“I wish I would have had such a kinnus when I was a bachur transitioning from yeshiva ketana to yeshiva gedolah,” Rabbi Avigdor Bernstein, one of the senior members of Hanhalas Dirshu, said wistfully. 
Rabbi Bernstein was referring to the unique event in Eretz Yisrael, the Dirshu Seder Hachana event, where thousands of bachurim graduating yeshiva ketana (equivalent graduating twelfth grade in America) and going on to yeshiva gedolah (beis medrash) come together at the very end of their last zeman in yeshiva ketana to hear words of guidance from the Gedolei Hador, Mashgichim on how to properly prepare for the transition. 

By Chaim Gold
A day before, it appeared that the second test in the Machzor Sheini of Daf HaYomi B’Halacha would be a routine Dirshu test despite it being a bit of a milestone. Lomdei Daf HaYomi B’Halacha were completing the laws of tzitzis and progressing to the laws of tefillin. The test in Eretz Yisroel was scheduled for this past Friday morning, 5 Iyar/May 6.

“You don’t have to wait for the siyum to come aboard Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program! You can experience how learning daily halacha transforms your life by jumping into hilchos megillah and Purim and completing all the halachos of Purim before Purim this year! What a way to get started, by being engaged in a dovor b’ito, learning halachos in their right time!” These were the words of Rabbi Avigdor Bernstein, a senior member of Hanhalas Dirshu, advocating that new Daf HaYomi B’Halacha learners start right now!

In conjunction with the Dirshu World Siyumim, Dirshu will be leading a mission to Eastern Europe where Gedolim will visit Radin, Vilna and Kovno to daven at the mekomos hakedoshim and invoke rachamei shomayim on behalf of Klal Yisrael and especially on behalf of those who incorporate the learning of daily halacha into their lives.

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The first of the ten monthly tests in the Dirshu Kinyan Sheviis program during this shemitta year was held this past Cheshvan… and the turnout was nothing short of awe-inspiring! The program is being run in conjunction with the Siach Emunah organization headed by Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Thousands of people, from Yeshiva bachurim to elderly septuagenarians and even octogenarians flocked to Dirshu testing sites throughout Eretz Yisrael to take the test. Dirshu had been prepared for a significant turnout, but the sheer volume took them by surprise.

“What better eis ratzon, what more opportune time can we find to go to the Chofetz Chaim’s kever to daven? Now, we are on the cusp of completing the entire Mishnah Berurah in the Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program. This is the second seven-year cycle of the Mishnah Berurah completed by Dirshu. We are also completing the mussar component of the Daf HaYomi B’Halacha program where all the Chofetz Chaim’s sefarim on mussar have been learned, including Chofetz Chaim, Shemiras Halashon, Ahavas Chessed, Chovas Hashemirah, Zechor L’Miriam, Sefas Tamim and so many more. Now, who should lead such an august trip on behalf of Klal Yisroel? Certainly, Gedolei Yisroel from across the spectrum!

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Later this winter, lomdei Dirshu will be celebrating a major milestone with the Dirshu World Siyum marking the completion of the second machzor of six chalakim of Sefer Mishnah Berurah in Dirshu’s Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Program, where a page of Mishnah Berurah is learned daily with chazara on weekends and monthly tests.
In preparation for the upcoming World Siyum, a remarkable chizuk event was held earlier this month in Flatbush in the Beis Medrash of Kollel Dirshu led by Rav Shlomo Cynamon. The event was addressed by Rav Shlomo Cynamon, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, Nasi Dirshu, Rav Moshe Weinberger, Rav of the Agudas Yisroel of Flatbush and R”M at Mesivta Shalom Shachne, and Rav Zev Smith, Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Maggid Shiur.

A Dirshu Convention is unique. It is a Convention where men and women representing the entire gamut of Torah Jewry – Chassidim of all kinds, Litvish Yeshiva types, Ashkenazim, Sefardim – come together for one reason: to give and gain chizuk in the limud haTorah that both the men and women who attend know has transformed their homes, their family lives and the chinuch of their children.  
Lomdei Dirshu look forward to the biennial Convention with tremendous anticipation. It is a breath of Torah oxygen as they meet with like-minded “brothers and sisters in combat” who set aside large portions daily to learn, chazer, learn and chazer again, learning the material for the comprehensive tests that every lomed Dirshu aspires to take successfully.

Members of Congress in Washington embrace the chareidi community: Throughout the year, the President of Dirshu, Rav David Hofstedter, is busy – beyond his real estate dealings and business initiatives – primarily with the management of one of largest Torah organizations in the world, operating in 26 countries worldwide. However recent events havee him do something he’s never done before.