Yeshivas Maoz Chaim in Haifa held a grand siyum when
one of its talmidim completed the entire Shas.
The roshei yeshivas and the rabbonim of chareidi
kehillos in the city said that the event was no
ordinary siyum considering the story behind the
bochur, Chaim Cohen, who had learned the entire
Shas.
All of the participants felt a thrill as he recited the
words, "Hadran aloch Shisho Sidrei Mishnoh veTalmud Bavli
vehadroch alon," a reflection of years of omol
Torah by a young man who started along his path in Acco,
far from any glimmer of Torah.
As a young boy he fell sick and was hospitalized in critical
condition. His mother ran from one beis knesses to the
next in Acco asking people to pray for his recovery. "Please
pray for my Yitzchak, who is lying on his deathbed. Pray for
him and perhaps he'll live," she pleaded.
One of the congregants suggested she give her son a middle
name and, after consulting with rabbonim, his name became
Yitzchak Chaim. A short time later he began to show signs of
improvement and soon his life was no longer in danger. The
ecstatic mother decided on the spot her son would be
dedicated solely to Torah study.
When he reached the age at which his friends were entering
high school and then continuing onto the IDF, he was
influenced by avreichim from a Wolfson kollel in the
city. The boy was persuaded to study in yeshiva and was happy
to discover that a yeshiva was getting started in his town.
Later the yeshiva moved to Haifa.
In Elul 5759 he joined the seven other founding members of
the yeshiva. After a short time he completed his first
maseches ever, and six years later he had the merit to
complete the entire Shas.
