By Shira Forester
As a member of cohort four of the Nachshon Project, I have been given a unique opportunity that previous fellows did not have the privilege of experiencing. Every week, the entire cohort studies at The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies for a number of hours. Each fellow was given four course options to study while at Pardes. The classes are titled: Talmudic Heroines, Jewish Identity as Reflected in Tanach, Critical Issues in Jewish Thought, and Advanced Talmud. Allowing each of us the choice of what topic most interests us allows for a deeper connection to our studies. In addition, we are able to understand how to learn purely for the sake of learning, since the classes are not for academic credit.
Since I grew up attending Jewish day schools, text study was not a foreign concept to me. In fact, in my experience at a secular university, I struggled to adjust to the lack of text study as a young adult. I missed sitting with a chevruta in such a deep discussion that we were unaware of our surroundings and the time just flew by. I wished I could return to my high school where we could read a line of Talmud and attempt to dissect and understand it throughout an entire class period. When I heard about this opportunity to study at Pardes, I was excited to return to this kind of learning and practice my skills that have been out of use for a few years.
I was surprised to learn that many people did not approach this experience with the same eager excitement that I did.
Many were skeptical about text study, believing that they would not connect to it and that it would feel more like a chore. In many cases, these were people who had not had many opportunities to study many Jewish texts in the past, or at least not in a Beit Midrash setting. Despite some original doubts, my impression is that everyone is loving the experience and gaining a lot from their classes. This is due to the knowledgeable and engaging teachers at Pardes, the interesting topics we are discussing, and the power of text study. After each class, when we join together again as a group for dinner, all you can hear is every single person sharing the wisdom that they learned with one another. People present their new understandings to each other, almost as if to boast their class as the best.
What I find to be so fascinating about studying the Talmud and the Tanach, is that everyone can find meaning in them. People may not walk away with identical messages learned, but that is not what matters. The fact that they can gain any sort of understanding, or even learn a new perspective to approach a matter, is what makes text study so special. Studying these texts that are the root of our tradition, and applying the lessons learned to our lives, is possible for most people who are given the space to study them. Having the privilege of learning among people of various backgrounds has been an informative experience for me. Being in a classroom among people who have been studying the Talmud for their whole lives and people who have never seen a page of Talmud is refreshing. Working with a chevruta partner who I did not know a month ago, but discussing our shared passions together, allows for a unique kind of bond. We all have knowledge to learn from each other and I am lucky and grateful that the space has been given to all of us to experience this together.
