the right direction.

The second reason is perhaps the spiritual power of communal Torah learning. The two primary communal spiritual activities are prayer and learning Torah. The power is so great that these spiritual activities are two that many of us can actually feel. When we’re most receptive to spiritual progress, like the Yomin Noraim and Tisha B’Av and we combine that with a communal spiritual activity like learning Torah, the overflowing of our Shuls on Tisha B’Av is understandable.

May we all grow from the tremendous power of the day and may our communal efforts lead us to an environment of even greater spiritual opportunities.

The Shul Zoom Boom

It’s been a long haul for us Shul lovers. But we’re making the best out of difficult situation, thanks in part to technology, and particularly Zoom.

Our first use of Zoom was for online Kiddushim. A small group of us joins a Zoom meeting before Shabbos and we share a L’chaim, some words of Torah, and a discussion of the issues of the day. It’s usually about 20 minutes long. It’s not the same as a Shabbos Kiddush, but we look forward to it and it keeps us connected on a weekly basis.

We’ve also had a few Zoom life cycle events. We’ve had a vort, a wedding, and unfortunately there have been levayas and shiva visits. Of course it’s not the same as the in-person equivalents, but it does enable a degree of connect to the baal simcha or aveilah.

Another use of Zoom is for our daily Shacharis minyan. Someone davens, saying every brocha and the beginning and ending of every paragraph out loud. There are no Devarim Shel Kedusha as it is not a halachic minyan. We pace it consistently and many people have found it very helpful for their Kavana.

This cycle of the Daf Yomi has seen two major changes. More people in our Shul are learning the Daf and the OU Daf app (https://alldaf.org/) has been a tremendous additional asset. All of our Shul Daf Yomi shiurim are functioning on Zoom. Despite the availability of the OU Daf resources, people like their shiur leaders and their chaburas, and continue to attend them on Zoom. We’ve also continued all our weekly shiurim, given by members of our shul via Zoom.

Perhaps the most impactful use of Zoom has been our Rav’s online Zoom shiurim. He gives shiurim from Sunday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m. for about 30 minutes. We get very nice attendance and it’s a real chizuk to see many fellow members on a regular basis. At the end of the shiur we unmute everybody and we shmoose for a few minutes with the Rav greeting everybody in attendance. It’s a great experience and I wonder how we’ll use Zoom to supplement the live shiurim when we return.

We anxiously await returning to Shul, but we’re thankful that Hashem has provided us with the Zoom refuah in the face of our quarantine machala.

Why Your Shul Should “Do the Daf”

Although the primary purpose of Shuls is a place of prayer, opportunities for learning and chesed should be constantly sought after. The most widely implemented program in the learning play book is Daf Yomi or “Doing the Daf” as it’s known in common parlance.

The two major benefits of Daf Yomi are:
1) It creates an obligation to learn Gemora everyday. As we all know – the Daf waits for no man.
2) It creates a chevra Shas. A group of people who are bound by their common pursuit of learning Gemora.

It’s a very good idea for your Shul to provide a Daf Yomi shiur. The common objections to this suggestion are:
a) We don’t have anybody to give it
b) People won’t come
c) Daf Yomi is too fast

With the advent of Art Scroll a person can spend about 60-90 minutes preparing a decent Daf. Certainly there are higher levels of preparation and higher level shiurim, but giving an Art Scroll based Daf will allow you to achieve the two major benefits described above. To encourage someone to undertake that task, tell them that spending the time to prepare and give the shiur will provide them with tremendous benefits. It’s common knowledge that the giver of the Daf benefits a magnitude greater than the receivers.

Beginnings are hard, and beginning a Daf Yomi is no different. The minimum about of people required is 2, one to give and one to be on the receiving end. Find those two people and in time it will grow. Even if it doesn’t, the two people learning will benefit greatly.

