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Anyone who's ever had to work for a living can appreciate the great frustration in finding a proper learning seder. Fortunately, the Gra has a number of programs at nighttime for those who can set aside time then.

There are however, many of us self-employed folk who have the liberty to devote time in the morning to learning but have great difficulty in finding something to fit into our schedule.

The trouble is double-fold. The yeshiva and Kollel world is set up to learn their morning seder between 9am -1 pm. If you can only learn until 8-11, or 9-12 (or a variation of that, which is very likely if you work full time) you are left, what I call, “Kollelless.” Abandoned, it is not uncommon to find such folks lurking in dark shul hallways sheepishly pinning up notices looking for other frustrated closet averichem to learn those very same awkward hours in the morning time.

Fortunately, the Gra has something that I have not seen or heard of before in any other place. A Workers Kollel. Perhaps my description, a “Workers Kollel” summons up images of a type of labor union, short stocky muscular guys with three days growth of beard on their face, clad in blue shirts with their sleeves rolled up, smoking cigars, leaning on their gemara's, whilst speaking in gruff voices about Abaye and Rava clutching a plastic cup of black coffee with their stained hands.

Well, it's all true, except for the three days growth of beard, the cigars, the gruff voices, and the stained hands. Well, actually, there are a couple sofrim in the kolel, so there are a few stained hands.

Morning seder starts daily at 8:45 with R. Kornfeld giving a shiur in Mishna Berurah. What makes the shiur successful is not only the rav's precision in explaining the intricacies of the Mishna Berurah, but also explaining the areas that the Mishna Berurah does not address.

Currently there are approximately 30 people in the Kollel in the morning. Fortunately, we also have three rebbeim who are giving shiur to us. The levels of the Kollel range from beginner to those with several years of experience. It is impossible for me to give a biography of the rebbeim in this short piece, and I am not doing justice when I minimize my descriptions to say that we have great fortune to have rebbeim who are able to explain the Gemara with perfect clarity.

Of course, the shiurim are not given without chavrusa first. In general, chavrusa preparation is from 9am to 10:30. The shiur is from 10:30 to 11:15. And then those of us who are able to stay continue to prepare the following days sugia until 1 pm. The pace of the shiurim, are what you could call “fast b'iyun.” The material is covered deeply, including Rishonim, Shulchan Aruch and Mishna Berurah, but is kept at a pace so that ground is covered. This brings me to another important point.

Another issue that Ba'alei Batim are often frustrated with is the style of shiurim. Especially to the learner who has several years experience in yeshiva, it can be extremely disappointing to find yourself in a learning situation in which the rav is basically teaching you everything, and you are passively soaking up the information. The thrill of battling over the Torah until clarity is achieved the good old-fashioned way is, perhaps, the only way to make a kinyan on Torah. Even the Gemara likens Torah to a battle, in which even fathers and son become warring enemies of each other until the pshat is determined, and become the greatest of friends (loose translation - Kiddushin 30b).

The rebbeim of the Kollel, recognizing this as an integral part of the process of kinyan Torah, make sure never to spoon feed, but allow for ample preparation and growth. The shiurim do not take away from the process of the acquisition, but are there mainly to add further dimensions and polish to the diamonds of wisdom we have already dug up and ground ourselves. The shiruim too are interactive. I can recall a great many times when many of us attacked the pshat of our beloved Gemera Rebbe, R. Tzvi Blatter, founder of the Kollel, from all different angles (and many times, even at the same time) with shiur erupting into a controlled but fierce fight for Emes. Plenty a pshat was bruised in those brawls, but everyone limped home with a little more light emanating from their face, and a little bit closer to Sinai than when they came.

Having learned in the Kollel close to a year now, I have had the opportunity to see growth not only in myself but also in my friends. A good friend of mine whom I had learned with recently had to take on a job which prevented him from learning in the Kollel. In talking with him on the phone, he expressed to me how much he had grown in the Kollel, both in skills, understanding, and love of the Torah. I could hear that he was fired up, despite the fact that already a couple months had passed since he had left. We talked about our future plans, which included, we hoped, spending more time together with the Gemara's open in front of us. Or at the very least, a Halacha sefer.

If you could have seen the way my friend had talked about the Kollel, there wouldn't be a doubt left in your mind whether the Kollel was having an impact or not.

In a world in which fame and fortune is most often defined as success, it is a great relief to see so many Ba'alei Batim taking the time to kovea itim ba'torah, even if it causes them a slight reduction in pay, or to arrive “late” at work with the permission of their boss. There is no doubt in my mind, that the Kollel is a success.