The 13th Global Siyum Hashas of Daf YomiAgudath Israel of America.

[th0306]

They have come a long way from the one I went to in 1990 which was almost entirely speeches and most of them in Yiddish.

People are not understanding what the event was about. It was about promoting men being קובע עיתים לתורה even more so than being about the Daf. Promoting women encouraging their husbands to do that is a very big part of it and was therefore pushed significantly. Women doing their own learning, regardless of your opinions about that, is not a part of that and therefore does not belong in the equation at all.

+1

[aygart]

They have 7 kosher stands operating during a football game, they only had 1 yesterday.

Why would that be? The owners of those stands did not want to profit off the kosher crowd?

One thing I did see was that the one which was open had an added "heimishe" hechsher for the event. Maybe the others did not want to comply with that?

[Toasted]

Looks like Barclays program included many Chasidishe Rebbes. Vyalipol, Skulen, Kosov, Vizhnitz. Dancing was also open to everyone not only the 1%. link

Folks are simultaneously complaining about too long program and lack of representation of specific demographics which are contradictory constraints that Agudah needs to grapple with. Some are do or die to see their Gadol represented. Many prefer to get a flavor of the beautiful diversity of ehrliche yidden.

[dmilleryu]

My first time going to the Siyum. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical of going but I thought it was great. Really nice to share a stadium filled with Jews celebrating Torah. Better than any simchat torah I've ever experienced.

It would be nice to have more Yeshiva University acknowledgment, but was happy that Rav Shachter and Bnei Yeshurun had some presence. 

I thought the coffee situation was very funny though. I can't imagine free hot water and instant coffee at a football game and hundreds of people making coffee for themselves.

[yuneeq]

What is wrong with expressing positive and/or negative feedback?
A beautiful event can always be improved for next time.

I didn’t say its wrong, it just doesn’t feel right.
It feels wrong to criticize without first stating all the positives of a beautiful event, and without being verbose - “it was a great event, but” - it puts the criticism on the same level as the positives.

I think some of the critics really enjoyed the event but it doesn’t read that way. It’s hard to have the patience to write a lengthy post.

[stooges44]

In 2027 I think we on DDF should all chip in for a box this way:

1) we can meet each other
2) we can hock about it in person and again here
3) we can stop kvetching about the lack of food and others can look at us and think, what fine shmeckers.

[as2]

I had club seats, and I'm not wealthy. I went along with a group, and those were the seats I got. One thing I want to say, I definitely would not have attended, had I not been invited and paid for by someone else.  I am not the type of person who easily sits through long events, or listens to speeches. I don't appreciate it the way others do. Having the club really allowed me to take in the moments that I otherwise may not have, if I was sitting elsewhere. I davened mincha and maariv outside with everyone. I was at the dancing. I experienced one of the most moving Keil Maleys ever. I was able to be warm and comfortable, and focus on the speeches instead of getting burnt out from all of it, and loosing patience with it when it got rough. As someone who often doesn't take away much from speeches and events, I took away a lot from this event, and I don't think I would've gotten the same inspiration had I been trapped in a cold seat the whole time. I know this sounds kind of shallow to some, but this is me. Yes, the luxury aspect of it was nice, and the food was nice, but that wasn't the ikur. While I'm probably in the minority, just know, not everyone was in the clubs for hock. It was a huge help to inspire some who wouldn't have been otherwise.

[shaulyaakov]

I had club seats, and I'm not wealthy. I went along with a group, and those were the seats I got. One thing I want to say, I definitely would not have attended, had I not been invited and paid for by someone else.  I am not the type of person who easily sits through long events, or listens to speeches. I don't appreciate it the way others do. Having the club really allowed me to take in the moments that I otherwise may not have, if I was sitting elsewhere. I davened mincha and maariv outside with everyone. I was at the dancing. I experienced one of the most moving Keil Maleys ever. I was able to be warm and comfortable, and focus on the speeches instead of getting burnt out from all of it, and loosing patience with it when it got rough. As someone who often doesn't take away much from speeches and events, I took away a lot from this event, and I don't think I would've gotten the same inspiration had I been trapped in a cold seat the whole time. I know this sounds kind of shallow to some, but this is me. Yes, the luxury aspect of it was nice, and the food was nice, but that wasn't the ikur. While I'm probably in the minority, just know, not everyone was in the clubs for hock. It was a huge help to inspire some who wouldn't have been otherwise.

