Here is part 2 of the Yated Siyum Article - PROUD TO BE A YID — IMPRESSIONS OF THE ELEVENTH SIYUM HASHAS:
Rav Chaim then uttered the timeless words, that signaled the end of the eleventh machzor of the Daf Yomi. “Hadran Oloch, Tinokes.” We shall return to you, Tinokes. “V’silka Loh Maseches Niddah.” And Maseches Niddah is concluded.
Rav Noach Eizik Oelbaum recited an emotional kaddish, and the collective Omein echoed for several long moments. Suddenly, the respectful silence that had hovered over the tenfloor stadium at Madison Square Garden, and the vast Continental Airlines Arena, dissipated. Reb Abish Brodt, the beloved menagen, took the mike and began to sing “Siman Tov U’mazel Tov.”
The silent, staid crowd was electrified. In an instant, the mood changed from poignancy and longing to intense d’veikus and joy. One by one, entire rows stood up and began to sing along, swaying in their places, their voices rising in collective euphoria.
Groups of bochurim and yungeleit sitting in the center rows stood up, linking arms, and began to dance. In a chain reaction, row after row, from the fourth floor seats all the way up to the eighth, fathers and sons stood up in unison, dancing in their places, singing with all their might. As far as the eye could see, a sea of black, twenty thousand strong, were clasping hands, clasping souls, united in the harmony and power of the moment. It was an unforgettable scene.
And I thought, “Now I understand. Now I know why thousands upon thousands of men, women, and children had left their usual commitments, flocking to Manhattan or New Jersey at 5:00 p.m., to take part in such a massive gathering. Now I know why I, a regular Yiddishe Mommy, who had never learned a blatt gemara in my life, felt compelled to attend this powerful maamad. What was I celebrating? Was I paying homage to the Torah of my husband, my children, my brothers, my relatives? Or was it something deeper? A massive outpouring of unity, an outpouring of love for the holy Torah, which has kept us going through the millennia?”
Ashreinu, Mah Tov Chelkeinu. I felt so proud to be part of this. It felt so good, so utterly exhilarating, to be a Yid. Ribono Shel Olam, I whispered, “Look down at Your people and see this massive Kiddush Hashem. Instead of gathering to play hockey or watch a baseball game, 120,000 Yidden across the world are gathering to proclaim, ‘Hadran Aloch, V’hadrach Alon.’We shall return to you, Dear Torah, as we have returned to you through the ages.”
Rav Ephraim Wachsman, who delivered the first address, gave voice to these emotions when he compared the powerful “Shema Yisroel” uttered in unison at the Siyum Hashas to the Shema Yisroel uttered by the Six Million Kedoshim, who were gassed and burned al Kiddush Hashem.
“Then, the gezeirah was l’hashmid uleharog u’leabed, to destroy, kill, and wipe out, while today it is ‘l’hodos, lehalel, u’lshabeach; to thank, laud, and praise. What remains constant is the cry of Shema Yisroel. From where does Klal Yisroel derive this strength? From the Torah, our lifeblood. This is what has preserved Am Yisroel through the ages.”
Next Time: Learning 200 blatt ba’l peh in the camps
