Last Thursday night, the tables of the auxiliary bais midrash of Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago were pushed together into long rows, set with fine linen, and piled high with a festive meal. The reason: Leibel Kaplan, a native of Pennsylvania, who originally came to the Mesivta as a student and has since returned as a junior member of the faculty, was completing the entire Shas, a task that began and ended in that very institution. 

Kaplan says the inspiration for his accomplishment came from a farbrengen with his maggid shiur, Rabbi Levi Stern. “Rabbi Stern inspired us to learn Gemara every day on our own, in addition to what we’d learned during our official study sessions that day,” said Kaplan. “I took it seriously and learned every day, studying one mesechta after another, but not thinking about finishing.”

The next boost came when his yeshiva study partner, a bechor, was learning the mesechta of Zevachim, known to be long and difficult, to complete on Erev Pesach. “I saw how he was learning and decided to become more serious, learning a blatt or two, every day, no matter what.”

When he realized that he was rounding the corner and about to finish, Kaplan originally envisioned an intimate celebration for a few close friends. But his father, Rabbi Yossi Kaplan, who leads Chabad-Lubavitch of Chester County, near Philadelphia, encouraged him to allow the Mesivta students to celebrate with him, inspiring others to follow his lead. 

The event turned out to be an elegant sit-down affair, with speakers including Mesivta dean Rabbi Moshe B. Perlstein, Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eliyahu Nosson Silberberg, and Leibel’s father, Rabbi Yossi Kaplan. Leibel’s grandfathers, Rabbi Nochem Kaplan and Rabbi Shmuel Lew, addressed the crowd via pre-recorded video messages. 

It was only a few years ago that the entire Chicago community–including the Av Bais Din, Rosh Kollel, and prominent rabbonim–joined together in celebration when 16-year-old Mesivta student Mendel Zirkind completed the whole Talmud.

“This was the fourth such celebration in recent years,” notes Menahel Halimudim Rabbi Menachem Schechter, “and every time we see how it has an impact on the participants. When they see how accessible something like this is, they are inspired to do the same.”

Indeed, Rabbi Stern’s own son, Mendy, currently learning in New York, just finished Shas a few weeks ago, completing an effort that began when he was a Mesivta student a few years ago. 

Celebrating 30 years since its founding, Lubavitch Mesivta of Chicago Yeshivas Or Eliyahu is currently raising $650,000 to support Chassidishe Chinuch. Please click here to contribute.

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