The Denver Community Kollel held its first annual Learn-A-Thon on June 5th, 2016.
“I think a lot of people are not familiar with the idea of a Learn-A-Thon, but it’s really quite simple,” explains Kollel Director Rabbi Moshe Heyman. “It means a lot of Jews getting together for Torah study. Often, everyone will be studying parts of one tractate, completing the entire tractate in the course of the session. This is the perfect time of year for an event like this, one week before Shavuos, when the Jewish Nation came together in unity to receive the Torah. We, too, are uniting together to study that Torah as we prepare for Shavuos.”
More than 125 Jews from across Denver and Boulder came to learn for one hour on Sunday afternoon. Men and boys were given a folio of Tractate Sotah to learn, while a separate class for women was given by Kollel Senior Educator Rabbi Mordechai Fleisher. The women’s class focused on the first page of Tractate Sotah that discusses how forty days before the formation of a fetus, it is determined in Heaven whom the child will marry. This led to a discussion of the paradox of free will versus G-d’s knowledge of everything past, present and future. More than 25 women attended the class.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people at the pre-Shavuous Learn-A-Thon,” said East Side resident Howard Wedgle. “It was really nice to see people from the different parts of town coming together to learn. Kol hakavod!”
Following the learning session, a siyum (completion ceremony) was held. The siyum also included the completion of Seder Nashim, one of the six major sections of the Talmud, by Daf Yomi (Folio-A-Day) participants; the completion of Tractate Sotah, a part of Seder Nashim, thus linked participants with this worldwide celebration of Torah study, as tens of thousands of Jews worldwide are part of the Daf Yomi program.
The siyum featured Torah thoughts from Kollel Dean Rabbi Shachne Sommers; the completion of Tractate Sotah by Kollel founder Rabbi Myer J. Schwab; recitation of the hadran (completion prayer) on Tractate Sotah and Seder Nashim by Daf Yomi teacher Reb Tzvi Gelt, and the recitation of kaddish by long-time Daf Yomi teacher Reb Yoel Unger. Spirited singing and dancing followed the siyum, and participants enjoyed a hot buffet prepared in honor of the siyum.
“That was a fantastic event!” said Danny Sherwinter, who came down from Boulder to attend the Learn-A-Thon. “I’m already looking forward to next year!”
“This was a great kiddush Hashem (sanctification of G-d’s Name),” said Reb Yoel Unger, “and a tremendous honor of the Torah.”
To view pictures from the Learn-A-Thon, click here.
To listen to Rabbi Mordechai Fleisher’s class on Free Will vs. Divine Foreknowledge, click here. To download, click here.