Distinct Traditions In Torah Study Partner Happily
Chevruta study between Yeshiva University students and Chabad Rabbinical students gains popularity.
On a chilly Thursday night in northern Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood, over 140 students gathered in study groups in the newly renovated Glueck Center for Jewish Study and various classrooms scattered across the campus of Yeshiva Univeristy.
The event, now a weekly tradition, is the collaboration between students of the Chabad’s Ohelei Torah Rabbinical seminary and Yeshiva University. Together, they engage in the timeless practice of chevruta style, partnered, Torah study. The material studied is eclectic, spanning the gamut from Talmudic law to the esoteric teachings of the Zohar and Chasidic philosophy.
The collaboration between Chabad rabbinic students and students of Yeshiva University goes back to the 60s, when Chabad students visited the Washington Heights campus leading ad-hoc study sessions in Chasidic philosophy with interested YU students.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, and the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, the head and spiritual leader of the University and its rabbinic study program, themselves had a long standing friendship dating back to their time spent together in Weimar Berlin. In 1980, despite ailing health, the Rav made the trip to Crown Heights to visit the Rebbe in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of his leadership of the Chabad movement. The visit, scheduled for thirty minutes, instead continued for over two hours.
In recent years participation in the program has seen an uptick in attendance. Seven years ago, when students of Ohelei Torah initially retooled the learning program, only a handful of students made the trek in a rented car from Brooklyn to Washington Heights. Today the trip is made by chartered bus, and as the number of participants grows, a second bus will soon join.
According to Meir Dubrawsky, who serves as the student coordinator for the Ohelei Torah side of the initiative, the sessions reflect the unifying power of Torah study across the Jewish world.
“When we come together to learn,” Dubrawsky says, “we reinforce the bonds of unity between what are today two major forces in the Jewish community.”
Students of Yeshiva University have been equally receptive to the experience.
Avi Garritano, a YU alumnus and the YU coordinator of program, points to the “personal and engaging” nature of the study as one of driving factors for its success.
“I’ve found the positive reaction from our students to be overwhelming,” Garritano says. “What initially spread by word of mouth as a novelty, has become a cherished part of student life for many here.”
Other joint initiatives include a series of inspirational talks held on campus throughout the semester and an annual Shabbaton in Ohelei Torah’s Crown Heights home. The Shabbaton, a weekend long retreat for students of YU, includes group study session, inspiring talks from prominent members of the Crown Heights community and a Saturday night concert. This year’s Shabbaton is scheduled for the weekend of February 19, with nearly 150 students expected to participate.
Photo Gallery: “OT @ YU” – Spreading Chassidus at Yeshiva University
ot zalnik
going to YU was my favorite part of OT