Many people complain about the amount of material that has to be covered in the 45-60 minutes usually allocated to the Daf. And they are right. It’s a lot of material for that amount of time. But the reality is that the Daf has reached the tipping point and it is currently the standard bearer of Gemora learning. That doesn’t mean you can’t give other types of shiurim, but the Daf should be a standard in your Shul. The 100,000 – 300,000 people who celebrated at the completion of the last cycle have spoken.

One last point is that you should make a siyum after each Masechta. It helps people recognize their accomplishment and it provides a social venue to celebrate the learning of Torah. You need a minyan to say the Kaddish, but you don’t need a minyan to make a celebrate with a siyum. We need encouragement for the good things we do and a siyum is a great opportunity.

Mazal Tov to all those who just finished the cycle. For those who are still on the sidelines, it’s not too late to join in for Berachos.

Hishtadlus and Hashgacha

It’s not the first time I was in this pinch. It was Thursday morning and I still didn’t have a speaker for Pirkei Avos on Shabbos. I had already asked about 10 people, some of them twice. Of the 18 weeks of Pirkei Avos, this usually happens once, and often around this time. People go away and the pool of potential speakers from the Yeshiva Kollel dries up because of Bein HaZmanim.

I started moving on the backup plan. I asked a friend, RCW, who davens in front of me at weekday Shacharis, if he would speak again this season if I couldn’t find someone. He tentatively agreed, pending his wife’s approval, but not before he asked two other people at the minyan if they could do it. On such short notice they were both hesitant.

Mid morning I got a text from RCW that he got clearance from his wife. A few minutes after that I got a text from RCEW, who often helps me get speakers, saying that he got somebody from the Kollel to give the shiur. Who did he happen to ask? The same person that RCW asked in the morning. He had come up with something to say after Shacharis.

We were all doing our hishtadlus to get a speaker. The hashkacha was that RCW went out of his way and asked this person, and then RCEW happened to ask the same person so he was primed to say yes. It’s comforting to see how Hashem is actively involved in our lives after Tisha B’Av!

Starting a Chabura

We try to encourage as much learning as possible in our Shul and we have found that the chabura is an effective mechanism. The major difference between a chabura and a shiur is that there is usually more participation in a Chabura, which makes the learning more active. The minimum number of people needed for an ongoing Chabura is three, the leader and at least 2 more people. A chabura’s strength is not in its number, but in its regularity and longevity, and we have a number of chaburas that have been ongoing for many years.

We started a Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Mishna Berurah a number of years ago. The Dirshu schedule is Sunday through Thursday, with Friday and Shabbos reserved for review (or to catch up). The Chabura takes about 20-30 minutes a day and the Mishna Berurah is completed over the course of 7 years. There are many resources from Dirshu which assist both the leader and the group.

On the 17 of Tammuz, 5777, Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha will begin Chelek Gimmel of Mishnah Berurah, the learning of hilchos Shabbos. Over the course of about a year and a half entire Chelek Gimmel of Mishnah Berurah will be completed.

It’s a great time to organize a Dirshu Halacha Chabura. If you can’t, it’s still a great opportunity to start learning hilchos Shabbos in the Mishna Berurah. To receive calendars and/or shiurim locations, please call 888-5-Dirshu or e-mail info@kolleldirshu.org

The Death and Life of the Shabbos Drasha

I was at the Torah UMesorah Convention this past Shabbos and I listened to about 10 Drashas over Shabbos. Although the attendance at the Drashas was respectful, many of the attendees opted out of most of them. The Shabbos Drasha, which has been an integral part of the Shul growth experience over the decades is under attack.

Two common sources of blame for its demise are shorter attention spans and the appeal of shorter yeshivish-like minyanim. In many larger Shuls this has lead to a situation where the main sanctuary is empty on Shabbos as people opt for the shorter drasha-less minyanim. As it turned out, one Rabbi who actually turned around his Shul’s main minyan with his amazing drashas was at the convention, Rabbi Eytan Feiner. But the reality is that most Rabbaim don’t have Rabbi Feiner’s oratory flair, but that isn’t really what the drasha is about anyway.

