The story is told that when the great Rabbi Yochanan was mourning the loss of his intellectual rival and beloved study partner, Resh Laqish, he cried out to another rabbi: “You are not like Resh Laqish! Resh Laqish, when I said something, would have 24 problems with what I’ve said, and I would have to find 24 solutions for his questions – and by this process of questioning and answering, the subject became clear.”*

Contemporary rabbinic training has returned to two ancient learning traditions:

• hevrutah, partnered study in which two students have an ongoing learning relationship
  
• the Bet Midrash, a central gathering place where a rich assortment of Judaic texts and resources allows students to follow their own lines of inquiry — from Psalms to Medieval codes of Jewish law, and Talmud to 20th century philosophers.

"The discourse in Talmud is all in the form of a conversation among the great scholars," explains Rabbi Vivie Mayer, who joined RRC in the 2006-07 academic year as director of the introductory Mekhinah year and the Bet Midrash.

"The process of studying in hevrutah mirrors the conversation on the Talmud page. Your partner is your foil who doesn’t let you get away with sloppy thinking." In the process of hevrutah study, "ideas get pushed and thrown against each other so you look at something from every angle."

This approach of disputation and exploration becomes particularly exciting in the Bet Midrash (literally "house of study"), where the energy of multiple hevrutah pairs combines to fill the air. Mayer envisions a space where RRC students gravitate and engage regularly, "studying for the joy of discovering where the text takes you."

The Hebrew root of the word hevrutah is the same root underlying the words friend and bond or joint. A successful study relationship requires interpersonal skills that also contribute to the hevrutah learning experience. Mayer nurtures those relationships in her role as Bet Midrash director. She also strives to help students connect their text study with their personal spiritual journeys and contemporary questions and issues.

"I want students to discover how Talmud can nourish them, can be a source of inspiration,” she says. “I want students to come to the Bet Midrash and really stretch their thinking into another realm. Once they have that, they can pass it onto other Jews and our evolving religious civilization will stay fresh, alive and meaningful."

* Note: Translation for story of Resh Laquish by Yair Lipshitz, Paideia Scholar in Residence 2006-2007, Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem