Jerusalem – The Charedi Wunderkind Who Preformed A Siyum HaShas At His Bar Mitzvah

Jerusalem – The time: Friday, the first day of the Hebrew month of Elul. The place: Kollel “Ohr HaZohar”, above the tomb of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. The Admor of Toldos Aharon was observed waiting with barely concealed excitement. The few chassidim who had accompanied him to Meron to participate in the Rosh Chodesh morning davening had no idea of the reason for the rebbe’s anticipation. The rebbe’s face expressed seriousness and awe for the occasion he was about to witness.

The tense atmosphere could be cut with a knife. It was evident that the admor was awaiting an extremely important guest, whose identity even the gabbaim did not know.

The mystery was soon resolved, with the appearance at the door of Rav Sholom Mordechai Hoffman, a respected member of the Toldos Aharon chassidus in Yerushalayim, accompanied by his son Chaim Zavil. The faces of the two shone with the ethereal joy of the performance of a rare mitzvah. Chaim Zavil, his youthful countenance framed by a Yerushalmi kaftan and a bar mitzvah boy’s shtreimel atop his head, smiled shyly at those present. He was clearly thrilled at this opportunity to have a personal meeting with the rebbe.

And then the amazing happened, causing the eyes of the gabbaim and of all those assembled to widen in astonishment. Upon noticing the young bachur standing at the entrance to the room, the rebbe immediately rose to his feet in a show of respect. The face of the bar mitzvah boy showed his discomfort and embarrassment at this scene, in which his his spiritual master and teacher, in whose path he followed and whose ways he tried to emulate, rose to his feet for him, a mere boy of thirteen. The rebbe then sat down at the head of the table and motioned to the bachur to take a place next to him. A large Gemara was brought to the table and placed before Chaim Zavil, as he is affectionately called, and he opened its well-thumbed pages, leafing through to the final daf. His sweet voice began reading the age-old words, enunciating each one with great care as a person might count gold pieces, as he completed his study of the entire Shas. Midway his voice suddenly faltered, shaking as he grasped the magnitude of the event, but the pure eyes of the rebbe, gazing upon him with a blend of admiration and encouragement, gave him the strength and determination to continue with the reading of the Hadran, in an even stronger and louder tone. Tears now appeared in the eyes of the assemblage, awestruck as they realized what they had just witnessed; a young bar mitzvah boy, accepting upon himself the yoke of Torah and mitzvos with all of Shas in his hands… “Who is like your People, Yisrael!”

Two of Chaim Zavil brothers now approached the table in turn, and each opened a Gemara and completed a masechta himself. The first was the eldest brother, Meir Yehudah, 17, and then came their ten year old brother, who showed by his fluent reading of the lengthy ‘Hadran’ that he too was accustomed to completing masechtos. After reciting the Kaddish d’Rabbanan, the Rebbe sat down for a l’chaim of cake and schnapps in honor of the doubly joyous occasion; the bar mitzvah and the Siyum haShas. In contrast to his usual custom, the rebbe drank the entire becher of wine with great enthusiasm, and the chassidim looked on with surprise: “The rebbe always drinks wine extremely sparingly, even on Shabbos,” remarked one quietly. “The rebbe is immersed in simcha like I have never seen before,” replied another. “This expression of spiritual hisorerus is something exceptional.”

“Whoever undertakes to complete a tractate of Talmud, will receive a special blessing from me,” the rebbe suddenly announced. This pronouncement created an electrical charge in the air; it is not every day that the rebbe makes such an unequivocal offer. Ten enthusiastic young scholars who were present jumped at the opportunity and immediately committed themselves to studying and completing various masechtos. All those present then sat down to a festive Rosh Chodesh meal, which had been prepared before the unique character of the occasion had been publicized, and the atmosphere at this seudah was indescribably uplifting. The rebbe did not cease from conferring brachos and promising yeshuos, his eyes occasionally pausing to rest on his young chassid, who had given him so much nachas . The rebbe continually displayed his admiration for the bachur, warmly praising his fine character and accomplishments. The chassidim later related that it had been a very long time since the rebbe had displayed such pleasure and satisfaction.

