Kislev: You Never Know What Can Be

It’s not for you.

I was a pretty standard, solid avreich, who learned sedorim when I was supposed to, and took vacations when they were permitted. That means that I wasn’t so into learning during bein hazmanim – instead, I’d spend those precious few weeks having “fun,” which meant making sure we had a well-earned family vacation, and for me, it mostly meant playing basketball. After all, it was a good physical outlet and kept me in shape.

I know it sounds like a cliché, like an advertisement for Dirshu, but I can honestly say that the Kinyan Shas program showed me that by putting one foot in front of the other, I could discover strengths I thought were reserved for the elite of the beis medrash.

My story doesn’t sound glamorous — it’s not like I transformed from someone who didn’t know alef-beis, or some bum on the street, into a serious learner. I always learned. Seriously. But when I started Kinyan Shas, I gained a new perspective on my own capabilities. It might not look dramatic to you but it was life-changing for me.

When I started, I had no idea if I’d be able to succeed, and I certainly never envisioned that I’d not only finish two daf yomi cycles and make a siyum on all of Shas twice, but I’d do it in a way that I actually remembered everything I learned, at a review pace that honestly, I never thought I’d be able to handle.