While I have come to Israel to study Torah, as I did in July 2024, the learning experiences are quite different. Last summer at the Hartman Institute the learning was topical. Under the theme “Israel Tomorrow,” different scholars lectured on a topic based upon (mostly) Jewish sources. This time I’m learning at Pardes in Jerusalem, where I first learned Torah almost 25 years ago. Here the studying is lishma (for its own sake). The focus is on skills. The sections studied may or may not be relevant to my life at this moment.
At Pardes, the morning classes (9:00 – 12:00) are primary and alternate between Talmud and Humash (the Pentateuch with medieval commentaries). Many interesting issues were raised in the Talmud class, including the nature of speech and liability for damages. For example, what happens when Sarah says, “Michael, can I leave my computer here?” “Sure,” replies Michael. Along comes Michael’s dog and damages the computer. Is Michael liable? Did “Sure,” imply that he was taking responsibility for the object or is an explicit statement necessary, such as “Sure, I’ll watch it.” More generally, this opened a discussion on communication, literal versus implied speech, and expectations. We continued with a section about plagues and famine and how humans cope with indiscriminate chaos, suffering, and harm.
In my Humash class we studied the initial verses of Parashat Toldot (Genesis 25:19-26). We compared medieval rabbinic commentaries with early rabbinic sources (Midrash and Talmud), trying to discern how the early commentaries influenced later ones and may have contributed to non-contextual readings of the biblical text, i.e. reading ideas into the text that prevent us from seeing the original intent of the biblical text.
In the afternoon I took a Talmud Skills elective. We learned how to read the text. The teacher would not only explain each word, particularly the terms that dictate the flow of the argument, but he also taught us tools for identifying how a Talmudic text is structured. It was a class that I wish was offered 25 years ago, as I’ve always struggled to learn Talmud.
Returning to Pardes, the place that launched me into the world of Jewish learning and practice, was very special. Classes that felt slow or didn’t fully hold my interest taught me patience and to observe how the teacher was teaching or how engaged other students were. I am immensely grateful for this brief re-immersion learning Torah as a spiritual practice.