At the rebbe’s side was another prominent figure – Rav Yechezkel Roth, the Gaavad of Karlsburg, who gazed upon the young talmid with admiration. The Karlsburger Rav even went to the extent of presenting the young bachur with a symbolic gift of twenty dollars, in fulfillment of the verse “Praise it, and it shall uplift you” – an exhortation to honor the Torah and those who study it.
The Mara d’Asra of Meron, Rav Meir Stern, then approached Chaim Zavil and kissed his hands, as if kissing a living sefer Torah.

After the l’chaim and the words of praise and admiration that the admor heaped upon the bar mitzvah’s head, Chaim Zavil and his father, R’ Mordechai Shlomo slipped out of the room into an adjoining chamber, also above the kever of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai, where ten close family members awaited them. Chaim Zavil had earlier expressed his wish that his seudas bar mitzvah, the required festive meal on this occasion, be held at this holy site. As the chosson bar mitzvah began to weave the intricacies of his dvar Torah, the guests sat full of wonder at both the breadth and the depth of knowledge and understanding the thirteen-year-old displayed in numerous sugyos of the Talmud. Hills and mountains of chiddushim were constructed before them, and then the door suddenly opened. It was the Admor of Toldos Aharon, who also wanted to participate in this more intimate celebration of the simchah shel mitzvah.

From time to time the small crowd would begin singing the songs that traditionally interrupt the speech of a bar mitzvah, allowing him to gracefully take his seat; but again and again the rebbe shushed their disruptive song, transfixed by the dvar Torah the young bachur was delivering. He wished to hear the pilpul Chaim Zavil had prepared until its very end. When he finished, the rebbe warmly took his and his father hands into his own, and gave his blessing that the bar mitzvah bachur should merit to become a ‘mighty oak’ in Torah and yiras Shamayim, in accordance with his own pure hopes and desires. The sight left a deep impression in the hearts of all those present at this unique occasion.

In an exclusive interview granted to Sha’ah Tovah following the siyum, the father of the bachur, Rav Sholom Mordechai Hoffman, still sounded extremely emotional. The interview, conducted by telephone, was interspersed with moments of silence as the father choked up in emotion and found it hard to continue. “I myself would not have chosen to make such a big deal. My eldest son, Meir Yehudah, also completed the study of the entire Talmud, and we held the ceremony quietly and privately. This was how we planned the present siyum as well. However, when the Karlsburger Rav – who spends much of his time in Meron – heard about the upcoming siyum, he approached me saying, ‘Reb Sholom Mordechai, one does not keep such a momentous achievement secret. On the contrary, you should make a large seudah. Your son will also benefit from this, for it is important that he appreciate what he has accomplished.’”

Despite his desire for anonymity, Chaim Zavil siyum has turned him into a symbol of the chassidus, and many young boys and bachurim have established study sessions in the hours preceding and following their formal studies, in the hope of themselves completing Shas before their own bar mitzvah, or at the very least before marriage.

“I named him Chaim Zavil after the previous Ribnitzer Rebbe ztz”l,” says the proud father, R’ Sholom Mordechai, “and more than anything else, I pray that he should be a yirei Shamayim like his namesake.”

We were allowed a brief conversation with Chaim Zalman himself, who, though reticent, was glad to share a few words with us, words which he hopes will encourage others to begin, and to fulfill, their own quest for Torah scholarship – on the condition that they too are willing to prioritize and to sacrifice: “Everything begins the night before,” he says. “My parents insisted that we go to sleep early, no later than 9:30, so that we would have the strength to study the next day.”

To our question as to whether his classmates share the goal of completing the study of the Talmud, Chaim Zavil answers matter-of-factly: “Of course they do. Everyone wants to finish Shas – but first one must study Shas! Only after that can one finish!”

What did you do on the Shabbosim when everyone went to the mass demonstrations against the decisions of the Yerushalayim Municipality and its mayor Nir Barkat? Didn’t you want to go and demonstrate along with the rest of your friends?

Chaim Zavil answers simply: “The greatest weapon in the battle with the anti-religious Zionists is to sit and study Torah, not just to go to demonstrations. Demonstrations don’t make a person a talmid chacham. The greatest zealotry is to be found in the pages of the Gemara. Who has time to go and demonstrate on Shabbos afternoon, when Hashem has given us the gift of Shabbos, which can be used properly to ‘gather up another bundle’ of pages of Gemara?”

Reprinted with permission from Sha’ah Tovah Magazine — English edition