The WebYeshiva Blog

For over 50 years Rabbi Brovender has taught thousands of students from all around the world. This week we introduce you to Meir Lewis. Meir is an investment banker, having held senior roles at Morgan Stanley, Citi, Deutsche Bank and Nomura and his wife Dassi is a 4th grade Jewish Studies teacher at SAR Academy in Riverdale. Meir studied at Yeshivat Hamivtar from 1994 - 1996 and Dassi at Midreshet Lindenbaum from 1995 - 1996. They and their five children live in New Rochelle, New York.

How did you meet Rabbi Brovender?

During my freshman year at Yeshiva University, I met Rabbi Brovender as part of my consideration of programs for a year learning in Israel.  We met in an MTA office for 30 minutes and I was instantly hooked.

What do you find most important or striking about the "Brovender Method" -his unique way of teaching?

I remember my first meeting with Rabbi Brovender distinctly. I read a little bit of Gemara and Rashi that I had prepared. He stopped me in the middle and asked “Why?” I said “because that’s what Rashi says” to which Rabbi Brovender responded, “Why did Rashi feel the need to say that?” And so began my journey along the “Brovender Method,” which is to read the sources carefully, and try to understand a level deeper to determine the unasked questions.  My time in Hamivtar continued to focus on core textual skills and careful reading of sources.

When it comes to Torah learning, what were you most drawn to after learning with Rabbi Brovender?

From what I experienced, Rabbi Brovender felt that above everything else, it was Gemara that kept students engaged through the depth of a discussion. I was incredibly influenced by this and Gemara became the core of my learning. Today, aside from Daf Yomi which I teach once a week, my learning efforts include the Mir Yarchei Kallah and some more contemporary halachic applications in the Smicha B’chaver program (5th semester).

What lesson or specific Torah that you learned from Rabbi Brovender, do you keep coming back to or carry with you wherever you go?

“Just open a sefer, start reading, and try to understand.” That was advice given to me by Rabbi Brovender many years ago and it continues to work for me. My Chabura on shabbos with another Hamivtar alum, Moshe Malina, does exactly that. Even after 8 years together and 3 mesechtas our approach remains the same: we open up a sefer, primarily a gemara, and try to understand it.

For over 50 years Rabbi Brovender has taught thousands of students from all around the world. This week we introduce you to Rabbi Yisrael Cohn. Yisrael works for the Jerusalem Municipality Aliyah department assisting new Olim integrating into the city. He also teaches Torah at Machon Meir and in the Jerusalem community of Katamon, where he lives with his wife and children.

How did you meet Rabbi Brovender?

[caption id="attachment_83773" align="alignright" width="300"] Rabbi Yisrael Cohn with his wife Chana.[/caption] I met Rav Brovender for the first time in London. Hannah and I were planning Aliyah and I was looking for a place to study in Israel. Rabbi Brovender is so unassuming; we sat and chatted for a few minutes after he gave a shiur and then he invited us to come and join the Kollel. His love of Torah and love of people is such a wonderful combination and I wanted to learn from that.

What do you find most important or striking about the "Brovender Method" - his unique way of teaching?

I had the honor of learning with Rabbi Brovender one on one during lunch break once a week. That in itself is a great gift, that he was willing to give of his time each week to learn with students one on one. We learned Chumash with Rashi and we studied the story of Joseph and his brothers. Our learning was slow and thorough, considering every word. We read words I had seen many times before, but he brought new depth and meaning to the text. I think of his observations every year when we return to those Parshiot.

When it comes to Torah learning, what were you most drawn to after learning with Rabbi Brovender?

I learned from Rabbi Brovender to take Torah learning seriously and also to take people seriously. I remember the students who received daily visits from Rabbi Brovender in hospital. I was Av Bayit in the Yeshiva and saw how he used wisdom and sensitivity to help students in difficult situations. The care, guidance and support that Hannah and I received from Rabbi and Rebbetzin Brovender during the first years of our marriage helped us make the decisions we made and bring us to where we are today.

What lesson or specific Torah that you learned from Rabbi Brovender, do you keep coming back to or carry with you wherever you go?

I spent the Yamim Noraim in Yeshiva for four years, and heard Rabbi Ebner daven Shacharit and Rabbi Brovender daven Mussaf. There was music in the Yeshiva all year round, on Shabbatot and Chagim, but on the Yamim Noraim, it became more intense. There were moments of joy, intimacy, fear, and sometimes pain. Their melodies allowed us all to experience the emotions of Yamim Noraim. Even today, when I daven as a Baal Tefilla in our local shul, I hear their tunes in my ears as we pray.