The drasha is about relationships. The relationship between a teacher and a student. The relationship between the parsha and its relevance to our growth. The relationship between a Rav, who aspires to inspiration and teaching without preaching, and his congregants. It’s about hitting singles week by week in a generation that loves the long ball.

The drasha is for us. Prepared by one caring Rav who has the difficult task of giving one talk to 50-500 people with varying spiritual needs and interests. In our communities, no one is there for us like our Rebbeim. And the drashas are the spiritual arms that he uses to reach out, to comfort, and to draw us closer to Hashem and His Torah. Let’s not make the mistake of opting out of this wonderful spiritual tool. Please regularly attend your Rav’s drashas, for the benefit of all of us.

Addressing The Shiur Gender Gap

One of the interesting phenomenon over the years is the proliferation of shiurim on Tisha B’Av. In our Shul, in addition to some live shiurim, we show both Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation videos. To handle the crowd we show the videos in 2 different locations in the Shul simultaneously. About 400 people view these videos, with a breakdown of approximately 300 women and 100 men. This gender gap also exists for the shiurim that are not halacha or Gemora oriented.

Three possible explanation for this gap are:
1. When men go out to learn it will be for Daf Yomi or to learn with a chavrusa.
2. Women are more drawn to lecture/inspiration shiurim than men and perhaps gain more from these types of shiurum.
3. Women do not have enough opportunities to learn, so they take full advantage when shiurim are given.

Most likely it’s a combination of factors.

An obvious takeaway from this is to schedule more shiurim for women. In our Shul this has been addressed by creating a women’s shiur committee under the direction of the Rebbetzin and the Rabbi. Many of the shiurim are schedule on Shabbos afternoon when more women have the opportunity to attend. To address the cost issue, many of the shiurim are given by women and local Rebbeim who are willing to give shiurim for free.

In our Kew Gardens Hills community there are also a number of regular shiurim organized in local homes. Bigger events are held in the Shuls and we are fortunate to host a number of them in our Shul during the course of the year. Thank God that lots of good work is being done to addressing this growing need.

The Scholar in Residence

Our yearly Scholar in Residence is an event that we have found very beneficial for our Shul. I’ll try to layout some of the issues involved in planning and running a scholar in residence in this post.

The first task is selecting the speaker. We have found that speakers fall into one of two broad categories, inspirational or source based. Although many speakers have both characteristics, they generally can be classified as primarily one or the other. We try to mix it up from year to year since we have a relatively learned Shul and they appreciate both types of speakers.

Since we’re a low-budget organization, we usually pay $1,800 for a scholar for the Shabbos and we’ll add travel expenses if the speaker is coming from out of town. We have found that many people are willing to co-sponsor this event.

Most years our venue is a 45-50 minute Friday Night Shiur, a 20 minute Shabbos Drasha and at 30-40 minute Shalosh Seudos speech. This year we added a 30 minute Sit Down Kiddush shiur after davening and a Melava Malka for a total of five talks. Since we can never predict how many people will come out on Friday Night and Moatza’ei Shabbos, we try to have those talks in people’s homes so that even if we get only 20-30 people, it’s respectable. We usually work with the Scholar to decide on the topics for the talks.

We try to find a comfortable house for the Scholar to stay, with the meals hosted by the Rabbi and Rebbetzin on Shabbos and the education chairman on Friday night to help make the logistics go more smoothly. We try to escort the Scholar to all of the minyanim and all the speaking venues, although many of them prefer to find their own way, once they’re comfortable with the neighborhood.

With solid support from many members for the hosting and food setup, we’ve had great logistic success for these events. The members always express much appreciation and we think it’s an integral program for Shul success.

Growing Your Shul With Torah Learning – Part 2

Increasing Torah Learning
Every segment of Orthodox society puts a strong emphasis on learning Torah, although the emphasis on what to learn varies. Rebbeim stress the importance of growing in both breadth and depth of Torah learning, while acknowledging the challenges involved. People are busy with work, families, communal projects and relaxation time and it takes effort to add a new shiur or learning seder to our schedules. To help people overcome their inertia it’s extremely valuable to create a Shul where people are regularly involved in learning.

