By Chaim Gold

“Should I tell you a bit more about my first trip to Panama twenty-five years ago?” asked Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi of the Safra Synagogue, at the historic Dirshu Maamad Ahavat HaTorah recently held in in Panama. “I’ll tell you! Twenty-five years ago, I wasn’t speaking in this beautiful, large auditorium. It was a gathering in The Club. Many of you weren’t even born! The unforgettable Chief Rabbi of Panama, Haham Sion Levy, zt”l told me, ‘Rabbi Eliyahu we have a crisis in Panama, we need chizuk in kedushas hamishpacha, in shemiras Shabbos, in kashrus!’

“And who did I address in that club twenty-five years ago?” Rabbi Mansour exclaimed, “There were no white shirts! There were no black jackets! No one was wearing a hat! There was no band playing Jewish music, no Yoreh Deah on the tables, no talmidei chahamim at the dais! Nothing like this!

“I gave a speech for men and women sitting together. We were trying to convince them that it is kedai to keep tahara, to eat kosher, that it is kedai to keep Shabbos. Who would have believed that one generation later we would already be coming here?! Who would have believed that now the discussion is Daf HaYomi, Amud HaYomi, Daf HaYomi B’Halacha, Mishnah Berurah, this learning, that learning, more iyun, less iyun… Now we are already dealing with different sheailos!!

Those were the powerful words from a seminal address delivered by Rabbi Mansour. To understand the history of the Torah revolution that the Panama Jewish community is undergoing, one had to witness this Dirshu event! It was an event where more than 1,000 men, women and children representing the entire cross-section of the community came to celebrate Torah learning and to pledge their commitment to sustain accountable limud haTorah.

Never in its history has the Panama Jewish community ever experienced an event for the sole purpose of promoting limud haTorah, as one community leader, related, “When I told people about the upcoming Dirshu event, the first thing they asked me was. ‘How much money do you want from me?’ Indeed, most Rabbinic guests who come to Panama come to raise money, but I told them that in this case Dirshu and it’s Nasi, Rav Dovid Hofstedter, are NOT coming to raise money! They are coming to GIVE! They want nothing more from the community than to increase Torah, to try facilitating more shiurei Torah, to try raising the level of daily accountable Torah learning in our community.”

In truth, the Dirshu event was a rally on behalf of limud haTorah and a demarcation line that perhaps will forever be a “before and after moment” regarding the renaissance of Torah in the Panama Jewish community.

Never before in the history of the community has everyone – all the community’s Rabbanim, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, yeshivish, baalebatim – come together to show their support and admiration for something like Dirshu, an organization whose raison d’être is to enhance Torah opportunities in the community.

One highlight of the evening was the emotional, enthusiastic, beautiful musical entertainment led by Naftali Kempe and accompanied by a large band and choir, all of whom came especially to Panama for the event.

The combination of drashos and Divrei Torah for the heart and music for the soul, provided the more than one thousand members of the Panama community an all-encompassing spiritual experience that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

One of the most heart-warming moments was the grand entrance of all the Rabbanim of the community culminating in more than twenty-five Rabbanim representing the entire spectrum of Panama Jewry taking their place at the dais. There could be no greater expression of the chashivus of what Dirshu is doing for the community than the presence of the entire rabbinic leadership.

In an evening replete with highlights, the singular video messages recorded especially for the event by leading Gedolei Torah from Eretz Yisrael was particularly impactful. Special messages tailormade for the Panama community were delivered by HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Slabodka Yeshiva, HaGaon HaRav Avraham Salim, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Me’or HaTorah, HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen, shlita, Rosh Yeshiva of the Chevron Yeshiva, and HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Yedidya Zafrani, shlita, Av Beis Din, Kesser Torah and Rosh Yeshivas Sifsei Chaim.

Rav Hofstedter: The Imperative To Go Out Of One’s Comfort Zone

Rav Dovid Hofstedter delivered a powerful drasha challenging the Panama community.

“There are times in life when a person or a community is faced with a challenge; there are times when there is every reason in the world not to try achieving a specific goal and many times it is possible that the reasons are even justified. Sometimes, however, when a difficult challenge presents itself, we, come to the realization that this is our purpose and if we don’t elevate and motivate ourselves to meet this challenge head-on, we may squander the opportunity forever.

“This wonderful community that has, bli ayin hara, grown so much, is at a crossroads. The foundation has been built. Now the people of this community are empowered to accept upon themselves and decide with an ironclad decision to elevate themselves and achieve an important goal! This city can become an ihr v’em b’Yisrael in Torah study! It can be a community that when people come to visit, they can say that this community, this unique community, has flourished to become full of talmidei hahamim from east to west and from north to south.”

The applause was deafening as the entire assemblage stood on their feet clapping. You could see the glint of the challenge in their eyes as they contemplated meeting that challenge head on.

The Renaissance of Dirshu in Panama

Rabbi Gabriel Chizkiya, who leads Dirshu’s activities in Panama, described how Dirshu has grown in Panama, raising the spirituality of the community. “In the last few years, however, the Torah base of the community has grown exponentially. There is a very large yeshiva and there are also teachers of Torah who have come to the community, and this has facilitated a tremendous spiritual growth and Torah learning. The younger generation, here in Panama, have also gone to learn in yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael and have later returned to the community after their marriage.

Many baalei batim learn at the kollel in the morning or in the evening and they have avreichim as chavrusos. Dirshu programs such as Amud HaYomi are perfect for them! The set schedule along with the built-in review and possibility of taking tests serve as even greater motivators.

“Now,” Rabbi Chizkiya continued, “in the aftermath of the event, I have been swamped with phone calls, messages and even people coming up to me in the street saying that they want to join a program. They came to the evening of Ahavat HaTorah and were so inspired! They don’t want to lose their enthusiasm! They want to grab the opportunity to incorporate more Torah into their life in a sustainable way.

“Panama Will Never be the Same!”

Perhaps the words of a prominent community leader said in the aftermath of the Dirshu event in Panama, says it all. “The day after the event, I went to pray in the kollel, and I met an avreich. This avreich told me, ‘You know, when we were saying Minha today, during Modim, do you know what I did? I thanked the Ribbono Shel Olam for sending Dirshu, and this amazing event to Panama. Panama will never be the same!”