For over 50 years Rabbi Brovender has taught thousands of students from all around the world. This week we introduce you to Rabbi Daniel Vinik. From Long Beach, NY, Daniel studied at Yeshivat Hamivtar his post high school year, and returned from 5763 to 5766. Daniel studies Torah, works part time and lives in Rehovot with his wife, Racheli Fleisher, and children.

How did you meet Rabbi Brovender?

Is it a stretch to answer that. I feel I meet Rabbi Brovender anew every time we reengage.

What do you find most important or striking about the “Brovender Method” -his unique way of teaching?

At first blush, it appears the full extent of Rabbi Brovender’s advice to aspiring talmidei chachamim can be summed up in a single word -learn. One can and many have wondered how a single imperative amounts to a philosophy. What’s hidden in this sage directive, however, is that Rabbi Brovender quite literally means what he says. One of the most striking features of the Brovender method is, to my mind, if not entirely negative, at the very least restrictive. It implicitly posits that in order to authentically engage in Torah study, one is called upon to check one’s assumptions, and certainly presumptions, at the door -whether they be intellectual, cultural or emotional. All of this is a precursor to engage in the simple act of Torah study. The method places faith in the Torah herself to do the work it was designed to achieve in each of her laborers.

When it comes to Torah learning, what were you most drawn to after learning with RabbiBrovender?

For myself, what I have become most drawn to over the years, is how Rabbi Brovender extends the special receptive, integrated and penetrating intelligence garnered through the discipleship of Torah la-Amito, and applies it to perennial and newly evolved concerns, interests and responsibilities of a life lived whole. As formulated by the Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeiach, zechoso yagen aleinu, in short, every Jewish person deserves to be studied as though they were a difficult Rambam. Accepting this charge as entirely to the point, although also assuming that we may expand the domain of the individual Jew to that which pertains to the living concerns and enterprise of human society, science and culture; and provided, of course, that one in fact knows how to learn a Rambam- well, then I feel like we’re operating in the Rosh Yeshiva’s sphere, and can return time and time again to Torat Chaim.

What lesson or specific Torah that you learned from Rabbi Brovender, do you keep coming back to or carry with you wherever you go?

When all is said and done, what ideally brings me back to Torat Chaim veChessed, is RabbiBrovender’s pursuit and realization of the supreme Jewish virtues of Love, Simplicity, Honesty,Humor and Joy- i.e. the Romance of engaging independently and communally in an authentic relationship with the Most Supreme Reality, incorporating and integrating all that is available le-hagdil Torah u-le-hadera. Yet, given all the twists and turns, trials and tribulations, that I, and I think many experience in the modern world today, it would be foolish to ignore a feature of Rabbi Brovender’s teaching that has been steadfast, and helps anchor a Torah-true life in the midst of so much complexity and yes, confusion. That is, his Yirat Shamayim. First off, one cannot withstand all the pressures, influences and seductions of our finite condition, with an ever-expanding list of needs (real, perceived or imagined), if one fears them(or more precisely fears being without them). One simply cannot maintain a subtle and complex position if one fears being misunderstood. One cannot take seriously and pursue passionately extra-ordinary facets of learning, tradition, history, consciousness and humanity if they fear being considered foolish, mocked, left behind, shunned or forgotten. Furthermore, one cannot help other human beings attain greater growth, success and happiness if they fear those people’s own frailties and struggles. As it is natural and healthy for human beings to acknowledge their finitude and limitation, and reasonable to hope and desire only the best for those they love, where then to turn? The only sane living option left, is cultivating real Yirat Shamayim, a complete faith and trust that the RibbonO-shel-Olam has given us the immense responsibility and privilege of living on this earth with the opportunity to fulfill His Torah and Mitzvah- לטוב לך. Rabbi Brovender has embodied time and time again this yira. That in the most extraordinary of circumstances, and perhaps more importantly, within the fine details of daily life, in all its guises, over the course of a full term of Gevura לא אירע רע- כי אתה עמדי There’s a reason Yirat Shamayim comes first, and in an age when the only defense against rampant fear seems to be the offense of retribution, even amongst generally well-intentioned people, I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have access to the Rosh Yeshiva’s cultivated vantage point, one that aides me in regularly redirecting my energy, concerns, concentration and commitments away from the tafel and always back to the ikar- learn.

