TEACHING TALMUD TO WOMEN TCraoon -...

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RABBI URI M ILLER

RABBI URI MILLER MEMORIAL LECTURE

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DR. DANIEL ELAZAR Professor Pol i t ical Science, Temp le University Direc-tor. Center for S tudy of Federal ism Temple University Professor, Pol i t ical Science Bar Man University Israel H o l d e r of S e n a t o r N M P a t t e r s o n C h a i r In ter -Govemmen ta l Relat ions Bar l lan Universi ty President Jerusalem Center for Public Pol icy Research

Lecture Theme

"POLITICAL TRENDS & PROGNOSIS FOR

AMERICAN JEWRY"

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TEACHING TALMUD TO WOMEN B l a s p h e m o u s o r b l e s s e d ?

BY SOSHEA HURLER SIVI MI wthr l>'i TiMim Jcwmn TIMES

leaching • teat htng her

HI tmon ialmud n n / i i ' i n rs )

The 7 ulmiui

ew York In a s t i f l ing ly hot r o o m , t h e s i x s t u d e n t s si t h u n c h e d ove r t h e i r T a l m u d i c tomes l i s ten ing to one o f t h e i r col leagues, who in a singsong voice is i n t e r p r e t i n g a t r oub lesome pas sage It is 12 40 T h u r s d a y a f te r noon, and class o f f i c i a l l y ended ten minutes ago

What makes th is class un ique is that the students are women, a l l m a m e d and ranging in age f rom 20 to more than 30 They w i l l soon b e p i c k i n g up t h e i r l i t t l e ones f r o m nursery school and head ing home to tend to t he i r households and fami l ies But for the next few minu tes they remain immersed in the i r studies, as they have been for the past three hours

Tha t even ing , e i gh teen young w o m e n , most c o l l e g e a n d g raduate students, straggle i n to

c l a s s o f f i c i a l l y beg ins . R a b b i S i l be rs teps aside D u r i n g the next hour the women, f o l l o w i n g b lack boa rd ins t ruc t ions, read ce r ta in passages in the book o f Genesis and study assigned commenta r ies T h e y s tudy a l o n e o r i n s m a l l groups The i r Rabbi sits nearby also s tudy ing

T h l ? h o u r , r e f e r r e d to as hu< huna or " p repa ra t i on t ime is jus t one of the un ique features of Dr isha, a new school for women w h i c h in its f i rst year has a t t rac ted more than 100 students

M i r i a m A l t e r , a West S ide mother of three, spends two and a ha l f hours every Tuesday m o r n i n g al Dr isha Classes begin at 9 30 so that she and o ther mothers have l i m e to accompany t h e i r o l d e r c h i l d r e n to school before them selves coming to class

On the few occasions when baby s i t te r ar rangements fa l l th rough. M i r i a m bnngs her in fan t w i t h her W h i l e she l istens to Rabbi S i lber . her baby sleeps in the ad jacent c o r r i d o r along w i th o ther in fants When an infant awakes — an in

Dr isha students are not distreased by the fact that the i r T a l m u d study w i l l not lead to ord inat ion.

the makeshi f t c lassroom o f D i i sha Ins t i tu te for Jewish Educa t ion , lo-ca ted i n the West S ide Ins t i t u -t i ona l Synagogue on Manhat tan 's U p p e r West S ide T h e y c h a t amongst themselves as they sett le in to t h e b r o w n sc ra tched desks and take out t he i r book* and note-books.

