By Racheli Shafier
One of my favorite parts of The Nachshon Project so far has been the opportunity to learn in a beit midrash. Every Tuesday afternoon, we travel together to the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, an “open, co-ed and non-denominational Jewish learning community.” Nachshon Fellows chose from four class options, and I chose to study Talmud with Nechama Goldman Barash.
After making Aliya over 20 years ago, Nechama spent three years studying at Matan’s Advanced Talmud Institute, and then went on to complete a Master’s degree in Talmud at Bar-Ilan University. Nechama is also a practicing yoetzet halacha (knowledgeable and trained in the field of family purity), and she teaches at several institutions of higher Jewish learning, including Matan, Pardes, and Midreshet TVA. Currently she is studying in Matan’s new Hilchata program, which is an advanced program in the area of Jewish law.
Having the opportunity to study Talmud with Nechama has been a privilege for several reasons. Studying Talmud – a text written by some of the greatest rabbis in our history – has always been somewhat of a struggle for me as a woman. Learning it with a woman who is truly an expert in her field has helped me to personally bridge some of the gender gap that I often fight with in my Torah study.
But not only do I get to learn from a female Talmud scholar, Nechama is a wonderful teacher! She challenges us to examine the text from all angles, and happily accepts questions and challenges on her approach. While the eight of us in the class come from very different backgrounds and Talmud skills, Nechama engages everyone as she brings the ancient text to life.
Together with Nechama, we have explored various topics, including a few classes spent on topics in early rabbinic marriage contracts, a class on the commandments of the holiday of Purim, one on the laws of family purity, and our most recent class on the development of the holiday of Passover over three thousand years.
One thing that I have particularly enjoyed is Nechama’s usage of manuscripts.
The Talmud was sealed about a thousand years before Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press, and so each copy was painstakingly copied by a competent sofer (Jewish scribe). As these scribes were human, there were mistakes and miscopies over the years – often just the omission or addition of a word or two, but that can drastically alter the meaning of the passage. In instances where there are two different extant versions of a text, much ink has been spilled by medieval commentators arguing over which version is correct, as it can have serious ramifications on halacha (Jewish law).
The rule of thumb for these issues is that the older the manuscript is, the less likely it is to have been corrupted over time. Unlike any of my previous Talmud teachers, Nechama did not stop at explaining the contradiction, or bringing commentators who discussed what their version of the text said, but rather brought in photocopies of ancient manuscripts to let us see for ourselves.
Looking at my modern edition of the classic Vilna Talmud, and comparing it to the ancient manuscript that is often difficult to read has been an incredibly empowering experience, one that helped me to connect my Torah study with the thousands of years of Jewish History.
