Though they wish they could, so many b’nei Torah in the workforce have found that with limited time and headspace, truly delving into a masechta is just not practical on their own.
They know their learning could be sharper, deeper, more satisfying – if only they had the framework. One that combined clarity with community. One that could make iyun real for them, even at this stage.
That framework exists. And it’s one that people have called life-changing.
Like so many good stories, Shesulim’s began during COVID-19. Beis Medrash Govoha had gone remote, with all chaburos coming together by phone.
One day, two yungerleit approached the Roshei Yeshiva with an innovative idea: “Now that the yeshiva is not confined to its physical walls, what if we could open the beis medrash to the broader community?”
That summer zman, with the encouragement of the Roshei Yeshiva, a special new chaburah was formed. The Rosh Chaburah: Rabbi Aryeh Leib Paretzky, shlit”a. The masechta: Sukkah – exactly what Beis Medrash Govoha was learning at the time. The plan: Learn b’iyun, with or without your chavrusa, using the rosh chaburah’s organized, high-level maareh mekomos, then convene remotely for a once-weekly shiur and twice-weekly shakla v’tarya.
The bnei chaburah: fourteen men from Lakewood and around the world.
The chaburah was called “Shesulim,” and it very quickly earned its name. Because as different as they were, each person who joined experienced the same renewed sense of “shesulim b’veis Hashem.” A sense that their roots were in yeshiva – and that yeshiva was a part of them.
Soon, the batei medrash opened up again. But Shesulim kept going strong – and even stronger. Alongside the virtual chaburah, an in-person chaburah was formed within Beis Medrash Govoha, through the framework of Kollel Kochvei Boker, allowing for baalei batim to start their day in a vibrant yeshiva environment.
“That year, we paired up a certain participant with a yungerman in the pre-Shacharis chaburah,” Shesulim administrator R’ Dovy Zucker remembers, “and they learned with yeshiva-level intensity every morning. Several months later, he and his wife had a baby boy. They named him Ahron. At the bris, he shared why. He was named for R’ Ahron Kotler, zt”l – because he and his wife so strongly felt the impact that his renewed connection with yeshiva had on his entire family.”
Since that first summer, Shesulim has taken root and blossomed, growing every year. The chaburah is now 45 members strong, with another 150 people signed up to receive the recording of the Rosh Chaburah’s vaad every Friday – and every zman brings more.
Participants prepare the sugya on their own schedule, with virtual chaburos and dynamic shakla v’tarya every week. Some once learned in Beis Medrash Govoha. Some never had the opportunity. Some learn alongside their sons, who are in the yeshiva. There are members from Lakewood, the Five Towns, Passaic, Baltimore, Ramat Beit Shemesh, and more, all from various walks of life and at different ages and stages.
What they have in common is a goal: To engross themselves in iyun like never before.
The maareh mekomos make that possible. The motivation of a strong chaburah and an invested rosh chaburah makes that possible. And the knowledge that they are moving forward alongside thousands of talmidim in BMG makes that possible.
As Rabbi Paretzky puts it, “Our chaburah may be spread across many different cities and states, yet we are still learning together and coming together for shiurim, for shmuessen, and to speak in learning. We are an achdusdig chaburah.”
And one that can truly quench your thirst for the sipuk of learning b’iyun.
Shesulim is free to join. Its structure has helped dozens find new satisfaction in their learning, even when everything else on their plate made them doubt they could. And it is an opportunity, wherever and at whatever stage you are, to reconnect with the learning of yeshiva, to carry it with you, and to experience its unmistakable impact on your life.
