Chavruta
Encyclopedia
Chavruta, also spelled chavrusa ' onMouseout='HidePop("31108")' href="/topics/Aramaic_language">Aramaic
for "friendship" or "companionship"), is a traditional Rabbinic
approach to Talmud
ic study in which a pair of students independently learn, discuss, and debate a shared text. It is a primary learning method in yeshiva
s and kollel
s, where students often engage regular study partners of similar knowledge and ability. The traditional phrase is to learn b'chavruta ; the word has come by metonymy
to refer to the study partner as an individual, though it would more logically describe the pair. In Orthodox parlance, a chavruta always refers to two students, but Reform Judaism has expanded the idea of chavruta to include study groups of up to five individuals.
Chavruta-style learning is also popular in women's yeshivas which study Talmudic texts. More recently, it has been extended to telephone and internet Torah study partnerships.
and Gemara
, chavruta learning was a key feature of yeshivas in the eras of the Tannaim
and Amoraim. The Rabbis repeatedly urged their students to acquire a study partner; for example, Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta
told his son Rabbi Abba that he was ignorant because he did not study with someone else. (See more quotes below.) The choice of chavrutas seems to have been based on friendship or social proximity; thus, chavrutas fulfilled a social as well as an educational need.
A chavruta helps a student stay awake, keep his mind focused on the learning, sharpen his reasoning powers, develop his thoughts into words, and organize his thoughts into logical arguments. This type of learning also imparts precision and clarity into ideas that would otherwise remain vague. Having to listen to, analyze and respond to another's opinion also inculcates respect for others. It is considered poor manners to interrupt one's chavruta.
In the yeshiva setting, students prepare for and review the shiur (lecture) with their chavrutas during morning, afternoon, and evening study sessions known as sedarim
. On average, a yeshiva student spends ten hours per day learning in chavruta. Since having the right chavruta makes all the difference between having a good year and a bad year, class rebbis may switch chavrutas eight or nine times in a class of 20 boys until the partnerships work for both sides. If a chavruta gets stuck on a difficult point or needs further clarification, they can turn to the rabbis, lecturers, or a sho'el u'mashiv (literally, "ask and answer", a rabbi who is intimately familiar with the Talmudic text being studied) who are available to them in the study hall during sedarim. In women's yeshiva programs, teachers are on hand to guide the chavrutas.
Chavruta learning tends to be loud and animated, as the study partners read the Talmudic text and the commentaries aloud to each other and then analyze, question, debate, and defend their points of view to arrive at a mutual understanding of the text. In the heat of discussion, they may wave their hands or even shout at each other. Depending on the size of the yeshiva, dozens or even hundreds of chavrutas can be heard discussing and debating each other's opinions. One of the skills of chavruta learning is the ability to block out all other discussions in the study hall and focus on one's study partner alone.
In the yeshiva world, the brightest students are highly desirable as chavrutas. However, there are pros and cons to learning with chavrutas who are stronger, weaker, or equal in knowledge and ability to the student. A stronger chavruta will correct and fill in the student's knowledge and help him improve his learning techniques, acting more like a teacher. With a chavruta who is equal in knowledge and ability, the student is forced to prove his point with logic rather than by right of seniority, which improves his ability to think logically, analyze other people's opinions objectively, and accept criticism. With a weaker chavruta, who often worries over and questions each step, the student is forced to understand the material thoroughly, refine and organize his thoughts in a logical structure, present his viewpoint clearly, and be ready to justify each and every point. The stronger chavruta helps the student acquire a great deal of information, but the weaker chavruta helps the student learn how to learn. Yeshiva students are usually advised to have one of each of these three types of chavrutas in order to develop on all three levels.
Beth Medrash Govoha
(the Lakewood Yeshiva) is known for its "tumult day" at the beginning of each z'man (semester), when thousands of students mingle outdoors with the goal of choosing a chavruta for the new term. A similar "tumult day" takes place among the hundreds of students at the main Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem, and at the Mir
in Jerusalem.
Chavrutas often develop into lasting friendships. The shared commitment to scholarship and intellectual growth creates a close bond between study partners which has been said to be closer than that of many married couples.
, Chumash, Jewish philosophy
, or any other topic in Judaism. Although the latter set-up is often called "chavruta learning", it is not the same thing as what Orthodox men do and is better called "one-on-one" study.
Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
reportedly had a regular half-hour chavruta with his wife, during which they studied Orach Chaim.
.
and Skype
hook-ups, while others pair up study partners by telephone.
ideologue A. D. Gordon
used the term chavruta to refer to a communal society, such as the moshav
, kibbutz
, or worker's association, which acts as a self-educational link to the larger social-educational process. In Zionist thought, the chavruta is "a central tool in the struggle for the revival of the Jewish people, the revival of the individual, and the centrality of the idea of 'labor'. It is the highest expression of the Jewish person's extraordinary effort to recreate him or herself through 'labor', to be reconnected to nature, and to plant the many-branched tree of his or her nation in the land from which it was uprooted".
, published since the late 1950s.
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
for "friendship" or "companionship"), is a traditional Rabbinic
Rabbinic Judaism
Rabbinic Judaism or Rabbinism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud...
approach to Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic study in which a pair of students independently learn, discuss, and debate a shared text. It is a primary learning method in yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s and kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
s, where students often engage regular study partners of similar knowledge and ability. The traditional phrase is to learn b'chavruta ; the word has come by metonymy
Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept...
to refer to the study partner as an individual, though it would more logically describe the pair. In Orthodox parlance, a chavruta always refers to two students, but Reform Judaism has expanded the idea of chavruta to include study groups of up to five individuals.
Chavruta-style learning is also popular in women's yeshivas which study Talmudic texts. More recently, it has been extended to telephone and internet Torah study partnerships.
Origin
Based on statements in the MishnahMishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
and Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
, chavruta learning was a key feature of yeshivas in the eras of the Tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
and Amoraim. The Rabbis repeatedly urged their students to acquire a study partner; for example, Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
told his son Rabbi Abba that he was ignorant because he did not study with someone else. (See more quotes below.) The choice of chavrutas seems to have been based on friendship or social proximity; thus, chavrutas fulfilled a social as well as an educational need.
Educational benefits
Unlike conventional classroom learning, in which a teacher lectures to the student and the student memorizes and repeats the information back in tests, and unlike an academic academy, where students do individual research, chavruta learning challenges the student to analyze and explain the material, point out the errors in his partner's reasoning, and question and sharpen each other's ideas, often arriving at entirely new insights into the meaning of the text.A chavruta helps a student stay awake, keep his mind focused on the learning, sharpen his reasoning powers, develop his thoughts into words, and organize his thoughts into logical arguments. This type of learning also imparts precision and clarity into ideas that would otherwise remain vague. Having to listen to, analyze and respond to another's opinion also inculcates respect for others. It is considered poor manners to interrupt one's chavruta.
Practice
Chavruta learning takes place in the formalized structure of the yeshiva or kollel, as well as in Talmudic study that an individual does on his own at any time of day. Although a man skilled in learning can study on his own, the challenge of developing, articulating, and defending his ideas to a study partner makes having chavruta a desirable relationship.In the yeshiva setting, students prepare for and review the shiur (lecture) with their chavrutas during morning, afternoon, and evening study sessions known as sedarim
Seder
Seder is a Hebrew word meaning "order" or "sequence", and can have any of the following meanings:For Jewish holidays*Passover Seder, a ritualized dinner observed during Passover...
. On average, a yeshiva student spends ten hours per day learning in chavruta. Since having the right chavruta makes all the difference between having a good year and a bad year, class rebbis may switch chavrutas eight or nine times in a class of 20 boys until the partnerships work for both sides. If a chavruta gets stuck on a difficult point or needs further clarification, they can turn to the rabbis, lecturers, or a sho'el u'mashiv (literally, "ask and answer", a rabbi who is intimately familiar with the Talmudic text being studied) who are available to them in the study hall during sedarim. In women's yeshiva programs, teachers are on hand to guide the chavrutas.
Chavruta learning tends to be loud and animated, as the study partners read the Talmudic text and the commentaries aloud to each other and then analyze, question, debate, and defend their points of view to arrive at a mutual understanding of the text. In the heat of discussion, they may wave their hands or even shout at each other. Depending on the size of the yeshiva, dozens or even hundreds of chavrutas can be heard discussing and debating each other's opinions. One of the skills of chavruta learning is the ability to block out all other discussions in the study hall and focus on one's study partner alone.
In the yeshiva world, the brightest students are highly desirable as chavrutas. However, there are pros and cons to learning with chavrutas who are stronger, weaker, or equal in knowledge and ability to the student. A stronger chavruta will correct and fill in the student's knowledge and help him improve his learning techniques, acting more like a teacher. With a chavruta who is equal in knowledge and ability, the student is forced to prove his point with logic rather than by right of seniority, which improves his ability to think logically, analyze other people's opinions objectively, and accept criticism. With a weaker chavruta, who often worries over and questions each step, the student is forced to understand the material thoroughly, refine and organize his thoughts in a logical structure, present his viewpoint clearly, and be ready to justify each and every point. The stronger chavruta helps the student acquire a great deal of information, but the weaker chavruta helps the student learn how to learn. Yeshiva students are usually advised to have one of each of these three types of chavrutas in order to develop on all three levels.
Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi yeshiva located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It is commonly known as BMG, or Lakewood Yeshiva....
(the Lakewood Yeshiva) is known for its "tumult day" at the beginning of each z'man (semester), when thousands of students mingle outdoors with the goal of choosing a chavruta for the new term. A similar "tumult day" takes place among the hundreds of students at the main Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem, and at the Mir
Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)
The Mir yeshiva , known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. With 6,000 students, it is the largest yeshiva in Israel. Many of the students are from the United States and Canada. It is also believed to be the largest yeshiva in the world...
in Jerusalem.
