Author: Mattan

We’re pleased to present the final issue for the 5770 school year.  It is available here.

We are excited to present our newest issue, Torah, Literature, and the Arts.  It is available here.

We are pleased as punch to present the Purim version of Kol Hamishtakker, split into two parts for your downloading pleasure:  Part 1 and Part 2.

We are pleased to present our newest issue, Jewish Denominations and Sects.  It is available here. The articles are also available individually: Sensitivity in the Face of Controversy:  Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 19:17, by...

We are happy to present our newest issue, Academic Jewish Studies.  It is available here.

The newest issue of Kol Hamevaser is available here.

We are pleased to present our first issue for the new school year, Musar and Jewish Ethics.  It is available here.

Kol Hamevaser is pleased to present its final issue for the 2008-2009 school year.  It is available here. Enjoy!

We are more than excited to present our newest issue, Jewish Philosophy, just in time for Pesach.  Enjoy!  The issue is available here.

In keeping with the festive spirit of Purim, we are pleased to present Qol Hamevaser 5769! Available here.

We are ecstatic to present two more articles on the topic of relationships:  An interview with Rabbi Kenneth Brander, and an article by Dr. Rivkah Blau on YUConnects.

The response to the anonymous article by a student in YU published in the most recent Kol Hamevaser has been overwhelming.  In order to make the article more readily available to a wider audience,...

Kol Hamevaser is happy to present its most recent issue, Kedoshim_Tihyu. It is available here.

Our doors are barely hanging on their hinges after being almost knocked down with overeager requests for the second part of Ben’s article, due to come out next issue. We heard you loud and clear! Here’s the second part. Please stop your bombarding.

Devarim Sh’yeish L’hem Shiur, or a Case of Sheer Opportunity

So: good or bad? Until this point, I attempted some semblance of neutrality, refraining from normative statements. True, I claim the centrality of shiur is innovative, but that betrays neither commendation nor condemnation — the question of merit remains. The answer, I believe, hinges on two broader questions: why shiur and why now? In other words, what motivates the radically central position of shiur and what vaulted it into our particular time period? I imagine that even the slightest exposure to shiur answers the first query: we like it. More specifically, shiur provides for a learning experience easier and more enriching. It supplies a guided structure for one’s learning, converts discussion from Aramaic to the vernacular, organizes the covered material, supplements it with brilliant and erudite insights, and fosters an “on the same page” intellectual community providing ideas and support. Talmud Torah without shiur shifts the burdens of planning a course of study and organizing the fruit of a day’s learning from teacher onto student. Why accept that yoke when a seasoned veteran volunteers to help?