Of Phil and Dovid #2 – The Schedule in the Mir Yeshiva in Poland

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5tjt.com

We continue with the series, “Of Phil and Dovid.” As readers of the first episode know, ninety years ago, a deep friendship formed between Phil and Dovid.  They were both American Yeshiva students in America in the 1930’s.  They had both studied under Rav Dovid Leibowitz zt”l, then the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah V’Daas and soon to open his own Yeshiva – the Rabbinical Seminary of America, Chofetz Chaim.

Dovid had travelled across the Atlantic on the White Star Line and had taken some of their complimentary stationary.  He began his studies in the Mir Yeshiva in Poland.  Phil stayed in America. They exchanged letters.

It was November 8^th, 1933 and Dovid is writing to his friend, Phil.  It is his first letter.  In it he describes the schedule in the Mir Yeshiva in Poland.  Readers are invited to compare the schedule with that of their own Yeshiva experiences and/or that of their children.  The schedule found below has been reformatted for clarity, return to Yeshiva after supper has been approximated by this author.

8:00 AM                            -DAVENING (YH: pronounced “Davenen” as they are no longer in America)

9:10 AM-10:00 AM         -MISHNA BRURAH [YH: Some learned other things]

10:00 AM-10:30 AM       -BREAKFAST

10:30 AM – 3:00 PM       -FIRST SEDER

3:00 PM – 3:30 PM         -MINCHA

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM         -LUNCH (YH:  “Dinner”, perhaps because it was the biggest meal of the day)

5:00 PM -9:30 PM           -SECOND SEDER

9:30 PM -10:00 PM         -MUSSAR SEDER

10:30 PM                          -MAARIV, THEN HOME FOR SUPPER.

11:00 PM                          -DOVID STATES THAT THEY LEARN FOR AN HOUR OR TWO HOURS.

Dovid adds, “In addition to these sedarim, we have shiurim from the Rosh HaYeshiva (YH: Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel, 1879–1965) on Sunday and Thursday and on Tuesday from the Rav (YH: Rav Avrohom Tzvi Hirsch Kammai, 1860-1941).  Rav Yerucham gives us three shmuessin each week: One on Friday night before Maariv; the second one on Shabbos after davening and the third after shalosh seudos.  He sometimes gives us a shmuess during the week.”

Dovid is the future father of Rabbi Yaakov Bender, the Rosh Yeshiva and Dean of Yeshiva Darchei Torah.

More episodes to follow – b’Ezras Hashem.

To read episode #1 click here.

The Mir Yeshiva in Poland was one of the greatest Torah institution in all of Jewish European history.  It produced world class Gedolim.  In the 1930’s, many American Jews studied there.  This author was close to a number of Alter-Mirrers.  There are now none left.  The Mir in Poland was truly the “Golden Age of Yeshiva Study.”  This history is now slowly fading away.

The author is attempting to produce a video series entitled, “The Grandeur of the Mir Yeshiva in Poland.”  Anyone wishing to assist in this endeavor, please contact the author at [email protected]

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