The hevruta is a traditional Jewish model of two learners studying a text together. It isn’t a teacher-student relationship but a truly collaborative effort of exploration, discussion, and a lot of creativity. Your study-partner is also called a hevruta and I have two of them here in Austin. One is a local rabbi and the other is an old friend who moved here years before I did.
It’s hard to describe the rabbi (I’ll call him Dan to protect his privacy). So I’ll just say that he has a yeshiva background, left the Orthodox world long ago, and appreciates the various expressions of Judaism, including mine. Dan and I meet weekly at one of the large restaurant-grocery stores here in Austin and together we learn from the Song of Songs Rabbah. We allow each midrash (interpretation) to lead us, like a tour guide, through the linked Scripture references that fill the pages.
Dan and I can learn together not because we are similar but because we are so different and we respect each other. He views things from a mystical perspective—not the mysticism of the Zohar, but an earlier form. I bring out literary and spiritual aspects of the midrash; he brings out the mystical. Dan has a deep grasp of the significance of individual words and how they connect to larger ideas. He is also sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit in the text and in life. (FYI, few Jews use the term ruach to describe the Holy Spirit.) We don't accept everything the other says, and at times our disagreement is vigorous, but we both learn.
We've been learning together for over a year now, our discussions ranging well beyond the text and into areas of life that concern us both. We've had numerous conversations about our Jewish beliefs and communities. Our times together are always satisfying and sometimes spectacular. My learning experience—that is, the quality of worship—has been enhanced. Slowly, slowly over time, the give-and-take of hevruta learning has changed us both.
Next time, I’ll write about Peter, my other hevruta,
That's wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Thank you for sharing, Rabbi Carl.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated the recognition that Holy Spirit needn't be a term that produces the kind of self-conciousness that would cause us to just call it "wind" in Hebrew!
Great! Getting right down to it. This post really hits on a lot of experiences common to chevrusa learning.
ReplyDeletePerhaps in a future post, would you suggest guidelines for finding the right partner? (Probably just the opposite criteria for finding a shidduch;)
In my personal experience, with a good partner I have left the table "in tears of joy," and without much being said. Other instances, I wonder if we are even in the same book, let alone the same page.
The most unsatisfying, however, are those instances when we can't even get onto a page. I want to learn a subject b'kius, and we get caught up in family matters, b'iyun!...any tips there, too?
Rabbi Carl, I like the fact that it was precisely BECAUSE you found a partner who doesn't share your exact perspective, even opposes part of it, that your learning have become especially fruitful.
ReplyDeleteGene - very often that is true. You remember the sad death of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, the hevruta of Rabbi Yochanan. Soon, another chevruta – Eleazar ben Pedat – took his place. But every time R. Yohanan said something, Eleazer agreed with him. R. Yohanan said to him: Do you think you are like the son of Lakisha? When I would state something, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish would raise questions against my position on twenty-four grounds, and I would find twenty-four solutions, and it naturally followed that the tradition was broadened, but you say to me merely, 'There is a teaching that supports your view.' Don't I know that what I say is sound? So he went on tearing his clothes and weeping, 'Where are you son of Lakisha, where are you son of Lakisha.' He cried until his mind turned from him. The Rabbis asked mercy for him and he died. (Bava Metziah 84a)
ReplyDeleteNetzer Chosid - Hevruta learning will be one of my ongoing themes. You probably know everything I could say about finding a good hevruta. In a way,it's like dating. When you find a good hevruta, hang on for dear life.
ReplyDeleteI suggest you be honest with your hevruta. "This learning means so much to me, but somehow we don't spend much time actually learning. Is there a problem? Avoid implying that he is deficient. Often, chit-chat is a form of procrastination. Your hevruta may have to get over his aversion to focused mental effort. Or he may feel inadequate. On the other hand, he may simply be uninterested. Best to find out now.
Carl,
ReplyDeletePerhaps another way of approaching Netzer Chosid's concern is to do like we do: Chit chat, but also set aside a definite time for study, which could either be implicit or explicit, and which either hevruta could begin.
-Peter
@CK & P: Thanks for your suggustions. I'll try them and see how we go. I remember now that one has an aversion to reading texts and would rather hear it aloud. Perhaps also now is a good point to see if he still has interest in our subject.
ReplyDelete@P. I generally don't have that kind of time, unfortunately -- to shmuze and learn. With the demands of work, family, and school there's very little time. But your suggestion certainly would deepen the experience of learning together.
Thank you both,
NC