Mazel Tov at a Siyum or Chag Hasmicha

Over the last months I've attended a grandson's siyum on Shas, another grandson's siyum on Shisha Sidrei Mishna, and a Chag Hasmicha at my son's Kollel, Kollel Horaah of America in Marlboro, NJ.

At every single event, someone said that saying Mazal Tov is out of place, because these occasions are the result of hard work and discipline and have nothing to do with mazal. You don't say mazal tov on Ameilus!

This has been attributed to the Briskers (an attribution that has been validated,) and (which I do not believe) to Reb Moshe. 

Whoever said it, I, and Gandalf, disagree. 

“Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?”

Mazal Tov is not a statement that what you have is the result of mazal, and it is not "congratulations".  It is a wish and a bracha that you will have good mazal in the future, and that is very, very appropriate. When a person makes a siyum, or gets smicha, you are celebrating three things.

1.     You join in your friend's happiness of a great goal attained after disciplined and dedicated hard work. You (if you are not suffering from ASD, or a psychopath who is indifferent to other's emotions) are happy that the other person has worked so hard and has accomplished something so precious.

2.     You celebrate the new kedusha in the world. Unlike those that say "מאי אהני לן רבנן," you know that every talmid chacham that rises another darga of sincere Yedias HaTorah makes the world a better place and brings it closer to the Ribono shel Olam. That is a simcha for everyone!

3.       A. Now that this person has finished a section of the Torah, the next time he learns it he will be learning a different Torah. אינו דומה! Anyone that has learned Eiruvin knows that after learning it once, you know very little. After chazering, it becomes a new masechta. Now that you've learned it, you need mazal and siyata dishmaya that when you learn it again, it will reveal its secrets and you will be zocheh לאסוקי שמעתתא אליבא דהילכתא.  

        B. Now that this person has assimilated a body of knowledge, and kal vachomer when he has hetter horaah, he has the opportunity to put his knowledge to use in his own life and in that of others. For that, you need mazal for siyata dishmaya that you should use it well.

        C. When a person gets smicha, or learns a significant limmud, he is like a sefer Torah. He might have the opportunity to spread his knowledge, to teach, to influence, to be a leader. Or he might just go home and do nothing with all that he has. We all know there are great poskim and lomdim who are crowned Kings of the world, and others, of equal or greater stature, that have to stand in line to buy Challah erev shabbos and you can barely find a minyan for his levaya. What is the difference? Mazel!  Even a sefer Torah needs mazal - one beautiful and holy sefer will lie gathering dust until it cracks and crumbles from age and disuse, and the other is used every krias hatorah. ( נשא קל"ד."תקוני הזהר צ״ט ב, "דכלא תליא במזלא אפילו ספר תורה שבהיכל) So if anyone needs the bracha of mazal tov, it is someone that finished a masechta or a new musmach.

This bothers me. How can the Briskers be so narrow minded that they don't realize that the mazel tov by a siyum is a blessing for the future? Bishlema when the Brisker Rov was told on a yortzeit that his father's neshama should have an aliyah, he got angry and said "Why are you saying that to me? Talk to the wall!" But a mazel tov by a siyum is treif?? I assume this is because the Brisker idea of a glorious future is that they emulate exactly and not one iota more their heroes of the past. Their future is the past. With that mindset, it is understandable that they interpret any good wishes by a siyum as an assessment of how well you've recreated the past, not a hope of dynamically achieving a fruitful and beautiful future. 

I guess they hold that the Gemara in Megilla 6b,

 גואמר רבי יצחק, אם יאמר לך אדם: יגעתי ולא מצאתי  אל תאמן. לא יגעתי ומצאתי אל תאמן. יגעתי ומצאתי תאמן. דהני מילי בדברי תורה

means that all that matters is ameilus. But I can't see how that's possible. After all the ameilus, you need special mazal to become a marbitz Torah and be mechaven el ho'emes.

