by A.C. It is 7:45 a.m. in Kehal Kollel Ner Avrohom, fondly known as ‘The Roberts Shul.’ Davening has just ended, an eclectic group of Yidden from numerous walks of life – baalei batim, yeshivaleit, retirees – gather around the table ready to embark on an epic daily journey through Shas!

It is the Daf Yomi Shiur of Rav Eliezer Hess, a unique Daf HaYomi Shiur that perhaps doesn’t exist in Lakewood or for that matter anywhere else.

Rav Hess a longtime talmid of the Beth Medrash Govoha, doesn’t just ‘run through the daf’ in 45 minutes in an effort to get it done. According to Reb Yaakov Freedman, one of the regular participants, “When you attend Rav Hess’s shiur you don’t feel like you have run through the daf. Rather, while learning the daf daily, you feel like you have been exposed to half of Shas. Rav Hess brings up other times when the same or a similar sugya is mentioned in Shas and contrasts it with our Gemara. He brings the primary Rishonim on the sugya and the main lomdus components, clearly enunciating all in the course of the approximately one hour and a fifteen minute shiur!

“When Rav Hess says the shiur, he highlights the import of every line of Gemara, every word of Chazal. He takes nothing at face value. By the time we finish that day’s daf, we are awed by the importance of every single word in the Gemara. Every day at the shiur is an encounter with the vastness of Torah. We get to experience the depth and breadth of the Torah, while truly gaining a grasp of the daily daf and all of the related sugyos!”

A Daf HaYomi Shiur Like No Other

Rav Leizer Hess’s Daf Yomi Shiur is unique in many ways. It is a shiur that is not at all the classical Daf Yomi shiur. As a talmid of the Yeshiva of Patterson under Rav Elya Chaim Swerdloff , Yeshivas Brisk under Rav Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveichik and a talmid of his father, Rav Moshe Hess, author of the well-known seforim, Alei Yosef, Rav Hess is anything but superficial. His Daf Yomi shiur is a shiur that features the foundations of iyun in every daf.

“The shiur is uniquely suited for a community like Lakewood that combines yeshivaleit, and yeshiva-educated baalei batim and retirees, who are not seeking a cursory learning of the daf but desire to learn it and come out with a real kinyan,” explained Rav Moshe Chaim Katz, a prominent member of the kehillah who himself says the nightly Daf HaYomi shiur in the shul.

Indeed, Rav Hess’s unique Daf Yomi shiur is only one part of a cornucopia of learning and avodas Hashem opportunities that characterize Kollel Ner Avrohom – a singular makom Torah and tefillah that promotes avodas Hashem b’simcha.

A Seamless Synthesis

The shul features a beautiful integration of yeshivaleit who are engaged in full time learning and former yeshivaleit who have joined the workforce. The camaraderie and seamless synthesis of the two is among the most enriching features of the shul. In addition, the shul reverberates with the kol Torah, from the early, pre-dawn hours until the very late hours of the night. The shul’s leadership, led by Dr. Rich Roberts, is intent on providing an inviting, user-friendly bais medrash for lomdei Torah to learn in comfortably. The massive, beautiful otzar haseforim, the well-stocked coffee room and the clean, comfortable bais medrash offer menuchas hanefesh for sustained growth in Torah and tefillah with Simcha, the raison d’etre of the shul.

The shul is warm and inviting place for children as well, with a special avos ubanim program featuring unique and striking rewards. It is a place where every child feels valued and comfortable.

In addition to Rav Hess’s distinctive morning Daf Yomi shiur and Rav Moshe Chaim Katz’s evening Daf Yomi shiur between 8 and 8:45, there is also a Dirshu Daf HaYomi B’Halacha Mishnah Berurah shiur given nightly between 8:45 and 9:15 by Rav Yisroel Zucker.

One of the highlights of the week is on Shabbos following Shalosh Seudos, when the shul members have the special zechus to hear a shmuess given by Rav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, venerated Rosh Yeshiva of the Lakewood Mesivta and Telshe.

Are You Looking To Not Just ‘Do’ The Daf But To Truly LEARN The Daf?

Reb Ovadiah Kranz has been attending Rav Hess’s Daf Yomi shiur since its inception nearly five years ago with the beginning of the present machzor of Shas. “This is a Daf Yomi shiur where you can get a hekef in the entire daf. The daf becomes extremely clear. In addition, there is a great chemistry and pilpul chaveirim among the attendees. When we have questions, we don’t hesitate to ask, and Rabbi Hess or other members of the shiur get involved. It is truly an adventure day after day. I don’t know of anywhere else where you can come to a Daf Yomi shiur and really hear diyukim in a Rashi or two distinct approaches to the sugya – one in accordance with Rashi and another in accordance with Tosafos or one of the other Rishonim. It is akin to hearing a blatt shiur from a leading rosh yeshiva on every blatt in Shas!

“Granted, the shiur isn’t for a person who is on a very fixed schedule and must finish the daily daf quickly. It is made for a person who has the time, who has an hour-and-a-quarter to learn the daf thoroughly, and, if a person has more time to prepare the daf quickly before the shiur he gains to derive even more from the shiur.

“I remember a couple of years ago, my friend, R’ Aharon Mandelbaum asked me about the shiur, and I told him this is not a regular Daf Yomi shiur. I explained how the shiur worked and his reaction was, ‘That is just the kind of shiur I am seeking!’ Indeed, he started attending and has become one of the regulars who gains so much from the shiur and is so gratified to have found it.

“Rav Hess is also extremely devoted to the shiur. Aside from the fact that he invests more than six hours each day preparing for the shiur, he is also supremely devoted to the point that no matter what is going on in his life he virtually never misses a shiur!”

The shul also recognizes that many people who come to daven at 7:00 a.m. and then attend Rav Hess’s shiur don’t have the time to return home and eat breakfast. Therefore, a bountiful breakfast is provided for the members to either eat in the shul or take along after the shiur.

If you are looking to not just ‘do’ the daf but to truly LEARN the Daf Yomi and the underlying sugyos in an atmosphere of dibuk chaveirim and pilpul chaveirim then the shiur of Rav Leizer Hess held daily at 7:45 a.m. in Kollel Ner Avrohom, The Roberts Shul, is for you!