Upon a p o l a b l e wooden b lack boara in the front of the r o o m a b o y i s h l o o k i n g R a b b i , D a v i d S i lber , wr i tes ins t ruc t ions for his class w h i l e t ak ing ca re to greet each s tuden t as she e n t e r s t h e room

When 7 p.m a p p r o a c h e s a n d

Ms. Uebier, a recent graduate of ,\Vw . York University's Graduate School of Journalism, is a free-tome writer living in New ft* k.

ev i tab le occur rence — the mother n o r m a l l y takes up a pos i t ion in ihe doorway , rock ing her c h i l d w h i l e l i s t en ing to the class

"Go ing toc lass . " says M i r i a m , " i s to ta l re laxa t ion for me. l n te l l ec t u a l l y 1 d o n t have many out le ts a n d h e r e 1 f i n d t h e r e l e a s e I n e e d . " H e r husband , h i m s e l f a Ta l mud i c scholar , is suppor t i ve o f h e r l e a r n i n g a n d t r i e s to accommodate her s tudy schedule i n every way poss ib le . Both pa r e n t s f e e l M i r i a m ' s s t u d i e s at D r i s h a w i l l he l p i n b r i n g i n g up t h e i r c h i l d r e n as T o r a h Jews

r isha is t he b ra inch i l d of R a b b i S i l be r , who is at once its f o u n d e r , d i r e c t o r and star teacher He env is ioned Dnsha as

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a p i a r r w h e w J e w i s h w o m e n o f post h igh school age. h igh ly mot i -vated and ded ica ted to l ea rn ing , wou ld be able to pu rsue Jew ish «*rholarship jus t as men do at the many yeshivot ava i l ab le to them. It is p repos te rous . " says R a b b i

S i l be r Tha t w o m e n who a re ad-vanc ing in a l l o the r fields shou ld be h e l d back w h e n i t c o m e s to J«-wish studies "

A member of Dnsha ' s Boa rd o f Di rectors. A r l e n e Agus. a w o m a n who has been in the f o re f r on t of Ji-wish femin is t a f l a i r v says that

un t i l D n s h a . a se r i ous yesh iva tor women d idn ' t ex is t . "

To Mrs Agus. D n s h a is pa r t of a :n»nd amongst J e w i s h w o m e n out • •I wh i ch in the last few years has «• merged Bat Mi tzvah c e r e m o n i e s the female vers ion o f a Bar Mitz v ah and S imchat Bat pa r t i e s ( the ( H e h r a t i o n o f t h e b i r t h o f a daughter ! T e n years ago." says Ms Agus. an O r t h o d o x w o m a n w i th th ree c h i l d r e n d i d n ' t l e a r n T a l m u d Today m o r e a n d m o r e women are in te res ted i n ser ious study

Ms Agus is one o f the w o m e n w h o in 1972, h e a d e d t h e f i r s t J e w i s h f e m i n i s t c o n f e r e n c e at wh ich she and o the rs d iscussed t h e i d e a o f a y e s h i v a w h e r e w o m e n c o u l d i m m e r s e t h e m selves in the study o f T a l m u d The idea was then c o n s i d e r e d r a d i c a l \ m o n i i O r thodox J e w r y , w o m e n have t r a d i t i o n a l l y been e x c l u d e d f rom Va lmud ic s tud ies — the oft quoted basis be ing a verse in the t T a l m u d wh i ch reads. " T e a c h i n g a w o m a n T a l m u d is t e a c h i n g her fool ishness "

Neve r t he less , d e s p i t e o p p o s i t i on from ce r ta in segments o f the O r t h o d o x c o m m u n i t y , Ms Agus a n d h e r c o l l e a g u e s h a v e s e e n t h e i r d r e a m b e c o m e a r e a l i t y . Today the re is a yeshiva in Jeru-sa lem. M i c h l e l e t B r u r i a . w h e r e m a n y y o u n g A m e r i c a n w o m e n spend a year s tudy ing T a l m u d and o ther re l i g ipus subjects. T h e r e is a p rogram at L i n c o l n S q u a r e Syna-gogue i n Manha t tan S t e m Col lege and Teachers Ins t i t u te fo r W o m e n have bo th begun g i v i n g T a l m u d courses A n d today, too. t h e r e is Dnsha , wh i ch many c o n s i d e r the most a d v a n c e d such s t u d y p ro -gram in New York- (The schoo l has a l ready rece ived reques ts fo r ex-t e n s i o n p r o g r a m s i n R i v e r d a l e and Teaneck , New Jersey.)

