A Heart That Lived for Torah—Until Its Final Beat

This is a story that touches the heart—a quiet but powerful reminder of the strength of the Jewish soul, and the eternal bond between a Jew and the Torah.

It was shared by someone on the Daf Yomi Portal, a community for those learning the daily Daf (a page of Gemara, the Talmud). He spoke of his dear friend, Rabbi Zeev Meir Schwartz HaCohen z”l, a man who was deeply committed to Torah learning, even as his body slowly failed him.

Rabbi Zeev Meir had been a lawyer, a sharp thinker, a former Golani soldier, and even a skilled skier. But when he was diagnosed with ALS—a cruel disease that slowly shuts down the body—he made a choice: to devote his strength, his mind, and his remaining days to Torah.

Though ALS took away nearly all movement, it could not touch his mind. It remained sharp as ever. And so, even in that state, he continued to learn Daf Yomi, page by page, day by day, without missing a beat. This was his second full cycle of learning Shas, the entire Talmud—2,711 pages.

Then, with just six pages left until completing the cycle, something happened. He lost consciousness. His heart stopped. For 45 minutes, the paramedics tried to revive him. Miraculously, they brought back his heartbeat—but he never regained consciousness.

Two days later, on the first of Av—the yahrzeit (day of passing) of Aharon HaKohen, the first High Priest—he was declared brain dead. But his heart kept beating, supported by a machine, until the night of his planned Siyum (celebration for finishing the Shas).

That Thursday night, on the 8th of Av, close friends gathered by his hospital bed. They opened Tractate Niddah, the final volume in the Shas, and learned the last six pages. As they read the final words aloud—“Anyone who studies halachot (Jewish laws) every day is promised a place in Olam HaBa (the World to Come)”—they also recited the Shema and the moving prayer of Yigdal.

At that exact moment, Rabbi Zeev Meir’s heart stopped.

A soul that clung to Torah until its last moment… left this world while the words of Torah still echoed around him.