Much has been written about the power of chavruta, paired learning centered on Jewish texts. Chavruta is a form of dialogue, between the study partners and with the text itself. Its virtues have been extolled in commentary dating back to the Talmud. Many Jewish educational settings employ it as a pedagogic tool and while some, like the Jewish Learning Collaborative, have brought chavruta into Jewish communal workplaces, it is not yet the norm to use it as a tool to enhance workplace success. 

In our experience, using chavruta within our supervisor/direct report relationship has opened up new ways for us to relate to one another and engage with deep, complex topics. As professionals dedicated to supporting Jewish workplaces and their staff, we offer our experience to encourage others to explore whether this centuries-old tradition might similarly benefit your own relationships with your team members.

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Laura is the director of program and evaluation at JPro, Deirdre is chief strategy officer, and Laura’s supervisor. In the spirit of dialogue, we’ve chosen to tell you our story, and how it shapes our thinking about workplace relationships, as an interview. 

Laura to Deirdre: What led you to suggest that we do chavruta learning, and with this text specifically?

A few years ago, at the organization I worked at prior to JPro, my supervisor at the time was retiring. She gifted me Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l, with an invitation to read it with her in chavruta over the course of the following year. As someone who didn’t grow up in Judaism, it was my first time being invited to learn in chavruta, and I loved it from day one. It provided a structure for continuing the kind of deep, reflective conversations she and I had had while working together for many years – we had a habit of talking on the phone every Friday while she was cooking for Shabbat, and this kept that tradition going with rich content to explore. A few months in, her successor, my new supervisor, invited me to learn in chavruta with her. So, for the next year or so, I had two chavruta partners for the same text!

I experienced firsthand how the process of studying in chavruta, especially with this specific text, which is so directly applicable to work contexts, could accelerate the learning and trust-building process that is essential to any supervisory relationship. As I got to know you, Laura, I saw how important Jewish study is in your life, so it felt like learning in chavruta could be a great way for us to learn about and with each other.

Deirdre to Laura: What did you think of the idea? Had you ever done this kind of learning with a supervisor/supervisee before?

I was both intrigued by, and a little trepidatious about, your suggestion. On one hand, since my time at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, I’ve loved learning in chavruta, experiencing it as a powerful tool to build relationships and deepen a connection to the material. On the other hand, I had never engaged in chavruta with a supervisor and, knowing that chavruta would require us each to show up as teacher and learner, was concerned that the power dynamics of our working relationship might seep into our learning. Since chavruta relies so much on partnership, I imagine that it may not work in all supervisor/supervisee dynamics – both parties have to feel psychologically safe in being vulnerable with their ideas and their questions.

Deirdre to Laura: So how has it been for you?

It’s been a powerful way to enhance our work and supplement conversations we have about my professional growth. Rabbi Sacks’ focus on leadership through a Jewish lens serves as a starting point for conversations about how I show up as a professional, how I am engaging with key program design elements of my portfolio, and on a broader level, how JPro can continue to support professionals in our sector at all levels of leadership.

Laura to Deirdre: How has it been for you?

For me, it’s been an incredible opportunity to gain insight into how you see and think about the world, while also getting the benefit of your deep Jewish knowledge in enriching my own learning and thinking. The structure of chavruta gives us space to practice challenging each other for the sake of enhancing both of our understanding, which for me is such an important aspect of any meaningful supervisor/supervisee relationship. Building the muscles of humility, curiosity, and mutual respect makes all the work we do together more effective – and more fun!

Laura to Deirdre: What have you learned about the relationship between supervisor and direct report through this experience?

One of the key things I’ve learned is the importance of meeting people where they’re at, and not trying to move too fast right out of the gate. Because I’ve had so many amazing supervisor/supervisee relationships over the years, both as the supervisee and the supervisor, and because my experiences with chavruta have been so positive, I would’ve loved to jump into learning together on Day One of our work together. You reminded me that power differentials are very real. We weren’t going to be able to engage as true chavruta partners until there was a baseline of trust established between us, and until it was clear that this was something you also had interest in trying out together, not just something you were doing because your supervisor asked you to. 

Deirdre to Laura: What do you see as the potential impact of this kind of model beyond just the two of us?

I see the supervisor/supervisee relationship as a partnership, centered, of course, on getting the work done. Using chavruta to enhance this relationship has the potential to create space for different types of conversations and interactions. This has extended into my work in designing JPro Ignite, our leadership development initiative that supports early career professionals and their supervisors. I want to experiment with how chavruta can be used more widely to deepen workplace relationships, further enabling teams to achieve great things. In addition, our chavruta has galvanized my thinking about how to create opportunities for rich Jewish engagement at JPro25 in partnership with Jewish federations — experimenting with both what content participants are learning, and the modalities in which they’re accessing that learning.

Deirdre to Laura: What has been your favorite thing that we have learned together?

Aside from the broader lesson about how partnership strengthens workplace relationships, the insight Rabbi Sacks conveys in his essay on parshat kedoshim in the Book of Leviticus struck me. Rabbi Sacks discusses how Judaism demands that followers (i.e. those not in positions of authority) examine leaders’ behaviors and help refine their thinking. In parallel, those who hold the ultimate decision-making authority are similarly required to accept the partnership of their followers. Those with the authority and responsibility to make decisions must solicit and weigh the perspectives of those who they lead. This essay has such rich implications for thinking about the obligations of supervisory relationships, and exploring it with you, in chavruta, was the perfect medium.

Laura to Deirdre: What would you suggest as next steps to other supervisor/supervisee pairs who want to try learning in chavruta?

Starting with a conversation about your specific learning goals is essential, as well as understanding each of your needs as individual learners. You and I both love Jewish learning, and I don’t read Hebrew, so a Rabbi Sacks analysis offered in English was a great choice for us. For experienced Torah scholars, there are of course many Rabbinic commentaries in either Hebrew or English to dive into. But you can also engage in paired learning with secular texts. Erica Brown’s book Take Your Soul to Work comes to mind for me as a great example of the kind of text that could be accessible and professionally applicable to folks from a wide range of backgrounds and identities. I think the most important thing is that both parties are coming to the practice eager to learn about each other and themselves in addition to learning content. And if the text doesn’t end up resonating with one or both of you, don’t be afraid to try out something else! You can read any book alone, but being in chavruta is truly special. What works best for the two of you is what matters most.

Laura Herman is JPro’s director of program and evaluation, and Deirdre Munley is JPro’s chief strategy officer.