From the troubling to the uplifting, we've all been flooded with stories and images coming out of Russia and Ukraine in the past three weeks. Many people, safely in Montreal, feel that all they can do is doomscroll or watch the news. For three Montreal-based rabbis, this simply wasn't enough. They went to Poland to help refugees fleeing Ukraine, and have now come home to share what they saw.
As a yeshiva high school student attending DRS, through learning at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, receiving semicha from RIETS and a master’s from Azrieli, Rabbi Ariel Schreier had a particular affinity for the study of Mishnayot, finding their brevity and focus exciting. Currently a third grade boys’ rebbe and fifth grade girls’ Mishnah instructor at RYNJ, Rabbi Schreier saw an opportunity for sharing his excitement and enthusiasm for Mishnayot with his talmidim.
Starting with a group of 25 boys to whom Rabbi Schreier sent out pre-recorded videos three times per week, word of the program spread quickly. With its subsequent launch in December as a live program, offered on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m., “Mishna Accomplished” now attracts over 100 boys. On Tuesday evening, February 23, more than 200 participants including proud rebbeim and glowing parents and grandparents joined the students from grades 3-6 who celebrated the initial siyum on Masechet Megilla