Emet Outreach is committed to building Jewish families and ensuring the Jewish future. Each year, the organization guides over 50 couples to the chupah, and it is typical for Emet’s dedicated staff to have the z’chus to attend a wedding almost every week. Emet’s involvement continues after marriage, as the rabbis and m’karvos are actively supporting over 350 couples with halachah and taharas ha’mishpachah assistance. In recognition of the fact that an emotionally healthy couple is the foundation of every Jewish family, Emet has now introduced a new series of couples workshops.

It happened on Shabbos morning during kriyas haTorah at the Heythrop Hotel and Resort near Oxford, England. From my spot in the middle of the beis medrash, I noticed something out of the ordinary going on next to the sefer Torah. I couldn’t, however, figure out what it was. Suddenly, I heard a resounding “Amen.” The faces of those close to the bimah showed a combination of surprise and emotion. I knew I had to find out what remarkable incident had just transpired.

David HaMelech teaches us in T’hilim (32:10): “The one who trusts in Hashem, kindness will surround him.” If you put your trust in Hashem, He will shower you with kindness. Chazal assure us that Hashem grants special protection, mercy, and kindness to those who put their absolute trust in Him.

I waited for the moment when every seat in the gigantic arena at Yad Eliyahu would be full, knowing that the sight of thousands of bnei Torah celebrating the Siyum HaShas in loving achdus was not something you see every day. I wasn’t disappointed. Black and white in every section of the arena. Here and there, I could see someone in a yellow vest circulating – Yad Eliyahu security – the contrast in colors catching my eye.

Few things animate the intellectual discussions of the yeshivah world more than a debate on the best way to learn Gemara. Each yeshivah, and sometimes each shiur within a yeshivah, has its own unique method to understanding the text and commentaries, and its own approach to balancing the competing needs of breadth and depth, speed and analysis, bekius and iyun. During this season of celebrating the completion of the Daf Yomi cycle, most people have set aside their firmly held opinions on this matter in order to politely celebrate the accomplishment of completing Shas at the lightning-fast speed of one page a day. I’d like to pierce that bubble, albeit gently, and only in order to gain deeper appreciation of the Daf Yomi experience and particularly the Dirshu Daf Yomi experience. Let’s take a deep dive into the subject of breadth, an iyun into bekius.