One s tudent , who had g r a d u a t e d s t e r n Co l lege a n d was s t u d y i n g T a l m u d at a n o t h e r i n s t i t u t e f o r two years, said o f D r i sha . " I had r e a c h e d a l e v e l i n m y s t u d i e s whe re D n s h a was the o n l y p l ace 1

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Silber. Drisha attracts the cream of the crop Students inc lude many who've spent previous years studying at two of the top yeshivot for women in Israel. Michlelet Bruna and the Jerusalem College for Women. There is a contingent of Barnard students. There are professional women, who work during the day and come to Drisha at night There are young house-wives who attend morning classes

Dnsha offers no college credits, and no degrees The women who attend, most of whom haveyeshiva backgrounds, seek to further their knowledge of Torah only for the sake of knowledge itself, not for degrees - and not. as many em phatically state to be in the fore front of change among Orthodox women

Many women at Drisha study Talmud on an advanced level using the same approaches as in men's yeshivot. but on the whole.

women to be leaders in the com munity," she says 'they will have to travel the route of Talmudif scholarship " And she feels once a woman is on a par with a man about to lake his im« tordi nation! exam, it will be inevitable for her to wonder Wh\ m>t "ir too?

Rabbi Silber agrees with much of her as se s sment While he doesn't envision women receiving smicha in his program, nor think he will be the one to one day con fer it on them, he can envision Orthodox women rece iv ing smicha some day Rabbi Silber concedes his program may have "political" impact, but — like his student* — resents that politiciz ing and stresses that Drisha is first and foremost educational His goals, he says, are to teach women how to learn and to instill in them a greater love of learning

A graduate of Yeshiva Univer

MAC. U a s t a c c t w g * . V I M

" H Is preposterous," soys Rabbi Silber, "That women who arc advancing in a l l other fields should be bold back when H comes to Jewish studies."

they are not d i s tressed that a woman may amass fully as much knowledge as a Rabbi yet be de nied the title Rabbi The notion of women Rabbis does not yet have many backers at Drisha Some women feel there is absolutely no place for them Others are just unwilling to take a stand on so sensitive an issue Still others are insulted by what they consider a politicizing of their learning

Nevertheless. Blu Greenberg. a lecturer , writer and l eader of Orthodox feminist causes , who hopes to see Orthodox women as Rabbis during her lifetime, con siders Diisha and programs like it the main vehicle for realizing her dream Currently completing her book. Women in Judaism. A VieH from Tradition Mrs. Greenberg speaks hesitantly about the changes she supports. While she says she hasn't all the answers, she is sure that education — and by that she includes Talmud study — is the only way for women to achieve equality in Judaism That achievemenL the ultimate goal of which is practicing women Rab bis. will be a slow and drawn out process, she concedes . But the first step toward it l ies in pro-grams like that of Drisha

Mrs Greenberg favors Tal-mudic study by women not only becausc she feels it is something holy which everyone should ex-perience. but because leadership in the Orthodox community has always been synonymous with Talmudic study "In order for

sity, Rabbi Silber is known among New York's learning community as a brilliant young scholar He acquired this reputation through his weekly Bible class at Lincoln Square Synagogue the synagogue patronized largely by the Ortho dox young adult community on Manhattan's West Side, and led by Rabbi Steven Riskin 'The class was a turning point for me in terms of public exposure ." he says Since its inception it has grown six fold One woman de scribed his Shabbos class as "so brilliant it moved me and others to tears "

art ic ipating in Rabbi S i lber 's Drisha B ib le c las s is something akin to working a jig-saw puzzle During the Shachana period, students work at finding a theme that connects the various passages they were assigned to study On occasion when the miss-ing link is even more maddeningly elusive than normal, they worry that perhaps Rabbi S i lber as signed them the wrong passage

But as Rabbi Silber begins his class, the pieces always start fall ing into place At some point stu dents will often emit a collective Aha' as they see the puzzie on its way to completion. By class's end. the theme Rabbi Silber has woven to connect the passages seems so clear that students wonder how they could have missed it

