With the world in various stages of lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic , the bachurim of Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid and the twelfth grade of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo were afforded several extraordinary weeks of uninterrupted learning and growth at the Yeshiva ’ s Catskill-Region summer camp , Oraysa .
Nestled on 92 picturesque acres off a dead-end country road , Camp Oraysa is host during a typical summer to four weeks of learning and rejuvenation for the Yeshiva ’ s Beis Medrash and Mesivta programs . This summer , utilizing the camp took on added urgency , as the pandemic forced a change in routine for all people across the planet .
Because Torah , as always , must go on .
Even in the darkest epochs of Jewish history , Torah study has never paused . From Yavne and its Sages gathering as
Yerushalayim lay in smoldering ruins after the Churban Bayis Sheini , to a majestic shul in Shanghai being transformed into a Mirrer-Yeshiva-in-exile during World War II , the Torah has proven that , just like Hashem and the Jewish nation , it is eternal .
So with strict medical protocols in place as prescribed by a team of worldclass epidemiologists - including but not limited to universal testing and a strict remain-on-campus policy - the bachurim continued their Torah learning , growing in an environment that was free of distraction and rich in opportunities . With a cadre of distinguished rabbeim ( and , in many cases , their families ) right there on campus , the talmidim were able to experience that special rapport of shimush talmidei chachamim , imbibing the lessons that rabbeim give over not only in shiur or in response to a kashya but through their haloch-yeilech , their everyday demeanor and conduct in a less-formal setting than that found on the Yeshiva ’ s Melohn Campus in Far Rockaway , 128 miles away .
Over two phases – one in summer , one in early autumn – the bachurim grew immeasurably , increasing their Torah knowledge , honing their learning skills , perfecting their middos , and , especially in the summer period , taking advantage of Camp Oraysa ’ s many sports fields and facilities to rejuvenate their physical strength .
Now they are back in Far Rockaway , ‘ plugging away ’ in their familiar environment as the temperatures drop and the nights get longer . But the months upstate and the gains made away from it all have undoubtedly served as rocket fuel for the next stages of their growth into budding talmidei chachamim . !
14 Bedarchei Hatorah Winter 5781 / 2021