In any case, the mussar haskeil is that you can and should say mazal tov by a siyum and by a chag hasmicha. The Brisker Rov says No; Eisenberg, for what it's worth, says Yes. Just as by a wedding, you wish the chasan and kallah good mazal on the new world they hope to create, so, too, by a siyum and smicha, you wish the chasan haneshef good mazal with his new kedusha and Torah.

Hakafos and Credit

Last night I spoke at a siyum.  L W, הרוצה בעילום שמו, a good friend who has been a member of my shiur for eight years, invited us to a party to express his pleasure and gratitude for having learned with us.  He is a model of hakaras hatov, and he has a natural affinity for limud hatorah.

Some years ago, when we were learning Kiddushin or Gittin, we were a few blatt ahead, and I decided on a program for the talmidim- each one would prepare a piece of achronisheh torah and present it to the shiur.  LW was the first, and, as it turned out, the only one to do it.  We simply didn't have enough time, because I only say shiur six days a week.

His presentation was the Staipler on the Machlokes Rambam and Tur in Shlichus, where the baalim became incompetent after he sent the shliach.  He prepared thoroughly, and did an excellent presentation.  Recently, he was speaking at someone else's house, and there were Kollel yungeleit there, and you could see that their minds were wandering as he spoke, until he mentioned the machlokes Rambam and Tur.  Watching their eyes come into sudden focus and their faces all turn at once was very funny- it was as if a bell had rung and woken them all up at the same time.

In any case, I spoke last night, and I'd like to write the main part of the speech here.  It can come into handy for people that need a speech for similar occasions- a siyum or for Simchas Torah.

The first vort comes from several sources- heard it from attributed to the Ri'm and I saw it from the Lubavitcher Rashab.

Simchas Torah is different than Shavuos.  On Shavuos, we celebrate Mattan Torah, and the Torah includes kiyum hamitzvos, and learning, and middos, the whole package of what having the Torah means to us.  Simchas Torah is a siyum, simple and clear.  We finished reading the Chumash, we begin it again, and we celebrate the idea of limud and chazaras hatorah.  If so, the only people dancing ought to be the people who actually learn.  The many baalei batim who are yotzei the mitzva of talmud torah with Eilu Devarim, Reb Yishmael, and Krias Shma, really don't have much to be celebrating.  So why are they dancing?  It must be that they're dancing on credit.  They are saying that even though they didn't learn all year, next year they'll learn, and they're celebrating the learning they plan to do in the future.  Dance now, learn later.  That's called enjoying the yomtov on credit.  This is why they call them Hakafos- because "hakafa" means "on credit."

Our chasan haneshef did not dance on credit.  His Simchas Torah was honestly earned: he came to the shiur straight from work, not having eaten, and he remembers a great deal more than the maggid shiur does (besides where Rav Kahana slept and Reb Yochanan's bracha at the Shaarei Tevila.)

Another thing I heard on the topic of Hakafos is from the Kloizenberger.  The Kloizenberger said that all mitzvos must be done with joy, with a leiv samei'ach, with simcha and tuv leivav.  The reality is that many mitzvos are done without any thought, and, unfortunately, as if they were an imposition.  For all of those mitzvos- the hanachas tefillin, the tzitzis, the limud hatorah- that we should have done with simcha, we owe a lot of simcha by the end of the year.  So at the Hakafos, we dance and we jump and we sing to make up for all the simcha we owe the Ribono shel Olam.  That's another pshat in Hakafos- we are paying back now for the simcha we owe the Ribono shel Olam from the entire year that passed.

Here, too, this does not apply.  Larry, with his natural affinity for limud hatorah, looks forward to the shiur and thinks about it afterwards.  He learns with pleasure and he expresses his enjoyment and gratitude for it, sometimes to his maggid shiur's embarrassment.  His simcha of Torah is consistent for the whole year, and he doesn't have to dance on Simchas Torah to pay for all the simcha he owes.

So there are two ideas that use the play on words of Hakafa: the first, that many people dance now on credit for the learning they promise to do the next year, and the second, that even the people who did learn should have learned with more simcha, and they have to pay for the simcha they owe.  As it happens, neither applies to our friend.

The Siyum HaShas. אנו רצים והם רצים

12th siyum hashas metlife stadium teddy agudah aguda meir shapiro 90,000 
I'm planning to attend the siyum at the Metlife stadium, and I'm very excited about joining this unprecedented gathering.  The sense of Kiddush Hashem, the feeling that the Jew's love affair with the Torah is unquenchable by the passage of millenia and galus and wholesale destruction and continues to grow, cannot be better expressed than at such a gathering.

Most of the people in my shiur will be staying in Chicago and attending the local siyum.  I was disappointed to learn that some of the chaveirim are not excited about going to the siyum gathering.  Some feel they don't remember enough, or that it's too big of a gathering, or that too many people who didn't learn will be there, or they have a bad history with some of the organizers, and so on.  I strongly feel they should go.  As I was contemplating the upcoming event, I was reminded of the marathons that are held in many large cities, and how excited people are to finish, even though they take hours longer than the Kenyans.  Just finishing, imagine how satisfying that is.... this is a visual thing, and I recommend that you try to visualize this as you read it.  (It would make a great video, and I spoke to Aish about making one, but it doesn't speak to their demographic.)

A man wakes up early every morning and puts on his running shoes.  He goes out in all weather, snow, rain, hail, baking heat, freezing cold, it doesn't matter.  If it's impossible to run outside, bedi'eved, he'll get on the treadmill, but it's not the same at all.  The point is, that his determination and discipline drive him to just do it, no matter how tired or lazy he's feeling that day, and he does it every single day.

A Ben Torah gets up early every morning, no matter what the weather is, no matter how tired he is, and he goes to the shiur and focuses as best as he can on the words of Torah.  It's dark outside, it's freezing, it's boiling, doesn't matter.  You have to go to the shiur.  If you think you're going to turn over and learn later on the train, your wife kicks you out of the bedroom.  You go, every day, tired, hot, cold, wet, no excuses.

After months of training, the day comes, and you've finally gotten yourself in good enough shape to join the other runners.  There are thirty thousand people there.  Some are bronzed and lithe, like animated beef jerky, some are overweight, some are in wheelchairs, but the excitement is in the air.  They're off- and finally, many hours later, the last one drags himself over the line, as proud as can be.  Look what I've accomplished!  I would have regretted my whole life that I could have done this, but I was lucky and smart and disciplined enough to follow through!

It doesn't matter that by the time he's finished, all the reporters are in bed and all that's left is cups and cleaning crews.  He did it!

How proud he is to get a certificate, Ploni finished the Boston Marathon!  He'll buy a t-shirt that heralds his achievement, he might mention it in conversation, when he meets someone else that's done it, he somehow senses that this is a compatriot with whom he's shared so much pain and joy.

After seven and a half years of learning, they come together to celebrate Torah, and to celebrate Klal Yisrael's love of Limud Hatorah. The speeches, well, some are magnificent and to the point.  The singing is inspiring.  The different kinds of people- with yeshiva backgrounds, without, srugies, blacker than black, professionals, businessmen, Kollel Yungeleit, men, women, children, no two of whom totally agree on any point- gathered for only one common purpose:  to celebrate our beloved Torah.

Runners usually are healthier, they are usually trim and fit.  They're less prone to minor ailments, other than knee problems, and running generally improves the quality of life.  But it only improves life.  It's what we call חיי שעה.  It does nothing for your existence after this life, for your חיי עולם.  Ultimately, the benefits of running end in the same place life ends, sooner or later, in the grave.

People who learn the daf, people who are  קובע עתים לתורה , they run, too.  It doesn't do much for their bodies, but it does make their soul fit.  It doesn't get them from place A to place B in a hurry, but it is a chariot of fire that transports them to the eternal world of truth. !אשר נתן לנו תורת אמת, וחיי עולם נטע בתוכנו   It gives them Olam Haba, it gives them Techiyas Hameisim.