Rabbi Silber tries to humanize continued on page 14

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B i b l e pe rsona l i t i es In t e a c h i n g Genesis for e x a m p l e he de lves deep ly in to Ab raham 's cha rac te r p o i n t i n g out his flaws and docu men t i ng his p rob lems in accept ing the ro le G d gave h i m

Some s t u d e n t s f i n d s u c h h u m a n u a t i o n h a r d to s w a l l o w , e s p e c i a l l y w h e n p r e v i o u s teachers had given A b r a h a m and o the r B ib l i ca l charac ters G-d- l i ke q u a l i t i e s P u l l i n g t h e m d o w n f r o m the pedes ta l o f f ends some stu dents - just as h igh school stu den ts a re o f t en o f f e n d e d w h e n they flrst hear the f au l t * asc r ibed to George W a s h i n g t o n o r A b r a ham L i n c o l n " I n the end. R a b b i S i l be r says in de fend ing h is t ech nique. " the heroes remain he roes"

T h e n a m e D r i s h a w a s t a k e n f r o m the Heb rew phrase Drtsha Ye Chakira w h i c h m e a n s a tho rough invest igat ive ana lys is o f the tex t Rabbi S i lber says he de-signs his lessons to e n a b l e the w o m e n to study and analyze the t e x t s i n d e p e n d e n t l y " T o t h e women amongst t h e m a stock ana lys t , a Ph D in ma themat i cs , c o m p u t e r p r o g r a m m e r s , a n d o t h e r p r o f e s s i o n a l s t h e ap p roach is a re f resh ing break f rom the t r a d i t i o n a l " sp i t back " me thod used by many yeshivot

R a b b i S i l b e r stresses that his a p p r o a c h is to ta l l y i n t e l l e c t u a l , and not in any way religious i n d o c t r i n a t i o n Some o f h i s s tu dents , p a r t i c u l a r l y those who ' ve s t u d i e d at y e s h i v o t i n I s r a e l , w h e r e a r e l i g i o u s a p p r o a c h is st ressed, find its lack at D n s h a d i s t r e s s i n g I t ' s c o n c e i v a b l e says o n e s t u d e n t , t h a i an i r r e l i g i o u s person w i l l j o i n D n s h a s tudy here for one o r two years and then, when she leaves, s t i l l be i r r e l i g i o u s " Rabb i S i l be r p re fe rs to let the t r a d i t i o n a l texts speak fo r themse lves

T h e reac t ion of o the r women 's schools to Dnsha has been m i x e d The p r i n c i p a l o f t h e R ivka B reue r Teacher 's Seminary . R a b b i E l ias . f l a t l y condemns the t e a c h i n g o f T a l m u d to w o m e n R a b b i s at B r u n a West the s is ter school o f M i r h l e l e t B r u n a m J e r u s a l e m a n d at T e a c h e r s I n s t i t u t e f o r W o m e n a b r a n c h o f Y e s h i v a Un i ve r s i t y say they a p p r o v e of the teachers at D r i s h a I n d e e d , two teachers at Dr i sha also teach at Yesh iva

S t i l l , t he c o m p e t i t i o n D r t s h a poses w o r n e s the o t h e r schools One r a b b i at Teacher ' s i n s t i t u t e fo r W o m e n said he i m a g i n e s tha t h igher -ups in the Yesh iva U n i v e r s i ty a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a r e p a r t i c u -la r l y unhappy now. w i t h Yesh iva in severe financial s t ra i t s

The D i rec to r of Teache r ' s Ins t i t u t e f o r W o m e n . R a b b i W a l t e r Orens te in . said he doesn ' t see the need for es tab l i sh ing a new schoo l u n l e s s " t h e r e ' s a p o p u l a t i o n b o o m Qui te frankly." he said, " I t h i n k we shou ld use the schoo ls &rat iabte.-t)«e&«i6»-U»ere's-only a l i m i t e d n u m b e r o f s t u d e n t s "

R a b b i Orens te in feels i t 's s t i l l too ear ly to t e l l how D r i s h a w i l l a f feet h is school 's e n r o l l m e n t T h e ques t i on , he feels, is w h e t h e r stu-

den ts stay at the new school or re t u r n to t h e i r o l d schools once t he i r c u n o s i t y is sa t is f ied

Fo r R a b b i S i l b e r th i s is also a "key q u e s t i o n " W i l l t he s tudents r e t u r n nex t year" ' R a b b i S i l b e r has a m b i t i o u s p lans for his school — a s u m m e r p rogram, a l i b ra ry , a l a r g e r s ta f f , a B e i t M e d r a s h la p lace w h e r e w o m e n can come in to l ea rn any t ime) , and more But a l l t h i s d e p e n d s h e a v i l y on the c o m i n g Sep tember ' s e n r o l l m e n t As R a b b i S i l b e r says, " t h e j u r y is s t i l l ou t on us "

CHURCH BOARD DRAFTS POUCY STATEMENT

New Y o r k O T A ) - T h e govern ing b o a r d o f t h e N a t i o n a l Counc i l of Chu rches (NCC) has comp le ted the " f i r s t r e a d i n g " of a proposed new po l i cy s ta tement on the M i d d ie East w h i c h cal ls on the Arabs to recognize Is rae l "as a Jew ish State" and on Is rae l to recognize the n g h t of Pa les t in ians to "na t i ona l self d e t e r m i n a t i o n " i n c l u d ing "a sovere ign state

The 26-page d ra f t d iscussed Bt the board 's semi annua l meet ing in I nd ianapo l i s . I nd iana last week ca l l s on a l l p a r t i e s to e n d v to l e n c e u r g e s P a l e s t i n i a n s a n d A r a b states to recognize Is rae l as a Jew ish State w i t h secure, de fined and recogn ized borders , and u rges I s r a e l t o w i t h d r a w f r o m o c c u p i e d t e r r i t o r i e s a n d recog ni/.e P a l e s t i n i a n r i g h t s to " n a t i ona l se l f - de te rm ina t i on " and "» P a l e s t i n i a n e n t i t y , i n c l u d i n g a sovereign state "

An NCC s p o k e s m a n sa id the c o m m i t t e e w h i c h d r a f t e d the r e s o l u t i o n w i l l n o w c o n s i d e r changes p roposed by boa rd mem b e r s d u r i n g t h e I n d i a n a p o l i s meet ing and by any o f the 32 Prot es tan t and E a s t e r n O r t h o d o x c h u r c h groups w h i c h are mem bers of the NCC T h e commit tee w i l l then present the statement for a second and final reading at the board 's mee t i ng i n November

M e a n w h i l e , t h e A n t i De famat ion l e a g u e o f B 'na i B 'n th has c n t i c i z e d as " n a i v e " a report on the M i d d l e East also presented to the N C C s gove rn ing board at the I n d i a n a p o l i s m e e t i n g

W h i l e saying that the document c o n t a i n s " c e r t a i n p o s i t i v e e le ments." N a t h a n P e r l m u t t e r , AD l . na t i ona l d i r e c t o r , d e c l a r e d that "it s t ra ins c r e d u l i t y f o r a pane l of the N a t i ona l C o u n c i l o f Churches, i tse l f a religious body, to ca l l for I ' S d ia logue w i t h the PLO ter ro r ists and m u r d e r e r ? who are al l ied w i t h the Amer i ca -ha t i ng , fanatical Aya to l l ah K h o m e i n i and wi th the Sov ie t U n i o n , r e l i g i o n ' s sworn enemy "

P e r l m u t t e r sa id tha t instead of c h a r g i n g t h a t t h e C a m p David a g r e e m e n t is " f u n d a m e n t a l l y flawed." the r e p o r t w o u l d have been fa r mo re cons t ruc t i ve had it u rged the r e j e c t i o n i s t Arabs to j o i n the Camp D a v i d peace pro-

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