Finding Teachers
Perhaps the main challenge to creating a Torah learning culture is finding people to lead the various classes. In one larger Shul, the Rabbi was so committed to growth in Torah learning, that he taught 20 classes a week. Most Rebbeim can’t accommodate nearly that amount, but you should encourage your Rabbi to keep on increasing and updating the Torah learning schedule. Shul members can help fill the gap by giving shiurim, leading Chaburas or learning with weaker Chavrusas. Many people have discovered that teaching, dramatically improves your learning and this can be used to motivate more people to come forth and teach or learn with others.

Torah Be-Rabbim
For any mitzvah, having more people collectively involved brings a greater sanctification to Hashem and because of the centrality of Torah learning, special merit comes about from collective learning. In addition, having a bigger group encourages other people to learn. Many shuls have set up times in the morning and evening when the Shul is opened for learning. When setting up these efforts keep a long term perspective because it takes time for people to change their normal procedures.

Weekday and Special Programming

Chavrusa Learning
The bread and butter of Torah learning is one on one Chavrusa learning. Many people find their Chavrusas by asking potential partners directly. It may also make sense to have a person who tries to make the matches. Chavrusas can consist of people of equal or different learning levels. Encourage some of the stronger learners to learn with those with lesser skills.

Gemora Shiur With Preparation
One of the most successful programs is a Gemora Shiur with preparation. The teacher giving the Shuir gives a brief introduction before the learning begins and assigns sources for the chavrusas to learn together. In the best of circumstances, the teacher hands out relevant source sheets. During the chavrusa learning, a good teacher will walk or look around making sure nobody is getting stuck. After the learning the teacher gives a shiur reviewing the important points of what was learned. A good ratio is at least twice as much chavrusa learning as shiur time, for example, 1 hour of learning and 30 minutes of shiur time including the intro time beforehand.

Daf Yomi
Daf Yomi has become a Torah mainstay in many Shuls. Despite the objections on the pace, the sense of accomplishment and the group learning aspect is a tremendous motivator. Daf Yomi shiurim take many formats and are very dependent on the person giving the shiur. Art Scroll has had a tremendous impact on Daf Yomi learning as the commentary helps people follow the Gemora at that faster pace.

Mishna Yomi
Mishna Yomi enables people to finish the entire Mishna in less than 5 years at a reasonable pace, 2 Mishnas a day. Some Shuls learn it out loud after Shacharis and in others a chabura learns it together. It as a 5-10 minute a day program that yields great benefits over the long term.

Mishna Berura Yomi
Like Mishna Yomi, a Mishna Berura Yomi shiur or chabura yields tremendous benefits as it enables you to go through this entire halachic work at a maintainable pace. There are different schedules for Mishna Berura Yomi, some are every day and some like the Dirshu schedule are 5 days a week with Shabbos and Sunday for review.

Other Chaburas
In addition to standard Yomi chaburas, many shuls have smaller interactive learning groups usually led by one person. Any topic, such as chumash, mussar, hashkafa, machshava that is of interest to the group can be learned. A chabura can contain as few as 3 people and they are excellent vehicles to encourage more learning.

Halacha Shiur
A halacha shiur by a qualified Rabbi or teacher is an important part of a Torah learning program. Halacha is literally a topic without end and the interests of both the Rabbi and the learners should be considered in choosing topics. Many halacha shiurim will choose a topic relevant to the time of year where possible. It’s important to properly gauge the level of learning of the participants to target the shiur level,

Scholar in Residence
A scholar in residence program is a great way to encourage Torah learning be-Rabbim. Usually scheduled on Shabbos, it brings out many people. Some shuls will only bring in Torah scholars for such programs while others will also use experts in Judaism related subjects. Some scholars are great inspirational speakers while others have tremendous content and informative knowledge. It’s helpful to know what types of speakers appeal to your general membership and to try to vary your programming from year to year to accommodate your members usually varied needs.

