The State of Women and Talmud Study

LamedZayin of the blogging group Maven Yavin has begun a survey of the sources which discuss whether or not a woman can learn Talmud. As he notes, this topic was also covered at Hirhurim. One of the limitations of these mainly halachic surveys is that the impact that women's Talmud study has had on Jewish society is not dicussed. Along these lines Mirty asks:

What is the value of a learned woman in Jewish society and society at large? Why do we value this now, and did not in earlier times? (Do we value it now?)

Based on my experience, access to serious Torah learning for women has only had the most positive effects on Jewish families, the Jewish community and women themselves. The women I know who have chosen a life devoted to learning and teaching Talmud have inspired countless other girls and women and they are also some of the most impressive wives, mothers and people I know.

An update on the state of women's learning: Over Hanukka I heard a woman speak with incredible expertise at Matan Ra'anana about Rebbe Nachman of Breslav's mystical interpretations of the menorah. At Nishmat's Yoatzot Halacha program, women are trained to answer shailas about hilchot niddah and related areas. They have shown that more women are keeping halacha more accurately because of the greater comfort they feel in speaking to a woman about these issues. Graduates of the Drisha Scholar's Circle have taught high school level gemara, providing teenage girls and boys with a model of women Talmud teachers. Moreover, Drisha now has a female Rosh Beit Midrash, Devorah Zlochower (a graduate of the Scholar's Circle). YU instituted a program for advanced Talmud study for women a few years ago as well.

Women are no longer just studying Talmud, they are teaching it, answering halachic questions and emerging as leaders in batei midrash for women.

Of course I am aware that to a certain degree these things are more widespread in New York, Boston and many parts of Israel. While Talmud study is often a regular part of Modern Orthodox education for girls in a number of New York schools, that is not the case in most religious schools in Israel. There are some impressive girls I know who study Talmud as an extra-curricular activity. But they still receive the message that Talmud is not offered as a part of their regular educational curriculum, while it is offered to the boys.

I think there has always been some space given to learned women in Jewish society and I will write more about that soon. But these successful women are the greatest demonstration of the value of women's learning.

Comments

[Berel Dov Lerner]

The irony is that for a fair number of years religious-Zionist educators in Israel have been bewailing the "Talmud crisis" - many boys don't want to spend a lot of time on studying Talmud. Some of the recent big developments and controversies in Israeli Orthodox education are rooted in attempts to respond to the "crisis": 1)the pre-army mechinah programs, most of which emphasize religious lifestyle and prayer over Talmud study and 2) the "revadim" method, in which academic methods of textual criticism are incorporated into Talmud study at the highschool level (largely in an attempt to make the material more interesting).
All of this has taken place while more and more girls and women engage in Talmud study. A few years ago I heard one exasperated rabbi say, "It seems like we will have to depend on the girls to keep Talmud study going!"

[oosj]

MO Woman has modestly ommited her own contribution to extra-curricular Talmud study by young girls in Kfar Saba and Ra'anana.
Kol Hakavod to her.

[Karen]

Thanks OOSJ! OOS daughter is a delight to study with.

[male Jew]

individuals and/or groups ought to organize and find the means of learning as often and as much as they like without discussing it so boldly so often openly, publicly, and so on. Since it takes time away from Torah content based discussions, it is rather annoying, and in the end, almost every opinion is unanimous aside from the Orthodox-- and they don't seem to be the ones debating the issue: so to all the non-Orthodox "bevakasha..." tzniut, azout panim, etc is at stake when carrying on all the time. u wanna learn? fine, go learn, thank u very much. but please, cut the annoying attitude which bears the semblance of (modern) kalot rosh... I mean: when speaking to men, boys, Rabbis and so on who do, in fact, agree, "WHAT is the driving need, or desire, to go on and on?" it's a symptom of some deeper society-ill ( not the honourable desire to learn,but the need to berate sympathetic, agreeing male Jews...) and so learning w yirat shamayim and taking the "pilpul" seriously thereby seems to be a stumbling block to learning, debating and respecting our Sages, Psoukim, etc. Quiet, serious, dedicated learning is not the same as the bad midot of many sides of this issue ( which I would like to see and hear less of, while benefitting from the true increase in Torah values and mitzvot ( which is greater learning or doing? -- this too is problematic, since many of the Mitzvot are not required to be performed by women...)

finally, yes, it is an interesting issue, but ought to be conducted in a more honourable fashion than it often is. I hope you all see the degree to which these contrasting phenomenon exist -- it's not black and white, but it does exist in varying proportions here and there. I hope this helps. b'lev tov -- kol tuv.