By Miriam Lichtenberg
The voice of the Talmud is rich and dense. When studying it, I find myself deeply immersed in its dialogues and conversations, enjoying the back and forth nature of the text and understanding its Halachik decisions. When our cohort had the privilege to hear from Ilana Kurshan, I realized the ways that I was not incorporating the words of the Talmud into my life. Kurshan not only heeds to the words of the Talmud, but embodies it in her daily life, taking the stories and voices of the Talmud and making it her own entirely. In a text far from laden with female voices, Kurshan found her voice.
It was while running the streets of Jerusalem with her friend that Kurshan began her journey with the Rabbis of the Talmud. Kurshan was intrigued by her running partner who began learning Daf Yomi, an international effort to study of a page of Talmud a day. Kurshan could only wonder what would bring this friend, who was not religious, to begin this pursuit that spans over seven and a half years. Now, finding herself in cycle number two of Daf Yomi, more than seven and a half years later, Ilana is deeply appreciative for the encouragement to begin this learning.
When Kurshan began studying Daf Yomi, she was not optimistic that her studies would lead to a better situation. She was a new, recently divorced Olah, thousands of miles away from her supportive community. Each day passed in pain. With her new pursuit of Daf Yomi, Kurshan began passing each day having learned something, remarkably changing her relationship to time, “viewing it not as a mark of age but as an opportunity to grow in wisdom.” With every page turned, Kurhsan believed that a new chapter of her life would have to open. By the end of her first cycle of learning, she was re-married with children.
She describes this process in her emotional memoir If all the Seas were Ink.
Her learning began with daily podcasts, and took its shape when she stumbled upon a daily morning class in a nearby shul. When she attended, Kurshan bore the weight of the sole female presence. In this class, she did not find her voice, rather began scribbling notes furiously throughout the class, notes that she eventually published in her memoir.
Often, Kurshan related to the text in ways that surprised even her. After having twins, Kurshan found herself home alone with her new babies, leaving days to pass by where she might only interact with her newborns and husband. It was at this time that she read the famous Talmudic story of Rabbi Shimeon and his son Rabbi Eleazar who isolated themselves in a cave to learn Torah together. For Rabbi Shimeon, that was enough, as he turns to his son to say “די לעולם אני ואתה” – all I need in this world is you and me. For Kurshan, her life, her twins, were enough. For Kurshan, the words of the Talmud have been, and continue to be, a lifeline. I can only aspire to be such a Torah scholar.