Summary
In these past 2 posts, I’ve tried to outline some ideas for Torah programs. It’s important to take a long term view on increasing the Torah learning culture because growth is a long term process and needs attention. Try to get your Rabbi, President, Board and membership involved and focused on continually increasing the Torah learning in your Shul.

Growing Your Shul With Torah Learning – Part 1

Learning Torah is the Foundation of Growth
As was mentioned in a previous post, a Growth Culture Shul benefits the members and their families by providing multiple avenues of growth. This includes learning Torah, davening, performance of Mitzvos, Chesed, and creating connections between members. Learning Torah is The foundation of growth because the Torah defines and maps out the growth path of Jews in all areas.

Running Successful Education Programs
When starting a program it’s important to consider:
1) The goals of the program. Are you looking to increase the breadth, depth or frequency of member’s learning?
2) What attendance figure would be considered a success. For a scholar-in-residence, 30 people might be the target, depending on the size of the shul, while a week night Machshava chabura would be a success with even 3-4 people attending.
3) Whether the goals and attendance are achievable. The overall goal is to increase member’s breadth, depth and frequency in learning, and we need to consider attendance because teaching resources are usually limited.

Programs need to be constantly re-evaluated and re-formulated to meet the needs of the members.

Shabbos Day Programming
In our times, people lead busy lives and Shabbos is the one day where there is extra time to learn. Here are some Shabbos programming ideas:

Friday Night Parsha – in the winter months when Shabbos starts early, some people want to use that time to attend a parsha shiur. It’s also a good opportunity to allow members to prepare and give a shiur. The main caveats are that people: are often tired, want to spend time with their family, or may have trouble staying awake at the shiur. Combining the shiur with an oneg can help boost attendance.

Shabbos Morning Parsha – before davening on Shabbos is a good time for a parsha Shiur. Since it entails getting up early, it’s helpful to have a strong teacher giving this Shiur.

The Rabbi’s Drasha – in the growth oriented Shul, the Shabbos drasha is a must. Although the Rabbi needs discretion in terms of the length, topics and style, I believe most Rabbis appreciate feedback from the membership.

After Davening Kiddush and Shiur – if you have the facilities for a sit-down kiddush, this is a great opportunity for a short shiur. Some shuls do this every week and even if that doesn’t work for your Shul, it might be worth trying every few months.

Before Mincha Shiur – after the afternoon nap, this is a good time to give a deeper shiur. Many shuls have an in-depth halacha or gemora shiur in this time slot.

Shalosh Seudos – after allowing time for some eating, shmoozing and singing, this is a great time for a short shiur. If your Rabbi is up for it, some shuls have had great success with an “Ask the Rabbi” session where the floor is open for any questions for the Rabbi. As long as the Rav is comfortable giving an occasional “I don’t know, let me think about”, it’s a wonderful opportunity to learn and increase the bond between the Rabbi and the membership.

Pirkei Avos Shiur – in the longer summer months, you might want to consider having an early 6:00 PM Mincha, with Shalosh Seudos at home and then returning to the shul 30 minutes before Maariv for Pirkei Avos. The topics in Pirkei Avos are interesting for a wide audience and it can provide people other than the Rav an opportunity to give a Shiur.

Parent-Child Learning – in the fall and winter months, this is a great opportunity to bring the members and the children back to shul for some more learning. The program is usually accompanied by pizza or some other food and sometimes prizes are raffled off. Some Shuls do Parent-Child learning after an early Mincha during the long Summer days.

Melava Malkas – in the fall and winter months, this is a great way to combine a social event with Torah learning. The program usually needs an organizer to deal with the logistics of hosting, providing food and getting speakers, but the fruits of such efforts are usually greatly appreciated by the members.

Summary
A Growth oriented Shul should provide a strong learning program. Above are some thoughts about Shabbos Programming, a time when many more people have the opportunity to participate. Next week we’ll look at weekday and special events learning programs.