Bochurim of Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad in Los Angeles got to partake in a special siyum this week, where Rabbi Yitzy Hurwitz and his chavrusa Rabbi Mendy Spalter completed Bava Kamma after months of study.
By Anash.org reporter
Bochurim at Yeshiva Ohr Elchonon Chabad in Los Angeles, California, together with their Maggid Shiur and Menahel Ruchni of YOEC, Rabbi Amram Farkash, got to partake in a special siyum this week, where they got to see a unique example of true dedication to Torah study.
The siyum was held in the home of Rabbi Yitzy Hurwitz, who continues to inspire thousands around the world after being rendered immobile by ALS. The bochurim were there to celebrate Rabbi Yitzy’s completion of Maseches Bava Kama, together with his chavrusa Rabbi Mendy Spalter, executive director of YOEC.
Rabbi Spalter and Rabbi Hurwitz began learning together in the memory of Chaya Spalter a”h, after her tragic passing at the age of 11. The chavrusa took a few-month pause due to the coronavirus, but resumed earlier this year, and this week the chavrusa celebrated a siyum.
The boys are a familiar sight in the Hurwitz house, coming there almost daily for their shiur with Rabbi Farkash. Nonetheless, the siyum was a special celebration for the boys, and many of them said they left inspired.
After finishing the Masechta, Rabbi Spalter told the class that his learning with Rabbi Hurwitz was far from a shiur. In fact, it was a full-on chavrusa. “Yitzy will ask questions, give comments, and even will tell me the translation of a word if I don’t know it,” he said.
“Yitzy told me that he learned Bava Kama in yeshiva close to twenty years ago, and yet he still remembers it good enough to help me with translations,” Rabbi Spalter said. “Yitzy is fully involved, and our learning is a full fledged chavrusa.”
For the boys, the event was a real demonstration of dedication to limmud haTorah. Despite being bedridden, with even his power to speak taken away, and his only way of communication through a computer controlled by the blink of his eyes, Rabbi Hurwitz spends hours every day learning Torah.
“Now that we finished Bava Kama, we will be moving on to Bava Metzia, which happens to be the Masechta that yeshivos are learning this year, and we look forward to completing it as well,” Rabbi Spalter told the bochurim.
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