Weather permitting the next one shouldn't have those issues, but cold was a big reason why I didn't stay for the kel maleh and kabolas Ol malchus shamayim. In that regards, the speeches took away from the siyum element. If they do something like this in the cold again, have the program start 115 and get to the siyum at 2.

[aygart]

I wonder how many of those discussing how the cold made it too long have sat though colder temperatures for football games. (not referring to anyone specific or even to people on DDF but rather in general)

[shaulyaakov]

I wonder how many of those discussing how the cold made it too long have sat though colder temperatures for football games. (not referring to anyone specific or even to people on DDF but rather in general)

I personally have not, though I did stay the approximate 3.5 hours of a football game from the time the siyum began. I also got there too early (my bad calculating traffic and security lines), so was really 4.5 hours in the cold for me.

[yelped]

I was sitting in the field and was in an empty area with no one around me, and I was literally shaking from the cold after the first 5 minutes, but I wouldn't have missed it for a second. Was really beautiful. I feel like they did the best they could to please everyone, audience, different kehilos, and Rabbanim/Roshei Yeshivos. The program was really well done. I personally did not like every speaker, but to others the speakers that I didn't like were their favorite, so that is exactly the point of the entire event.

[ltttc]

Weather permitting the next one shouldn't have those issues, but cold was a big reason why I didn't stay for the kel maleh and kabolas Ol malchus shamayim. In that regards, the speeches took away from the siyum element. If they do something like this in the cold again, have the program start 115 and get to the siyum at 2.

Never possible to please everyone. Try organizing an event of this magnitude and see if you can please even 50%. So easy to have suggestions for OTHERS.

[aygart]

Never possible to please everyone. Try organizing an event of this magnitude and see if you can please even 50%. So easy to have suggestions for OTHERS.

There is nothing wrong with suggestions. How else would they improve it?

[coffeebean]

Never possible to please everyone. Try organizing an event of this magnitude and see if you can please even 50%. So easy to have suggestions for OTHERS.

I know, right? They should have set up 20,000 heaters to please everyone who forgot to bring an appropriate wardrobe

[stooges44]

I wonder how many of those discussing how the cold made it too long have sat though colder temperatures for football games. (not referring to anyone specific or even to people on DDF but rather in general)

I know I'm not the norm but I've never been to a football game and have no intention of it. The only reason I know the Superbowl is near is because I start seeing all the ads from the local eateries about their Superbowl specials.

That said, after yesterday I truly wonder how people wait for hours and hours and hours in times sqaure to watch a ball drop for 10 seconds.

I had my 8 year old with me and we were both absolutely frigid and that was with gloves, earmuffs, scarves, hooded coats, and hooded sweatshirts. We were on the 200 level and it was windy and freezing. The only place to truly warm up was in the bathroom which was obviously not ideal and the worst part of that is when you went back out you had freeze your tuchas again on the cold seat so it instantly wiped out all the warmth you just built up.

So like I said here, we decided to bail and since we there for mincha and the "mini" siyum of the kids on mishnayos and the dancing that followed I figured we were yotze since the rest was kind of a repeat albeit and bit more glamorous.

[aygart]

I was sitting in the field and was in an empty area with no one around me, and I was literally shaking from the cold after the first 5 minutes, but I wouldn't have missed it for a second. Was really beautiful. I feel like they did the best they could to please everyone, audience, different kehilos, and Rabbanim/Roshei Yeshivos. The program was really well done. I personally did not like every speaker, but to others the speakers that I didn't like were their favorite, so that is exactly the point of the entire event.

