2008 Woodie Awards
GPATS Attracts Range in Pursuit of Women's Learning
Aliza Vishniavsky
Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: Features
On a typical weekday, the Eisenberg Beit Midrash in 245 Lexington Avenue is abuzz with the discourses of the women enrolled in YU's Graduate Program for Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS). These students choose to spend two years engaged in intensive study of advanced gemara and halakha, setting the rigorous tone for women's learning at SCW and in the Orthodox community at large.
This year, the diversity among the program's participants is particularly noteworthy. Traditionally, the women hail from a variety of universities across the United States, including SCW, Brandeis, and Columbia. However, as GPATS Director Rabbi Shmuel Hain points out, "what is different this year is the range in age, life experience, origin, and religious upbringing. What binds the group together is their mutual commitment to Torah learning."
Not all the women entered the program straight out of undergraduate programs, and some even came here from other countries. Leonie Hardy, for example, is an Australian woman who graduated medical school in 2002 and practiced medicine for two years. Though Hardy attended Jewish day school in Australia, her background in learning Hebrew texts was limited.
"We learned most of the meforshim (commentators) in English and we never learned Rashi script, she explained. "I could read Hebrew, but could not understand it too well."
After high school, Hardy built up her learning skills gradually. She took a year off from medical school to travel to Israel, where she learned primarily at Midreshet Rachel, but also spent time at Nishmat, She'arim, and Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital's medical ethics program.
"The first time I saw a gemara was at Sha'arei Tzedek," said Hardy. "I slowly developed my skills, and when I went home to finish up medical school, I kept to a set learning schedule to develop the skills even further." Eventually, she began giving shiurim to adults in Sydney.
At the time, Hardy knew that YU existed and that they had both male and female Modern Orthodox colleges, but she did not know much more about the university's programs. On a visit to the United States in the spring of 2006, Hardy found out about GPATS, and later decided to join.
This year, the diversity among the program's participants is particularly noteworthy. Traditionally, the women hail from a variety of universities across the United States, including SCW, Brandeis, and Columbia. However, as GPATS Director Rabbi Shmuel Hain points out, "what is different this year is the range in age, life experience, origin, and religious upbringing. What binds the group together is their mutual commitment to Torah learning."
Not all the women entered the program straight out of undergraduate programs, and some even came here from other countries. Leonie Hardy, for example, is an Australian woman who graduated medical school in 2002 and practiced medicine for two years. Though Hardy attended Jewish day school in Australia, her background in learning Hebrew texts was limited.
"We learned most of the meforshim (commentators) in English and we never learned Rashi script, she explained. "I could read Hebrew, but could not understand it too well."
After high school, Hardy built up her learning skills gradually. She took a year off from medical school to travel to Israel, where she learned primarily at Midreshet Rachel, but also spent time at Nishmat, She'arim, and Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital's medical ethics program.
"The first time I saw a gemara was at Sha'arei Tzedek," said Hardy. "I slowly developed my skills, and when I went home to finish up medical school, I kept to a set learning schedule to develop the skills even further." Eventually, she began giving shiurim to adults in Sydney.
At the time, Hardy knew that YU existed and that they had both male and female Modern Orthodox colleges, but she did not know much more about the university's programs. On a visit to the United States in the spring of 2006, Hardy found out about GPATS, and later decided to join.
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