Studying Torah part 3

Before we can examine how each of us can embark on Torah study, it is important to have an overview of methodologies, adopting that which is relevant to us. First, I will examine the methodology of the classical Sepharadic Yeshivah. While this methodology still exists in some Yeshivot in Israel, most have gone over to the Lithuanian approaches, which I shall discuss next time. In a Sepharadic yeshivah, after the students have recited the morning prayers, and grabbed some breakfast, they begin studying a work known as "Hok L'Yisrael". This is a work divided into the days of the year, that includes selected readings from the Torah portion of the week, followed by a selection from the Prophets, the Holy Writings, Mishnah, Gemmara and Zohar. The idea is found in the ARI, that we must every day study in all the "chambers" of the Torah. Some may prefer to actually study each of these works, rather than just read excerpts. (This is my practice). Afterward, the day is primarily devoted to Talmud. The students will study in pairs (Havruta); first understanding the simple meaning of the text, usually with the help of the commentary of RASHI. In most yeshivot, especially on more advanced levels, the commentary of the Tosafot is also studied. Actually, Tosafot is not an individual, but rather over a thousand Franco-German rabbis who lived between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries. In all standard editions of the Talmud, RASHI is on the inside margin of the page, with Tosafot on the outside margin. The writers of the Tosafot would analyze the comments of RASHI, often disagreeing with them. They would compare the statements at hand, with other statements in other parts of the Talmud; carefully analyzing the differences, and what lay behind these differences., Rulings of other medieval rabbis were also discussed, and compared with the Talmudic text, as well as with other rabbinic views. In Ashkenazic Yeshivot, the study of Tosafot is a very major part of the curriculum. In Sepharadic Yeshivot, the emphasis is on figuring out the meaning of the text, and how it comes down to us in halachah. Over the course of the next several hours, the Havrutot will have covered roughly a folio page of Talmud. Later in the morning, the Rosh Yeshivah (Dean), or another member of the faculty, will give a class (she'ur). He will go over the sections studied, and follow through with RIF. RIF (Rabbi Yitzchak al Fasi), a great rabbi who lived in the eleventh century, wrote an abridged version of the Talmud, including only those parts that he felt reflected the final decision. His writing is included in the back of all scholarly editions of the Talmud. After going through RIF, he will turn to the Code of RAMBAM on the same topic. RAMBAM's father was a student of a student of RIF. But they do sometimes differ. The differences will be noted and discussed. Following that, he will turn his attention to the commentary of ROSH (Rabbenu Asher) (1250-1327). He was the heir of the great schools of the Tosafot. He lists all laws to be derived from each chapter of Talmud. His views, and how they differ from RAMBAM, will be noted and discussed. Then the student will turn to TUR, the son of ROSH, who composed a four volume code of law, based mostly on his father's views. Great attention will be paid to the Beit Yosef, an encyclopedic commentary on TUR by Rabbi Yosef Karo. It includes all post-Talmudic rabbinic views, or as far as they were known in the sixteenth century, carefully comparing and analyzing them. The same author later wrote a condensed version of Beit Yosef, calling it the "Prepared Table" (Shulchan Aruch), THE Code of Jewish Law, which is seen, especially by Sepharadim, as essentially the final word in halachah. The Rosh Yeshiva has brought the Talmud, through the reasoning of a thousand years of discussion and debate, right up to the final, practical decision. The student will now know not only the law, but its background and reasoning. In some Yeshivot, some later rabbinic opinions are noted as well. The afternoon will be spent in review of the material, with some time available for individual study that interests the students (Homiletics, Ethics, Kabbalah, etc.) Next, we shall turn to Central and Eastern Europe.