A Shiur for Boys Advancing to a Ketana Yesivah ○ A Give-and-Take (Shakla V’Tarya) Exam on Maseches Kiddushin ○ Distribution of Certificates by The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Among the last—and most beloved—who approached The Rav, Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, as the 5783 school year came to a close, were the pre-yesivah boys of 9th grade from the “Nechamas Tzion” Talmud Torah, led by the maggid shiur, Rabbi Yitzchak Halperin shlit"a. He invests greatly in nurturing the boys and preparing them extensively for the world of yeshivos that they will enter in the coming year. And what could be better than sealing their years of study with a living enterprise that produces Torah and yiras Shamayim—namely, Talmud Torah—by the great tree who has been watering young saplings from their earliest days, in the holy home of The Rav shlit"a.

The boys entered last night, Monday night, the eve of the 29th of Tammuz, with great excitement into the living room of The Rav shlit"a, who was already seated in his place. The Rav immediately opened with words of the living G-d regarding the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. After that, he discussed the halachos of the Three Weeks from the Mishnah Berurah. He then continued with matters of dates, speaking about how in the year 5785 there will be a “Purim Meshulash,” and the Purim seudah will be on Sunday—and that there is an inyan to extend it into the night, because Haman was hanged at night.

The Rav strengthened the children in learning Gemara, saying that even at the age of thirteen it is possible to finish the entire Shas. As the shiur continued, The Rav touched on many subjects from all the hidden treasures of the holy Torah, among them: a story of the Baal Shem Tov; Bas Sheva who said to Shlomo, “What, my son? And what, son of my womb?”; the account of the angel and Tzelalfonis—the mother of Shimshon; and Machlon and Kilyon, explaining that they were called by those names because they despaired of the Geulah, and therefore became liable to destruction. The Rav addressed the sugya of “yesh bereirah” or “ein bereirah” in connection with David’s kiddushin to Meirav through Golyas—who was a non-Jew and therefore was not considered a perutah. The Rav said in the shiur that someone who “reviews” the shiur is forbidden to add even one word of his own! The Rav also strengthened the boys regarding the holiness of a person, and spoke about the wife of On ben Peles, who saved him from the counsel of Korach and his assembly.

Toward the end of the shiur, The Rav spoke about the secret of ever min hachai, explaining that it is the secret of the humiliations a Tzaddik goes through, as brought in Torah 3. Because of this, The Rav said, the dispute between Yosef and the brothers revolved around the matter of ever min hachai. At the conclusion of the shiur, The Rav spoke about the story of Eliyahu HaNavi and the woman of Tzarfat, who—through her Emunah in the Tzaddik—merited that “the jar of flour would not be depleted, and the jug of oil would not be lacking.”

At the end of the shiur, the boys passed by The Rav shlit"a to receive a certificate for their broad knowledge, following their shakla v’tarya exam on Maseches Kiddushin that they learned over the course of the year. With a radiant countenance and with love, The Rav shlit"a handed each boy his certificate, bearing the signature of his holy hand on every certificate.

Below is the documentation from the shiur and the distribution of the certificates: