Siyum Mishnayos in Berlin

It is a frosty winter day in Berlin, Germany. The cold, unwelcoming streets cannot stand in sharper contrast with the atmosphere in shul, where 130 members of the kehillah are gathered to celebrate a milestone. But it didn’t begin now. This is the fruit of many years of tireless labor of those who established this kehillah, and the incredible mesirus nefesh of its members who made the journey back to Yiddishkeit. More recently, it is the product of a program called LOMED, a daily Mishnayos program introduced to the Berlin community by Rabbi Nachum Feder, one of the yungeleit in the Berlin-Lakewood Kollel. Through learning two mishnayos a day (with a daily shiur, English and German translation of mishnayos sent via email, as well as an audio recording), this program has brought the kehillah together to celebrate a siyum of seder Moed.

Twenty-four people diligently learning two mishnayos a day are part of this siyum, and no one wants to miss it. In this same shul, some 80 years previously, you would have heard the sound of shattering glass, as the Nazis pillaged and plundered. Who would have believed that 80 years later, in this very city, in a shul which had itself been a victim of that Nazi pogrom, you would hear the familiar tune of “Ashreichem Talmidei Chachamim” emanating from the crowd of dancing Yidden? Who could have imagined that twenty-four people, many of whom grew up in the shadow of the Communist regime in Russia, not knowing the alef-beis, would be finishing seder Moed? Who would anticipate a Lakewood kollel, a focal point for Torah learning in the community? And just over a year after their arrival, celebrating this monumental achievement together with the community?

It is hard not to notice the irony. One can almost hear the echo of shattered glass. And then there is the sound of clinking glasses, at a lavish dinner to celebrate a siyum of a seder Mishnayos.

Dayan Yonasan Abraham, shlita, flew in from London to share in the simchah. In his address to the kehillah, he echoed the words of Harav Sholem Gutnick, Av Beis Din in Melbourne, Australia, speaking to a crowd of Yidden — many of whom are survivors — at a siyum Mishnayos held there many years previously. He had quoted the words of Rashi in Parashas Beshalach, on the passuk “az yashir Moshe,” on which Rashi comments, “mikan l’techiyas hameisim min haTorah” (“this is the source for resurrection from the Torah”). Rav Gutnick said, “mikan l’techiyas hameisim – if you look to find the source for resurrection, for rebirth, for continued life in the aftermath of death, look no further than – ‘min haTorah,’ in the words of Torah, through which Klal Yisrael continues to live! To which Dayan Abraham added, ‘Mikan,’ in this very city of Berlin, where the planning for the systematic destruction of Klal Yisrael, chas v’shalom, took place, we see techiyas hameisim! How? ‘min haTorah’! With this siyum, we see the future of Klal Yisrael against all odds!

Witnessing this occasion is seeing b’chush the fulfillment of Hashem’s promise “ki lo sishakach mipi zaro,” how, despite the efforts of those who have risen up against us, from the inception of our nation through Nazi Germany and the Soviet regime, Yidden will still come back to the Torah, will still learn Torah, will be excited by it and fill their lives with it. My thoughts bring me back to Chanukah, which we celebrated just a week ago, to the neiros which cry out “Eidus Hu L’Yisrael shehaschina shoreh b’Yisrael.” And now, a week later, I have the opportunity to once again see that testimony, to see the presence of Hashem within our nation, to witness the light of Torah shebal peh illuminating the nights and days of Yidden so many hundreds of years later. This day, Ches Teves, marks the day we were forced to translate Torah shebiksav into Greek. But, says the Chasam Sofer, our enemies have no power in Torah shebal peh. Torah shebal peh is not confined to any sefer, but rather “v’chayei olam nata bisocheinu“; it exists in the minds and hearts of Klal Yisrael. And again I am taken back to the words of the song, “ashreichem talmidei chachamim.” Indeed, “Ashreichem Yisroel.” Hitler is not here, Stalin is gone, but we, Klal Yisrael, are still thriving.

“Why are you sharing this with me?” you may be wondering. Because this siyum does not belong exclusively to the Berlin community. It belongs to each and every one of you, members of our great nation, Klal Yisrael.