אנו רצים והם רצים, אנו רצים לחיי העולם הבא, והם רצים לבאר שחת.
daf yomi
siyum hashas metlife stadium teddy stadium aguda shas 

Siyum Hashas

August, twenty two and a half years ago, our Daf Yomi shiur began with Perek Asara Yuchsin. We just had the third Siyum Hashas celebration in my house. Yes, we're around twenty blatt behind, and, as I mentioned at the Siyum, I just got a call from Reb Meir Shapiro that if we don't catch up, he's going to pull the franchise.

As with the other two siyumim, there was a real siyata dishmaya and ru'ach that generated a real warmth and friendship among everyone that attended. We had fifty one people in the living room/dining room, every one associated with the shiur, including substitute magidei shiur and, of course, spouses.

The siyum was, for me, a very emotional event. To clear space, I had moved the sofa, the recliner, side tables, and carpet to other rooms, and, after moving the piano into the corner, brought in long tables and folding chairs. After the Siyum, my friends, unbidden and unexpectedly, rolled up their sleeves and brought back all the furniture, and took home the chairs they had delivered. The women cleaned up the kitchen, so that there was barely a sign of all the food that was cooked and the salads and deserts and appetizers that had come out of that small space. But I insisted that they not take out the folded tables and remaining chairs and put them in the garage. I want to spend time in the next few days looking at the room and seeing signs of the siyum. I prefer to leave the room disorganized for a while so that the echoes of the sights and sounds of the siyum continue for as long as possible. Those dear, beloved, beautiful people, who take time every day to learn, and who all came to the siyum for one and only one reason-- to give kavod hatorah and to be makir tov for the shiur-- I want to see them in the room for as long as possible.

Seven and a half years ago, I and the boys had been on a fishing charter, and we came back with massive lake trout, brown trout, and salmon. As soon as we came home, sunburned and tired, my wife said that we were going to make a gala siyum the next day and serve the fish. These were not fillets that we had caught; they were real fish that had been swimming that morning. They were fish that were big enough to swallow small pets. But to work we went, and we called everyone to tell them about the siyum, and the next day, I was still in the back yard cleaning the last of the fish, and washing scales off of my forearms with the garden hose, while guests in bigdei yomtov were arriving. My wife put slices of the fish into the oven with some kind of sauce, and afterwards, everyone said that the fish was the best they had ever tasted. It was just extraordinarily moist and flavorful.

Our experience last night was the same. Everything we served was made either in our kitchen or brought over by friends who had made dishes; the entre was mushroom stuffed chicken breasts, Bodek broccolli, little carrots, and brown rice/wild rice. At the end of the evening, there was nothing left on the plates; everyone, even the junk-food junkies, said, once again, that it was just so flavorful and tasty, they couldn't believe it all came out of our kitchen. No caterer could have done as good a job.

I really believe that we were eating kodshim in the Azara of the Beis Hamikdash. I think that there was a special siyata dishmaya, a ruach of chein ve'chesed in the air, a grace that permeated the whole evening, that elevated the food to be the Mahn in the Midbar. The Tzintzenes Hamahn has never been emptied; I think that last night we all tasted it.

The effort my wife and her friends put into the Siyum, and the amazing results of their efforts, reminded me of the Chasam Sofer. I had heard for years that women might have a greater schar than men from limud hatorah, because the women encourage and are mechazeik their men to go and learn, and for this they have schar as if they themselves had learned Torah. But why would their schar be greater than the men's? Someone told me that a darshan said that if the man went to seder and wasted his time, then he gets no schar; what he gets is the onesh for bittul Torah. But his wife, or his mother, who encouraged him to go out to learn, her schar is just as if he had done what she sent him out to do, and had learned with absolute hasmada and concentration. Therefore, the woman's schar might be greater than that of the man. I said this made no sense. The schar for a machshir can't be any greater than the schar for the mitzvah itself. If you help someone, your schar is talui in what he ultimately does, and if he battels, too bad for both of them. You pick your horse, you hitch your wagon, and good luck.

