Photo: Habachur Binyamim Kastor addressing the siyum haShas made by his father, Rabbi David Kastor. [Moshe Chaikin – Story With Light Photography]
Coverage by Devorah Klein
Hamaoda
February 27, 2019
On Wednesday, February 20, a very special siyum haShas took place in Baltimore, as Rabbi David Kastor completed Shas after working on it for 30 years.
While completing Shas is quite an accomplishment for anyone, for Rabbi Kastor, a baal teshuvah who is hearing impaired, it is a magnificent feat, one that can inspire all.
Rabbi Kastor came to Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in 1987, shortly after becoming shomer Torah umitzvos. He was inspired to learn by Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon, now Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Nefesh Dovid in Toronto, a yeshivah for young men with hearing impairments.
It took Rabbi Kastor a full year to get through his first blatt of Gemara, but he kept going, with amazing persistence. Now, after 30 years, he was ready to celebrate a siyum haShas, a beautiful event that was held at the home of Rabbi and Mrs. Doniel Hexter.
Recently, Rabbi Kastor has been learning daily with Rabbi Doniel Hexter, a Rebbi in Yeshivas Kochav Yitzchok in Baltimore.
Rabbi Kastor addressed the gathering and recalled his journey of Torah learning.
Photo: Rabbi David Kastor addressing the siyum haShas (L-R): Rabbi Yosef Berger, Rav of Kehillas Kol Torah; Eliyahu Meir Hexter; Mr. Doniel Hexter, host and Rebbi in Yeshivas Kochav Yitzchok; Rabbi Kastor; Harav Shraga Neuberger, R”M at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel; and Rabbi Naftali Hexter, Menahel of Bais Yaakov Middle School. [Moshe Chaikin – Story With Light Photography]
Becoming shomer Torah umitzvos was especially challenging for a young man with a hearing impairment. Before becoming frum, most things were accessible to him despite his deafness. However, in the frum world, Rabbi Kastor felt as if he were swimming upstream. Nevertheless, he persisted.
Photo: Dancing at the siyum haShas made by Rabbi David Kastor (L-R): Harav Shraga Neuberger, R”M at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel; Rabbi David Kastor, and Rabbi Doniel Hexter. [Moshe Chaikin – Story With Light Photography]
After coming to Ner Yisroel, Rabbi Kastor found several chavrusos, who were invaluable to his growth. Rabbi Binyamin Travis, now of Cincinnati, was his chavrusa in Ner Yisroel, and, as Rabbi Kastor put it, “He was tough on me. He made me keep on trying to figure it out on my own.”
Rabbi Kastor said that although he had done well in college, learning Gemara presented an unprecedented challenge.
When ArtScroll published their Gemaros, Rabbi Kastor used the elucidated text to learn through the entire Shas, more recently together with Rabbi Hexter.
Habachur Binyamin Kastor, son of Rabbi David Kastor, emphasized his father’s ratzon to learn, and testified that whenever his father is not working, he is learning. The whole family is involved in his father’s desire to learn.
Rabbi Doniel Hexter read a letter sent by Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Gedalia Zlotowitz from ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, in which they expressed tremendous satisfaction at hearing how Rabbi Kastor was able to complete Shas using the ArtScroll Gemaros.
Harav Shraga Neuberger, R”M at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, commented that in Parashas Ki Sisa, Bnei Yisrael are referred to as an am k’shei oref — a stiff-necked and stubborn People. The middah of stubbornness is part and parcel of Klal Yisrael, and it was this middah, used in the right way, that enabled Rabbi Kastor to complete Shas.
Photo: Final Avos Ubanim seudah at Khal Machzikei Torah Congregation, held on Motzoei Shabbos, February 23. Fathers and sons enjoyed a fleishig seudah.
Rabbi Yosef Berger, Rav of Kehillas Kol Torah, quoted the Chovos Halevavos as saying that if a person really wants to learn any chochmah, and applies himself studiously, he will be able to master it. If this is true with regard to general chochmos, how much more is it true about learning Torah.
If a person understands how much Hashem does for us all the time, he will have the necessary ratzon to learn Torah.
The final speaker was Rabbi Binyamin Travis, who traveled to Baltimore to attend the event. Rabbi Travis described the mesirus nefesh needed to become a baal teshuvah, as a person often becomes isolated from friends and family. Perhaps it was because of this mesirus nefesh that Rabbi Kastor was zocheh to finish Shas.
“Rabbi Kastor has taught us what it means to set a goal and strive toward it, and not be deterred even when there are setbacks,” said Rabbi Hexter.
“We all left the siyum on a high, feeling tremendously inspired by this great accomplishment.”
Source: Hamodia
