2008 Woodie Awards
Women's Learning
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Letters to the Editor
To the Editor,
In her "Torah Learning for Women-A Lifestyle or a Hoax?," Jamie Fogel articulates important concerns about the long-term feasibility of women's Torah learning. She questions the logic of training young women to connect to Hashem daily, through tefillah and Torah study, when child rearing and other family responsibilities will probably force them to curtail most of these practices, leading to frustration and disappointment. While Jamie's point is well taken, I will advocate for the opposite perspective and explain the logic of the current educational system. At the same time, I can also offer some personal insights and reassurance.
To begin with, the problems you describe are not unique to women. Men face similar dilemmas and constraints. The yeshiva charts an ideal way of life, and you must figure out, just as men must, how to integrate Torah into your lives once you are no longer in a formal yeshiva setting. If you are to attain lofty goals, you will certainly need to make personal sacrifices, just as your male counterparts, as you forge your own, distinctive path through life. For some students, lofty aspirations appear unattainable, but other students mature into adults who far exceed the objectives their rabbis and teachers set for them while they were in yeshiva.
The educational system for women is also not as uniform as you portray it. If you will consider your choice of yeshivas in Israel as a model, you will realize that some seminaries place more emphasis on avodat Hashem (service of God) in practice while others emphasize textual learning. Some of you chose not to study in Israel at all. For those who studied in Israel, each of you chose a particular type of institution, and gravitated toward particular mentors in that institution. You cannot blame the educational system for your choices, but you are certainly fortunate to have had numerous types of quality institutions from which to choose.
Even with the husband, job, and children that you anticipate, your family commitments probably will not be pressing forever. There is also no guarantee of all of these commitments, and you may have to work very hard to attain them. The educational system must take a long view, and sustain women in various situations and stages of life.
In her "Torah Learning for Women-A Lifestyle or a Hoax?," Jamie Fogel articulates important concerns about the long-term feasibility of women's Torah learning. She questions the logic of training young women to connect to Hashem daily, through tefillah and Torah study, when child rearing and other family responsibilities will probably force them to curtail most of these practices, leading to frustration and disappointment. While Jamie's point is well taken, I will advocate for the opposite perspective and explain the logic of the current educational system. At the same time, I can also offer some personal insights and reassurance.
To begin with, the problems you describe are not unique to women. Men face similar dilemmas and constraints. The yeshiva charts an ideal way of life, and you must figure out, just as men must, how to integrate Torah into your lives once you are no longer in a formal yeshiva setting. If you are to attain lofty goals, you will certainly need to make personal sacrifices, just as your male counterparts, as you forge your own, distinctive path through life. For some students, lofty aspirations appear unattainable, but other students mature into adults who far exceed the objectives their rabbis and teachers set for them while they were in yeshiva.
The educational system for women is also not as uniform as you portray it. If you will consider your choice of yeshivas in Israel as a model, you will realize that some seminaries place more emphasis on avodat Hashem (service of God) in practice while others emphasize textual learning. Some of you chose not to study in Israel at all. For those who studied in Israel, each of you chose a particular type of institution, and gravitated toward particular mentors in that institution. You cannot blame the educational system for your choices, but you are certainly fortunate to have had numerous types of quality institutions from which to choose.
Even with the husband, job, and children that you anticipate, your family commitments probably will not be pressing forever. There is also no guarantee of all of these commitments, and you may have to work very hard to attain them. The educational system must take a long view, and sustain women in various situations and stages of life.
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