For over 50 years Rabbi Brovender has taught thousands of students from all around the world. This week we introduce you to Rahel Berkovits, senior faculty member at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, where she has been teaching Mishnah, Talmud and halakha for over twenty years. Rahel lectures widely in both Israel and abroad especially on topics concerning women and Jewish law and a Jewish sexual ethic. She is the Halakhic Editor and a writer for Hilkhot Nashim the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance’s Halakhic Source-guide Series, published by Maggid Books. In June 2015, she received Rabbinic Ordination from Rabbis Herzl Hefter and Daniel Sperber. Rahel studied with Rav Brovender at Michlelet Bruria from Sept 1989- Jan 1991 and then again from Sept 1992 - June 1995.

How did you meet Rabbi Brovender?

My Jewish day school did not allow me to apply to “Brovender’s” when I was in 12th grade. Instead, they were pushing me to attend Michlalah, an institution that did not teach women Talmud in a serious manner. As that was not a program I wanted to attend, I did not spend a gap year in Israel. However, after starting university I still yearned to study Torah in Israel and so when I heard that Rav Brovender was coming to campus, I was very excited to meet and speak with him. Although Michlelet Bruria was first started with women who were post college at that time (1988) there only existed a program for students after high school. I really wanted Rav Brovender to start a program for women in college and so I ended up following him around to more than one campus where he was speaking so that I could argue my case. Luckily for me Rav Brovender agreed to start the Bruria scholars’ program and I was able to spend a year and a half studying at Brovender’s during college and then another three years immediately after I graduated. During that time, besides taking formal classes with Rav Brovender, I also (after some persuading) had the pleasure of coming to his house to learn parshah with him and his daughters. The institution provided the college women with apartments outside the regular dorms. My roommate had the habit of answering the (old fashioned no caller ID rotary) phone by saying “Brovender’s” and one day Rav Brovender called for some reason, and in response he drily quipped- “I thought I was Brovender’s! The very fact that despite having an official name that institution was always referred to as Brovender’s – attests to what an important figure Rav Brovender is.

What do you find most important or striking about the "Brovender Method" -his unique way of teaching?

Rav Brovender is the master of the one-hour Shuir. He gave a parsha shiur every week and besides his wonderful Torah content it was a lesson in exemplary pedagogy. He always had one clear question which he would reiterate a few different times throughout the class as he built towards the answer. He never went over the time limit, and he never had to rush- not an easy feat- and most importantly when the shiur was finished one could always reiterate it at the shabbat table because the material had been presented so clearly. I used to record the classes so that I could listen to them again afterwards just to try to learn how he did it. Of course, throughout he was witty and funny which just added to the enjoyment of learning from him.

When it comes to Torah learning, what were you most drawn to after learning with Rabbi Brovender?

Sadly, for me we didn’t really get a choice of what we learned with Rav Brovender. Originally, he just taught parsha and because we (the Bruria scholars) were thirsty for more we were able to arrange a halakhah shiur with him but unfortunately it only met once a week. My personal learning passion is for Talmud and I would have loved to take a high level gemara shiur with Rav Brovender.

What lesson or specific Torah that you learned from Rabbi Brovender, do you keep coming back to or carry with you wherever you go?

Myself personally and an entire generation of Jewish women have Rav Brovender to thank for making the world of serious high-level Torah/Talmud learning open to women. With the plethora of women’s learning programs that exist today and the changes that have happened in this realm in the last 30 years many people may forget or not even realize what an important figure Rav Brovender is in the history of women’s Torah learning. When he started Michlelet Bruria in 1976 it was the first such program where women could learn Talmud in a serious fashion. Rav Brovender once told us that he suffered retribution from the right-wing community - such as having his tires punctured and being put in herem- for his radical actions. Thank God, he was not deterred. Rav Brovender’s love of Torah and commitment to make the experience of Torah learning accessible to anyone who was interested- regardless of gender- has literally changed the Torah world. Besides enabling hundreds of women to access their own heritage, alumni just from my years at Brovender’s head women’s learning and semicha programs, spearhead women’s daf yomi learning, write books and teach Torah throughout the world. The fact that women’s learning is considered normative in the Modern Orthodox world today is a direct outgrowth of Rav Brovender’s vision and commitment. Without the opportunity to immerse myself in learning at the Brovender’s Beit Midrash and to receive that solid basis in text study I would not be the person I am today and for that I am eternally grateful to Rav Brovender.