Chavrutas often develop into lasting friendships. The shared commitment to scholarship and intellectual growth creates a close bond between study partners which has been said to be closer than that of many married couples.
Women's chavrutas
Women's yeshivas which include Talmud study on the curriculum often schedule chavruta study sessions for their students. In Orthodox women's seminaries, students are paired with study partners of equal or greater strength to learn HalakhaHalakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, Chumash, Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy
Jewish philosophy , includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or, in relation to the religion of Judaism. Jewish philosophy, until modern Enlightenment and Emancipation, was pre-occupied with attempts to reconcile coherent new ideas into the tradition of Rabbinic Judaism; thus organizing...
, or any other topic in Judaism. Although the latter set-up is often called "chavruta learning", it is not the same thing as what Orthodox men do and is better called "one-on-one" study.
Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, also spelled Zonnenfeld, was the Chief Rabbi and co-founder of the Edah HaChareidis, Haredi Jewish community in Jerusalem, during the years of the British Mandate of Palestine. He was originally given the name "Chaim", however, the name "Yosef" was added to him while he...
reportedly had a regular half-hour chavruta with his wife, during which they studied Orach Chaim.
Reform chavrutas
Reform Judaism has expanded the idea of chavruta to include study groups of three, four or five individuals. It has also extended the material being studied beyond traditional texts to include modern scholarship and poetry. In Orthodox parlance, a chavruta is always two study partners; when more learn together, the group is called a chavurahChavurah
A chavurah or havurah is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, and Jewish learning...
.
International chavruta projects
A number of organizations arrange online chavrutas through the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and Skype
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chat over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system...
hook-ups, while others pair up study partners by telephone.
Online chavrutas
- Online Chavrusa – connects study partners via Skype
- Israeli Chavruta Initiative – a project of Yeshivat Hesder Nahar-Deiah of NahariyaNahariyaNahariya is the northernmost coastal city in Israel, with an estimated population of 51,200.-History:Nahariya was founded by German Jewish immigrants from the Fifth Aliyah in the 1930s...
- The Virtual Chavruta – provides tutors via videoconferencingVideoconferencingVideoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously...
- WebYeshivaWebYeshiva|- valign="top"! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | URL| style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | |- valign="top"! style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Rosh Yeshiva| style="border-top: solid 1px #aaaaaa;" | Rabbi Chaim Brovender|- valign="top"...
– founded in 2007, this service offers online yeshiva and chavruta learning
Telephone chavrutas
- JNet – this project of Merkos L'Inyonei ChinuchMerkos L'Inyonei ChinuchMerkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Founded by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, in 1943, the organization was initially directed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe...
pairs men and women with ChabadChabadChabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
volunteers for Jewish learning - Partners in Torah – facilitates 13,000 weekly telephone study partnerships for both men and women on all Jewish subjects
Zionist ideal
ZionistZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
ideologue A. D. Gordon
A. D. Gordon
Aaron David Gordon , more commonly known as A. D. Gordon, was a Zionist ideologue and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the tone for the Zionist movement for many years to come. Influenced by Leo Tolstoy and others, it is...
used the term chavruta to refer to a communal society, such as the moshav
Moshav
Moshav is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists during the second aliyah...
, kibbutz
Kibbutz
A kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises. Kibbutzim began as utopian communities, a combination of socialism and Zionism...
, or worker's association, which acts as a self-educational link to the larger social-educational process. In Zionist thought, the chavruta is "a central tool in the struggle for the revival of the Jewish people, the revival of the individual, and the centrality of the idea of 'labor'. It is the highest expression of the Jewish person's extraordinary effort to recreate him or herself through 'labor', to be reconnected to nature, and to plant the many-branched tree of his or her nation in the land from which it was uprooted".
Chavrusa magazine
Chavrusa is the name of the magazine of the Rabbinic Alumni of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological SeminaryRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
, published since the late 1950s.
Quotes
The Rabbis used the term chaver to refer to a study partner.- "Just as a knife can be sharpened only on the side of another, so a disciple of a sage improves only through his chaver" (Rabbi Hama b. Hanina)
- "Make yourself a Rav and acquire for yourself a chaver" (Rabbi Yehoshua ben PerachyaJoshua ben PerachyahRabbi Joshua ben Perahiah or Joshua ben Perachya was Nasi of the Sanhedrin in the latter half of the 2nd century BC.-With Nittai of Arbela, second of five pairs of scholars:...
) - "Your chaver will make it [i.e., Torah study] solid in your hand. And do not rely on your own understanding" (Rabbi Nehorai)
External links
- "Question & Answer With Rabbi Ozer Bergman – Finding A Chavrusa"
- Chavruta book series
- "No Chavruta Left Behind" program by Kedma at the University of Maryland
- http://www.lss.org/calendar.php?pg=Calendar&Type=Detail&evntId=195&Date=2009-01-01Kollel Chavruta program at Lincoln Square SynagogueLincoln Square SynagogueThe Lincoln Square Synagogue at 200 Amsterdam Avenue at the corner of West 69th Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was founded as a congregation in 1964 by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin...
]