Chavrusa

Definition

Chavrusa is an Aramaic word meaning "friendship" or "companionship". The Rabbis of the Mishnah and Gemara use the cognate term chaver (חבר, "friend" or "companion") to refer to the one with whom a person studies Torah. In contemporary usage, chavrusa is defined as a "study partner".

In Orthodox Judaism, a chavrusa always refers to two students learning one on one. When three or more students learn together, they are called a chaburah (Hebrew: חַבוּרָה‎‎, group). Reform Judaism has expanded the idea of chavrusa to include two, three, four or even five individuals studying together. It has also extended the material being studied beyond traditional texts, to modern scholarship and poetry. The Reform and Conservative movements have also altered the idea of chaburah (or chavurah) from its Orthodox meaning of groups that meet only for Torah study. In Reform and Conservative terminology, a chavurah is a group of individuals or families which is part study or prayer group, part social club.

Origin

Based on statements in the Mishnah and Gemara, chavrusa learning was a key feature of yeshivas in the eras of the Tannaim (Rabbis of the Mishnaic period, 10-220 CE) and Amoraim (Rabbis of the Talmudic period, 200 to 500 CE). The Rabbis repeatedly urged their students to acquire a study partner; for example, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Perachya enjoined students to "Make for yourself a Rav and acquire for yourself a chaver", and Rabbi Yose ben Chalafta told his son Rabbi Abba that he was ignorant because he did not study with someone else. The choice of chavrusas seems to have been based on friendship or social proximity; thus, chavrusas fulfilled a social as well as an educational need.

While an individual may choose to study Talmud alone, it is strongly discouraged. In the Talmud, R. Yosi b. R. Hanina is quoted as saying that "scholars who sit alone to study the Torah ... become stupid" (Berakhot 63b).

Chavrusa-style learning is particularly suited to Talmud study, as the latter is a text filled with conflicting opinions and seemingly contradictory statements on principles of Jewish law. Besides tracking the back-and-forth debates, a student of Talmud must be able to analyze each opinion and present hypotheses to reconcile it in light of the others. The chavrusa relationship gives each student a platform to clarify and explain his position to a partner; then the two go on to question, defend, convince, amend, fine-tune, and even arrive at new conclusions through rigorous intellectual collaboration.

Educational benefits

Unlike conventional classroom learning, in which a teacher lectures to the student and the student memorizes and repeats the information back in tests, and unlike an academic seminary, where students do independent research, chavrusa learning challenges the student to analyze and verbally explain the material, point out the errors in his partner's reasoning, and question and sharpen each other's ideas, often arriving at entirely new insights into the meaning of the text.

A chavrusa helps the student stay awake, keep his mind focused on the learning, sharpen his reasoning powers, develop his thoughts into words, and organize his thoughts into logical arguments. This type of learning also imparts precision and clarity into ideas that would otherwise remain vague. Having to listen to, analyze and respond to another's opinion inculcates respect for others. It is considered poor manners to interrupt one's chavrusa. The chavrusa relationship also strengthens the student's personal commitment to his studies, as he is loathe to disappoint or cancel on his chavrusa.

Practice

Chavrusa learning takes place in the formalized structure of the yeshiva or kollel, as well as in Talmudic study that an individual does at any time of day. Although a man skilled in learning could study certain topics on his own, the chavrusa relationship is preferred to help him crystallize his thoughts.

In the yeshiva setting, students prepare for and review the shiur (lecture) with their chavrusas during morning, afternoon, and evening study sessions known as sedarim. On average, a yeshiva student spends ten hours per day learning in chavrusa. Since having the right chavrusa makes all the difference between having a good year and a bad year, class rebbis may switch chavrusas eight or nine times in a class of 20 boys until the partnerships work for both sides. If a chavrusa gets stuck on a difficult point or needs further clarification, they can turn to the rabbis, lecturers, or a sho'el u'mashiv (literally, "ask and answer", a rabbi who is intimately familiar with the Talmudic text being studied) who are available to them in the study hall during sedarim. In women's yeshiva programs, teachers are on hand to guide the chavrusas.

Chavrusa learning tends to be loud and animated, as the study partners read the Talmudic text and the commentaries aloud to each other and then analyze, question, debate, and defend their points of view to arrive at a mutual understanding of the text. In the heat of discussion, they may wave their hands or even shout at each other. Depending on the size of the yeshiva, dozens or even hundreds of chavrusas can be heard discussing and debating each other's opinions. One of the skills of chavrusa learning is the ability to block out all other discussions in the study hall and focus on one's study partner alone.

Choosing a chavrusa

Pairing up study partners has been compared to making a shidduch (marriage match), as the skills, interests, temperament and schedule of each person must be taken into consideration. Good friends do not necessarily make good chavrusas. If the chavrusas spend too much time chatting or joking with each other at the expense of their study time, they are advised to find different study partners.

In the yeshiva world, the brightest students are highly desirable as chavrusas. However, there are pros and cons to learning with chavrusas who are stronger, weaker, or equal in knowledge and ability to the student. A stronger chavrusa will correct and fill in the student's knowledge and help him improve his learning techniques, acting more like a teacher. With a chavrusa who is equal in knowledge and ability, the student is forced to prove his point with logic rather than by right of seniority, which improves his ability to think logically, analyze other people's opinions objectively, and accept criticism. With a weaker chavrusa, who often worries over and questions each step, the student is forced to understand the material thoroughly, refine and organize his thoughts in a logical structure, present his viewpoint clearly, and be ready to justify each and every point. The stronger chavrusa helps the student acquire a great deal of information, but the weaker chavrusa helps the student learn how to learn. Yeshiva students are usually advised to have one of each of these three types of chavrusas in order to develop on all three levels.

Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey is known for its "tumult day" at the beginning of each z'man (semester), when thousands of students mingle outdoors with the goal of choosing a chavrusa for the new term. A similar "tumult day" takes place among the hundreds of students at the main Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem, and at the Mir in Jerusalem.

Chavrusas often develop into lasting friendships. The shared commitment to scholarship and intellectual growth creates a close bond between study partners that has been said to be closer than that of many married couples.

Women's chavrusas

Women's yeshivas that include Talmud study on the curriculum often schedule chavrusa study sessions for their students. In Orthodox women's seminaries, students are paired with study partners of equal or greater strength to learn Halakha, Chumash, Jewish philosophy, or any other topic in Judaism. Although the latter set-up is often called "chavrusa learning", it is not the same thing as what Orthodox men do and is better called "one-on-one study". In recent years, telephone study partnerships for women have been promoted as a kiruv (Jewish outreach) tool in Israel and as an option for busy homemakers.

Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, Chief Rabbi of Mandatory Palestine, reportedly had a regular half-hour chavrusa with his wife, during which they studied Orach Chaim.

Telephone and online chavrusas

Torah Umesorah, through its Partners in Torah program, was the first to move chavrusa-style learning out of the yeshiva and synagogue and into telephone study sessions in 1997. During the 2000s, many free internet services began matching up study partners around the world using videoconferencing and Skype hook-ups.

Telephone chavrusas

Online chavrusas

Limmud Chavruta Project

Founded in the United Kingdom in 1996 and launched globally in 2009, the Limmud Chavruta Project produces an annual study guide for chavrusa-style learning. The study guides, which include source texts on topics such as "Responsibility", "Creativity", "Time", and "Money", are issued in conjunction with the British-Jewish educational charity's annual conference.

Zionist ideal

Zionist ideologue A. D. Gordon used the term chavrusa to refer to a communal society, such as the moshav, kibbutz, or worker's association, which acts as a self-educational link to the larger social-educational process. In Zionist thought, the chavrusa is "a central tool in the struggle for the revival of the Jewish people, the revival of the individual, and the centrality of the idea of 'labor'. It is the highest expression of the Jewish person's extraordinary effort to recreate him or herself through 'labor', to be reconnected to nature, and to plant the many-branched tree of his or her nation in the land from which it was uprooted".

Chavrusa magazine

Chavrusa is the name of the magazine of the Rabbinic Alumni of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, published since the late 1950s.

Havruta magazine

Havruta magazine is a publication of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.