Exactly where someone was sitting made a very big difference.

[TimT]

That said, after yesterday I truly wonder how people wait for hours and hours and hours in times sqaure to watch a ball drop for 10 seconds.

They bring along diapers, that’s how

[skyguy918]

Looks like Barclays program included many Chasidishe Rebbes. Vyalipol, Skulen, Kosov, Vizhnitz. Dancing was also open to everyone not only the 1%. link

Folks are simultaneously complaining about too long program and lack of representation of specific demographics which are contradictory constraints that Agudah needs to grapple with. Some are do or die to see their Gadol represented. Many prefer to get a flavor of the beautiful diversity of ehrliche yidden.

I was at Barclays, so I'll add my perspective on the setup there, as well as some thoughts on the overall program.

The place was pretty full, but not completely packed. It felt like it was very dominantly a charedi crowd - maybe majority chasidish, but not dominant. If it wasn't clear from the official seating capacity numbers (>80k vs <20k) Barclays feels tiny in comparison to Metlife. They did the seating by section, not seat. So you get to your section and pick any seat. That worked out well for me, since my $54 tickets were in one of the sections directly opposite the dais, with clear view of the video screen and access directly to the floor. We first sat maybe 5 rows up from the floor, and then back to around 10 rows up so we wouldn't have to crane our necks to watch the screen. When it came time for dancing, everyone was allowed down on the floor, even from the upper seating areas. Here's one of the (very shaky) videos I took:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNrlG5RYILiCI6qj3mcn7xdrZWnjxoJvGR5iVQjTn2uHEHly3rnTM8jckLn0PCmGQ?key=eGxlRWQxazlmZ0RwcnhwNGdSRnZLVEd2U0ZCRkJR

The program at Barclays was mostly live hookup to Metlife, but with significant periods of in-house programming. Aside from the tefilah items (mincha/tehillim/kadeshim/kabalas ol malchus/maariv), the parts we had in house different from Metlife were divrei bracha from the Vyelipoler Rebbe in yiddish (vs R Malkiel in Metlife), some combination of the emcee (not sure who it was) and R Yerucham doing the siyum/hadran (vs R Shmuel in Metlife), and haschalas hashas from R Elya Ber Wachtfogel in yiddish (vs R Aharon Feldman in Metlife). All of the singing and dancing was in-house, except Helfgott, and for some reason ani maamin (which they then did again in-house).

I thought the siyum moments (R Gold, R Farhi, and R Lish) were very nice, and it made sense to do them from on the field instead of on the dais. The videography could've been better, in terms of all the close-in shots of the crowd - which I think is just unnecessary and more like a goyishe sporting event. This led to weird moments like the waving during ani maamin, the shots of people during davening, the kids crowding around during the siyum moments, etc. The pre-recorded stuff was fantastic (as it was last time). In particular the tribute to the kedoshim really packed a powerful punch - especially the parts from R Gifter and R Schwab. Both Rabbi Frand and Rabbi Schiff were excellent. Rabbi Reich was maybe disadvantaged by the later spot in the schedule, but I didn't really connect to his drasha in the same way. Would they do better to shorten the program in some way? Sure. But it's hard to 'trim the fat' with an event like this. I might have felt more strongly about it if I had been out in the cold though.

[as2]

I wonder how many of those discussing how the cold made it too long have sat though colder temperatures for football games. (not referring to anyone specific or even to people on DDF but rather in general)

So true. I repeatedly asked myself that while I was there. Thankfully, I had an indoor area to warm up, but while I don't go to football games ever,  I told myself that if I'd sit a combined few hours for a baseball game, I can at the very least do that for this. But to be fair, while it shouldn't be that way, there are many who just don't find this as interesting as football.

[yelped]

@skyguy918 exactly. They would be at risk of insulting some segment of Klal Yisroel if they were to "trim the fat".