Monthly Archives: February 2012

Dr. Pinhas Hayman’s structured, or “layered” method of teaching gemara. The Gemara Berura “skills-based” approach to teaching gemara. Finally, an article in Hebrew arguing that the spread of Schottenstein in the Charedi community is evidence of their failure to adequately … Continue reading →

Dr. Secunda’s interview has garnered an unusual amount of attention for this blog (over a hundred views!). It’s only fair that I give my probably less interesting response to the many important points he makes. Let’s start from the end. … Continue reading →

From a lookjed discussion on “social justice education”: “Social Justice” in this context is a code-word for socialism. Anyone who is on the board of the ULT must realize this. The challenge is to place socialism in a Jewish context. … Continue reading →

[Note: I'll be writing my thoughts on the interview itself sometime next week. I just thought this comment on the post was worth mentioning. - AIWAC] Well, I expected my interview with Dr. Secunda to cause discussion. What I didn’t … Continue reading →

[The following is a Q&A with Dr. Shai Secunda of the Talmud Blog. The views represented herein are solely his and do not necessarily reflect those of the other contributors. – AIWAC] AW: What does the field of “academic Talmud” … Continue reading →

Outside of marriage/divorce and conversion, the only other major function of the Rabbanut is supervision of Kashrut. In the US, all kashrut supervision is done by private bodies, the OU being the most prominent of them. Each community or city … Continue reading →