On the other hand, it may be precisely the differences between a given speaker and myself which draw me into his presentation. There is nothing like being offered a personal glimpse into a foreign world, broadening my horizons and helping to shape my thinking. Ms. Calderon is the founding director of the Alma Hebrew College, an academic institution of higher education which includes Beit Midrash hours and courses in its required program of study. Thus Calderon, who is completing a doctorate in Talmud, shared with the ATID Fellows the common language of Talmud study. The traditional Beit Midrash is of paramount importance to her, in terms of both structure and content.
Students learn with havrutot , preparing a particular passage to be discussed in a larger forum.
All of this takes place in a large, noisy room whose walls are lined with bookshelves. Ruth speaks of her love for Rashi and her progress in Daf Yomi . She lives in and represents a world that does not normally establish Batei Midrash , and feels strongly connected to a tradition which she does not observe. As an educator in Orthodox settings, the spiritual pursuits of my students matter to me, just as their intellectual pursuits do. For Ruth, the paths adopted by her students in their personal lives are not the indicators of success.