Surprise! I found that the Chasam Sofer says this. In Parshas Nitzavim, it says "Tapchem ne'sheichem." The Chasam Sofer ahl haTorah brings the Gemara in Brachos 17a that the havtacha to women is greater than that made to men, and he explains exactly as above: the men might doze off or just waste their time instead of learning. But "schar ha'isha lo yekupach, ke'ilu hee megadeles baal uben tzadikim gemurim."

The Chasam Sofer says exactly fahrkehrt from what I was sure was true. Once again, Daas Baal Habayis Hepech Midaas Torah. This is not helping for my self-esteem issues. Should I laugh or cry? But I console myself by saying that the Gemara is a raya that my seichel, at least, is on the right track. The Gemara in Brachos needs a passuk for this concept, so maybe that proves that lulei the drasha, the pashtus, the seichel hayashar, would be like me.

I hope, over the next days, to post the main divrei torah that were said at the siyum. But not too fast: I want to make this last for a while.

This is what I said at the siyum:
I spoke about the din of Seudas Mitzvah. I brought the Mechaber in YD 246 25-26 who talks about the schar of limud hatorah and the onesh for one who could be learning but doesn't, and the Rama in 26 that says that a Siyum Masechta is a Seudas Mitzvah. The Shach there in sk 27 says that it is a Seudas Mitzva even for people who did not learn the Masechta.

Then I said over the Chavos Yair brought in the Pischei Teshuva YD 217 who tries to define the parameters of Seudas Mitzva. He discusses Chanukas Habayis parties, Seventieth Birthday parties, and so on, and then says that of course, a siyum is s seudas mitzvah, and even the seuda the day after, and two days after, if made to celebrate the siyum, are seudos mitzva. (This can be a very convenient shitta to remember during the Nine Days.) I mentioned that a past member of the shiur, Yosef Zev ben Chaya Alteh, may he have a refuah shleima besoch she'or cholei yisroel, told me that in Kelm, where he grew up, when the Rov made a siyum, all the businesses closed for the day, everyone put on bigdei yomtov, and they made seudos to celebrate the siyum-- it was mamesh ah yomtov.

Anyway, I mentioned that I didn't see any discussion of Hachnasas Sefer Torah. I suggested that although it does not fit into the rules of Seudas Mitzva, which celebrates the finishing of a mitzva, it might be a seudas mitzva because it is a mitzva to celebrate the bringing in of a Davar Shebikedusha into a community, like the Chanukas Habayis of Shlomo Hamelech. Of course, if you also finish the writing of the sefer, that is a mitzva, and that itself would give the din of seudas mitzva. So there are two dinim by a Hachnasas Sefer Torah: the writing of the sefer, and the bringing of the sefer to the community.

I say that both of these dinim are present by a Siyum Masechta. In Torah Shebaal Peh, there is no klaf to write on. The only way to 'write' a sefer torah shebaal peh is to learn it. The Klaf is our heart-- Kasveim ahl lu'ach libecha. When we finish a masechta, we celebrate the 'writing' of a sefer torah sheba'al peh. And we also celebrate the bringing of a davar shebikedusha into the community: When Moshe finished learning the Torah on Har Sinai, Hashem passed the Kolmus over his forehead, because, as the Beis Halevi says, Moshe Rabbeinu became the true repository of the Torah. Unlike Torah shebiksav, which belongs and whose primary place is on a klaf, Torah shebaal peh belongs only in the mind of the ben Torah, and therefore one who learns Torah shebaal peh is not just tashmishei kedusha, he is kedusha atzma. Just like we celebrate Hachnasas Sefer Torah Shebiksav, so too we celebrate Hachnasas Sefer Torah SheBaal Peh; the Masechta of Torah we learn resides in us, and the community now has a beautiful new davar shebikedusha within it. The difference is that we merely house a Sefer Torah Shebiksav, while with a Sefer Torah Shebaal Peh, we don't house it, we incorporate it. We have met the Sefer Torah, and it is us.