Enhanced Talmud Program

The Talmud department has embarked upon two major initiatives during this year, spearheaded by department chair Rabbi Shmuel Kurtz. Beginning first semester of the 2016-17 school year, each Gemara teacher will be initiating two extracurricular initiatives to promote the teacher and student connection. As a whole, the teachers are looking at several departmental activities, such as a Friday kumsitz or a Shabbat meal to enhance the experiential dimension of the course and the relationship of the talmidim to their teacher or rebbe.

In the curricular domain, the department is undertaking the implementation of Gemara Brura, a software program which analyzes the Talmudic text using an interactive, non-linear graphic interface. The program was developed by HaRav Meir Fachler and adopted by the Israeli Ministry of Education for all academic Gemara instruction. The program will be gradually instituted in distinct phases over the next three years at ICJA.

We are also pleased to welcome Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky, assistant rabbi at Or Torah, who will be teaching the freshmen accelerated class for the boys and the freshmen girls’ class as well. This year, Rabbi Matanky will again be preparing the senior girls for the YU Bekiut program.