There’s a famous story about the great sage Hillel the Elder.
Hillel used to earn a trepik a day, half of which he gave to the guard at the house of study and half he used to support himself and his family. One day he earned nothing and the guard would not let him in. He climbed up and sat on the skylight so that he could hear the words of the living God from Shemayah and Avtalyon. It happened that it was a Friday in the winter and the snow from the sky fell upon him. At the break of dawn, Shemaya said to Avtalyon: “My brother. Usually it is light but today it is dark. Perhaps the day is cloudy.” They looked up and saw the shape of a man against the window, and they found three cubits of snow upon him. They took off the snow, washed him, anointed him and put him by the fire. They said: “He is worthy for shabbat to be profaned for his sake.” (Yoma 35b)
When I heard this story about Doron Mahareta (the oldest student killed at Merkaz Harav last week) from Rabbi Hauer, I couldn’t help thinking about Hillel’s dedication to Torah study. When Doron originally went to Merkaz Harav he couldn’t pass the entrance exam. Instead of despairing, he asked if he could work at the Yeshiva and was given a job as a dishwasher. Doron, wasn’t just a dishwasher. With his foot in the door, he took advantage of his opportunity to ask the students about what they were learning. When he had spare time, he’d go to the Bais Medrash (study hall) and study. A year and a half later he approached the Rosh Yeshiva (the head of the Yeshiva) and asked if he could now enter the Yeshiva. After being rebuffed, he proceeded to show the Rosh Yeshiva how much he learned in his year and a half as a “dishwasher.”
The story would be incredible enough on its own if it ended there. But it didn’t.
He forced the Rosh Yeshiva into a Torah discussion; the next day, he was no longer a dish washer but a full-fledged “yeshiva bachur”.On weekends, when Doron would come home to visit his family in Ashdod, he’d spend the entire Shabbat either in the Melitzer Shul or the neighboring Gerrer shtiebel learning Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries. Three weeks ago, he finished the entire Shulchan Aruch and principle commentaries. Doron achieved in his tender 26 years what others don’t attain in 88 years.
For some perspective, the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) is a massive work. The average Orthodox rabbi doesn’t have to know the complete Shulchan Aruch to earn ordination.
It’s like a student who hadn’t taken pre-calculus in high school went to MIT, worked as a dishwasher and then 7 years later emerged with a Phd in Math. It takes a tremendous amount of dedication and perseverance to accomplish what Doron did. He stands as one more example of the tremendous loss suffered ten days ago when a murderer started shooting innocent young men studying.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
