• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Policies
  • Submissions
    • Op-eds
    • News / Announcements
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

eJewish Philanthropy

Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource

  • News Bits
  • Jewish Education
  • Readers Forum
  • Research
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / The American Jewish Scene / Turning to the Old to Find Something New: Introducing Chavrutah Learning in the Synagogue

Turning to the Old to Find Something New: Introducing Chavrutah Learning in the Synagogue

February 8, 2016 By eJP

By Rabbi Jesse M. Olitzky

When we talk about education in our congregations and synagogues, we often look at what is cutting edge, new, and different. Our institutions emphasize that the future of education must involve smart boards, WiFi, and swiping screens. I agree that we must offer innovative entry points for learning. Still, we cannot forget the most important aspect of learning: our peers.

Paired study, or chavrutah learning, has been a part of traditional rabbinic text study for centuries. This form of paired learning acknowledges that there is not distinct roles of student and teacher. Rather, each partner in the pair teaches one another, and learns from one another. Together, they may analyze texts, question interpretations or arguments, and suggest different conclusions. Learning with – and from – someone else allows us to open up our minds to see something in a way that we previously were not able. We are taught In Pirkei Avot 1:6: Find for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend. Through chavrutah study, we come to understand and appreciate that our closest friends are our greatest teachers.

The beauty of chavrutah study is that the emphasis is on the act of learning, not on the outcome. There is no single correct interpretation or understanding of the text. After all, we learn in Midrash (Bemidbar Rabbah) that the Torah has seventy faces, that the rich text of Jewish tradition can be interpreted in an infinite amount of ways. Chavrutah learning empowers each individual to come to his or her own conclusion and not worry about what is correct or incorrect.

At the beginning of 2016, Congregation Beth El in South Orange, New Jersey, where I proudly serve as rabbi, launched our Beth El Beit Midrash program. The goal of our community’s strategic planning process was to offer different ways to learn and to take learning outside the synagogue building at times that are most convenient for each individual. Our goal was to offer chavrutah learning with congregants learning what they wanted, when they wanted, where they wanted. With the help of Project Zug, a program of Mechon Hadar and Panim: The Association for Jewish Renewal Organizations in Israel, we were able to do exactly that.

Project Zug offers over fifteen different topics for pairs to learn together. One congregant mentioned that, because of the variety of course offerings, she was able to choose what she wanted to learn, instead of just learning whatever was being offered. These courses consist of videos, lesson plans, text source sheets, and probing questions that are sent to learning pairs through email. Each pair determines for themselves when to learn and where to learn. There is no burden of a set date and time. The flexibility of timing, as well as learning options, and the empowering nature of friends and loved ones learning together and teaching each other has made our Beth El Beit Midrash a success.

We have over sixty members of the community, from those in their 20’s to those in their 70’s, committed to weekly text learning over a three month period. At the conclusion of the three months, we will have a siyyum where each pair will have the opportunity to teach others what they have learned. We have spouses, parents and children, friends, and new acquaintances all learning in pairs. Some are new to Jewish learning and others have strong text skills and backgrounds. The diversity of these learners only adds to what they are able to teach each other, and emphasizes the seventy faces of the Torah.

Project Zug is part of a much needed educational revolution in the American Jewish community, in which we return to our roots to make text learning more accessible. Some innovative Jewish communities are already emphasizing chavrutah learning. MakomDC of Adas Israel Congregation has regular chavrutah learning in the synagogue’s Biran Beit Midrash, with each month focusing on a different theme, studying texts that encourage conversation, debate, and dialogue about that monthly theme. Valley Beit Midrash in the Greater Phoenix area is a collaborative effort by area congregations, the local Federation, and the JCC, to bring pluralistic Jewish text learning and paired study to the larger Jewish community. Thanks to Project Zug and our strategic plan, Congregation Beth El’s Beit Midrash is proud to offer deep and meaningful chavrutah learning as well.

The Beth El Beit Midrash is intellectually stimulating; it is also a social experience. Some learn over a beer, a cup of coffee, or a meal. Most importantly though, it is a sacred experience. We tend to only think about what is new and what is next. Looking backwards at the most commonly practiced learning style of the rabbinic tradition has allowed us to look forward as we continue to build a community of learners.

Rabbi Jesse Olitzky is rabbi and spiritual leader at Congregation Beth El in South Orange, NJ. For more information about the Beth El Beit Midrash and the work they are doing with Project Zug, you can contact him here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: The American Jewish Scene Tagged With: adult Jewish learning

Click here to Email This Post Email This Post to friends or colleagues!

Primary Sidebar

Join The Conversation

What's the best way to follow important issues affecting the Jewish philanthropic world? Our Daily Update keeps you on top of the latest news, trends and opinions shaping the landscape, providing an invaluable source for inspiration and learning.
Sign Up Now
For Email Marketing you can trust.

Continue The Conversation

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Bruce Powell on An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Sara Rigler on Announcement: Catherine Reed named CEO of American Friends of Magen David Adom
  • Donna Burkat on The Blessings in 2020’s Losses
  • swindmueller on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times
  • Alan Henkin on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times

Most Read Recent Posts

  • What Title for Henrietta Szold?
  • Jewish Agency Accuses Evangelical Contractors of “Numerous Violations” but Denies They Evangelized New Immigrants
  • An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Why One Zoom Class Has Generated a Following
  • The Blessings in 2020’s Losses

Categories

The Way Back Machine

Footer

What We Do

eJewish Philanthropy highlights news, resources and thought pieces on issues facing our Jewish philanthropic world in order to create dialogue and advance the conversation. Learn more.

Top 40 Philanthropy Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2020

Copyright © 2021 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved